I Hope You're Happy

I Hope You're Happy is the ninth studio album by American band Blue October, released on August 17, 2018 on Up/Down and Brando Records.[2][3][4]

I Hope You're Happy
Studio album by
Blue October
ReleasedAugust 17, 2018
GenreRock[1]
LabelUp/Down, Brando
ProducerJustin Furstenfeld
Blue October chronology
Home
(2016)		 I Hope You're Happy
(2018)		 Live From Manchester
(2019)
Singles from I Hope You're Happy
  1. "I Hope You're Happy"
    Released: January 12, 2018
  2. "Daylight"
    Released: 2018
  3. "How to Dance In Time"
    Released: February 1, 2019
  4. "King"
    Released: 2019

The album peaked at number 28 on the Billboard 200.

Development and promotion

The album was crowdsourced, like all of their albums from Any Man in America (2011) onwards. For this album, Blue October hosted its crowdsourcing campaign independently.[5] The album was recorded during the winter of 2017–2018 at Justin Furstenfeld's Up/Down Studios. Although Furstenfeld had co-produced every Blue October album since 2006's Foiled, I Hope You're Happy marks the first Blue October album which Furstenfeld completely produced without any outside co-producers. The first single from the album, the title track, was released January 12, 2018.[6]

The song "I Hope You're Happy" was the first to be recorded for the album, and was fully mixed and mastered by the end of 2017 in order to push it to radio in early 2018. As of May 2018, the song has reached number 17 on the Mediabase alternative rock chart.[7] A video for the song was released February 22, 2018. The remainder of the album wrapped up recording in mid-January 2018, with overdubs and early mixing occurring on Justin Furstenfeld's tour bus for his one-man show to promote his Open Book Winter Album in January–February 2018. Final mixing by Tim Palmer and Eric Holtz occurred in March and April 2018, and the album was mastered in mid-April 2018. "Daylight" is described as edgy and full of energy, and "I Want to Come Back Home" is described as a pop-y song with a kicking beat for a song with sad lyrics.[8]

Critical reception
  • James Christopher Monger of Allmusic found I Hope You're Happy to be "[s]teeped in optimism", providing "lush electronic flourishes, sumptuous string arrangements, feel-good choruses, and big, arena-sized hooks".[9]
  • Kyle Kohner of Riff Magazine described the album as "an earnest attempt at spreading positivity", remarking on the dramatic difference in both the lyrics and "glossy" new sound of I Hope You're Happy compared with their earlier work. Kohner also noted the album's "fun riffs", "catchy" choruses, and "clean and crisp" mixing, as well as the "blissful orchestral atmosphere" and prominent use of strings, synths, and drum machine. Although he found the lyrics to sometimes be simplistic, overall Kohner liked the album and felt that it had an "inspiring" backstory.[10]
  • Yvonne Glasgow of Side Stage Magazine gave the album five stars, commenting that "I Hope You're Happy" has a "creative edge that borders on gothic darkness and synth pop" and yet is consistent with "today’s pop and rock stylings". She also felt that although Blue October's sound had changed somewhat over time, even the album's more pop-oriented songs have some of the edge found in their older work, and that there is "still something deeper here, even in the love songs". She described the album's songs as "lyrically magnificent", and felt that readers should "expect to be inspired" when listening to the album.[8]

Track listing

Track listing adapted from Allmusic[11]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Daylight"Justin Furstenfeld, Matt Noveskey, Dwight Baker3:41
2."Your Love Is Like a Car Crash"Justin Furstenfeld, Dwight Baker5:20
3."I Want to Come Back Home"Justin Furstenfeld, Dwight Baker, Ryan Delahoussaye, Zayra Alvarez5:12
4."I'll Do Me, You Do You"Justin Furstenfeld, Dwight Baker3:44
5."I Hope You're Happy"Justin Furstenfeld, Steve Schiltz3:52
6."Colors Collide"Justin Furstenfeld, Steve Schiltz4:13
7."Remission in Cmaj"Justin Furstenfeld2:35
8."How to Dance in Time"Justin Furstenfeld, Blue Miller5:27
9."King"Justin Furstenfeld, Ryan Delahoussaye, Eric Holtz3:46
10."Let Forever Mean Forever"Justin Furstenfeld, Matthew Ostrander4:09
11."All That We Are"Justin Furstenfeld, Matthew Ostrander, Steve Schiltz5.35
12."Further Dive (The House That Dylan Built)"Justin Furstenfeld, Matthew Ostrander9:08
Total length:56:42

