Appeal to Reason (album)
Encyclopedia
Appeal to Reason is the fifth studio album
by American punk rock
band Rise Against
. After touring in support of their previous album, The Sufferer & the Witness
, Rise Against began recording Appeal to Reason in January 2008 at the Blasting Room
in Fort Collins, Colorado
. Recording and production were finished in June, and the album was released in North America on October 7, 2008. The album is the band's first release with guitarist Zach Blair
. The album has been ceritified Gold by the RIAA
and platinum by the CRIA
.
Appeal to Reason was Rise Against's highest charting album until the release of Endgame
, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200
chart and selling 64,700 copies in its first week of release. It received generally favorable reviews from critics. The album produced three singles: "Re-Education (Through Labor)
", "Audience of One
", and "Savior
".
Although commercially successful, Rise Against was greatly criticized by many long-term fans for producing an album that is a dramatic departure compared to Rise Against's previous, fast-paced, works.
The song Kotov Syndrome appears in the video game Need for Speed: Nitro
.
was planning to return to the studio after touring in support of their previous album, The Sufferer & the Witness
, to begin work on their next album. The band headlined a North American tour supporting The Sufferer & the Witness throughout July and August 2007, instead of attending that year's Warped Tour
. When asked in July about the band's plans for a new album, guitarist Zach Blair
told ThePunkSite.com that Rise Against would "start writing and recording the record" after touring and would be "writing for a few months" before returning to the studio. He also predicted a summer 2008 release date for the album. In an interview with bassist Joe Principe
in August 2007, he stated recording would likely begin around early 2008, although he said "everything could change", but that was "the plan right now". The band continued to tour throughout the rest of 2007, playing several shows in the Taste of Chaos
tour and supporting its headliner, The Used
.
On January 7, 2008, Rise Against announced on their website that they had begun writing and demoing for their next album. When asked in May what the status of the album was, frontman Tim McIlrath
told the Los Angeles
modern rock radio station, KROQ
, that the band was in the middle of the recording process. He also stated that the album would be recorded at the Blasting Room
in Fort Collins, Colorado
and produced by Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore, who had produced The Sufferer & the Witness. Also in May 2008, Rise Against posted a blog on their website, stating that they were back in the studio working on the album. It explained that they had "spent many weeks in Chicago throughout the end of winter writing new songs" in their "rehearsal space". Asked later about the writing and recording process, McIlrath said, "We kind of blocked a month off over the winter and said, 'Let's all get together, get the rehearsal space, and start putting some ideas together,' which is what we did. And then, we also blocked off a week or two at the Blasting Room after we arrived in Fort Collins to just kind of jam stuff out, get some new ideas going."
In a June 2008 interview, Luisa Mateus of Gigwise.com asked McIlrath about the new album. He stated that it was "mostly finished" but that a name and release date were still undetermined. The only hint given on the musical style of the album was Mateus' statement that the band said that they were "happy keeping their sound organic". On July 14, 2008, it was reported on Punknews.org
that the album would be titled Appeal to Reason. The name is taken from a leftist
newspaper from 1897.
felt that the band's "righteousness grows more tuneful with every album". John Hanson of Sputnikmusic
said that the album is "‘appealing’ to a larger audience than old fans will be comfortable with". In an October 2008 interview with Tony Pascarella of AbsolutePunk.net
, bassist Joe Principe said, "Appeal to Reason sounds like a Rise Against album but there's still something new that we're offering. I think we've grown as songwriters and as a band, and it shows on the record." According to Bill Stewart of PopMatters
, "Appeal to Reason is a Rise Against album. If you possess more than a passing familiarity with the band, I wouldn’t even bother scrolling through the rest of this review, and I’d certainly avoid checking out the rating at the end of it—because that first sentence, for better or worse, says everything that needs to be said about this album."
