In Defense of the Genre

In Defense of The Genre is the third full-length studio album by American pop-punk band Say Anything. The album artwork was provided by Jeff Smith, an artist primarily known for his work on the Bone comic series.

In Defense of The Genre
Studio album by
Say Anything
ReleasedOctober 23, 2007
RecordedMarch 2006 – September 2007 at Electric Lady Studios in New York City and Seagrass Studios in California
GenreEmo, indie rock, alternative rock, pop punk, post-hardcore
Length89:21
LabelJ
ProducerBrad Wood
Say Anything chronology
...Is a Real Boy
(2004)		 In Defense of The Genre
(2007)		 Say Anything
(2009)
Singles from In Defense of the Genre
  1. "Baby Girl, I'm a Blur"
    Released: October 2, 2007
  2. "Shiksa (Girlfriend)"
    Released: 2008
  3. "Skinny, Mean Man"
    Released: 2008
  4. "Spores"
    Released: 2008

Background

Writing and plans for In Defense of the Genre began in March 2006 during Say Anything's extensive touring and promotion for the reissue of their previous effort, …Is a Real Boy. The band started rehearsing and piecing together the album through pre-production the next year in January 2007, until the record was finally completed half a year later in September.[1] Max Bemis described in an interview that the record is more focused on "observations of other people", unlike ...Is a Real Boy's lyrical content revolving solely on Bemis and his problems.[2] The record "picks up in my life where [...Is a Real Boy] left off because it is very autobiographical, even more so than the last record. Musically, it's different, more mature and somewhat more cohesive and poppy, but darker in a whole different way."[3]

It's the story of being alone and losing my mind and then overcoming that event by learning to trust and let go of that anger and fall in love for the first time. It's also about losing that love and the confusion that entails after, and the nature of first love; discovering what you really want whether it be to give yourself totally to someone or explore the endless abyss and risk losing your mind again and that love.

— Bemis, on the concept of In Defense of the Genre

The album features 23 individual guest vocalists and musicians, including Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Pete Yorn, Anna Waronker, Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday, Aaron Gillespie of Underoath and The Almost, Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio, and Hayley Williams of Paramore. Additional instrumentation was handled by DJ Swamp and Casey Prestwood, who contributed on turntable and pedal steel guitar, respectively.[4] The December issue of Alternative Press reported that Jesse Lacey of Brand New chose not to collaborate. In December 2007, Absolutepunk.net made a three-part video series showing an in-depth look at the recording of In Defense of the Genre.[5][6][7]

Release

On September 19, 2007, fans could pre-order an autographed copy of the album with an optional Say Anything T-shirt.[8] An extra booklet was packaged with the CDs, autographed by Bemis, Alex Kent, and Jeff Turner.

On the same day, "Shiksa" was posted on the group's Myspace page.[9] On October 8, "People Like You Are Why People Like Me Exist" was posted on the group's PureVolume profile.[10] Two days later, "Spores" was posted on the band's Myspace page.[11]

In Defense of the Genre was released on October 23 through J Records as a double disc album.[12]

In October and November, the group co-headlined the Myspace Music Tour with Hellogoodbye. They were supported by Polysics[13] and Young Love.[14]

"Baby Girl, I'm a Blur" was released to radio on November 6.[15]

In March and April 2008, the band went on a headlining tour of the US with Manchester Orchestra, Biffy Clyro and Weatherbox as supports.[16]

On April 9, a music video was released for "Shiksa (Girlfriend)".[17] Between June and August, the band performed on the 2008 edition of Warped Tour.[18]

In February and March 2009, the band toured Australia as part of the Soundwave festival.[19]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79%
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk.net(96%) link
Allmusic link
Alternative Press link
The A.V. Club(B+) link
Blender link
Entertainment Weekly(A-) link
Kerrang!
Spin link
Sputnikmusic link
Rolling Stone link

In Defense of the Genre was well received by most critics, averaging a 79% on Metacritic.[20] Entertainment Weekly gave the album an A-, noting that the album's "sonic twists almost always work". Alternative Press gave the album a 4.5/5 and stated that Max Bemis created an album musicians "more than twice his age could only hope to create." Blender, in a 4/5 review, called it a "mess" but an "exhilarating one."[21][22][23]

In more mixed reviews, PopMatters noted that the wide variety of styles was a "gift and curse at the same time". Rolling Stone said "When Bemis is on... his songs are tuneful and invigorating."[24][25][26]

It debuted at number 27 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 25,000 copies in its first week.[27]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Max Bemis; all music is composed by Max Bemis, Coby Linder and Alex Kent.

