Escape the Fate (album)
Encyclopedia
Escape the Fate is the third studio album and major label debut by American post-hardcore
band Escape the Fate
, the second with vocalist Craig Mabbitt
. It is the band's first album released on Interscope Records
following their departure from Epitaph
. It was released worldwide on November 2, 2010. The album charted 25 at Billboard 200, 1 at Hard Rock Albums, 4 in a Rock Albums, 3 in Alternative and Independent charts and 18 in Digital Albums Chart. Upon release, the album has received generally positive reviews, and is Escape the Fates most successful album to date.
In an interview during Warped Tour 2009, bassist Max Green stated that the album will feature a song co-written by Mick Mars
of Mötley Crüe
, who approached Escape the Fate to collaborate on some songs, but later was revealed that they decided against putting the song on the album and saving for a future release. Max Green also confirmed through Formspring that there will be a song co-written by guitarist John 5 of Rob Zombie
, later seen to be "Liars And Monsters".
On April 23, vocalist Craig Mabbitt stated via Twitter, "off to vegas today to finish out last minute badass demos with monte, then off to bamboozle, then studio time", giving the notion that the band will begin recording their studio album directly after Bamboozle
, and release it mid/late Summer 2010. Soon after, Mabbitt stated through his Twitter account that the band had a few more songs to record, and that the new album will be coming sooner than expected. He has also hinted towards there being a "Guillotine III: The Aftermath" track on the album, which was later confirmed as true.
During early recording, Max Green was questioned on Formspring about the band possibly changing record labels. Max responded by saying that he will reveal all of that at a later time. This would make the record the first to be released without Epitaph Records. On July 26, Escape The Fate confirmed that the new record will be released through major record label, DGC/Interscope Records. Craig Mabbitt stated that the band had no issues with Epitaph but the appeal to bring their music to a wider audience led to their signing with Interscope. The band was initially worried about switching but were pleased that neither the new label or the new producer wanted to change or control the band. "Interscope was hopping on board with us, instead of us hopping on board with Interscope." In the same press release, they have listed Don Gilmore as the album's producer, who has worked with bands such as Linkin Park
, Bullet For My Valentine
, and Hollywood Undead
. A November 2 release date was also confirmed. Speaking about the album, Max Green commented, "This record is the cure for the modern day music epidemic, We are wiping the slate clean and re-writing rock music as you know it.”
in 2008. Being able to completely form the writing and recording process with the current lineup for the first time, the band felt that the album would be a great representation for the band. This is due to the fact that when Mabbitt first joined the band, he felt very rushed to write a record and fit into an already established band. In addition, the debut on a major label also led to the band choosing to self-title the album. Lyrically, the album is heavier and darker than previous efforts, according to Mabbitt. In an interview, he explained the choice of direction for the album in that they were, "figuring out what we enjoy playing live, what we enjoy listening to on our record." Mabbitt feels that the past two albums have been working up to Escape the Fate and that this direction will continue with future releases. For writing, Craig Mabbitt expressed that he believes it is more important to focus on what the band enjoys doing rather than copying other bands for success. "[We] definitely could have been like, ‘Oh, let's throw another minute-long solo, let's do a chugga-chug here, let's scream over this, and let's sound like every other band and put the same song on the record ten times so that we have a one song, ten different track album.'... we just like to be very diverse..." On working with producer Don Gilmore, the band said that he helped them "find themselves" and continue to push different parts of the song until they formed a record they were satisfied with. Mabbitt also praised Gilmore for his ability to perfect the album without affecting their music. Commenting on the album, Mabbitt feels that "This record has the heaviest song the band has ever written, it has the softest ballad the band has ever written, it has the craziest solo Monte has ever written. The whole record just has everything in it."
