The Next Four Years

Last updated
The Next Four Years
United Nations - The Next Four Years.jpg
Studio album by
United Nations
ReleasedJuly 15, 2014 (2014-07-15)
Genre
Length29:42
Label Temporary Residence
United Nations chronology
Never Mind the Bombings, Here's Your Six Figures
(2010)		The Next Four Years
(2014)

The Next Four Years is the second studio album by the American rock band United Nations. The album was released on July 15, 2014, through Temporary Residence Limited. Prior to the release of The Next Four Years, United Nations released "Serious Business" and "Meanwhile on Main Street" for online streaming. [3] [4]

United Nations is a hardcore punk supergroup whose roots go back to at least 2005. Due to the nature of the band, it is unclear who exactly is a member of United Nations at any given time. Early promotional images of the band depicted four people wearing Ronald Reagan masks, and all original contributors were contractually obligated to remain anonymous. The only member not under contract at the time was Geoff Rickly of the band Thursday.

Temporary Residence Limited is a Brooklyn, New York-based record label. TRL was started in Louisville, Kentucky in 1996 by Jeremy DeVine, and initially concentrated on releasing music by Louisville-based bands. DeVine moved to Baltimore, Maryland in the late 1990s to attend the Maryland Institute College of Art, but dropped out to concentrate on running the label by the end of the decade. DeVine later moved operations to Brooklyn, New York.

Contents

Release formats

Box set

While the album was released in more traditional formats, The Next Four Years was meant to be experienced as a boxed set. [5] The boxed-set version was limited to 1,000 copies that were hand-assembled by the members of United Nations, and features all 11 tracks found on other formats, but split between a cassette tape, a 10" vinyl record and two 7" vinyl records. The cover art of the boxed set features fake news articles and the cassette tape was wrapped in a copy of the actual cease-and-desist letter sent by the actual United Nations. As a boxed set, the series of different formats are meant be a concept album that illustrates and critiques the evolution of the band members themselves from an underground basement act to an experimental. United Nations vocalist Geoff Rickly explained: "This record is more developed and mature because we decided that the best form of critique isn't political or punk critique; it's critiquing ourselves. So the record is a lot more personal—a lists of all the ways we've failed all the things we once believed in, and accepting the status quo of how band things have gotten. It's sort of examining our own level of privilege. The box set is supposed to be a fake mythology of the band. The cassette is the first demo—the band at its most basic—then there's the two 7-inches, and the 10-inch is where we get into our pretentious phase of trying to sound like Godspeed [You! Black Emperor]." [6]

Concept album album with a theme

A concept album is an album in which its tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Sometimes the term is applied to albums considered to be of "uniform excellence" rather than an LP with an explicit musical or lyrical motif. There is no consensus among music critics as to the specific criteria for what a "concept album" is.

Geoff Rickly American musician

Geoffrey William Rickly is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and songwriter of rock band Thursday. Rickly is also a member of hardcore punk band United Nations, and the alternative rock group No Devotion with former members of Lostprophets, and is the founder of the record label Collect Records.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Canadian experimental/postrock musical group

Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian experimental music collective which originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation, an independent record label also located in Montreal. After the release of their debut album in 1997, the group toured regularly from 1998 to 2003. Their second album, 2000’s Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, received great critical acclaim and has been named as one of the best albums of the decade. In 2003, the band announced an indefinite hiatus in order for members to pursue other musical interests. In the intervening period, the group was occasionally rumored to have broken up, but finally reconvened for a tour which began in late 2010. Since reforming, they have released three more albums, the most recent being Luciferian Towers in September 2017.

CD, LP and digital

The CD, 12" vinyl LP and digital versions of The Next Four Years feature the same tracks as the boxed set and cover art inspired by Black Flag's 1983 compilation album, The First Four Years . [7]

Black Flag (band) American hardcore punk band

Black Flag is an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. Initially called Panic, the band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter, and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band. They are widely considered to be one of the first hardcore punk bands, as well as one of the pioneers of post-hardcore. After breaking up in 1986, Black Flag reunited in 2003 and again in 2013. The second reunion lasted well over a year, during which they released their first studio album in over two decades, What The… (2013). The band announced their third reunion in January 2019. Brandon Pertzborn was replaced by Isaias Gil on drums and Tyler Smith was replaced by Joseph Noval on bass with touring 2nd guitarist Alan Windler for the rest of the tour.

