Keep Telling Myself It's Alright

Writing and recording

Billy Howerdel first started working off and on on solo material prior to the writing sessions for A Perfect Circles second album, Thirteenth Step, in 2003. Rough versions of three or four songs had been written during the era, including the track "Stripped Away, which was even played at soundchecks at A Perfect Circle concerts while supporting the album. Additionally, the A Perfect Circle demo "Army" was eventually reworked into Howerdel's own "The Stone". Shortly after Thirteenth Step, A Perfect Circle decided to quickly throw together a collection of anti-war cover songs just prior to the 2004 Presidential Elections, entitled Emotive. A Perfect Circle frontman and lead vocalist Maynard James Keenan pushed Howerdel to sing lead vocals on a few of the songs on Emotive to "get people used to your voice", and to help Howerdel transition to a role of primary singer in his solo work. Once Emotive was completed, A Perfect Circle went into hiatus, and Howerdel centered his focus around his solo work.

However, not long after starting this up, video game developer Naughty Dog contacted him to provide music for their racing video game Jak X. Howerdel would work on writing music for both projects concurrently, with some material going to the game's soundtrack, and others going toward his own release. For Jak X, the company requested twenty songs, far more than he was personally able to supply, so he recruited a number of musicians to help both with his tracks, and to provide their own tracks, for the game, including prior A Perfect Circle bandmates members Paz Lenchantin, Troy Van Leeuwen, Danny Lohner, and Josh Freese. The tracks "Ascension", "Migraine", "Fracture", "The Chopper", and "Death From Above" were all pulled to be used for Jak X, while, conversely, "Denial Waits", originally written for Jak X, was saved for the album, as Howerdel had worked out an agreement with Naughty Dog that tracks could be switched as such.

Upon completing the soundtrack for Jak X, Howerdel turned back to fully focus on his solo album again. Progress on the album continued to be slow, as Howerdel continued to find it difficult to work without collaborators, as he had with the last two albums with Keenan in A Perfect Circle. Inspired by the help he received from the Jak X sessions, Howerdel searched out for more collaborations, choosing to place Lohner as a co-producer of the album. This helped the sessions, as he frequently encouraged Howerdel to simplify songs and help him make up his mind. Howerdel also collaborated with a few other musicians in writing songs as well, including Lenchantin on "Denial Waits", Johnette Napolitano on "Too Late", and Matt Skiba on "The Prey". All drums were performed by Freese as well.

Sound and composition

Initially, Howerdel had intended to make an album vastly different from his work with A Perfect Circle, in fear that it sounding too similar would make it be perceived as a watered-down A Perfect Circle with a different lead singer. However, he found himself struggling, feeling his output to feel "forced" and not "genuine". While not deviating too far from A Perfect Circle's sound, Howerdel did make an effort to write songs at a faster tempo, while sounding "not so ominous".

Release and promotion

The album was released on April 8, 2008. Around the time of release, Howerdel assembled a live band to tour in support of the album, including Jonathan Radtke on guitar, Matt McJunkins on bass, Adam Monroe on keyboard, and Jeff Friedl on drums. The band toured with was featured on Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution 2008 tour, performing on the main stage.

Reception

Reception for the album was generally positive, with critics both praising and criticizing the works for sounding similar to A Perfect Circle. AllMusic had mixed feelings on the album, describing it as an "...ambitious and artistic work that mixes pensive lyrics with equally melancholy melodies. Unfortunately, it is also a decidedly hit or miss affair, alternating between aggression and melancholy in a mix that doesn't always work." and concluding that "his ability to create such an atmospheric work is impressive" but that "Instead of exploring new territory, he seems content in revisiting old successes". Crave Online praised it for going against the grain of stereotypical modern rock, stating that "With so many younger musicians going the route of vacant, stripped down party music, it’s shocking to hear something so artfully composed. Thankfully, Island Records has resisted the temptation to over-produce the hell out of Keep Telling Myself It’s Alright and has allowed a talented musician to deliver an album that captures the intelligent side of 80s Nostalgia for once."

Track listing

All tracks written by Billy Howerdel, except where noted.

Chart performance

The album debuted at number 36 in the U.S., selling 15,800 copies. "Keep Telling Myself It's Alright" has sold 61,000 copies to date according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Personnel