How to Save a Life | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 13, 2005 | |||
Recorded | 2005 | |||
Studio | Echo Park Studios (Bloomington, Indiana); Sony Music Studios (New York City, New York); Coupe Studios (Boulder, Colorado); FTM Studios (Lakewood, Colorado). | |||
Genre | Alternative rock, pop rock | |||
Length | 45:56 | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Producer | Aaron Johnson, Mike Flynn | |||
The Fray chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from How to Save a Life | ||||
|
How to Save a Life is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band The Fray. Released on September 13, 2005, through Epic Records, the record charted in the top 15 on the Billboard 200 and was a top ten hit in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK. Its first two singles, "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and "How to Save a Life", led the album to commercial success and the band to mainstream recognition. [1]
Critical reception to the album was mixed, with some critics complimenting its similarities in style to British piano-driven bands like Keane and Coldplay, but in turn disparaging its unoriginality and derivation, as well as schmaltzy and self-pitying lyrics. The album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and was also certified platinum in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK; it became the best-selling digital album of all time until Eminem's Recovery (2010), breaking the record held previously by Coldplay's X&Y (2005). [2] [3] [4] Billboard listed the album on their Best Digital Albums of the Decade list – at number 21. [5]
After independently releasing two EPs, The Fray were looking for a record company to release a full-length album. The band released their song "Cable Car" to Denver radio station KTCL, and the song saw significant airplay. [6] Denver alternative newsweekly Westword named the band "Best New Band" in 2004, and this prompted Epic Records A&R man Mike Flynn to sign the band to a recording contract on December 17, 2004. [7] The album was recorded over six weeks in Echo Park Studios in Bloomington, Indiana, and was produced by Aaron Johnson and Mike Flynn. [8] Former bass guitar player Dan Battenhouse left the band a year before entering the studio; Jake Smith, former lead singer and guitarist of the band The Mysteries of Life, took over bass guitar duties.
All tracks are written by Isaac Slade and Joe King, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "She Is" | 3:56 | |
2. | "Over My Head (Cable Car)" | 3:58 | |
3. | "How to Save a Life" | 4:23 | |
4. | "All at Once" | Slade, King, Aaron Johnson | 3:48 |
5. | "Fall Away" | Slade, King, Dan Battenhouse | 4:23 |
6. | "Heaven Forbid" | 3:59 | |
7. | "Look After You" | 4:28 | |
8. | "Hundred" | Slade, Monica Conway | 4:13 |
9. | "Vienna" | Slade, King, Battenhouse | 3:51 |
10. | "Dead Wrong" | Slade, King, Mike Flynn | 3:05 |
11. | "Little House" | 2:30 | |
12. | "Trust Me" | 3:22 | |
Total length: | 45:56 |
In later editions, an extra track was added:
The Fray
Additional musicians
The album was released on September 13, 2005 by Epic Records. While the album did not make a splash commercially or critically initially, the success of "Over My Head (Cable Car)" propelled the album from the Top Heatseekers chart to the top 20 of The Billboard 200 chart. The release of the second single, "How to Save a Life", a world-wide smash, helped the album enter the top 5 in several charts across the world, and brought The Fray mainstream popularity. [9] The song remains the band's best known and most successful song to date.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [16] |
Blender | [17] |
Entertainment.ie | [18] |
Entertainment Weekly | C+ [19] |
HM Magazine | [20] |
Rolling Stone | [21] |
Stylus Magazine | D [22] |
Overall, critical reception for the album was mixed. The piano-oriented sound of the album drew comparisons with British piano-rock band Keane, and Coldplay (whose music – although classified as alternative – is driven by the piano). [21] [23]
AllMusic, whilst giving the album a modestly positive review, stated that the band "lacked originality" and the album itself lacked any "inspiration and excitement". [16] Stylus Magazine gave the album a negative review, stating "The Fray, as a rule, are moribund, emotionally strained, uninvolving, and have a tendency to sound like The Cranberries fronted by a man." [22] Rolling Stone and Blender echoed many of these statements, both giving the album three stars out of five. [17] [21]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [48] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [49] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [50] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [51] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [52] | 4× Platinum | 4,000,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
By the Way is the eighth studio album by the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released July 9, 2002, on Warner Bros. Records. It sold more than 286,000 copies in its first week, and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. Singles included "By the Way", "The Zephyr Song", "Can't Stop" and "Universally Speaking". Additionally, "Dosed" was released as a promotional single in the US and Canada. The lyrical subject matter vocalist Anthony Kiedis addresses in By the Way is a divergence from previous Red Hot Chili Peppers albums, with Kiedis taking a more candid and reflective approach to his lyrics.
