Жазып жіберуге лайық нәрсе: The Get Up Kids альбомы туралы

the Craig Morgan song

Something to Write Home About is the second studio album by American rock band the Get Up Kids, released on September 28, 1999, through Vagrant Records and the band's own label Heroes & Villains Records. Following the promotional tours for their debut album Four Minute Mile (1997), the band were in discussion with Mojo Records. During this period, James Dewees joined as the band's keyboardist. As negotiations with the label eventually stalled, they eventually went with Vagrant Records. They recorded their next album at Mad Hatter Studios in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, co producing it with Chad Blinman and Alex Brahl. Described as an emo and pop punk album, Something to Write Home About expands on the harder edge of its predecessor, with frontman Matt Pryor citing the works of the Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World and Wilco as influences. Something to Write Home About received generally favourable reviews from music critics, with many praising the songwriting, while others criticized the lyrics. The album was a commercial success, selling over 100,000 copies, and peaking at number 31 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart in the United States. The band promoted it with a European tour and a US tour with At the Drive In until the end of 1999. "Action & Action" was released as the lead single from the album. Later that year, the band toured across Australia, Japan, Europe, ending with a headlining US tour; in early 2001 they supported Green Day and Weezer. The success of Something to Write Home About made Vagrant Records one of the major players in the fledgling emo scene, attracting bands like Dashboard Confessional, Saves the Day, and Alkaline Trio to sign with the label. It is often cited as one of the best albums of the second wave movement of emo, and is cited as an influence on third wave acts like Coheed & Cambria. Publications such as Kerrang!, LA Weekly and NME, among others, have included the album on best of lists for the emo and pop punk genres. It was re released as a CD and DVD set in 2008, and has been re pressed on vinyl in 2015 and 2016; the 2015 version charted at number 16 on the Billboard Vinyl Albums chart.

With the release of the Woodson EP in 1997, the Get Up Kids signed a two album recording contract with independent label Doghouse Records. In June 1997, the group went on a tour of the United States, on which they became friends with Coalesce. Shortly afterwards, their drummer, James Dewees, moved in with the bassist Rob Pope and his brother, drummer Ryan Pope. When the Get Up Kids went on tour, Dewees would look after the apartment. The group released their debut album, Four Minute Mile, in September 1997. It was supported by American and European tours between September 1997 and May 1998. The group then went on a break and spent the next few months writing material for their next record. The band, who wanted to leave Doghouse, began discussions with other labels, such as Geffen, Vagrant and Mojo Records. Starting from December 1998, the group wrote a batch of new material as they were waiting for their deal with Mojo Records to be finalized. The group had wanted a keyboardist for sometime; with Coalesce having gone on hiatus during this period, Dewees joined as their keyboard player. To get out of their Doghouse contract, the band recorded the Red Letter Day EP and forfeited the vinyl rights to their following album. That same month, they formed their own record label, Heroes & Villains Records, which signed a deal with Vagrant Records, giving the latter rights to other acts signed to Heroes & Villains, which included the members' solo projects. At the time, Vagrant was searching for a flagship band on which they could expand their business with. The album was recorded over the course of six weeks They produced the record themselves, with co producers Chad Blinman and Alex Brahl, the latter of which did additional engineering. Blinman handled recording, while Dale Lawton served as an assistant. Blinman mixed the recordings, while the album was mastered by Ramon Breton at Oceanview Mastering. album that takes influence from 1960s pop and 1980s new wave. Ian Cohen of Stereogum described the album in the context of the band's contemporaries: "Braid and the Promise Ring were too quirky, Saves The Day hadn’t quite shed their hardcore origins, and Texas Is The Reason and Mineral were too artsy and esoteric". He added that Something to Write Home About "occup[ied] that perfect nexus between punk, emo, indie rock, and pure power pop". When making the album, the band tried to consciously expand their sound from the harder edge of Four Minute Mile. Pryor cites Wilco's Summerteeth (1999), Jimmy Eat World's Clarity (1999) and the Foo Fighters' The Colour and the Shape as primary influences in writing new material. While the group had toyed with keyboards on Four Minute Mile, they incorporated more of it with the inclusion of Dewees into the band. According to Pryor, they had been listening to Weezer a lot and wanted more synthesizer parts, with Dewees being "such a talented piano player, he just sort of upped the ante." In writing the album, the band was also more conscious of traditional pop song structure, focusing more on hooks and placing less emphasis on long instrumental sections. Ryan Pope made a conscious effort to restrain his drum parts on the album, emulating Charlie Watts and Jim Keltner, stating that it was more "important to maybe make some sacrifices for the tune instead of pounding away and thinking of yourself as an individual player." Pryor would later remark that he wished the songs were tuned a half step or a whole step down as he was yelling at the top of his vocal range throughout the album. The acoustic "Out of Reach" crescendos into a piano led torch song. "The Company Dime" features call and response vocals during the chorus sections; "My Apology" is a mid tempo song.

