Skeletons (Hawthorne Heights album)

Promotion and release

Hawthorne Heights posted a blog through their MySpace profile stating that they had officially been signed to Wind-up Records, and had been writing and recording for a new record. The band revealed that while there is not a new member of the band and no replacement was made for Hawthorne Heights former vocalist, Casey Calvert, the new album would feature a new "screamer". While on tour, Hawthorne Heights announced that Micah Carli would now be providing vocals for the band.

As the album was being recorded, lead singer JT Woodruff and drummer Eron Bucciarelli named two songs from the record on several occasions, leading many to believe that they would be released as singles. Acoustic versions of the two songs were also said to have been recorded. The songs are entitled "Here I Am" and "Nervous Breakdown". "Nervous Breakdown" did become the first single from the album on March 23, 2010. On October 2, 2009, both Woodruff and Buicarelli posted updates on their Twitter pages saying that they had just finished gang vocals for the record. Woodruff stated "Just finished up doing gang vocals on a few songs. Return to hardcore!"

The band has expressed that the process of writing the music and lyrics to this album has been different from doing so for albums past. Woodruff states: "We had the luxury of time to sit around and think about what we wanted to do, which helped us create something new." Bucciarelli adds: "We wrote more songs for this album than ever before. We wrote over 30, then whittled them down to the absolute best ones. We took parts from some and added them to others and made a Frankenstein out of [th]em. We were always writing, re-writing, arranging and re-arranging. Howard Benson really pushed us in the song writing department to go against what we’ve done in the past." The final track listing for the album was publicly announced on February 5, 2010. Skeletons was released on June 1, 2010.

Songs and singles released

Reviews and reception

Skeletons has received generally positive reviews. A review on the AbsolutePunk website has stated that the album brings out "JT Woodruff’s best vocal performance yet," and is full of "killer choruses."

In an early review of the album, RoomThirteen.com gave the album a 12 out of 13 rating. They stated "For those who fell in love with Hawthorne Heights six years ago, ‘Skeletons’ will merely reaffirm their passion for a band that has survived so much in such a short time. For those who have yet to truly listen to the band, this is an album that will alter your perceptions."

Skeletons stylistically reverts to "music similar to their first two albums", although it has substantially less non-singing vocals. The album "refuses to stomp over old ground" by incorporating "electro" and "pop punk" elements into a few of the tracks. Other reviewers, though, criticize the album by calling it "safe", and saying that it doesn't take any "deviations from the beaten path."

2009 Never Sleep Again tour

On October 14, an e-mail about a nationwide 2009 tour was sent out to the Hawthorne Heights official mailing list. The e-mail stated:

Not all of the bands mentioned ended up joining Hawthorne Heights for the 2009 Never Sleep Again tour. Anarbor declined the offer in order to focus on the recording of their debut album The Words You Don't Swallow. Likewise, Punchline declined and was replaced with The Story Changes, a rock band that formed in Dayton, Ohio, the same city Hawthorne Heights originated in.

Fans had a chance to hear two songs from the upcoming album during this tour, however. As promised, download cards for the song "Unforgivable" were distributed while on tour. In addition, "End of the Underground," which was originally going to be included as a track on the band's previous album, was performed live. On Skeletons, "Unforgivable" became track number 12, and "End of the Underground" became track number 3.

Album title

The album's title is not taken from any of the tracks' titles, or even lyrical content on the album (although "End of the Underground" does make lyrical references to skeletons); instead, JT Woodruff explained:

Thus, the album was given the name Skeletons.

Track listing

All lyrics written by JT Woodruff; all music composed by Hawthorne Heights.

Personnel