''The Black and White Album'' is the fourth studio album by Swedish

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

The Hives The Hives are a Swedish rock band that rose to prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the album ''Veni Vidi Vicious'', containing the single "Hate to Say I Told You So". T ...

. The track listing for ''The Black and White Album'' was confirmed on the band's German website on 13 September 2007, and later through ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

''. The Hives recorded 20 to 30 songs (including seven recorded with producers

The Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos, ...

) for this album from which they finally chose the best. Other tracks were produced by

Jacknife Lee Garret "Jacknife" Lee is an Irish music producer and mixer. He has worked with a variety of artists, including the Cars, U2, R.E.M., the Killers, Robbie Williams, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, Two Door Cinema Club, AFI, the Hives, Weezer, One Directi ...

and

Dennis Herring Dennis Herring is an American record producer, engineer, mixer, and musician. Herring has produced for The Hives, Elvis Costello, Counting Crows, Modest Mouse, Camper Van Beethoven, and Jars of Clay. The producer owns a 24-track recording st ...

. Sessions were held with

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

, with whom the band produced the song " Throw It On Me", but took place too late for any of the resulting tracks to be on the album. They hoped to use these songs as B-sides.

Background

The band revealed in an ''NME'' interview that one song, "Puppet on a String", has just "piano and hand claps". The song "A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors" is an instrumental using just a 1960s organ and a drum machine. The song "Fall Is Just Something Grownups Invented" was used for autumn promotions on the US television channel

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

in 2007. This song appears as a bonus track on the United Kingdom version of the album, the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

release in the United States and in the Japanese Edition with the album, along with "Hell No". "Well All Right!" and "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S." were produced by

. "Try It Again" features the cheerleading squad from the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

. It was also featured in a commercial for the film

Get Him to the Greek ''Get Him to the Greek'' is a 2010 American comedy film written, produced and directed by Nicholas Stoller and starring Russell Brand and Jonah Hill. Released on June 4, 2010, the film is a spin-off sequel of Stoller's 2008 film '' Forgetting S ...

. "Try It Again" was used in an opening scene in the

Chuck Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * C ...

episode Chuck vs. The Third Dimension. "Try It Again" was part of the promotional trailers for the USA show '' White Collar''. In 2013, it was featured in the movies ''

The Internship ''The Internship'' is a 2013 American comedy film directed by Shawn Levy, written by Vince Vaughn and Jared Stern, and produced by Vaughn and Levy. The film stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as recently laid-off salesmen who attempt to compete ...

'' and ''

R.I.P.D. ''R.I.P.D.'', also marketed as ''R.I.P.D.: Rest in Peace Department'', is a 2013 American supernatural action comedy film starring Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds. The film was directed by Robert Schwentke and written by Phil Hay and Matt Manf ...

''. The song "Tick Tick Boom" was the official theme song for

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

's Survivor Series 2007 and also featured in the

Madden NFL 11 ''Madden NFL 11'' is an American football video game based on the National Football League, published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the 22nd annual installment in the bestselling ''Madden NFL'' video game franchise. It was releas ...

soundtrack. "Tick Tick Boom" featured on a teaser trailer for the 2008 film ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s, with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, an ...

'' and was also used in a video for the 81st Oscars Awards. In 2010 the 12 contestants in American Idol made a Ford video including this song. And also a playable song for

LEGO Rock Band ''Lego Rock Band'' is a music rhythm game developed by TT Fusion in partnership with Harmonix and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the 4th major console installment of the ''Rock Band'' series; it incorporates elements ...

and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock "Well, All Right" has been featured on

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

' spring and summer commercials and a playable track of ''NBA Live 08'', as well as part of the official trailer of ''

The Pink Panther 2 ''The Pink Panther 2'' is a 2009 American comedy-mystery film directed by Harald Zwart. It is the eleventh installment in '' The Pink Panther'' film series and the sequel to the 2006 film '' The Pink Panther'', a reboot of the popular comedy seri ...

''. A video for "Won't Be Long" was released on The Hives MySpace on 26 August 2008. "Hey Little World" is featured in trailers for the film '' Kick-Ass'' and in

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ret ...

commercials.

Release

The first single from the album " Tick Tick Boom" appeared in the games ''

Madden NFL 08 ''Madden NFL 08'' is a 2007 American football video game based on the NFL that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the 19th installment in the ''Madden NFL'' video game franchise. It features the former Tennessee Titan ...

'' and ''

''; although it is an early version with some notable changes, such as an alternative chorus. The final version appears on the album as well as in ''

NCAA Football 10 ''NCAA Football 10'' is a college football video game created by Electronic Arts. It is the successor to NCAA Football 09 in the NCAA Football series. It was released on July 14, 2009 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and Play ...

''. Clips from this song appeared in a

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

commercial (2007-08-14th US, and 2007-09-24th UK) prior to the single's release date on 8 October 2007. On 9 October 2007

Globally released the singles: "Tick Tick Boom", "Try It Again", "You Got It All... Wrong", "Well All Right!", "Won't Be Long", and the non-album bonus track "Fall Is Just Something Grownups Invented". The originally scheduled release of the album (on 9 October 2007) was postponed until 15 October 2007 in the United Kingdom (via

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

) and 13 November 2007 in the United States (via

A&M/Octone Records A&M Octone Records was an American record label owned as a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Octone Records. A full-service artist development label, it was founded in 2007 as a merger between Octone and Interscope Geffen A&M's defu ...

and No Fun AB). On 17 December 2007 the band's website confirmed "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S." would be released in February 2008 as a single.

Track listing

All songs by Randy Fitzsimmons

Personnel

Howlin' Pelle Almqvist Per "Pelle" Almqvist (born 29 May 1978), also known as Howlin' Pelle Almqvist, is a Swedish singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer of garage rock band The Hives. Biography Almqvist was born to a doctor father and a teacher mother. Almqv ...

– vocals, piano * Nicholaus Arson – lead guitar, backing vocals *

Vigilante Carlstroem Mikael Karlsson (born 30 October 1978), better known by his stage name Vigilante Carlstroem, is the rhythm guitarist of the critically acclaimed Swedish garage rock band The Hives. Biography Vigilante started playing guitar at the age of ten and ...

– rhythm guitar, organ/backing vocals *

Dr. Matt Destruction Dr. Matt Destruction (born Mattias Bernwall; 18 March 1978 in Fagersta), is a Swedish musician and songwriter. He is the former bassist of garage rock band The Hives. Career The Hives were formed in 1993 and rose to prominence in the early 20 ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals on "Tick Tick Boom" *

Chris Dangerous Christian Grahn (born ''Arne Christian Jääskeläinen''; 12 June 1978), known professionally by his stage name Chris Dangerous, is the drummer of Swedish rock band, The Hives. Biography Grahn began playing drums at age of nine. Growing up in F ...

– drums, backing vocals on "Tick Tick Boom" *Pelle Gunnerfeldt – mixing *Serban Ghenea – mixing * Joe Zook – mixing *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

– mastering *

– producer *

– producers * Garret "Jacknife" Lee – producer * Thomas Öberg – producer *

Matt Radosevich Matthew Radosevich, also known as Matt Rad, is an American record producer, songwriter, and musician. He has worked with artists such as One Direction, Niall Horan, Martin Garrix, Demi Lovato, Little Mix, Guy Sebastian, Lupe Fiasco, Walk th ...

– engineer

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black And White Album, The 2007 albums The Hives albums Albums produced by Jacknife Lee Albums produced by Dennis Herring Albums produced by the Neptunes