Ocean Avenue (album)

Ocean Avenue is the fourth studio album by American rock band Yellowcard. The album was the band's major-label debut and brought them to prominence. It was a commercial success in the United States, led by titular hit single "Ocean Avenue". The album received generally positive reviews from music critics and has been certified platinum in sales by the RIAA and gold by the CRIA. It was produced by Neal Avron, and released on July 22, 2003 through Capitol Records.

Ocean Avenue
Studio album by Yellowcard
Released	July 22, 2003
Recorded	February – March 2003
Studio	Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California
Genre	Pop punk[1]
Length	47:26
Label	Capitol
Producer	Neal Avron
Yellowcard chronology
The Underdog EP (2002) Ocean Avenue (2003) Lights and Sounds (2006)
Singles from Ocean Avenue
"Way Away" Released: October 27, 2003 "Ocean Avenue" Released: February 24, 2004 "Only One" Released: January 25, 2005

The song Breathing appeared on the soundtracks of Burnout 3: Takedown and FlatOut 2. The song Way Away appeared on the soundtrack of SSX 3.

Release

Between mid-July and early August 2003, the group appeared on the Warped Tour.[2] "Way Away" was released to radio on July 22.[3] It was released as an enhanced CD in some countries. The enhanced CD includes a video entitled "The Making of Ocean Avenue" and a previously unreleased video of the song "Powder" (from The Underdog EP). Following the end of the band's stint on the Warped Tour in August, the band went on a club tour in the US, followed by a few radio show appearances.[4] Ocean Avenue" was released to radio on December 16.[3] In March and April 2004, the band went on a co-headlining US tour with Something Corporate, with support from Steriogram and the Format.[5] After appearing at the main stage on Warped Tour, the band performed at the MTV Video Music Awards.[6]

In 2005, the album was released as a Special Edition in Malaysia, with live videos and music videos. The album was re-released on limited edition vinyl in 2011. In 2013, the band released an acoustic version of the album, Ocean Avenue Acoustic, in honor of the album's tenth anniversary.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Drowned in Sound	2/10[8]
Entertainment Weekly	C[9]
IGN	8.7/10[10]
Melodic	[11]
Punknews.org	[12]
Sputnikmusic	[13]

Ocean Avenue sold 11,000 copies in its first week in the U.S., debuting at No. 99, and later peaked at #23. It is Yellowcard's most successful album and was certified Platinum by the RIAA on July 14, 2004,[14] and has sold 1.8 million copies in the U.S.[15]

The acoustic version released on its 10th anniversary debuted at No. 53 on Billboard 200, with 7,000 copies sold, 4,000 of which are downloads.[15]

The music video for "Ocean Avenue" was nominated for Best New Artist in a Video and MTV2 Award at the MTV Video Music Awards.[6] The album was included at number 50 on Rock Sound's "The 51 Most Essential Pop Punk Albums of All Time" list.[16] BuzzFeed included the album at number 27 on their "36 Pop Punk Albums You Need To Hear Before You F——ing Die" list.[17] The song "Ocean Avenue" is also featured on the Billboard's list, "100 Greatest Choruses of the 21st Century".

Track listing

All lyrics written by Ryan Key, all music composed by Yellowcard and Pete Mosely.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Way Away"	3:22
2.	"Breathing"	3:39
3.	"Ocean Avenue"	3:18
4.	"Empty Apartment"	3:37
5.	"Life of a Salesman"	3:19
6.	"Only One"	4:18
7.	"Miles Apart"	3:32
8.	"Twentythree"	3:28
9.	"View from Heaven"	3:22
10.	"Inside Out"	3:40
11.	"Believe"	4:31
12.	"One Year, Six Months"	3:29
13.	"Back Home"	3:56
Total length:		47:26

Japanese bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
14.	"Firewater"	3:18
15.	"Hey Mike"	4:00
16.	"Way Away" (Acoustic version)	3:52
17.	"Avondale" (Acoustic version)	3:35

Personnel

Adapted credits from the liner notes of Ocean Avenue.[18]