For inspiration, Craig Mabbitt said that he drew experiences from many things, stating, "I wanted to write about every emotion that you can get from life, everything that kind of happens, every kind of story I've heard that really upset me." The track "Lost in Darkness" tells the story about one of Mabbitt's friends who was dragged out of her home and raped at gunpoint. Mabbitt stated that, "[She] was screaming for help and nobody helped her at all. Everybody just turned the other cheek. That was something that really struck me, and I see that happening a lot, just people not wanting to lend a helping hand to people when somebody is hurting... That's definitely where I went with that song." The second track, "Massacre", is about Mabbitt's past addictions and the things he did to overcome them. The ballad track "World Around Me" takes a broader view and was written about life in general. "[World Around Me is] about relationships with my ex and my child, everything accumulated into one song." The closing track, "The Aftermath (G3)", is the third song under the title of "The Guillotine" for Escape the Fate. The original Guillotine was sung by Ronnie Radke for Dying Is Your Latest Fashion
and was about the video game series Halo
. When Mabbitt joined, a sequel track entitled "This War Is Ours (The Guillotine Part II)" was included on This War Is Ours
and was also about Halo. However, the second Guillotine was written as well to relate to real-life soldiers in battle. For the self titled album, Mabbitt wrote a third Guillotine track but did not want to base it off of Halo again. Instead, he wrote a more personal track about his father who was in the military when Mabbitt was a child. "[The] chorus, ‘Now I'm coming home,' is an ode to my Dad and an ode to all the soldiers out there who are fighting a war for us and waiting to come home to their families." As a whole, Mabbitt feels that, "every track has a completely different underlying story to it."
Vocally, Mabbitt experimented for the self-titled album. On both tracks "Lost in Darkness" and "Liars and Monsters", a track that appears on the Deluxe Edition of the album, he sang at the lowest pitch he has done yet for a track. On the track "Zombie Dance", Mabbitt described the recording process and that he recorded five layers of vocal harmony for the final mix in addition to little sound effects. He explained it was difficult to achieve the high harmonies and right pitches right for all of the tracks. Another difficulty he experienced while recording was boosting the endings of songs for an epic feels. Despite this, Craig stated he enjoyed experimenting and that he "can't wait to keep on going back into the studio and experimenting on a ton of different things."
Rather than have eleven tracks for the regular version of the album, the band wanted to include both "Liars and Monsters" and "The Final Blow" from the deluxe edition on the album. The decision to put them as bonus tracks were encouraged to keep the length and tracks on the album to a manageable size. Mabbitt jokingly stated that the band recorded so much material, almost two albums worth, that he "just want[ed] to record everything and just release a 20 track album." There were at least six or seven tracks recorded that did not make the cut for the album. Two ballads and about five heavier songs were cut because the band had to decide "Which one is the strongest one? Which one do we have most vocals to? What's going to fit in the diversity of the record?" This was to give the fans variety rather than having a straight, one-genre record. On this, Mabbitt commented, "We could have thrown those songs on there and not put "World Around Me" or "Gorgeous Nightmare" or "Zombie Dance" or "Issues" or anything like that. It would have been more like a straightforward record. That's not what we like to do. We like to have a lot of that diversity in our sound." Another track, entitled "Dream" was fully recorded and mixed for the final cut of the album. Before finalizing, however, Monte Money decided to rerecord the guitar part with a lower tune to change the sound of the song. After rerecording, the band agreed they liked the original version better but the deadline for the record did not allow them to finish the song in time so they are going to keep it for a later release.
On August 28, the band released a new song called "Massacre" for download on their website, the song was later confirmed as a pre-album single. "Massacre" charted 19 in Rock Chart. The next single, titled "Issues
", was originally planned to be released on September 14 but was leaked early on KROQ Radio on September 9.
To promote the album, Escape the Fate will take on a US and Canada tour prior to releasing it, touring with Bullet for My Valentine
, Drive-A and Black Tide
.
On September 27 the band revealed the album cover exclusively through Artist Direct. The cover
contains the new "Escape The Fate" logo, as was previously shown on the singles "Massacre" and "Issues". Below the logo adorns the four band members profiles with scarred and mangled faces, all in front of a solid black backdrop. On October 2, the track list was released. On October 3, the band began playing the song "Day of Wreckoning" during live shows, the very first being at Toad's Place in Connecticut. On October 26 band began playing "City of Sin". On the 29th of October, the album was released in the United States by means of Pre-Order. On October 30, the band started streaming the regular edition of the album on their Myspace.
Craig has announced via an interview that the album's next single will be for the song "Zombie Dance". The band will record the video after they return from their European tour with Bullet for My Valentine
and hope to have it released before the holidays. Robert Ortiz has finished writing the script approximately in early November and Craig has hinted that he wants the music video to have a small dance scene, similar to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video.
Following Max Green's admittance to rehabilitation, the band decided to pull out of the rest of the European tour with Bullet for My Valentine to allow Green time to recover. Instead, to promote the album, the band will be headlining their own tour called "The Dead Masquerade Tour", a title stemming from a lyric in the track "Zombie Dance". The tour will begin in January 2011 and will feature supporting acts including: Alesana
, Motionless in White
, Get Scared and Drive-A. and Max Green will be back in time to begin touring.