The album includes one acoustic song, "Hero of War", which is about an Iraq War Veteran looking back on his war experiences. It is described by Rolling Stone
as an "ambivalent aggro-folk track". McIlrath said of the song, "I wanted to take the perspective of 'What is the war going to be looked back on as?'" He went on to say, "There are not many songs...talking about what's going on during eight years of occupation in Iraq. That, combined with meeting active soldiers and retired soldiers at our shows and hearing those stories about what is going on on the ground amid all the bullshit, showed me the differences from what is really happening to what is happening in the news media. I just thought that this needed to go into a song." He said about the song in another interview, "It was a way to document what's going on, like other artists documented for their generation and for generations to come."
Much of the rest of the album deals with political issues in the United States as well. Jeff Miers of The Buffalo News
calls the album "a response to the oppressive vacuousness of the Bush years". Dealing with specific tracks on the album, Allmusic states that Rise Against "rages against the moral decay rotting the core of the U.S. on the opening 'Collapse (Post-Amerika),' just as they strike out against the slow dumbing down of America on 'Re-Education (Through Labor)'". McIlrath said in an interview with The Red Alert, "All of our songs are 'that' song that we won't dilute. They always have been. I've never written a song, until "Hero of War," with a specific goal in mind." When asked about how Appeal to Reason continues Rise Against's tradition of making politically charged music, he said: "The reason I started this band, and the reason I still do it, is that I still open a paper and say, "Holy Shit! Are you kidding me? Is this really happening? Are people voting for things like Proposition 8? Is this America? Are we still in Iraq and in a place that people think a white versus a black president is a big deal?" There is so much to address through music. There is plenty we need to learn from." Nevertheless, the band has stated that their songs don't only focus on politics. In one interview, Principe said, "The political side of this band is just that -- it's a side. There are political lyrics. There are social awareness and there are lyrics about the environment. I think if people take the time to read the lyrics, they'll know we're not strictly force feeding you our politics."
In the liner notes of the album, it recommends the reading of A People's History of the United States
by Howard Zinn
. It also recommends the documentaries Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
, The Ground Truth
, The Future of Food
, An Inconvenient Truth
by Al Gore
, and Sicko
by Michael Moore
.
" with director Kevin Kerslake
. The single and its music video were released digitally on August 25. In December 2008, it was reported that Rise Against would be shooting a music video for their second single, "Audience of One
", with director Brett Simon
. The music video for "Audience of One" premiered on MySpace Music on January 15, 2009. The music video was filmed in Los Angeles
in December and features the band performing in a miniature world on the White House
lawn. The video for the song "Hero of War" was released on May 20, 2009. Radio stations were sent copies of the album's third single, "Savior
", on June 3.
Rise Against began a U.S. tour with Thrice
, Alkaline Trio
, and The Gaslight Anthem
to promote the album on October 2, 2008, in Cleveland, Ohio
. The band co-headlined a 2009 tour with Rancid
throughout the summer months. That was followed by a short tour of the UK
in November, which was supported by the bands Thursday
and Poison the Well
.
said, "Appeal to Reason is essentially focused on one big thing: intelligence. There is no fluff here -- the band has put together a fast, smart and generally focused piece of work here." Rolling Stone
magazine tells of the band's further emergence into the mainstream with Appeal to Reason, "Rise Against may be nervous about leaving the underground behind, but with sharp songs like these, they're ready for the rest of the world."
Appeal to Reason is Rise Against's second highest charting album to date. It peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200
, selling 64,700 copies in its first week of release. The singles released from Appeal to Reason also charted higher on the U.S. music charts than any of the band's previous releases. "Re-Education (Through Labor)" reached number 22 on Billboard' s Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number three on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks (now Alternative Songs) chart, making it Rise Against's highest charting single on a U.S. rock chart, until it was surpassed by "Savior". "Audience of One" reached number four on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Savior" peaked at number 3 on Billboard' s Rock Songs
chart and at number 3 on the Alternative Songs (formerly Hot Modern Rock Tracks) chart, making it the highest-charting single to date. "Savior" has also spent the longest of any Rise Against song on the U.S. Rock Charts, with over a year on both the Rock Songs
and Alternative Songs charts. All three appeared on the Canadian Hot 100
chart.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Rise Against
Rise Against
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1999. The band currently consists of Tim McIlrath , Zach Blair , Joe Principe and Brandon Barnes .Rise Against spent its first five years signed to the independent record label Fat Wreck Chords, on which it...
