Bleed American

Bleed American
A collection of bowling trophies sitting on top of a cigarette machine
Studio album by Jimmy Eat World
Released July 24, 2001 (2001-07-24)
Studio Cherokee, Los Angeles
Harddrive, North Hollywood
Genre
Length 46:38
Label DreamWorks
Producer
Jimmy Eat World chronology
Singles
(2000)		 Bleed American
(2001)		 Futures
(2004)
Singles from Bleed American
  1. "Bleed American"
    Released: September 24, 2001
  2. "The Middle"
    Released: November 5, 2001
  3. "Sweetness"
    Released: June 3, 2002
  4. "A Praise Chorus"
    Released: October 8, 2002

Bleed American is the fourth studio album by American rock band Jimmy Eat World, released on July 24, 2001, by DreamWorks Records. Originally released as Bleed American, it was re-released as Jimmy Eat World following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., which took place less than two months after its initial release.

The album was recorded with producer Mark Trombino in Los Angeles. The musical style was more direct and accessible than its predecessor, Clarity (1999), and received great commercial success. Bleed American yielded four singles: "Bleed American", "The Middle", "Sweetness", and "A Praise Chorus"; each managed to enter the top twenty of at least one US chart. The most successful was "The Middle", which reached the number-one spot on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number five on the Billboard Hot 100. In March 2002, Bleed American was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and it was certified platinum that August after its sales reached over one million copies. As of September 2016, the album has sold over 1.6 million copies.

On April 29, 2008, Geffen Records released a deluxe edition containing the original album and other bonus material. The deluxe edition included several B-sides, acoustic versions, live tracks, demos and unreleased songs. The album's title and title track were restored to Bleed American.

Background

In February 1999, Jimmy Eat World released their third studio album, Clarity, through Capitol Records. The label started to shelve the album until a few key radio stations started playing the song "Lucky Denver Mint." After Capitol Records decided not to release their next major-label album, the band left the label.[1] At that time, Jimmy Eat World distributed their albums independently while on tour in Europe.[2] Drummer Zach Lind recalled that the label "really didn’t believe in us. But in a way, that was sort of a good thing, because it let us take control of what we needed to do. We learned we had to do it ourselves, because no one else would do it for us."[3]

In August 2000, Jimmy Eat World released the compilation album Singles through the independent label Big Wheel Recreation, which included B-sides and unreleased songs from the band up to that point.[1] Later that year, they returned to Europe on tour, where Clarity was enjoying some success, especially in Germany.[1][4] After this tour, they launched a new split, this time with Jebediah.[1]

Recording

Recording sessions began shortly after the release of Singles in August 2000 and took place in Los Angeles, California.[1] The sales from Singles and the proceeds from Jimmy Eat World's European tour helped fund the album's recording sessions.[4] Bleed American was produced by Mark Trombino.[5] Trombino had already produced two of the band's previous studio albums: Static Prevails (1996)[6] and Clarity (1999),[7] and also produced Blink-182's breakthrough album, Dude Ranch (1997).[8] The money budgeted for the record was insufficient. Trombino offered to work for free during the recording sessions, confident he would be reimbursed by the album's predicted commercial success.[9] Some of the songs included in Bleed American had already been written and recorded during the Clarity sessions, but the band felt they were recorded too late to include them in that album.[10]

The band collaborated with guest vocalists in several of the album's songs. Davey von Bohlen (The Promise Ring) contributed vocals in "A Praise Chorus", and Rachel Haden (That Dog) lent her voice in "Hear You Me", "If You Don't, Don't", "Cautioners" and "My Sundown." The album was recorded in two studios: Californians Cherokee in Los Angeles, and Harddrive in North Hollywood. The mixtures were made in South Extasy Recording Studio, also in Los Angeles.[5]

Lyrical themes and musical style

Two men playing guitar on-stage
Tom Linton (left) and Jim Adkins (right) were the main composers of Bleed American.