Disc One
No.TitleGuest vocalist(s)Length
1."Skinny, Mean Man"Pete Yorn3:33
2."No Soul" (contains a portion of the composition "Juicy Fruit", originally written by James Mtume; features DJ Swamp on turntables)Anna Waronker3:36
3."That Is Why" 4:13
4."Surgically Removing the Tracking Device"Adam Lazzara, Fred Mascherino2:30
5."This Is Fucking Ecstasy"Anthony Raneri2:39
6."The Church Channel"Hayley Williams3:04
7."Shiksa (Girlfriend)"Caithlin De Marrais3:38
8."Baby Girl, I'm a Blur" 4:19
9."Retarded in Love" (features Casey Prestwood on pedal steel guitar)Chris Carrabba, Michael Auerbach3:06
10."People Like You Are Why People Like Me Exist"Trever Keith3:28
11."Died a Jew" 2:29
12."An Insult to the Dead" (Additional arrangement by Joshua Sultan) 4:09
13."Sorry, Dudes. My Bad."Chris Conley2:43
Disc Two
No.TitleGuest vocalist(s)Length
1."Spay Me" 3:13
2."In Defense of the Genre"Gerard Way4:02
3."The Truth Is, You Should Lie with Me"Joshua Sultan2:31
4."The Word You Wield" 3:50
5."Vexed" 2:39
6."About Falling"Matt Skiba, Laura Kirsch4:13
7."You're the Wanker, If Anyone Is"Jordan Pundik, Chad Gilbert, Aaron Gillespie3:22
8."Spores" 2:49
9."We Killed It"Andy Jackson1:53
10."Have at Thee!" 3:03
11."Hangover Song"Anthony Green0:58
12."Goodbye Young Tutor, You've Now Outgrown Me" 4:20
13."I Used to Have a Heart" 4:17
14."Plea"Hayley Williams and Kenny Vasoli4:31

Personnel

Album personnel

Tour personnel
  • Jake Turner – backing vocals, guitar
  • Jeff Turner – backing vocals, guitar
  • Parker Case – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
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gollark: Or the RWTema-gets-free-stuff-upon-login feature.
gollark: Can't disable GP.

References
  1. "Say Anything Finish new Album". AbsolutePunk.net.
  2. "Say Anything Eyes Early 2007 For New CD". Billboard.
  3. "Interview: Say Anything (Max Bemis) - 06.19.07". AbsolutePunk.net.
  4. "Rock Veterans Guest On New Say Anything Album". Billboard.
  5. "ABSOLUTExclusive: Say Anything Video Series (Part 1 Of 3)". AbsolutePunk.net.
  6. "ABSOLUTExclusive: Say Anything Video Series (Part 2 Of 3)". AbsolutePunk.net.
  7. "ABSOLUTExclusive: Say Anything Video Series (Part 3 Of 3)". AbsolutePunk.net.
  8. "Pre Order In Defense of The Genre!". Say Anything. Archived from the original on 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  9. "Say Anything post "Shiksa" on MySpace". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. October 2, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  10. "Say Anything post new song on Purevolume". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. October 8, 2007. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
  11. "Say Anything post "Spores" on MySpace". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. October 10, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  12. "Say Anything to Release Full-Length this October". AbsolutePunk.net.
  13. "Hellogoodbye and Say Anything to co-headline MySpace tour". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. August 29, 2007. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  14. "Young Love added to MySpace tour; date-by-date breakdown". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. September 11, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  15. "AllAccess.com Alternative eWeekly". AllAccess. October 30, 2007. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  16. "Say Anything plot tour w/Manchester Orchestra, Weatherbox". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. January 14, 2008. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  17. "Say Anything release "Shiksa" music video". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. April 9, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  18. "Venues for Warped Tour 2008 revealed". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. March 12, 2008. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  19. Hutton, Sarah (September 23, 2008). "Soundwave Line-up 2009". FasterLouder. Junkee Media. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  20. Say Anything: In Defense Of The Genre (2007): Reviews
  21. "Music Review: In Defense of the Genre, by Say Anything". Entertainment Weekly. October 19, 2007.
  22. [Dec 2007 p. 189 Say Anything: In Defense Of The Genre (2007): Reviews]
  23. Say Anything: In Defense Of The Genre (2007): Reviews Archived 2009-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
  24. Say Anything: In Defense Of The Genre (2007): Reviews
  25. Say Anything: In Defense Of The Genre (2007): Reviews
  26. Say Anything: In Defense Of The Genre (2007): Reviews
  27. "Underwood Leads Three Country Debuts Onto Chart". Katie Hasty.
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