. After touring in support of their previous album, The Sufferer & the Witness
The Sufferer & the Witness
-Personnel:Rise Against* Tim McIlrath – Lead vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar solo on "Prayer of the Refugee"* Joe Principe – Bass guitar, backing vocals* Chris Chasse – Lead guitar, backing vocals* Brandon Barnes – Drums, percussion...
, Rise Against began recording Appeal to Reason in January 2008 at the Blasting Room
Blasting Room
The Blasting Room is a recording studio in Fort Collins, Colorado, built by members of Descendents, ALL, and Black Flag, including punk drummer Bill Stevenson....
in Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins is a Home Rule Municipality situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, and is the county seat and most populous city of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Fort Collins is located north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. With a 2010 census...
. Recording and production were finished in June, and the album was released in North America on October 7, 2008. The album is the band's first release with guitarist Zach Blair
Zach Blair
Zach Blair is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for Chicago-based hardcore punk band Rise Against. He is originally from Sherman, Texas.Before joining Rise Against in early 2007, Blair was a member of hardcore punk group Only Crime along with his brother, Doni Blair, who currently plays with...
. The album has been ceritified Gold by the RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
and platinum by the CRIA
Canadian Recording Industry Association
Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...
.
Appeal to Reason was Rise Against's highest charting album until the release of Endgame
Endgame (Rise Against album)
Endgame is the sixth studio album by American punk rock band Rise Against. Produced by Bill Stevenson, it was released on March 15, 2011. Rise Against began work on the album in September 2010, after completing touring in support of its previous album, Appeal to Reason, in mid-2010...
, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart and selling 64,700 copies in its first week of release. It received generally favorable reviews from critics. The album produced three singles: "Re-Education (Through Labor)
Re-Education (Through Labor)
"Re-Education " is the first single from Rise Against's fifth studio album, Appeal to Reason. The single was released digitally to digital stores and radio stations on August 25, 2008. A music video was released on the same day....
", "Audience of One
Audience of One (Rise Against song)
"Audience of One" is a song by the American punk rock band Rise Against, written by the band's frontman Tim McIlrath. It is the second single from their 2008 album Appeal to Reason...
", and "Savior
Savior (Rise Against song)
"Savior" is the eleventh track from Rise Against's 2008 fifth studio album Appeal to Reason. It was released as the album's third single on June 3, 2009...
".
Although commercially successful, Rise Against was greatly criticized by many long-term fans for producing an album that is a dramatic departure compared to Rise Against's previous, fast-paced, works.
The song Kotov Syndrome appears in the video game Need for Speed: Nitro
Need for Speed: Nitro
Need for Speed: Nitro is a 14th installment in the long-running racing video game franchise Need for Speed. It was published by Electronic Arts for the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms, It is also the only game to date in the franchise to not be made for PC. It was announced in January as part of a...
.
Writing and recording
In May 2007, it was reported that Rise AgainstRise Against
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1999. The band currently consists of Tim McIlrath , Zach Blair , Joe Principe and Brandon Barnes .Rise Against spent its first five years signed to the independent record label Fat Wreck Chords, on which it...
was planning to return to the studio after touring in support of their previous album, The Sufferer & the Witness
The Sufferer & the Witness
-Personnel:Rise Against* Tim McIlrath – Lead vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar solo on "Prayer of the Refugee"* Joe Principe – Bass guitar, backing vocals* Chris Chasse – Lead guitar, backing vocals* Brandon Barnes – Drums, percussion...