The material on Bleed American was more accessible and aggressive than its predecessor, which had a more "layered, sprawling sound."[11] In regard to the stylistic approach of the album, frontman Jim Adkins said, “Things still got pretty gnarly in the studio as far as experimentation, but it was always to an end that was complimentary to the song. We wanted to really make sure that we weren’t doing things, like, just to put a wacky keyboard sound in. It had to be doing something constructive for the song.”[12] Critics have described the genres of the album as alternative rock,[11][13] emo,[14][15] emo pop,[16] pop punk,[14] and power pop.[17]

The lyrical composition in Bleed American also remained rather direct and straightforward in comparison to Clarity. Mark Vanderhoff of Allmusic said that Bleed American didn't have any "16 minute songs," referencing "Goodbye Sky Harbor" from Clarity. Rather, he called the music on Bleed American "just straight-ahead rock & roll, performed with punk energy and alt-rock smarts."[11]

Jimmy Eat World makes references to several bands, albums, and songs in the lyrical compositions of Bleed American.[11] "A Praise Chorus", the final single from the album, contains lyrics from songs the band knew, such as "Crimson and Clover" by Tommy James and the Shondells, "Our House" by Madness, "Kickstart My Heart" by Mötley Crüe and "Don't Let's Start" by They Might Be Giants.[11][12]

"The Middle," the second single from the album, includes a guitar solo that, according to Adkins, "is a tribute to Doug Gillard of Guided by Voices".[12] Its lyrics speak about "fitting in" and self-acceptance of oneself.[11] In turn, "Sweetness" was one of the songs that Adkins had more doubts about because of its lyrical content: "I just had this melody in my head and I was demoing it and singing it and kind of having a hard time with it. I almost didn’t bring it to the band because I was thinking to myself, ’I can’t just say nothing. I can’t just use all these sort of alyrical whoahs for this much of a song.’"[12]

Release

After recording sessions of Bleed American began, the head of DreamWorks Records' Artists and repertoire division offered to help the band. The band considered it, but it was not until a year later when they returned to contact him. After the band presented the material they had recorded, the label signed them.[10] Bleed American was released on July 24, 2001.[5][nb 1] Out of concern that its title could be misinterpreted following the September 11 attacks, the album was re-released with an eponymous title.[18] In addition, the title track was renamed "Salt Sweat Sugar."[19] The album artwork, showing a set of bowling trophies sitting on top of a cigarette machine, is taken from William Eggleston's photograph "Memphis".[18]

The album became a bestseller, and in its first four months on the market, it sold 173,000 copies, making Bleed American Jimmy Eat World's most successful album.[20] Lind said that these sales were "definitely a big deal to the band because it shows how the fanbase is growing. [If you’re] doing anything creative, you want more and more people to enjoy what you do."[20] The album was certified gold in the United States in March 2002, and it had reached platinum status by August.[21] It peaked at number 54 on the Billboard 200 on August 11, 2001.[22] The album produced four singles: "Bleed American", "The Middle", "Sweetness", and "A Praise Chorus". The album's most successful single was "The Middle". It managed to reach the number-one spot on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number five on the Billboard Hot 100.[22] As of September 2016, the album has sold over 1.6 million copies.[23]

In addition to the album's singles, two EPs were released to support Bleed American. The first of these EPs, titled Good to Go EP, was released on February 22, 2002 in Japan-only.[5][nb 2] The second EP, titled The Middle/A Praise Chorus Tour EP, was a tour EP released in Australia in January 2003.[5][nb 3] On April 28, 2008, a deluxe edition of the album was released with a bonus disc containing several B-sides, acoustic versions, live versions, demo versions and previously unreleased tracks. The original album and track title Bleed American were restored for this release.[18]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
The Arizona Republic[24]
Blender[25]
Entertainment WeeklyB[26]
Los Angeles Times[27]
Pitchfork3.5/10[28]
Rolling Stone[29]
Slant Magazine[30]
USA Today[31]
The Village VoiceC+[32]

Bleed American was a critical and commercial success, helping the band gain mainstream popularity. As well as its platinum certification in the United States[21] and Canada by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA).[33] The album was also certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).[34]

Thomas Nassiff of AbsolutePunk stated that "praising this album is something that can't be done enough" and opined that the album contained "no bad songs", concluding: "Certainly one of the most memorable records of 2001, Bleed American might actually have the most lasting power of any album from that class."[14] Mike Stagno of Sputnikmusic praised Bleed American as "an enjoyable, catchy mainstream rock album" and noted its high replay value, particularly tracks such as "Sweetness" and "Get It Faster".[13] Aubin Paul of Punknews.org stated that unlike the band's prior albums, the second half of Bleed American was "quite strong, and really fleshes out the musical ideas from the record."[15] While noting that those who dislike "emo or 'poppier' music" would dislike the album, Paul ultimately concluded that "the punker-than-thou kids should stick with Static Prevails, but a catalog as impressive a J.E.W.'s can be appreciated by anyone without preconceptions."[15] Drowned in Sound's Terry Bezer called the album "eleven of the finest songs you’ll hear this, or any other, year".[35] AllMusic's Mark Vanderhoff praised its "compelling lyrics, driving guitar work, and insanely catchy melodies".[11]