Greatest Hits is the second greatest hits album and second compilation album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on Nov. 18, 2003, by Warner Bros. Records. Aside from their cover of "Higher Ground", all songs on the album are from the band's tenure on Warner Bros. Records from 1991 to 2002, in addition to two newly recorded songs.
The Irish rock band U2 has released 15 studio albums, one live album, three compilation albums, 84 singles, and nine extended plays (EPs). The band formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 as teenagers. In 1979, the group issued their first release, the EP U2-3, which sold well in Ireland. The following year, the group signed to Island Records and released their debut album, Boy. It reached number 52 in the UK and number 63 in the US. They followed it up with the release of October (1981) and War (1983). War was a commercial success, becoming the band's first number-one album in the UK while reaching number 12 in the US. The album yielded the singles "Two Hearts Beat As One", "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day", the latter two have since become among the band's most popular songs. On the subsequent War Tour, the group recorded the live album Under a Blood Red Sky and concert film U2 Live at Red Rocks, both of which sold well and helped establish them globally as a live act.
The Fray is an American rock band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King. Their debut studio album, How to Save a Life (2005) was released by Epic Records and received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), as well as platinum certification in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Its release was supported by their first hit single, "Over My Head ", which peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. The band saw their furthest success with its follow-up, "How to Save a Life", which peaked at number three on the chart and was also a hit in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Both songs received Grammy Award nominations: Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group, respectively.
American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold has released eight studio albums, one soundtrack album, one live album, two compilation albums, 24 singles, two video albums and 29 music videos. Formed in Huntington Beach, California in 1999, the band originally featured vocalist M. Shadows, guitarist Zacky Vengeance, bassist Matt Wendt and drummer The Rev. Synyster Gates joined as lead guitarist in 2001, just after the group released their debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet on Good Life Recordings, which was later reissued on Hopeless Records.
The American heavy metal band Slipknot has released seven studio albums, three live albums, two compilation albums, one demo album, one EP, twenty-eight singles, five video albums and thirty-three music videos. Formed in Des Moines, Iowa in 1995, Slipknot originally featured vocalist and percussionist Anders Colsefni, guitarists Donnie Steele and Josh "Gnar" Brainard, bassist Paul Gray, drummer Joey Jordison, and percussionist and backing vocalist Shawn "Clown" Crahan. The original lineup released its first album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. in 1996, before undergoing a number of lineup changes over the next few years.
System of a Down is an American heavy metal band formed by vocalist Serj Tankian, guitarist Daron Malakian, bassist Shavo Odadjian, and drummer John Dolmayan in the mid-1990s. They have released five studio albums, nineteen singles, and thirteen music videos. By the end of 1997, the group had signed to American Recordings, then distributed as Columbia Records. The following year, they released their eponymous debut album, which peaked at number 124 on the United States' Billboard 200 and number 103 on the United Kingdom's UK Albums Chart; it was later certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and gold by Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). Their eponymous debut album produced a single for the song "Sugar", which reached the top 30 on the Billboard mainstream rock songs and alternative songs charts. Their follow-up album, Toxicity (2001), topped the US and Canadian charts, and also reached the top 10 in Australia, Finland, and New Zealand. The album was certified triple platinum in its home country, and triple platinum in Australia by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), as well as double platinum by Music Canada. Toxicity produced singles for the title track, "Chop Suey!", and "Aerials". The last of these peaked at number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs and Alternative Songs charts.
American rock band Evanescence has released five studio albums, two live albums, one compilation album, two demo albums, three extended plays, eighteen singles, nine promotional singles, two video albums, and eighteen music videos. Evanescence was founded in 1994 by Amy Lee and Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. The band's lineup comprises Lee, guitarist Troy McLawhorn, guitarist Tim McCord, drummer Will Hunt, and bassist Emma Anzai. As of 2022, the band has sold over 31.9 million albums.
"Over My Head (Cable Car)" (originally performed simply as "Cable Car") is a song by American rock band the Fray. It was released in October 2005 as the lead single from their debut album How to Save a Life and from the soundtrack to the science fiction action film Stealth (2005). It hit the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single helped propel their album from the Top Heatseekers chart to the top 20 of The Billboard 200 chart. The CD single was backed with "Heaven Forbid" and a live version of "Hundred". In the United Kingdom, "Over My Head (Cable Car)" was released as the second single from the album, following "How to Save a Life".
