Length 43:33 | Label Lava, Atlantic | |
Released February 12, 2008
(see release dates below) Recorded July–September 2007 in New York, US and Montreal, Canada Genre Alternative rock, pop punk Producer Dave Fortman, Danja, Max Martin | ||
Simple Plan is the self-titled third studio album by Canadian rock band Simple Plan, released on February 12, 2008. The album was a large musical departure from the band's previous albums, as its theme was more love-based than teen angst. It reached No. 2 on the Canadian album charts, No. 14 on the US Billboard 200 and charted in the top 10 worldwide in countries including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Sweden and Switzerland.
Contents
History
Having finished most touring in support of Still Not Getting Any... in March 2006, Simple Plan took some time off and then began work on writing new material with Arnold Lanni, who had produced their first album. On July 1, 2007, they went to the studio and began tracking. They started with drum tracking in Los Angeles after pre-production, then went back to Montreal to finish the rest of the recording process. They also hired David Campbell to arrange and conduct strings for the songs "The End", "What If", "I Can Wait Forever" and "No Love". During September 2007, the band had finished recording and went back to L.A. to mix the album with Chris Lord-Alge. After mixing, the band went to New York to master the album, thus finishing the building of the album. This was announced on October 21.
The CD was originally set for release on January 29, 2008. However, on November 29, 2007, the band announced a two weeks' delay due to production difficulties, and the need to re-record some lyrics from the song "Generation". The released version of "Generation" would be considerably different from that distributed on the review copies of the CD, with the latter beginning "This world's so sad and lonely/Won't you come and spend some time with me?"
An album cover was released in early December 2007. Soon afterwards, in his MySpace blog, band frontman Pierre Bouvier responded to fan concerns about the cover, defending the artwork. However, on December 12, the band released a second proposed album cover, and invited fan views by email about each, indicating (despite Bouvier's earlier comments) that they were fine with either cover. On December 14, 2007, the alternative cover depicted above was announced as selected over the original one depicted below. In April 2008, the rejected CD was released as a limited-edition CD cover in Australia.
"Your Love Is a Lie" was first publicly performed at a taping for YouTube on December 18, 2007. All the songs on the CD, except "Holding On" were played at a small show in Montreal on January 11, 2008.
The album would also be nominated for the 2008 Juno Awards in the "Best Album" category, but lost to Nickelback's Dark Horse.
The album took more of an alternative rock sound than their previous albums, which usually feature a pop punk style. However pop punk influences are present in the tracks, "When I'm Gone", "Take My Hand", "Generation" and "Time to Say Goodbye".
Singles and notable songs
Track listing
All music composed by Simple Plan and lyricists.