Personnel
  • Justin Furstenfeld – vocals, guitar, producer
  • Jeremy Furstenfeld – drums
  • Matthew Ostrander – guitar
  • Matt Noveskey – bass
  • Ryan Delahoussaye – violin, keyboards
  • Will Knaak - guitar (track 9)
  • Collin Shook – keyboard
  • Steve Schiltz – guitar
  • Eric Holtz – engineering, mixing
  • Tim Palmer – mixing
  • Mark Needham – mixing (tracks 1, 5)
  • Damien Lewis - mixing (tracks 4, 8, 10)
  • Phil Tan – mixing (tracks 2, 3, 9, 11, 12)
  • Chris Barber – album art, photography
  • Tim Beck – album art
  • Marshall Breedlove - assistant engineer
  • Colin Leonard - mastering

Charts
Chart (2018) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[12] 28
US Digital Albums (Billboard)[13] 7
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[14] 2
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[15] 7
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[16] 3
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[17] 4

I Hope You're Happy

"I Hope You're Happy" was released as the album's lead single on January 12, 2018. The song peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart, at number 15 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, and at number 35 on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart. The official video for the song was released on February 22, 2018, and has 4.5 million views as of April 2019.[18][19]

Weekly charts
Chart (2018) Peak
position
US Billboard Adult Top 40[20] 35
US Billboard Alternative Songs[21] 15
US Billboard Digital Song sales[22] 34
US Billboard Hot Rock Songs[23] 13
US Billboard Rock Airplay[24] 22
US Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales[25] 7
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gollark: Well, that seems fine, people mostly have phones now.
gollark: It seems like bad design to make it so that you need ridiculously secure devices to hold keys instead of just making it so that the user actually explicitly authorizes transactions somehow.
gollark: What if your finger slips and you accidentally wipe your device? What if they just backup the thing before having you unlock it?
gollark: Well, you have 10 fingers, so that isn't a very high bar.

References
  1. Oberlin, David (August 17, 2018). "Blue October – I Hope You're Happy Review". soundscapemagazine.com. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  2. Frometa, RJ (June 5, 2018). "Blue October Announces Ninth Studio Album "I Hope You're Happy," Out August 17th via Up/Down-Brando Records". Vents Magazine. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  3. "I Hope You're Happy – Blue October – Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  4. Graff, Gary. "Blue October Branches Into New Territory With 'Your Love Is Like a Car Crash': Premiere". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  5. "Blue October teams up with fans to create new record 'I Hope You're Happy'". The Spokesman-Review. June 14, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  6. Emmons, Toney (February 24, 2018). "Interview - Justin Furstenfeld - Blue October: A Dark Mind But A Bigger Heart". New-transcendence.com.
  7. "Alternative Past 7 Days - by Overall Rank". Mediabase. May 9, 2018.
  8. Glasgow, Yvonne (July 16, 2018). "Blue October's I Hope You're Happy". Side Stage Magazine. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  9. Monger, James Christopher. "AllMusic Review - Blue October - I Hope You're Happy". Allmusic. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  10. Kohner, Kyle (August 16, 2018). "ALBUM REVIEW: Blue October's I Hope You're Happy is flawed yet endearing". riffmagazine.com. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  11. "Blue October - I Hope You're Happy". Allmusic. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  12. "Blue October Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  13. "Blue October Chart History (Digital Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  14. "Blue October Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  15. "Blue October Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  16. "Blue October Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  17. "Blue October Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  18. Munro, Scott (February 26, 2018). "Blue October share video for new track I Hope You're Happy". Louder. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  19. "Blue October - I Hope You're Happy". VEVO. February 22, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  20. "Adult Top 40 - Billboard". Billboard. December 15, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  21. "Alternative Songs - Billboard". Billboard. June 23, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  22. "Digital Song Sales - Billboard". Billboard. December 15, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  23. "Hot Rock Songs - Billboard". Billboard. January 27, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  24. "Rock Airplay - Billboard". Billboard. June 16, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  25. "Rock Digital Song Sales - Billboard". Billboard. January 27, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
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