Yellowcard Ryan Key – lead vocals, guitar, bass (track 6) Sean Mackin – violin, vocals, lead vocals (track 8) Ben Eric Harper – lead guitar Longineu W. Parsons III – drums, percussion Additional musicians Peter Mosely – bass (all tracks except track 6), piano, vocals Alieka Wijnveldt – vocals (track 9) Artwork Sasha Eisenman – photography Brittany Nash – model Tait Hawes – design Additional personnel Christine Choi – cello (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6 and 11) Rodney Wirtz – viola (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6 and 11) Sean Mackin – string arrangement Neal Avron – string arrangement

Technical and production Neal Avron – producer, engineering Ryan Castle – assistant engineer Travis Huff – assistant engineer Tom Lord-Alge – mixing Femio Hernandez – mixing assistant Ted Jensen – mastering Managerial Louie Bandak – A&R Ron Laffitte – A&R Arthur Spivak – worldwide management Deborah Klein – worldwide management Ian Montone – legal representation Corrie Christopher – booking

Charts

Album Chart (2004) Peak position New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[19] 8 UK Albums Chart 149 US Billboard 200[20] 23 Singles Year Single Chart Position 2003 "Way Away" US Modern Rock Tracks 15 UK Singles Chart 63 2004 "Ocean Avenue" US Billboard Hot 100 37 US Modern Rock Tracks 21 US Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks 22 US Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) 13 UK Singles Chart 65 2005 "Only One" US Modern Rock Tracks 15 US Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) 28

Certifications Country Certification Sales Canada Gold[21] 50,000+ United States Platinum[22] 1,800,000[15]

References

Citations

1. "THE 50 GREATEST POP-PUNK ALBUMS EVER". Kerrang!. December 4, 2015. Archived from the original on December 9, 2015.
2. "Final Band List Announced". Warped Tour. February 6, 2003. Archived from the original on October 3, 2003. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
3. "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
4. IGN Staff (August 4, 2003). "Yellowcard Tour Dates". IGN. Archived from the original on September 24, 2006. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
5. Heisel, Scott (March 7, 2004). "Yellowcard/Something Corporate co-headlining tour". Punknews.org. Aubin Paul. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
6. IGN Staff (July 28, 2004). "Yellowcard Invades VMA's". IGN. Archived from the original on September 21, 2006. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
7. AllMusic review
8. Lancaster, Nick (June 4, 2004). "Album Review: Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on June 28, 2004. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
9. Caramanica, Joe (July 25, 2003). "Ocean Avenue Review". Entertainment Weekly: 72. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
10. Madsen, Nick (August 5, 2003). "Ocean Avenue". IGN. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
11. Roth, Kaj (August 23, 2003). "Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue". Melodic. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
12. Punknews.org review Archived 2009-07-11 at the Wayback Machine
13. Sputnikmusic review
14. "American album certifications – Yellowcard – Ocean Avenue". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
15. Caulfield, Keith (August 23, 2013). "Chart Moves: Washed Out, Valerie June Debut on Billboard 200, Wild Feathers Fly In at No. 1 on Heatseekers". Billboard.biz. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013.
16. Bird, ed. 2014, p. 69
17. Sherman, Maria; Broderick, Ryan (July 2, 2013). "36 Pop Punk Albums You Need To Hear Before You F----ing Die". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on January 17, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
18. Ocean Avenue (liner notes). Yellowcard. Capitol. 2003. 7243 5 39844 2 7.CS1 maint: others (link)
19. "Charts.nz – Yellowcard – Ocean Avenue". Hung Medien.
20. "Yellowcard Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
21. "Music Canada Certification". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 2017-09-30. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
22. "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - June 28, 2013: Yellowcard certified albums". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 19, 2010.

Sources

• Bird, Ryan, ed. (September 2014). "The 51 Most Essential Pop Punk Albums of All Time". Rock Sound. London: Freeway Press Inc. (191). ISSN 1465-0185.

External links

• Ocean Avenue at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)