The discography of American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, consists of 12 studio albums, 23 live albums, 3 compilation albums, 46 singles, and numerous official bootlegs.
"How to Save a Life" is a song by American alternative rock band the Fray, released in March 2006 as the second single from their debut studio album of the same name. The song is one of the band's most popular airplay songs and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, becoming the band's highest-charting song. It became the joint seventh longest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, tying with Santana's 1999 single "Smooth", at 58 consecutive weeks. The song has received quintuple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold 4.7 million downloads as of January 2015, the fourth best-selling rock song in digital history.
The discography of Audioslave, an American hard rock band, consists of three studio albums, two extended plays (EPs), fourteen singles, two video albums and ten music videos. Formed in Los Angeles, California in 2001, Audioslave was a supergroup featuring vocalist Chris Cornell alongside three former members of Rage Against the Machine: guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk. Signed to Epic and Interscope Records, the band released its self-titled debut album in November 2002, which peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard 200. Supported by five singles, all of which reached the top ten of the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart, Audioslave was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The band's first video album, also self-titled, was released in 2003 and reached number 5 on the Billboard Top Music Videos chart, receiving a gold certification from the RIAA.
The discography of Nickelback, a Canadian rock band, consists of 10 studio albums, two compilation albums, one extended play (EP), 44 singles, five video albums and 38 music videos. Formed in Hanna, Alberta in 1995 by Chad Kroeger, Ryan Peake, Mike Kroeger and Brandon Kroeger, the band issued its debut album Curb in 1996 through non-profit organization FACTOR, followed by a self-released follow-up The State in 1998. That year, Ryan Vikedal took over on drums after a brief tenure for Mitch Guindon. In late 1999 the group signed with Roadrunner Records, who issued The State internationally early the next year. The album reached number 130 on the US Billboard 200. Four singles were issued from The State, with the first three all registering on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
Dreaming Out Loud is the debut studio album by American pop rock band OneRepublic. The album was released on November 20, 2007, by Interscope Records. The album was recorded between 2004 and 2007 and it was produced by Greg Wells, with two songs produced by singer Ryan Tedder, and was engineered and mixed by Joe Zook. The album followed two years of massive success on Myspace; the band had appeared in Myspace Music's Top Artists since early 2006, with over 28 million total song plays counted.
Canadian rock band, Simple Plan, formed in 1999, has released six studio albums, two live albums, one video album, three extended plays and twenty singles.
The discography of Hanson, an American pop rock band. They are best known for the 1997 hit song "MMMBop" from their major label debut album Middle of Nowhere, which earned three Grammy nominations. Despite the enormous commercial success of Middle of Nowhere, the band suffered from the merger that eliminated their label, Mercury Records.
"You Found Me" is a song by American rock band the Fray. It was released in November 2008 as the lead single from their eponymous second studio album. Live performances of the song from concerts in Europe surfaced on YouTube in late 2007, when the song was titled "Amistad". The band began streaming the song on their website on November 21, 2008. The single was digitally released in the U.S., Canadian, UK, Australian and French iTunes Stores and had a physical release later on.
The Fray is the second studio album by American alternative rock band the Fray. Released on February 3, 2009, through Epic Records, the album debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200 chart, and became a top 5 hit in Australia and Canada.
The Fray, an American rock band from Colorado, has released four studio albums, three live albums, one compilation album, five extended plays, 13 singles, one promotional single and ten music videos. The members of the group met in a music store in Denver – independently, positive coverage from many local media outlets brought them to the attention of Epic Records, who signed them in 2004. The Fray's debut studio album, How to Save a Life, was released in 2005. Five singles were released from the album in total: the first two, "Over My Head " and the album's title track, both reached the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100 and were certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA): the latter also topped the Irish singles chart and reached number 4 in the United Kingdom.
The discography of indie rock band MGMT consists of five studio albums, one compilation album, one demo album, four extended plays, eleven singles and fourteen music videos. Originally known under the name The Management, the group was founded in 2002 by Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser during their freshman year as art students at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After graduating and changing the band's name to MGMT, they released an EP titled Time to Pretend in 2005 through the independent record label Cantora Records; music videos were recorded for two of the EP's songs, "Boogie Down" and "Destrokk". The critical success of the EP and extensive touring brought the group to the attention of Columbia Records, which signed them in 2006.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)