Despite the second single being announced as "Zombie Dance", the band released a music video for "City of Sin" instead on December 15, 2010. This is due to Max Green still being in rehab, and therefore was unavailable to shoot a video. Still wanting to release a single before beginning their 2011 headlining tour, they released footage of a live concert inside a Las Vegas strip joint, similar to the format of the video for "This War Is Ours (The Guillotine II)", but with higher production value. The video also contains segments of strippers dancing around a stage, appealing to the title "City of Sin".
put to sale the Pre-order of the Deluxe Edition version of the new album. The deluxe edition has an alternative cover, will be in format CD, and in addition it is going to contain new material to the normal version. New material includes a digital booklet
and three new songs: "Liars And Monsters", and "The Final Blow", as well as a remixed version of "Issues". On the 29th of October, the deluxe edition of the album was released in the United States by means of Pre-Order, along with the standard edition pre-orders. Escape The Fate have released a stream of a remix of "Issues" from their new self-titled album. The deluxe edition of the album in the UK includes another remix track of "Issues" by British Synth band Does It Offend You, Yeah?
.
Escape the Fate
Additional musicians
Artwork and design
Production and recording
, selling around 18,000 copies in the first week. The bands' previous album, This War Is Ours
, was the best selling effort for them and had only sold 13,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 35 on the Billboard 200, making Escape The Fate their most successful record to date. In addition, their previous albums had not charted anywhere outside the United States and Canada. Their self titled album, while still unsuccessful outside North America, charted at number 58 on the Australian charts. The album being the band's most successful may be attributed to switching to a major record label, Interscope
, to promote the album.
On smaller charts, the album debuted at number 1 on both the U.S. Hard Rock and Top Tastemaker albums charts, number 3 on both the U.S. Top Alternative and Top Independent albums charts, and number 4 on the U.S. Top Rock albums. While previous albums by the band had charted on some of the same charts, Escape the Fate topped the position held by any before as well as it charted on more charts than others. During its second week, Escape The Fate fell to number 101 on the Billboard 200, selling around 5,740 copies, a disappointing 69% decrease in sales over their debut week. The album also dropped from number 4 to number 20 on U.S. Top Rock albums, from number 3 to number 11 on the U.S. Top Independent albums, and from number 3 to number 10 on the U.S. Top Alternative albums charts. The album managed to stay in the top 10 during its second week on the U.S. Top Hard Rock albums chart, dropping from a number 1 debut to the number 8 spot. In addition, the album completely dropped off of the U.S. Top Tastemaker albums chart by its second week from a number 1 debut.
As of January 15, 2011 the album has sold 50,379 copies in the United States.
Post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a genre of music that developed from hardcore punk, itself an offshoot of the broader punk rock movement. Like post-punk, post-hardcore is a term for a broad constellation of groups...
band Escape the Fate
Escape the Fate
Escape the Fate is an American post-hardcore band from Las Vegas, Nevada formed in 2005 and originally from Pahrump, Nevada. They have released three EPs and three full-length studio albums. Dying Is Your Latest Fashion was the band's debut album and only album to feature vocalist Ronnie Radke...
, the second with vocalist Craig Mabbitt
Craig Mabbitt
Craig Edward Mabbitt is an American musician. Currently the lead vocalist for the band Escape the Fate and formerly of the bands Blessthefall and The Word Alive.-Blessthefall:...
. It is the band's first album released on Interscope Records
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:...
following their departure from Epitaph
Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...
. It was released worldwide on November 2, 2010. The album charted 25 at Billboard 200, 1 at Hard Rock Albums, 4 in a Rock Albums, 3 in Alternative and Independent charts and 18 in Digital Albums Chart. Upon release, the album has received generally positive reviews, and is Escape the Fates most successful album to date.
Pre-production and production
Although they dropped Ronnie Radke because of his jail sentence, the band continued to move forward with former Blessthefall singer, Craig Mabbit.In an interview during Warped Tour 2009, bassist Max Green stated that the album will feature a song co-written by Mick Mars
Mick Mars
Mick Mars is the lead guitarist for American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe.-Career:After his family relocated from Indiana, to California, Bob Deal dropped out of high school and began playing guitar in a series of unsuccessful blues based rock bands throughout the seventies, taking on menial day...
of Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...