<i>The First Four Years</i> 1983 compilation album by Black Flag

The First Four Years is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It was released in 1983 on SST Records. The compilation consists of all of the group's material released before Henry Rollins became the band's vocalist in 1981. It essentially collects the extended plays Nervous Breakdown (1979), Jealous Again (1980), Six Pack (1981), and the single "Louie Louie", with two tracks from various artists' compilation albums.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 73/100 [8]
Review scores
SourceRating
Alternative Press Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Pitchfork 8.1/10.0 [10]

The Next Four Years received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album received an average score of 73, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews," based on 5 reviews. [8]

Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged. Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc Doyle, and Julie Doyle Roberts in 1999. The site provides an excerpt from each review and hyperlinks to its source. A color of green, yellow or red summarizes the critics' recommendations. It is regarded as the foremost online review aggregation site for the video game industry.

Standard score how many standard deviations apart from the mean an observed datum is

In statistics, the standard score is the signed fractional number of standard deviations by which the value of an observation or data point is above the mean value of what is being observed or measured. Observed values above the mean have positive standard scores, while values below the mean have negative standard scores.

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Serious Business"3:06
2."Meanwhile on Main Street"3:00
3."Revolutions at Varying Speeds"2:54
4."False Flags"1:19
5."United Nations Find God"1:33
6."Between Two Mirrors"2:42
7."Fuck the Future"0:59
8."Stole the Past"1:50
9."United Nations Vs. United Nations"2:22
10."F#A#$"7:12
11."Music for Changing Parties"2:45

Box set

7" vinyl

  1. "Serious Business" – 3:06
  2. "Meanwhile on Main Street" – 3:00

7" vinyl

  1. "Revolutions at Varying Speeds" – 2:54
  2. "False Flags" – 1:19
  3. "United Nations Find God" – 1:33
  4. "Between Two Mirrors" – 2:42

Cassette

  1. "Fuck the Future" – 0:59
  2. "Stole the Past" – 1:50
  3. "United Nations Vs. United Nations" – 2:22

10" vinyl

  1. "F#A#$" – 7:12
  2. "Music for Changing Parties" – 2:45

Notes

  • Track duration on CD for Track 11 is 3:23.

Personnel

United Nations

Related Research Articles

Thursday (band) American post-hardcore band

Thursday is an American post-hardcore band, formed in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1997. The band consisted of Geoff Rickly, Tom Keeley, Steve Pedulla, Tim Payne, Andrew Everding, and Tucker Rule (drums).

<i>War All the Time</i> (Thursday album) 2003 studio album by Thursday

War All the Time is the third studio album by American rock band Thursday. Following the release of their second album Full Collapse (2001), the group had a series of negative experiences with their label Victory Records regarding promotion. While this was happening, the group was contacted by major labels, and in May 2002, signed to Island Records. The signing was made official later in the year when an exit agreement was made with Victory Records. In November, the group started writing new material. In January 2003, they began recording their next album with Sal Villanueva at Big Blue Meenie Recording Studios in Jersey City, New Jersey. Sessions lasted six months, aside from a break in April to play shows. In late April, "For the Workforce, Drowning" was released as a single, followed by "Signals Over the Air" in August.

Album collection of recorded music, words, sounds

An album is a collection of audio recordings issued as a collection on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78-rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP records played at ​33 1⁄3 rpm. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format widely used alongside vinyl from the 1970s into the first decade of the 2000s.

<i>Next Position Please</i> 1983 studio album by Cheap Trick

Next Position Please is the seventh studio album by American rock band Cheap Trick, produced by Todd Rundgren and released in 1983. The title track was originally demoed for the band's 1979 album Dream Police, which had lead singer Robin Zander, lead guitarist Rick Nielsen, and bassist Tom Petersson each singing a verse. The song did not go beyond a demo, but it was referenced in "High Priest of Rhythmic Noise", a track from 1980's All Shook Up. "Position" was eventually re-recorded for this album, and features only Zander singing.

<i>Full Collapse</i> 2001 studio album by Thursday

Full Collapse is the second album by American post-hardcore band Thursday. Released on April 10, 2001, it marks their first and only studio album on Victory Records and features two of the band's most popular singles, "Understanding in a Car Crash" and "Cross Out the Eyes." Full Collapse helped to establish Thursday as an immensely popular group in the indie and alternative rock music scenes, reached #178 on The Billboard 200, and provided some of the earliest mainstream exposure to post-hardcore.

<i>Waiting</i> (Thursday album) 1999 studio album by Thursday

Waiting is the debut studio album by American rock band Thursday. The album was produced by Sal Villanueva and released on Eyeball Records in 1999. The photography throughout the album's artwork, with the exception of live shots, was done by Tom Keeley's uncle, Dennis Keeley.

<i>The Beatles Box Set</i> 1988 box set by the Beatles

The Beatles Box Set is a sixteen-disc box set compiling the entire recorded works of the Beatles as issued by the band between 1962 and 1970. It was released on 15 November 1988 in Britain and America, with the same catalogue number in each of those countries. While available also in vinyl LP and cassette formats, the box set was the first complete collection of original Beatles material to be released by EMI and Capitol Records on compact disc.