, to begin work on their next album. The band headlined a North American tour supporting The Sufferer & the Witness throughout July and August 2007, instead of attending that year's Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
. When asked in July about the band's plans for a new album, guitarist Zach Blair
Zach Blair
Zach Blair is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for Chicago-based hardcore punk band Rise Against. He is originally from Sherman, Texas.Before joining Rise Against in early 2007, Blair was a member of hardcore punk group Only Crime along with his brother, Doni Blair, who currently plays with...
told ThePunkSite.com that Rise Against would "start writing and recording the record" after touring and would be "writing for a few months" before returning to the studio. He also predicted a summer 2008 release date for the album. In an interview with bassist Joe Principe
Joe Principe
Joe Principe is the bass guitarist, backing vocalist and co-founder of the punk rock band Rise Against. He primarily uses Fender basses, Mesa amps and cabinets, and he uses pick-playing exclusively....
in August 2007, he stated recording would likely begin around early 2008, although he said "everything could change", but that was "the plan right now". The band continued to tour throughout the rest of 2007, playing several shows in the Taste of Chaos
Taste of Chaos
Taste of Chaos is a hardcore tour that was started in the winter of 2005 by Kevin Lyman, the creator of the successful Warped Tour along with friend and business partner, John Reese. The Taste Of Chaos tour caters for fans of the post-hardcore, screamo, and metal genres, while offering the same...
tour and supporting its headliner, The Used
The Used
The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah. The band was founded in 2001 and signed to Reprise Records the same year. They rose to fame in June 2002 after releasing their self-titled debut album. They followed up with their second album, In Love and Death, in September 2004 and their third...
.
On January 7, 2008, Rise Against announced on their website that they had begun writing and demoing for their next album. When asked in May what the status of the album was, frontman Tim McIlrath
Tim McIlrath
Timothy "Tim" James McIlrath is an American punk rock musician. He is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, songwriter and co-founder for the American punk rock band Rise Against. McIlrath is known to support animal rights and actively promotes PETA with his band...
told the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
modern rock radio station, KROQ
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...
, that the band was in the middle of the recording process. He also stated that the album would be recorded at the Blasting Room
Blasting Room
The Blasting Room is a recording studio in Fort Collins, Colorado, built by members of Descendents, ALL, and Black Flag, including punk drummer Bill Stevenson....
in Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins is a Home Rule Municipality situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, and is the county seat and most populous city of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Fort Collins is located north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. With a 2010 census...
and produced by Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore, who had produced The Sufferer & the Witness. Also in May 2008, Rise Against posted a blog on their website, stating that they were back in the studio working on the album. It explained that they had "spent many weeks in Chicago throughout the end of winter writing new songs" in their "rehearsal space". Asked later about the writing and recording process, McIlrath said, "We kind of blocked a month off over the winter and said, 'Let's all get together, get the rehearsal space, and start putting some ideas together,' which is what we did. And then, we also blocked off a week or two at the Blasting Room after we arrived in Fort Collins to just kind of jam stuff out, get some new ideas going."
In a June 2008 interview, Luisa Mateus of Gigwise.com asked McIlrath about the new album. He stated that it was "mostly finished" but that a name and release date were still undetermined. The only hint given on the musical style of the album was Mateus' statement that the band said that they were "happy keeping their sound organic". On July 14, 2008, it was reported on Punknews.org
Punknews.org
Punknews.org is a website founded by Aubin Paul which launched in 1999. The website publishes music news and album reviews relating to punk rock, hardcore punk, ska, indie rock and heavy metal...
that the album would be titled Appeal to Reason. The name is taken from a leftist
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
newspaper from 1897.
Musical style and themes
Appeal to Reason is considered by critics to be one of Rise Against's most accessible and melodic albums, both musically and lyrically. Jon Pareles of The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
felt that the band's "righteousness grows more tuneful with every album". John Hanson of Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic, or simply Sputnik, is a music website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites...
said that the album is "‘appealing’ to a larger audience than old fans will be comfortable with". In an October 2008 interview with Tony Pascarella of AbsolutePunk.net
AbsolutePunk.net
AbsolutePunk is a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate . The website mainly focuses on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it has been known to feature artists who have eventually achieved crossover success, including Fall...