, who approached Escape the Fate to collaborate on some songs, but later was revealed that they decided against putting the song on the album and saving for a future release. Max Green also confirmed through Formspring that there will be a song co-written by guitarist John 5 of Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...
, later seen to be "Liars And Monsters".
On April 23, vocalist Craig Mabbitt stated via Twitter, "off to vegas today to finish out last minute badass demos with monte, then off to bamboozle, then studio time", giving the notion that the band will begin recording their studio album directly after Bamboozle
Bamboozle
Bamboozle! was a quiz game featured on Channel 4 Teletext in the United Kingdom. It was originally part of Teletext's "Fun & Games" category, though the rest of the category had been discontinued for some years before Bamboozle! ended...
, and release it mid/late Summer 2010. Soon after, Mabbitt stated through his Twitter account that the band had a few more songs to record, and that the new album will be coming sooner than expected. He has also hinted towards there being a "Guillotine III: The Aftermath" track on the album, which was later confirmed as true.
During early recording, Max Green was questioned on Formspring about the band possibly changing record labels. Max responded by saying that he will reveal all of that at a later time. This would make the record the first to be released without Epitaph Records. On July 26, Escape The Fate confirmed that the new record will be released through major record label, DGC/Interscope Records. Craig Mabbitt stated that the band had no issues with Epitaph but the appeal to bring their music to a wider audience led to their signing with Interscope. The band was initially worried about switching but were pleased that neither the new label or the new producer wanted to change or control the band. "Interscope was hopping on board with us, instead of us hopping on board with Interscope." In the same press release, they have listed Don Gilmore as the album's producer, who has worked with bands such as Linkin Park
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...
, Bullet For My Valentine
Bullet for My Valentine
Bullet for My Valentine are a Welsh heavy metal band from Bridgend, formed in 1998. The band is composed of Matt Tuck , Michael Paget , Jason James , and Michael Thomas . They were formed under the name Jeff Killed John and started their music career by covering songs by Metallica and Nirvana...
, and Hollywood Undead
Hollywood Undead
Hollywood Undead is an American rap rock band from Los Angeles, California. They released their debut album, Swan Songs, on September 2, 2008, and their live CD/DVD Desperate Measures, on November 10, 2009. Their second studio album, American Tragedy, was released April 5, 2011...
. A November 2 release date was also confirmed. Speaking about the album, Max Green commented, "This record is the cure for the modern day music epidemic, We are wiping the slate clean and re-writing rock music as you know it.”
Writing and recording
The band had been working on the album since the release of This War is OursThis War Is Ours
-CD:-Deluxe special edition:-Chart positions:-Personnel:This War Is Ours album personnel as listed on Allmusic.Band* Craig Mabbitt – lead vocals* Bryan Money – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustics guitars, keyboards, vocals...
in 2008. Being able to completely form the writing and recording process with the current lineup for the first time, the band felt that the album would be a great representation for the band. This is due to the fact that when Mabbitt first joined the band, he felt very rushed to write a record and fit into an already established band. In addition, the debut on a major label also led to the band choosing to self-title the album. Lyrically, the album is heavier and darker than previous efforts, according to Mabbitt. In an interview, he explained the choice of direction for the album in that they were, "figuring out what we enjoy playing live, what we enjoy listening to on our record." Mabbitt feels that the past two albums have been working up to Escape the Fate and that this direction will continue with future releases. For writing, Craig Mabbitt expressed that he believes it is more important to focus on what the band enjoys doing rather than copying other bands for success. "[We] definitely could have been like, ‘Oh, let's throw another minute-long solo, let's do a chugga-chug here, let's scream over this, and let's sound like every other band and put the same song on the record ten times so that we have a one song, ten different track album.'... we just like to be very diverse..." On working with producer Don Gilmore, the band said that he helped them "find themselves" and continue to push different parts of the song until they formed a record they were satisfied with. Mabbitt also praised Gilmore for his ability to perfect the album without affecting their music. Commenting on the album, Mabbitt feels that "This record has the heaviest song the band has ever written, it has the softest ballad the band has ever written, it has the craziest solo Monte has ever written. The whole record just has everything in it."