<i>The Doctor</i> (Cheap Trick album) 1986 studio album by Cheap Trick

The Doctor is the ninth studio album by Cheap Trick, released in 1986. It was produced by Tony Platt and reached No. 115 on the Billboard 200 Chart.

<i>A City by the Light Divided</i> 2006 studio album by Thursday

A City by the Light Divided is the fourth studio album by Thursday, released by Island Records on May 2, 2006.

<i>Build a Nation</i> 2007 studio album by Bad Brains

Build a Nation is the eighth full-length studio album by hardcore punk pioneers Bad Brains. Released on June 26, 2007 on Megaforce Records with distribution by Oscilloscope Laboratories, it was produced by Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys, a longtime friend of the band. This album marked the 30th anniversary of the band.

<i>Thursday / Envy</i> 2008 EP (split) by Thursday & Envy

Thursday / Envy is a split EP by post-hardcore bands Thursday and Envy. It was released exclusively in a package containing the album on both 180 gram 12" vinyl and on CD — individual CDs or vinyl have not been made available. Three limited screen printed editions have been made available exclusively through web stores as of September 15, 2008. The album has since seen a limited release in cassette format, all 500 copies of which were sold exclusively through independent record label, Academy Fight Song's web store.

<i>United Nations</i> (United Nations album) 2008 studio album by United Nations

United Nations is the self-titled debut from supergroup United Nations. The band features members from numerous prolific bands, such as Geoff Rickly of Thursday. Due to contractual obligations of other members, the official lineup of the band is not known.

<i>Common Existence</i> 2009 studio album by Thursday

Common Existence is the fifth full-length album from rock band Thursday.

<i>The Beatles in Mono</i> 2009 box set by the Beatles

The Beatles in Mono is a boxed set compilation comprising the remastered monaural recordings by the Beatles. The set was released on compact disc on 9 September 2009, the same day the remastered stereo recordings and companion The Beatles were also released, along with The Beatles: Rock Band video game. The remastering project for both mono and stereo versions was led by EMI senior studio engineers Allan Rouse and Guy Massey. The release date of 09/09/09 is related to the significance to John Lennon of the number nine.

Off! American band

Off! is an American hardcore punk supergroup, formed in Los Angeles in 2009.

Touché Amoré American post-hardcore band

Touché Amoré is an American post-hardcore band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2007. The band consists of vocalist Jeremy Bolm, guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt, bassist Tyler Kirby, and drummer Elliot Babin. Among other releases, they have released five studio albums: ...To the Beat of a Dead Horse in 2009, Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me in 2011, Is Survived By in 2013, Stage Four in 2016, and Dead Horse X in August 2019. The last album is a complete re-recording of the first.

<i>No Devolución</i> 2011 studio album by Thursday

No Devolución is the sixth and final studio album by the American rock band Thursday. The record was released through Epitaph Records on April 12, 2011, and it was Thursday's final album before their five-year breakup from 2011 to 2016. The musical style on No Devolución is a departure from the more traditional post-hardcore sound on Thursday's earlier records, and instead explores darker and more atmospheric tones.

No Devotion Welsh/American alternative rock band

No Devotion are a Welsh-American alternative rock band formed in 2014. They are composed of American vocalist Geoff Rickly from New Jersey, and former band members of the Welsh band Lostprophets. The band formed in the wake of Lostprophets' dissolution in 2013.

References

  1. ↑ "United Nations: The Next Four Years". www.punknews.org. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  2. ↑ "United Nations: The Next Four Years". www.punknews.org. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  3. ↑ Matt, Crane (June 3, 2014). "United Nations (Thursday, Pianos Become The Teeth) stream new song, 'Serious Business'". Alternative Press . Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  4. ↑ Crane, Matt (June 24, 2014). "United Nations (Thursday, Pianos Become The Teeth) release new song, 'Meanwhile On Main Street'". Alternative Press . Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  5. ↑ Ozzi, Dan (July 15, 2014). "United Nations Vs. United Nations: How a Little Punk Band Fought the Biggest Intergovernmental Agency in the World and Won". Noisey. Vice . Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Interview: Geoff Rickly On... Modern Art, United Nations, Thursday's Abrupt Split and the Launch of His New Band and Label". Self-Titled. Pop Mart Media. July 2, 2014. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  7. ↑ Adams, Gregory (May 21, 2014). "United Nations Return with 'The Next Four Years'". Exclaim! . Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  8. 1 2 "Reviews for The Next Four Years by United Nations". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  9. ↑ Schultz, Brian (July 8, 2014). "Review: The Next Four Years". Alternative Press . Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  10. ↑ Greene, Jayson (2014). "Review: The Next Four Years". Pitchfork . Retrieved January 6, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.