, bassist Joe Principe said, "Appeal to Reason sounds like a Rise Against album but there's still something new that we're offering. I think we've grown as songwriters and as a band, and it shows on the record." According to Bill Stewart of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
, "Appeal to Reason is a Rise Against album. If you possess more than a passing familiarity with the band, I wouldn’t even bother scrolling through the rest of this review, and I’d certainly avoid checking out the rating at the end of it—because that first sentence, for better or worse, says everything that needs to be said about this album."
The album includes one acoustic song, "Hero of War", which is about an Iraq War Veteran looking back on his war experiences. It is described by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
as an "ambivalent aggro-folk track". McIlrath said of the song, "I wanted to take the perspective of 'What is the war going to be looked back on as?'" He went on to say, "There are not many songs...talking about what's going on during eight years of occupation in Iraq. That, combined with meeting active soldiers and retired soldiers at our shows and hearing those stories about what is going on on the ground amid all the bullshit, showed me the differences from what is really happening to what is happening in the news media. I just thought that this needed to go into a song." He said about the song in another interview, "It was a way to document what's going on, like other artists documented for their generation and for generations to come."
Much of the rest of the album deals with political issues in the United States as well. Jeff Miers of The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News is the primary newspaper of the Buffalo – Niagara Falls metropolitan area, and the area's only daily newspaper. It is the only newspaper owned by Berkshire Hathaway.-History:...
calls the album "a response to the oppressive vacuousness of the Bush years". Dealing with specific tracks on the album, Allmusic states that Rise Against "rages against the moral decay rotting the core of the U.S. on the opening 'Collapse (Post-Amerika),' just as they strike out against the slow dumbing down of America on 'Re-Education (Through Labor)'". McIlrath said in an interview with The Red Alert, "All of our songs are 'that' song that we won't dilute. They always have been. I've never written a song, until "Hero of War," with a specific goal in mind." When asked about how Appeal to Reason continues Rise Against's tradition of making politically charged music, he said: "The reason I started this band, and the reason I still do it, is that I still open a paper and say, "Holy Shit! Are you kidding me? Is this really happening? Are people voting for things like Proposition 8? Is this America? Are we still in Iraq and in a place that people think a white versus a black president is a big deal?" There is so much to address through music. There is plenty we need to learn from." Nevertheless, the band has stated that their songs don't only focus on politics. In one interview, Principe said, "The political side of this band is just that -- it's a side. There are political lyrics. There are social awareness and there are lyrics about the environment. I think if people take the time to read the lyrics, they'll know we're not strictly force feeding you our politics."
In the liner notes of the album, it recommends the reading of A People's History of the United States
A People's History of the United States
Chapter 7, "As Long As Grass Grows or Water Runs" discusses 19th century conflicts between the U.S. government and Native Americans and Indian removal, especially during the administrations of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren....
by Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn was an American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist. Before and during his tenure as a political science professor at Boston University from 1964-88 he wrote more than 20 books, which included his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United...
. It also recommends the documentaries Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is a 2005 documentary film by director Robert Greenwald. The film presents an unfavorable picture of Wal-Mart's business practices through interviews with former employees, small business owners, and footage of Wal-Mart executives...
, The Ground Truth
The Ground Truth
The Ground Truth is a 2006 documentary film about veterans of the Iraq War...
, The Future of Food
The Future of Food
The Future of Food is a 2004 American documentary film which makes an in-depth investigation into unlabelled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have made their way onto grocery stores in the United States for the past decade...
, An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
by Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
, and Sicko
Sicko
Sicko is a 2007 documentary film by American filmmaker Michael Moore. The film investigates health care in the United States, focusing on its health insurance and the pharmaceutical industry. The movie compares the for-profit, non-universal U.S...
by Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
.