For inspiration, Craig Mabbitt said that he drew experiences from many things, stating, "I wanted to write about every emotion that you can get from life, everything that kind of happens, every kind of story I've heard that really upset me." The track "Lost in Darkness" tells the story about one of Mabbitt's friends who was dragged out of her home and raped at gunpoint. Mabbitt stated that, "[She] was screaming for help and nobody helped her at all. Everybody just turned the other cheek. That was something that really struck me, and I see that happening a lot, just people not wanting to lend a helping hand to people when somebody is hurting... That's definitely where I went with that song." The second track, "Massacre", is about Mabbitt's past addictions and the things he did to overcome them. The ballad track "World Around Me" takes a broader view and was written about life in general. "[World Around Me is] about relationships with my ex and my child, everything accumulated into one song." The closing track, "The Aftermath (G3)", is the third song under the title of "The Guillotine" for Escape the Fate. The original Guillotine was sung by Ronnie Radke for Dying Is Your Latest Fashion
Dying Is Your Latest Fashion
-Personnel:Dying Is Your Latest Fashion album personnel as listed on Allmusic.Escape the Fate* Ronnie Radke – lead vocals* Max Green – bass, vocals* Bryan "Monte" Money – lead guitar, vocals* Robert Ortiz – drums, percussion, vocals...
and was about the video game series Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
. When Mabbitt joined, a sequel track entitled "This War Is Ours (The Guillotine Part II)" was included on This War Is Ours
This War Is Ours
-CD:-Deluxe special edition:-Chart positions:-Personnel:This War Is Ours album personnel as listed on Allmusic.Band* Craig Mabbitt – lead vocals* Bryan Money – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustics guitars, keyboards, vocals...
and was also about Halo. However, the second Guillotine was written as well to relate to real-life soldiers in battle. For the self titled album, Mabbitt wrote a third Guillotine track but did not want to base it off of Halo again. Instead, he wrote a more personal track about his father who was in the military when Mabbitt was a child. "[The] chorus, ‘Now I'm coming home,' is an ode to my Dad and an ode to all the soldiers out there who are fighting a war for us and waiting to come home to their families." As a whole, Mabbitt feels that, "every track has a completely different underlying story to it."
Vocally, Mabbitt experimented for the self-titled album. On both tracks "Lost in Darkness" and "Liars and Monsters", a track that appears on the Deluxe Edition of the album, he sang at the lowest pitch he has done yet for a track. On the track "Zombie Dance", Mabbitt described the recording process and that he recorded five layers of vocal harmony for the final mix in addition to little sound effects. He explained it was difficult to achieve the high harmonies and right pitches right for all of the tracks. Another difficulty he experienced while recording was boosting the endings of songs for an epic feels. Despite this, Craig stated he enjoyed experimenting and that he "can't wait to keep on going back into the studio and experimenting on a ton of different things."
Rather than have eleven tracks for the regular version of the album, the band wanted to include both "Liars and Monsters" and "The Final Blow" from the deluxe edition on the album. The decision to put them as bonus tracks were encouraged to keep the length and tracks on the album to a manageable size. Mabbitt jokingly stated that the band recorded so much material, almost two albums worth, that he "just want[ed] to record everything and just release a 20 track album." There were at least six or seven tracks recorded that did not make the cut for the album. Two ballads and about five heavier songs were cut because the band had to decide "Which one is the strongest one? Which one do we have most vocals to? What's going to fit in the diversity of the record?" This was to give the fans variety rather than having a straight, one-genre record. On this, Mabbitt commented, "We could have thrown those songs on there and not put "World Around Me" or "Gorgeous Nightmare" or "Zombie Dance" or "Issues" or anything like that. It would have been more like a straightforward record. That's not what we like to do. We like to have a lot of that diversity in our sound." Another track, entitled "Dream" was fully recorded and mixed for the final cut of the album. Before finalizing, however, Monte Money decided to rerecord the guitar part with a lower tune to change the sound of the song. After rerecording, the band agreed they liked the original version better but the deadline for the record did not allow them to finish the song in time so they are going to keep it for a later release.
Release and promotion
On August 23, Escape The Fate updated their Myspace homepage with a new logo and some information about the new album. The band's new logo is to be featured on the cover of the album. Mabbitt has also stated on his twitter that the band has shot a music video for a new song.On August 28, the band released a new song called "Massacre" for download on their website, the song was later confirmed as a pre-album single. "Massacre" charted 19 in Rock Chart. The next single, titled "Issues
Issues (Escape the Fate song)
"Issues" is a single by Escape the Fate off of their 2010 self-titled album. It was released as a digital single on iTunes September 14, 2010. However, the song leaked early via KROQ Radio on September 9, 2010...