In August and September 1999, the group went on a European tour; the tour was planned to last a month, however, the group only got to play six shows over eight days. Following this, the band appeared at the CMJ MusicFest. Something to Write Home About was released on September 28 through Vagrant and Heroes & Villains Records. The vinyl version was released through Doghouse Records. The Japanese version included "Forgive and Forget" and a cover of "Regret" by New Order as bonus tracks, while the European version featured included a re recorded version of "Forgive and Forget" and "Central Standard Time" (taken from a split with the Anniversary). The album's artwork is a painting that depicts two robots cuddling on a sofa. A music video was released for "Action & Action" through music retailer Insound in December 1999. In February 2000, the Get Up Kids played a one off show in Kansas before embarking on a Japanese tour. The album was released through Epitaph Europe in Europe on March 13. "Action & Action" was released as a single on March 24 in Europe with a demo of "I'm a Loner Dottie, I'm a Rebel" and a cover of The Cure's "Close to Me" as B sides. with the Anniversary. In September and October, the band went on a headlining US tour with support from the Anniversary, Koufax and Jebediah. In January 2001, the group supported Green Day on their US tour, before supporting Weezer in February and March.

In 2008, Pryor said that the group was in discussions with Vagrant Records to re release the album as a 10th anniversary package, including a DVD and photo booklet. In February 2009, Doghouse Records re pressed the album on vinyl. The 10th anniversary edition was released on September 8, which included a DVD with a recording of their first show in a few years and a documentary on the making of the album. In addition, it included 7 downloadable demo recordings from the sessions. Doghouse has since re pressed the album on vinyl twice more, in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Something to Write Home About was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics upon release. Drowned in Sound writer James Skinner complimented the band members for "how brilliantly [they] play off each other," coupled with a "healthy dose of longing and you're halfway there in terms of understanding its appeal". PopMatters contributor Rob Browning wrote that the album retaining the "edge of their Doghouse past, but sported cleaner production and more hooks than a tackle box". He went on to say that these "12 songs are the strongest body of works they had been able to muster prior or since". Spin writer Andrew Beaujon found the band to be "peppy enough to make even a college sophomore feel old," adding that they sound "exactly like Superchunk". In a review for Consumable Online, writer Kerwin So said in order to hear a "few pretty good songs, you have to wade through a deluge of sappy filler". LAS Magazine founder Eric J. Herboth said that like their debut, Something was "complete bunk" aside from the two "great" songs "Red Letter Day" and "I'm a Loner Dottie, a Rebel". Pitchfork Brent DiCrescenzo noted a lack of originality in the music, writing that "implementation of keyboards and acoustic guitars is predictable and unimpressive", calling the release "an entire album of songs which follow the same formula, yet never reach the quasi memorable qualities of a radio hit." In a retrospective review, Mischa Pearlman of Record Collector felt that the album "still holds up, its power and impact remaining as profound as ever". When reviewing the band's Kicker EP, Pitchfork writer Ian Cohen wrote much more fondly about the album:
"Put aside the love songs, and their classic Something to Write Home About can be read as a concept album about the pressure of seeing then fledgling indie label Vagrant literally bet the farm on their success. But they also wrote concisely and passionately about girls, heartbreak, and trouble with authority, thus setting the norms for 21st century emo: While the band’s presentation and ethics were overtly punk, their songs harkened back to early rock’n’roll records that functioned as teen pop."

Something to Write Home About charted at number 31 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart. In 2015, it charted at number 16 on the Billboard Vinyl Albums chart.

The album has appeared on many best of lists for the emo and pop punk genres, by publications such as LA Weekly, Junkee, NME, and On the A Side, as well as by journalists Leslie Simon and Trevor Kelley in their book Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture (2007). Similarly, "Action & Action" appeared on a best of emo songs list by Vulture. Spin featured both “I’ll Catch You” and “Valentine” on its list of the 40 best Emo love songs of all time. In 2015, Rock Sound included it in their 101 Modern Classics list at number 97. They later ranked it at number 102 on the list of best albums in their lifetime. Kerrang! listed ‘’Something to Write Home About’’ as the 19th greatest pop punk album of all time, and the 42nd best punk album of all time. Something to Write Home About is credited with establishing Vagrant Records as an emo music industry powerhouse. Acts such as Dashboard Confessional, Saves the Day, and Alkaline Trio all signed to the label because of the album's success.