Promotion and release
Rise Against filmed the music video for Appeal to Reasons first single, "Re-Education (Through Labor)Re-Education (Through Labor)
"Re-Education " is the first single from Rise Against's fifth studio album, Appeal to Reason. The single was released digitally to digital stores and radio stations on August 25, 2008. A music video was released on the same day....
" with director Kevin Kerslake
Kevin Kerslake
Kevin Kerslake is an American music video director. He has directed videos for Stone Temple Pilots, Filter, R.E.M., 311, Faith No More, Green Day, The Used, 10 Years, Depeche Mode, The Smashing Pumpkins, Papa Roach, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Rise Against, Insane Clown Posse, The Offspring, and Blue...
. The single and its music video were released digitally on August 25. In December 2008, it was reported that Rise Against would be shooting a music video for their second single, "Audience of One
Audience of One (Rise Against song)
"Audience of One" is a song by the American punk rock band Rise Against, written by the band's frontman Tim McIlrath. It is the second single from their 2008 album Appeal to Reason...
", with director Brett Simon
Brett Simon
Brett Simon is an American commercial, music video and film director.-Career:Simon graduated from Princeton University summa cum laude in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Comparative Literature and Creative Writing, and later graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2002 with...
. The music video for "Audience of One" premiered on MySpace Music on January 15, 2009. The music video was filmed in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in December and features the band performing in a miniature world on the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
lawn. The video for the song "Hero of War" was released on May 20, 2009. Radio stations were sent copies of the album's third single, "Savior
Savior (Rise Against song)
"Savior" is the eleventh track from Rise Against's 2008 fifth studio album Appeal to Reason. It was released as the album's third single on June 3, 2009...
", on June 3.
Rise Against began a U.S. tour with Thrice
Thrice
Thrice is an American rock band from Irvine, California, formed in 1998. The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist Dustin Kensrue and guitarist Teppei Teranishi while they were in high school....
, Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band that formed in McHenry, Illinois, in 1996. The band's line-up consists of Matt Skiba , Dan Andriano , and Derek Grant...
, and The Gaslight Anthem
The Gaslight Anthem
The Gaslight Anthem is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, consisting of Brian Fallon , Alex Rosamilia , Alex Levine and Benny Horowitz...
to promote the album on October 2, 2008, in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. The band co-headlined a 2009 tour with Rancid
Rancid (band)
Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Berkeley, California in 1991. Founded by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, both of whom previously played in the ska punk band Operation Ivy, Rancid is credited—along with Green Day and The Offspring—for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the...
throughout the summer months. That was followed by a short tour of the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in November, which was supported by the bands Thursday
Thursday (band)
Thursday were an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Formed in 1997, the group has released six full-length albums, their most recent being No Devolución, which was released in April 2011 on Epitaph Records...
and Poison the Well
Poison the Well (band)
Poison the Well was an experimental hardcore band from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida who were last signed to Ferret Music. Guitarist Ryan Primack and drummer Chris Hornbrook were the only remaining members of the band who were involved since their inception, although vocalist Jeffrey Moreira was...
.
Reception and sales
Appeal to Reason received generally favorable reviews from music critics. It attained a score of 70 out of 100 on Metacritic's average of ten professional reviews. In his review giving the album an 82% rating, Chris Fallon of AbsolutePunk.netAbsolutePunk.net
AbsolutePunk is a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate . The website mainly focuses on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it has been known to feature artists who have eventually achieved crossover success, including Fall...
said, "Appeal to Reason is essentially focused on one big thing: intelligence. There is no fluff here -- the band has put together a fast, smart and generally focused piece of work here." Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine tells of the band's further emergence into the mainstream with Appeal to Reason, "Rise Against may be nervous about leaving the underground behind, but with sharp songs like these, they're ready for the rest of the world."