", was originally planned to be released on September 14 but was leaked early on KROQ Radio on September 9.
To promote the album, Escape the Fate will take on a US and Canada tour prior to releasing it, touring with Bullet for My Valentine
Bullet for My Valentine
Bullet for My Valentine are a Welsh heavy metal band from Bridgend, formed in 1998. The band is composed of Matt Tuck , Michael Paget , Jason James , and Michael Thomas . They were formed under the name Jeff Killed John and started their music career by covering songs by Metallica and Nirvana...
, Drive-A and Black Tide
Black Tide
Black Tide is an American heavy metal band from Miami, Florida. Formed in 2004, the group is currently signed to Interscope Records and is composed of Gabriel Garcia , Austin Diaz , Zachary Sandler , and Steven Spence...
.
On September 27 the band revealed the album cover exclusively through Artist Direct. The cover
contains the new "Escape The Fate" logo, as was previously shown on the singles "Massacre" and "Issues". Below the logo adorns the four band members profiles with scarred and mangled faces, all in front of a solid black backdrop. On October 2, the track list was released. On October 3, the band began playing the song "Day of Wreckoning" during live shows, the very first being at Toad's Place in Connecticut. On October 26 band began playing "City of Sin". On the 29th of October, the album was released in the United States by means of Pre-Order. On October 30, the band started streaming the regular edition of the album on their Myspace.
Craig has announced via an interview that the album's next single will be for the song "Zombie Dance". The band will record the video after they return from their European tour with Bullet for My Valentine
Bullet for My Valentine
Bullet for My Valentine are a Welsh heavy metal band from Bridgend, formed in 1998. The band is composed of Matt Tuck , Michael Paget , Jason James , and Michael Thomas . They were formed under the name Jeff Killed John and started their music career by covering songs by Metallica and Nirvana...
and hope to have it released before the holidays. Robert Ortiz has finished writing the script approximately in early November and Craig has hinted that he wants the music video to have a small dance scene, similar to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video.
Following Max Green's admittance to rehabilitation, the band decided to pull out of the rest of the European tour with Bullet for My Valentine to allow Green time to recover. Instead, to promote the album, the band will be headlining their own tour called "The Dead Masquerade Tour", a title stemming from a lyric in the track "Zombie Dance". The tour will begin in January 2011 and will feature supporting acts including: Alesana
Alesana
Alesana is an American rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2004, the group is currently signed to Epitaph Records and have released one EP and four full-length studio albums...
, Motionless in White
Motionless in White
Motionless in White is an American metalcore band from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Formed in 2005, the group is known for its dark horror-themed lyrics and physical appearances, that of which heavily correspond to gothic imagery. Motionless in White is currently signed to Fearless Records and have...
, Get Scared and Drive-A. and Max Green will be back in time to begin touring.
Despite the second single being announced as "Zombie Dance", the band released a music video for "City of Sin" instead on December 15, 2010. This is due to Max Green still being in rehab, and therefore was unavailable to shoot a video. Still wanting to release a single before beginning their 2011 headlining tour, they released footage of a live concert inside a Las Vegas strip joint, similar to the format of the video for "This War Is Ours (The Guillotine II)", but with higher production value. The video also contains segments of strippers dancing around a stage, appealing to the title "City of Sin".
Deluxe edition
On October 3, Amazon.comAmazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
put to sale the Pre-order of the Deluxe Edition version of the new album. The deluxe edition has an alternative cover, will be in format CD, and in addition it is going to contain new material to the normal version. New material includes a digital booklet
Digital booklet
Digital booklets are the digital equivalent of liner notes that often accompany digital music purchases. They are most commonly distributed in Portable Document Format. One well-known distributor of digital booklets with digital purchases is the iTunes Store; the first instance of this on the...
and three new songs: "Liars And Monsters", and "The Final Blow", as well as a remixed version of "Issues". On the 29th of October, the deluxe edition of the album was released in the United States by means of Pre-Order, along with the standard edition pre-orders. Escape The Fate have released a stream of a remix of "Issues" from their new self-titled album. The deluxe edition of the album in the UK includes another remix track of "Issues" by British Synth band Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Does It Offend You, Yeah? are a British electronic rock band from Reading, Berkshire.-History:Does It Offend You, Yeah? were formed in 2006 in Reading, UK by James Rushent and Dan Coop and soon joined by Rob Bloomfield and Morgan Quaintance....