Entertainment Weekly described the album as a "fine balancing act" of "emo-edged" tracks and "wallop-packed rockers."[26] Joe Warminsky III The Morning Call opined that the album was absent of emo elements, describing it instead as "an open-hearted, shiny-sounding rock disc".[36] Steve Hochman of The Los Angeles Times commented that "Those graduating from teen tastes could well turn to this album as a first step to adulthood."[27] Aaron Scott of Slant Magazine praised the maturity the band showed through the album, noting that it had the capability to attract a wide-ranging audience.[30] Rolling Stone reviewer Barry Walters stated that "Bleed American sports the tender turbulence that insular emo kids have been enjoying in private for years," with the album appealing to fans of Creed and Blink-182 as well as new wave music.[29] Blender gave the album a mixed review, saying that the album's mainstream potential was "undercut by guitars, which are neither as gleefully blaring as Weezer’s nor as cleanly melodic as the Knack’s."[25] Writing for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau stated "if this band can't be maturity's answer to 'N Sync, it can be patriotism's answer to Travis."[32] Pitchfork gave a much more negative and sarcastic review of the album. Reviewer Ryan Schreiber ended his review with "So do the best you can, listen to your favorite band, bury your head in the sand, before it all begins again. Hey, I just wrote a Jimmy Eat World song!"[28]

Q listed Bleed American as one of the best 50 albums of 2001.[37] The album was included in Rock Sound's 101 Modern Classics list at number 48.[38] In 2013, it was ranked at number 429 on NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.[39] NME listed the album as one of "20 Pop Punk Albums Which Will Make You Nostalgic",[40] as well as one of "20 Emo Albums That Have Resolutely Stood The Test Of Time".[41] The album was ranked at number 183 on Spin's "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014)" list.[42] In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 25 on their list of the 50 Greatest Pop-Punk Albums.[43]

Track listing

All songs written by Jimmy Eat World, except "A Praise Chorus", which contains lyrics from various songs.[note 1][5]

No.TitleLength
1."Bleed American" (listed as "Salt Sweat Sugar" on the self-titled version)3:02
2."A Praise Chorus"4:03
3."The Middle"2:46
4."Your House"4:46
5."Sweetness"3:40
6."Hear You Me"4:45
7."If You Don't, Don't"4:33
8."Get It Faster"4:22
9."Cautioners"5:21
10."The Authority Song"3:38
11."My Sundown"5:40
Bonus tracks

Personnel

Personnel per 2008 reissue booklet.[5]

Chart performance

Chart (2001–02) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[47] 54
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[48] 20
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[49] 43
UK Albums (OCC)[50] 62
US Billboard 200[51] 31

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[33] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[21] Platinum 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Notes

  1. ↑ Lyrics from "Crimson and Clover" (Thomas Gregory Jackson, Peter P. Lucia, Jr.), "Our House" (Chris Foreman, Cathal Smyth), "Why Did Ever We Meet" and "All of My Everythings" (The Promise Ring), "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy" (Paul Rodgers), "Don't Let's Start" (John Flansburgh, John Linnell), and "Kickstart My Heart" (Nikki Sixx) appear in the bridge of "A Praise Chorus".

