Six tracks were released as singles:"On My Own","Villain","Trip","321","Gunnin'",and "Street Fight". The music videos for all of these songs,except "Villain" and "Street Fight",reached #1 on the MuchMusic countdown.
Following Hedley signing a US record deal with Capitol Records in the summer of 2006,the album was released in the US on September 26,2006. In Canada,a "Platinum edition" of the album was released on November 21,2006,with four bonus tracks and the updated album cover.
Seven of the songs are featured on the 2009 US version of their next album Famous Last Words,released under the title Never Too Late.
Background and release
Hedley first formed in 2003,by frontman Jacob Hoggard with Kevin Giesbrecht,Kevin Heeres,Ryan Federau,and Brandon McKay.[3] Hoggard appeared on the second season of Canadian Idol in 2004,where he placed third.[4] Shortly after,Hedley re-formed with Hoggard as the only original member and was joined by guitarist Dave Rosin,bassist Tommy Mac,and drummer Chris Crippin,all of whom previously teamed in the Vancouver band Everything After.[5] The band picked up attention at the Canadian Music Week 2005 media showcase and,soon after,signed with Universal Music Canada.[5] "Street Fight" was the first song they wrote together,which was part of their five-track demo they sent to the label.[6] The album was recorded at Armoury Studios,Greenhouse Studios,Hipposonic Studios,Mushroom Studios and The Farm Studios in British Columbia,with producers Brian Howes and Garth Richardson.[7]
The album was released on September 6,2005,through Universal Music Canada.[1] They embarked on a fall 2005 tour across Canada,with support from The Weekend and Faber Drive.[8] They also joined Simple Plan on a 19-city Canadian tour from November to December 2005.[9] The group headlined The Cross Canada tour with MxPx and Faber from February to March 2006.[10] During June 2006,the band went on tour in the US,opening for Yellowcard,with Matchbox Romance.[11] In the summer of 2006,they signed a record deal with Capitol Records,[12] and released their self-titled debut album in the US on September 26,2006.[13]
"Villain" was released on July 26,2005,as the second single. The song peaked at number 18 on the Canada Rock chart.[18] Garth Richardson who produced the track,was nominated for a Juno Award for Producer of the Year for the song.[19]
"Trip" was released on October 4,2005,as the third single.[20] The song peaked at number 11 on the Canadian Singles Chart and won a Juno Award in 2007 for Producer of the Year.[21][22] The music video for "Trip" topped Canada's MuchMusic Countdown on the week of February 17,2006.[23]
"321" is the fourth single released on March 31,2006. The song peaked at number 21 on the Canada CHR/Top 30.[24] The video reached the number one spot on Canada's MuchMusic Countdown on the week of June 9,2006,[25] and was nominated for People's Choice:Favorite Canadian Group at the 2006 MuchMusic Video Awards.[26]
"Gunnin'" was released on September 19,2006,as the fifth single.[27] The video reached number one on Canada's MuchMusic Countdown on the week of December 1,2006.[23] The song won two MuchMusic Video Awards in 2007 for Best Pop Video of the Year and Best Post-Production of the Year.[28][29]
"Street Fight" was released in December 2006,as the sixth and final single from the album. The video reached number 18 on the Canada's MuchMusic Countdown.[30]
Hedley was met with mixed reviews by music critics. Corey Apar of AllMusic rated the album two stars out of five and described it as "competent though largely uninteresting." In particular,he criticized the lyrics and the lack of engagement ("Even the... standout tracks... aren't that memorable," writes Apar,"taking a couple spins to really grab listeners at all.")[31] Emilio LV of Melodic called tracks such as "Villain" and "Sink or Swim" as the standout songs. However he criticized the tracks "On My Own","Street Fight" and "321" as "Simple Plan's way of punk-pop written for easy radio success."[32] Christine Estima of Chart Attack gave a mixed review on the album stating,"Hoggard's lyrics requires some maturity,but you gotta give them props for their singable hooks and endearing party riffs a la Jimmy Eat World."[34]
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