Monster Monster

Last updated

Monster Monster
The Almost - Monster Monster.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 3, 2009
RecordedMay 2009
StudioSeattle, Washington
Genre Alternative rock, emo
Label Tooth & Nail, Virgin
Producer Aaron Sprinkle
The Almost chronology
Southern Weather
(2007)
Monster Monster
(2009)
Fear Inside Our Bones
(2013)
Singles from Monster Monster
  1. "Lonely Wheel"
    Released: September 17, 2009
  2. "Hands"
    Released: October 2, 2009
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk (80%) [1]
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Alternative Press Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Bring On Mixed ReviewsStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Jesus Freak HideoutStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [5]
Melodic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [6]
SputnikmusicStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]

Monster Monster is the second album by American rock band The Almost, released on November 3, 2009.

Contents

Background

The Almost released their debut album, Southern Weather in 2007. On November 9, 2008, it was announced that the band had parted ways with drummer Kenny Bozich. Later that month, the band released a holiday-themed EP, No Gift to Bring. [8]

Recording

On April 29, 2009, the band arrived at Dark Horse Recording studio in Franklin, Tennessee. The recording process was documented with tweets, a live Stickam stream, and blogs. [9] Like the band's debut Southern Weather , Monster Monster was produced by Aaron Sprinkle. Due to the band's lack of a drummer at the time, lead singer Aaron Gillespie played drums for the record. After the recording and mastering of the record, Gillespie stated, "This now feels like a real band. Everyone gave up a piece of his own agenda for the good of the final result. And that's how you end up with something special. They supplied the bricks and we built this house together." [10] On May 7, a studio update was posted online, [11] followed by another on May 26. [12]

Release

The first single from the album is "Hands" and it was released onto radio stations October 2, 2009, [13] and it has cracked the Top 5 on the Christian Rock charts. When speaking of touring, Gillespie noted that "[The Almost] plan on hitting it as hard as we can." Vilardi concurred with "We'd like to leave and not come back for two years." [10] In October and November, the group supported the Used on their headlining US tour. [14] On November 23, 2009, a music video was released for "Lonely Wheel". [15] In February and March 2010, the band performed at Soundwave festival in Australia. [16] The third track on the album, "No I Don't," debuted on the Christian Rock chart on March 5. [17]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Aaron Gillespie, Dusty Redmon, Alex Aponti and Jay Vilardi

No.TitleLength
1."Monster Monster"3:20
2."Lonely Wheel"3:14
3."No I Don't"3:54
4."Hands"3:48
5."Young Again"2:58
6."Summer Summer"4:00
7."Hand Grenade"3:51
8."Books & Books"3:31
9."Souls On Ten"3:25
10."Want To"3:30
11."Get Through"3:24
12."Monster"6:16
Best Buy limited edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."West"3:40
14."Wrong"3:03
iTunes bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Me & Alone"3:03
Re-issue deluxe edition bonus tracks [18]
No.TitleLength
13."Birmingham"2:21
14."July"3:28
15."Wrong"3:03
16."Out West"3:40
17."Me & Alone"3:04
18."Hands" (music video)3:33
19."Lonely Wheel" (music video)3:13
20."No I Don't" (music video)4:10
21."Monster Monster" (music video)3:34

Personnel

The Almost [19]

Additional musicians

Production

Monster EP

Monster EP [20] was released on October 6, 2009, one month before the launch of Monster Monster. [21] It was sold exclusively through retail store Hot Topic, the band's website and a tour supporting Monster Monster. [22]

No.TitleLength
1."Lonely Wheel"3:14
2."Hands"3:49
3."July" (b-side)3:29
4."Birmingham" (b-side)2:22
5."Monster"6:16

The song "Hands" is the first single, which will include a music video, from Monster Monster and the EP to be released to radio stations. [23] The EP packaging is a double-disc digipak, one of the discs contain the music and the other contains no data at all, but depicts the artwork that Monster Monster will have on the disc's label along with lyrics and printed track listing. [22]

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