Appeal to Reason is Rise Against's second highest charting album to date. It peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, selling 64,700 copies in its first week of release. The singles released from Appeal to Reason also charted higher on the U.S. music charts than any of the band's previous releases. "Re-Education (Through Labor)" reached number 22 on Billboard
Rock Songs
Rock Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the airplay of songs on alternative, mainstream rock and triple A radio stations. The first chart was published in the issue dated June 20, 2009. "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day was the first number-one song. The Rock Songs...
chart and at number 3 on the Alternative Songs (formerly Hot Modern Rock Tracks) chart, making it the highest-charting single to date. "Savior" has also spent the longest of any Rise Against song on the U.S. Rock Charts, with over a year on both the Rock Songs
Rock Songs
Rock Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the airplay of songs on alternative, mainstream rock and triple A radio stations. The first chart was published in the issue dated June 20, 2009. "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day was the first number-one song. The Rock Songs...
and Alternative Songs charts. All three appeared on the Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
chart.
Track listing
Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
7 |
| Austria Albums Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
34 |
| Belgium Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... (Flanders Flanders Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp... ) |
55 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
1 |
| Germany Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
21 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
34 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
51 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
44 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
68 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
3 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Digital Albums | 1 |
Certifications
| Country | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... |
Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada... |
Platinum | 100,000+ |
| United States Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
Gold | 500,000 |
Rise Against
- Tim McIlrathTim McIlrathTimothy "Tim" James McIlrath is an American punk rock musician. He is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, songwriter and co-founder for the American punk rock band Rise Against. McIlrath is known to support animal rights and actively promotes PETA with his band...
– lead vocals, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together... - Joe PrincipeJoe PrincipeJoe Principe is the bass guitarist, backing vocalist and co-founder of the punk rock band Rise Against. He primarily uses Fender basses, Mesa amps and cabinets, and he uses pick-playing exclusively....
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Brandon BarnesBrandon BarnesBrandon Barnes is an American musician and producer from Denver, Colorado. He is best known as the drummer for the punk rock band, Rise Against. Barnes is the only member of the band who is not straight edge.-Biography:...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Zach BlairZach BlairZach Blair is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for Chicago-based hardcore punk band Rise Against. He is originally from Sherman, Texas.Before joining Rise Against in early 2007, Blair was a member of hardcore punk group Only Crime along with his brother, Doni Blair, who currently plays with...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, backing vocals
Guest
- Matt SkibaMatt SkibaMatthew Thomas Skiba is the lead singer and guitarist of Alkaline Trio.-Early life and family:...
(of Alkaline TrioAlkaline TrioAlkaline Trio is an American punk rock band that formed in McHenry, Illinois, in 1996. The band's line-up consists of Matt Skiba , Dan Andriano , and Derek Grant...
) – additional backing vocals on Hairline Fracture
Production
- Bill Stevenson – record producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineer - Jason Livermore – producer, engineer
- Andrew Berlin – engineer, additional production
- Felipe Patino – additional engineering
- Lee Miles – additional engineering
- Chris Lord-AlgeChris Lord-AlgeChris Lord-Alge is a mixer who has worked on various albums. He is the brother of Tom Lord-Alge, another audio engineer. Chris Lord-Alge is known for his extreme use of dynamic range compression in both hardware and software plug-in versions....
– mixerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including... - Keith Armstrong – assistant mixer
- Nik Karen – assistant mixer
- Brad Townsend – additional engineering
- Ted JensenTed JensenTed Jensen is an American recording engineer. Jensen is the chief mastering engineer at Sterling Sound. He started his career as a mastering engineer in 1976 and is currently the most active Mastering Engineer in the industry...
– masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
Release history
| Region | Date | Record Label |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
October 2, 2008 | Polydor Polydor Records Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone... |
| Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
October 4, 2008 | Universal Universal Records Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:... |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
October 7, 2008 | Geffen Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:... , DGC DGC Records DGC Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and currently operates as an auxiliary label of Interscope Records.-Company history:... /Interscope Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:... |
| Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
||
| Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
October 10, 2008 | Rough Trade Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove... |