In Defense of the Genre

In Defense of The Genre
Studio album by Say Anything
Released October 23, 2007
Recorded March 2006 – September 2007 at Electric Lady Studios in New York City and Seagrass Studios in California
Genre Emo, indie rock, alternative rock, pop punk, post-hardcore
Length 89:21
Label J
Producer Brad Wood
Say Anything chronology
...Is a Real Boy
(2004)		 In Defense of the Genre
(2007)		 Say Anything
(2009)
Singles from In Defense of the Genre
  1. "Baby Girl, I'm a Blur"
    Released: October 2, 2007
  2. "Shiksa (Girlfriend)"
    Released: 2008
  3. "Skinny, Mean Man"
    Released: 2008
  4. "Spores"
    Released: 2008

In Defense of The Genre is the third full-length studio album by American pop-punk band Say Anything, released on October 23, 2007 through J Records as a double disc album.[1] It debuted at number 27 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 25,000 copies in its first week.[2] The first single, "Baby Girl, I'm a Blur", was released October 2, 2007 on iTunes.[3] The album artwork was provided by Jeff Smith, an artist primarily known for his work on the Bone comic series.

On September 19, 2007, fans could pre-order an autographed copy of the album with an optional Say Anything T-shirt.[4] An extra booklet was packaged with the CDs, autographed by Max Bemis, Alex Kent, and Jeff Turner.

Background

Writing and plans for In Defense of the Genre began in March 2006 during Say Anything's extensive touring and promotion for the reissue of their previous effort, …Is a Real Boy. The band started rehearsing and piecing together the album through pre-production the next year in January 2007, until the record was finally completed half a year later in September.[5] Max Bemis described in an interview that the record is more focused on "observations of other people", unlike ...Is a Real Boy's lyrical content revolving solely on Bemis and his problems.[6] The record "picks up in my life where [...Is a Real Boy] left off because it is very autobiographical, even more so than the last record. Musically, it's different, more mature and somewhat more cohesive and poppy, but darker in a whole different way."[7]

“ It's the story of being alone and losing my mind and then overcoming that event by learning to trust and let go of that anger and fall in love for the first time. It's also about losing that love and the confusion that entails after, and the nature of first love; discovering what you really want whether it be to give yourself totally to someone or explore the endless abyss and risk losing your mind again and that love. ”
— Max Bemis describes the concept of In Defense of the Genre

The album features 23 individual guest vocalists and musicians, including Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Pete Yorn, Anna Waronker, Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday, Aaron Gillespie of Underoath and The Almost, Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio, and Hayley Williams of Paramore. Additional instrumentation was handled by DJ Swamp and Casey Prestwood, whom contributed on turntable and pedal steel guitar, respectively.[8] The December issue of Alternative Press reported that Jesse Lacey of Brand New chose not to collaborate. In December 2007, Absolutepunk.net did a 3-part video series showing an in depth look at the recording of In Defense of the Genre.[9][10][11]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79%
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk.net(96%) link
Allmusic link
Alternative Press link
The A.V. