Overview
Good Morning Revival is the fourth album by the American rock band Good Charlotte, released on March 27, 2007 through Epic and Daylight Records. The band began working on new material in early 2005, however, drummer Chris Wilson soon left the band and was replaced by Dean Butterworth. The group took a break to focus on their personal lives before reconvening in early 2006, and eventually reconnecting with producer Don Gilmore. He was dismissive of the new material that the band showed him, and on his recommendation Benji and Joel Madden left Los Angeles, California and settled in Vancouver, Canada. After writing a number of new songs there, the brothers felt they were heading in the right direction. Meeting up every two weeks, the band members showed off the songs they were working on; Gilmore was again dismissive, challenging them to write material that was different.
Another batch of songs was written before recording began in July 2006 and concluded in September. Featuring heavy use of keyboards, played by guitarist Billy Martin, most of the material is credited to the Madden brothers and Gilmore. Overall comparisons were made to the Killers and A Flock of Seagulls, with individual aspects of songs resembling works by the Rapture, t.A.T.u. and Underworld, among others. Early 2007 saw the debut of music videos, and single releases, for "Keep Your Hands off My Girl" and "The River" in January and February. "Dance Floor Anthem" was released as a single in June, and was followed by a tour supporting Justin Timberlake. The band then embarked on an Australian tour and released "Misery" as a single in December. Another single, "Where Would We Be Now", was released in May 2008 and preceded the band's co-headlining US tour with Boys Like Girls that summer.
Good Morning Revival received a mixed reception from critics, some of whom praised the band's hooks and choruses. It sold 66,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number seven on the Billboard 200 in the process. As of July 2010, sales stood at 314,000 copies sold. Outside the US, the album reached the top 10 in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Austria and Germany, as well as the top 30 in the UK, Finland, Sweden, Italy and France. Within these territories, the album was certified platinum in Australia, and gold in Canada and New Zealand, and silver in the UK. "The River" and "Dance Floor Anthem" were successful on the US radio charts, and both reached the top 40 on the Hot 100. "Keep Your Hands off My Girl" charted within the top 10 in Australia and Finland and reached the top 40 across various European countries.
"Keep Your Hands off My Girl" was certified gold in Australia, while "Dance Floor Anthem" was certified platinum in Australia and the US.
Background
In March 2005, the band went on a UK tour during which they worked on new material on their tour bus. Vocalist Joel Madden expressed an interest in moving beyond the three-chord song structures used in the songs on The Chronicles of Life and Death. Guitarist Billy Martin had kept this in mind while writing the majority of the material. At this point, Madden reckoned they had anywhere from a quarter to half an album's worth of songs. In May, drummer Chris Wilson left the group and was replaced by Dean Butterworth. At this point, they had written 12 songs, and planned to go into pre-production in November Instead, they took a break to focus on their personal lives. Martin worked on painting while the Madden brothers spent time producing other acts and DJing.
Dave Massey, executive vice president of A&R at Sony Music Labels Group, and Gilmore proposed that they reinvent themselves, Gilmore suggested that the Madden brothers needed to escape from the Los Angeles scene to focus on the songs, and recommended they go to Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver's picturesque environment was an inspiration, and over the course of seven weeks they wrote a new batch of songs. The group were anxious and scared about impressing Gilmore; after they had written "Victims of Love", Joel Madden said they "felt like 'OK, now we're definitely on to something new and different'". Collectively, they spent two months in Canada before returning home.
Recording
Every two weeks, the band would get together and play each other the songs they had written. They made demos of all the songs they liked, eventually recording around 40 from the Madden brothers, 12 from Martin and five from bassist Paul Thomas. They were sent in batches of ten to Gilmore, who would often respond saying he only liked one of the tracks. Gilmore challenged the band to write new material that was different. The band had met previously with a number of producers, but eventually went with Gilmore because of his helpful comments on the demos. They were mixed by Andy Wallace at Soundtrack Studios in New York City. John O'Mahony served as Pro Tools engineer with assistance from Mike Scielzi. Ted Jensen mastered the recordings at Sterling Sound in New York City.
Composition
(pictured) by music critics
Overview
According to Joel Madden, the group wanted to move away from the dark overtones of their past work as they found their contemporaries' music was becoming "really dramatic". and borrowed guitar effects from U2 guitarist The Edge. dance-rock and pop rock, It drew comparisons to the Killers, the Bravery The Madden brothers had used their downtime from the band to DJ various events. Benji Madden said this was influential to the dance-y nature of the album, since the brothers were aware of how people were moving to the music. which he regarded as a "fresh kind of starting over".
Songs
"Good Morning Revival" opens the album and acts as a sound collage before transitioning into "Misery". Gilmore's production work on the first two Linkin Park records is evident in the guitar licks on this track, which recalled their Meteora album. Martin moved into a new residence and found there was room for a piano. He subsequently got one and decided to write a song, resulting in "Where Would We Be Now". Country-leaning "Beautiful Place" "Something Else" and "Broken Hearts Parade" both sound closer to that of the group's older material. which Martin was stubborn about including. "March On" is a crooning ballad, which Madden said was partially inspired by the Cardigans' "Lovefool".
Release
In mid-September 2006, "Keep Your Hands off My Girl" was posted on the group's website. In December, the group filmed a music video for "The River" in Los Angeles, California, with director Marc Webb. It features the Los Angeles River, which Benji Madden said was symbolic in that "it's concrete, polluted, graffitied, and when you think of 'baptism in the river' the chorus of the song , you think peaceful and serene". On December 18, 2006, Good Morning Revival was announced for release in three months' time. "The River" was released to radio on January 15, 2007, A music video for "The River" premiered on TV on February 5. It features performance scenes next to the Los Angeles river, interspersed with footage of other places in Los Angeles.
Good Morning Revival was made available for streaming through AOL Music on March 26, and was released the following day through Epic and Daylight Records. Physical retailers, such as Target, Best Buy, Circuit City and Walmart, were each given exclusive bonus tracks, as was digital retailer iTunes. An acoustic version of "March On" was available as a free download through the band's website. "Dance Floor Anthem" was released as a CD single in Australia on June 30 with radio and album versions of the song and a Brass Knuckles remix of "Keep Your Hands off My Girl" as B-sides. Also included was the music video for "Dance Floor Anthem", which was filmed in Canada and directed by Sean Michael Turrell. "Misery" was released as a CD single in Australia on December 7 with a live version of the track as a B-side. "Where Would We Be Now" was released to US radio on May 20, 2008.
In September 2010, the album was reissued as a two-CD package with The Chronicles of Life and Death.
Touring
In September and October 2006, the group went on a headlining club tour with the Pink Spiders. In January 2007, the Madden brothers went on a promotional South Pacific tour. In April, the band appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in the US, and at the MTV Awards in Australia. Following this, the group embarked on a tour of Japan and then Europe in May, which continued into June. The band supported Justin Timberlake on the US leg of his FutureSex/LoveShow tour in August and September. Alongside the tour, the band did a handful of in-store performances and signings, and an appearance on Live with Regis and Kelly. In October, the group went on a tour of Australia, and appeared in a television commercial for The Kyle & Jackie O Show. They returned to the US and played on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
In March and April 2008, the band played two shows in South Africa before going on a tour of Europe. A handful of US shows followed in April and May. The band were due to perform at the Groezrock festival in May, but had to cancel. In July and August, the group went on a co-headlining US tour with Boys Like Girls, with support from Metro Station and the Maine, dubbed the Soundtrack of Your Summer tour. Following this, the band performed at the Summer Krush and Summerset Music festivals in September.
Critical response
Good Morning Revival has received generally mixed reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine viewed the album as "desperate trend-chasing", piggybacking on two trends that rose to prominence since the band's 2002 breakthrough album: "dance-punk and '80s fetishism". NME writer Mike Sterry dismissed the group's intention of a "complete reinvention" as the record was "still unmistakably Good Charlotte: vile, goth-jock pop with all the wit and nuance of a urine-soaked sock". Orange County Register writer Ben Wener remarked that it was "exceptionally crafted", flaunting "its money, studio expertise and synthetic window dressing in just about every air-tight sonic turn". Music critic Robert Christgau simply gave the album a "dud" rating.
Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone found the tracks "dark and sour", saying "shimmery electronics and some tortured emo choruses" abound. Sputnikmusic staff member Dave de Sylvia said the record was "inconsistent; downright sinful at times", with glances of "brilliance and some very creditable pop moments".
Commercial performance
Good Morning Revival debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 with 66,000 copies sold in its first week. As of July 2010, the album had sold 314,000 copies in the US. It appeared on three additional Billboard charts: number two on the Top Rock Albums chart, number three on the Digital Albums chart, and number 10 on the Internet Albums chart. Outside of the US, the album charted at: number two in New Zealand, number 38 on the Alternative Songs chart, and number 39 on the Hot 100 chart.
Outside the US, it charted at: number 23 in Denmark, number 37 in Austria, number 40 in Germany, "Keep Your Hands off My Girl" charted at: number five in Australia, number nine in Finland, number 12 in Italy, number 23 in the UK, number 29 in Austria, It was certified gold in Australia. number 13 on the Digital Song Sales chart, number 21 on the Adult Top 40 chart, number 25 on the Hot 100 chart, and number 57 on the Radio Songs chart. Outside the US, it charted at number two in Australia, and the US. "Misery" charted at number 24 in Australia.
Legacy
Entertainment Weekly placed the album at number four on their list of the worst albums of 2007. Five tracks were remixed for inclusion on the band's Greatest Remixes (2008) compilation: "Broken Hearts Parade" (by Marshall Arts and featured Philieano and Tabi Bonney), "Keep Your Hands off My Girl" (by Dead Executives and featured Jung Tru and Bubba Sparxxx), "All Black" (by the White Tie Affair and featured Mat Devine of Kill Hannah), "Dance Floor Anthem" (covered by Metro Station) and "Where Would We Be Now" (by Troublemaker). The iTunes deluxe edition includes four additional remixes: "Misery" (by Steve Aoki), "The River" (by Apoptygma Berzerk), "Broken Hearts Parade" (by Vanderbilt and featured Prophit) and "Victims of Love" (by PBX). "The River", "Keep Your Hands off My Girl", "Dance Floor Anthem" and "Misery" are included on the band's Greatest Hits (2010) compilation.
In 2016, Benji Madden said of the album: "This was when we either could have quit or do what we did. ... We could have tried to make The Young And The Hopeless again, but that, to me, would have been giving up." Later that year, Joel Madden said it was his favorite Good Charlotte album, and that "people don't give it the credit it needs, as a record and for where we were at for our age. I think we really put together a body of work that was cohesive."
Track listing
All songs by Benji Madden, Joel Madden and Don Gilmore, except where noted. # "Good Morning Revival" – 0:56 # "Misery" – 3:49 # "The River" (featuring M. Shadows & Synyster Gates) – 3:15 # "Dance Floor Anthem" – 4:04 # "Keep Your Hands off My Girl" (B. Madden, J. Madden) – 3:25 # "Victims of Love" – 3:45 # "Where Would We Be Now" (Billy Martin, B. Madden, J. Madden) – 3:58 # "Break Apart Her Heart" – 3:19 # "All Black" – 4:19 # "Beautiful Place" – 3:50 # "Something Else" – 3:19 # "Broken Hearts Parade" – 3:15 # "March On" – 3:11
Personnel
Personnel per booklet. Good Charlotte * Joel Madden – vocals * Benji Madden – guitars, vocals * Billy Martin – guitars, keyboards * Paul Thomas – bass * Dean Butterworth – drums Additional musicians * BC Smith – programming * Bart Hendrickson – programming * The Incognito Horns – horns (track 12) * Bobbie Page – background vocals (track 9) * Terry Wood – background vocals (track 9) * Maxine Waters – background vocals (track 9) * Carmen Carter – background vocals (track 9) * M.
Shadows – lead vocals (track 3) * Synyster Gates – lead guitar (track 3) Production * Don Gilmore – producer * Mark Kiczula – recording * Fox Phelps – assistant engineer * Andy Wallace – mixing * John O'Mahony – Pro Tools engineer * Mike Scielzi – assistant * Ted Jensen – mastering * Marvin Scott Jarrett – art direction, photography * Sheri Lee – art direction * Fusako Chubachi – art direction * Kristine Burns – photography * Michael Dahan – photography
References
Citations Sources * * *
External links
*Good Morning Revival at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)