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ U.S. DreamWorks 50334[5]
  2. ↑ Japan DreamWorks UICW-1021[5]
  3. ↑ Australia DreamWorks 450 794-2[5]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Leahey, Andrew. "Artist Biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 22, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  2. ↑ Lopez de Eguilaz, Iñaki (March 2002). "Con Poco Hambre de Mundo". indyrock.es (in Spanish). Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Zach Lind of Jimmy Eat World". Modern Drummer. May 12, 2004. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Jimmy Eat World". Pollstar.com. March 25, 2002. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bleed American (Booklet). Jimmy Eat World. DreamWorks/Geffen/UMe/Interscope. 2008 [first released in 2001]. B0011062-02/STDPVCOSLV/B0011062-02 BK02.
  6. ↑ Static Prevails (Booklet). Jimmy Eat World. Capitol. 1996. 7243 5 39615 0 3.
  7. ↑ Clarity (liner notes). Capitol Records. 1999. 7243 5 39616 0 2.
  8. ↑ Dude Ranch (liner notes). Blink-182. US: Cargo Music / MCA Records. 1997. CRGD-11624.
  9. ↑ Seigel, Stephen. "A Jimmy Eat World article that does not contain the word 'emo'". Tucson Weekly. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Moon, Joan (November 5, 2001). "America Sangra". Mondosonoro.com (in Spanish). Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Vanderhoff, Mark. "Bleed American – Jimmy Eat World". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2007.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Wallace, Brian (July 26, 2001). "Pop Goes Emo on Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American". Mtv.com. Viacom. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  13. 1 2 Stagno, Mike (March 10, 2007). "Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
  14. 1 2 3 Nassiff, Thomas (July 25, 2011). "Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American". AbsolutePunk. Archived from the original on February 21, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
  15. 1 2 3 Paul, Aubin (July 7, 2001). "Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved February 2, 2005.
  16. ↑ "Emo-Pop". AllMusic. Archived from the original on January 22, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American (DreamWorks)". CMJ: 5. July 2, 2001.
  18. 1 2 3 Caffrey, Dan. "Dissected: Jimmy Eat World (with Jim Adkins)". Consequence of Sound. p. 5. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  19. ↑ Heller, Jason (September 14, 2012). "How Jimmy Eat World's 'The Middle' Became the Best Song for a Bad Time". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  20. 1 2 D'Angelo, Joe (November 21, 2001). "Jimmy Eat World Suggest Keeping Your Pants On". Mtv.com. Viacom. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 "American album certifications – Jimmy Eat World – Jimmy Eat World". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 14, 2015. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  22. 1 2 "Jimmy Eat World - Chart History" Archived August 12, 2016, at the Wayback Machine., Billboard.com, Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 29, 2016. Note: To look for different charts and peaks, click the name of the chart in the top left of the site's template.
  23. ↑ Payne, Chris (September 30, 2016). "2016 Showdown: Battle of the Pop-Punk Veterans". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  24. ↑ Lengel, Kerry (July 26, 2001). "'Bleed American': Jimmy Eat World (DreamWorks)". The Arizona Republic.
  25. 1 2 Lepage, Mark. "Jimmy Eat World: Bleed American". Blender. Archived from the original on December 13, 2004. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  26. 1 2 Morgan, Laura (September 7, 2001). "Bleed American". Entertainment Weekly: 165. Archived from the original on December 21, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  27. 1 2 Hochman, Steve (July 29, 2001). "Jimmy Eat World, 'Bleed American,' DreamWorks". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  28. 1 2 Schreiber, Ryan (August 21, 2001). "Jimmy Eat World: Bleed American". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on November 26, 2009. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
  29. 1 2 Walters, Barry (August 16, 2001). "Jimmy Eat World: Bleed American". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  30. 1 2 Scott, Aaron (June 28, 2001). "Jimmy Eat World: Bleed American". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
  31. ↑ Gundersen, Edna (August 14, 2001). "Jimmy Eat World, Bleed American". USA Today. Archived from the original on September 11, 2001. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  32. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (November 27, 2001). "Turkey Shoot 2001". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on January 30, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  33. 1 2 "Canadian album certifications – Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American". Music Canada. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  34. 1 2 "British album certifications – Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 14, 2015. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Enter Bleed American in the search field and then press Enter.
  35. ↑ Bezer, Terry (October 2, 2001). "Album Review: Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  36. ↑ Warminsky III, Joe (December 8, 2001). "Jimmy Eat World: Bleed American". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  37. ↑ "The Best 50 Albums of 2001". Q (185): 60–65. December 2001.
  38. ↑ "Rock Sound's 101 Modern Classics: 49 – 25". Rock Sound. July 4, 2012. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  39. ↑ "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 500–401". NME. October 21, 2013. Archived from the original on December 12, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  40. ↑ "20 Pop Punk Albums Which Will Make You Nostalgic". NME. June 9, 2014. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  41. ↑ "20 Emo Albums That Have Resolutely Stood The Test Of Time". NME. January 14, 2015. Archived from the original on August 16, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  42. ↑ Martins, Chris (May 11, 2015). "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014)". Spin: 2. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  43. ↑ "50 Greatest Pop-Punk Albums". Rolling Stone. November 15, 2017. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  44. ↑ "Bleed American [Japan Bonus Track] – Jimmy Eat World". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 2, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  45. 1 2 Vanderhoff, Mark. "Bleed American [2 CD Deluxe Edition]". Allmusic. Archived from the original on October 14, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  46. ↑ "Pop Goes The Emo On Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American". MTV News. July 26, 2001. Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  47. ↑ "The ARIA Report" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. August 6, 2001. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  48. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  49. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  50. ↑ "Jimmy Eat World | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  51. ↑ "Jimmy Eat World Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
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