.
Track listing
Personnel
Escape the Fate album personnel as listed on Allmusic.Escape the Fate
- Craig MabbittCraig MabbittCraig Edward Mabbitt is an American musician. Currently the lead vocalist for the band Escape the Fate and formerly of the bands Blessthefall and The Word Alive.-Blessthefall:...
– lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the... - Max Green – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Bryan "Monte" Money – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, vocals - Robert Ortiz – 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 ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, vocals
Additional musicians
- Leila Rose Frosinos-Mabbitt – vocals on Zombie Dance
- Jay GordonJay GordonJay Paul Gordon is a producer, journalist and lead singer of rock alternative band Orgy- Early life :Originally from the Excelsior District of San Francisco, California, Gordon is the vocalist in the synth-industrial band Orgy, which rose to prominence through their signing to Korn's fledgling...
– composer - John 5 – composer
- Michael Money – composer
- Bart Hendrickson – synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s, programmingProgramming (music)Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
Artwork and design
- P.R. Brown – art direction, photography
Production and recording
- Keith Armstrong – assistant engineeringAudio 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...
- Don Gilmore – productionRecord 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...
- Ted Jensen – 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...
- Nik Karpen – assistant engineering
- Mark Kiczula – 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....
– mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Monte Money – production
- Jackie Petri – A&R
- Andrew Schubert – mixing
- Les Scurry – production
- Jeff Sosnow – A&R
- Brad Townsend – mixing
Commercial
Escape the Fate debuted in the U.S. at number 25 on the Billboard 200Billboard 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 around 18,000 copies in the first week. The bands' previous album, This War Is Ours
This War Is Ours
-CD:-Deluxe special edition:-Chart positions:-Personnel:This War Is Ours album personnel as listed on Allmusic.Band* Craig Mabbitt – lead vocals* Bryan Money – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustics guitars, keyboards, vocals...
, was the best selling effort for them and had only sold 13,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 35 on the Billboard 200, making Escape The Fate their most successful record to date. In addition, their previous albums had not charted anywhere outside the United States and Canada. Their self titled album, while still unsuccessful outside North America, charted at number 58 on the Australian charts. The album being the band's most successful may be attributed to switching to a major record label, 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:...
, to promote the album.
On smaller charts, the album debuted at number 1 on both the U.S. Hard Rock and Top Tastemaker albums charts, number 3 on both the U.S. Top Alternative and Top Independent albums charts, and number 4 on the U.S. Top Rock albums. While previous albums by the band had charted on some of the same charts, Escape the Fate topped the position held by any before as well as it charted on more charts than others. During its second week, Escape The Fate fell to number 101 on the Billboard 200, selling around 5,740 copies, a disappointing 69% decrease in sales over their debut week. The album also dropped from number 4 to number 20 on U.S. Top Rock albums, from number 3 to number 11 on the U.S. Top Independent albums, and from number 3 to number 10 on the U.S. Top Alternative albums charts. The album managed to stay in the top 10 during its second week on the U.S. Top Hard Rock albums chart, dropping from a number 1 debut to the number 8 spot. In addition, the album completely dropped off of the U.S. Top Tastemaker albums chart by its second week from a number 1 debut.
As of January 15, 2011 the album has sold 50,379 copies in the United States.
Critical
Escape the Fate received generally positive reviews upon its release. The first review, by Sonic Shocks, gave the album a positive review, particularly praising the variety of the album. The reviewer complimented the sparse use of screaming vocals but questioned the choice of "Massacre" as the lead single, noting it as a generic song. The review proceeded to compliment the variety of tracks like "Gorgeous Nightmare" for its "surprising originality in [its] evident catchiness". Other tracks praised were "City of Sin" for having "post hardcore shakes hands with a more classic face of rock" as well as the track "Prepare Your Weapon" for a "heavy hint of epic metal".Chart positions
| Chart (2010) | 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... |
58 |
| 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... |
145 |
| US 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... |
25 |
| US Top Digital Albums | 18 |
| US Top Tastemaker Albums | 1 |
| US Top Hard Rock Albums | 1 |
| US Top Alternative Albums | 3 |
| US Top Rock Albums | 4 |
| US Top Independent Albums | 3 |
Chart procession and succession
CD
| Region | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Via pre-order USA | 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:... |
|
| Via pre-order | ||
| In stores USA | ||
| In stores UK & worldwide | ||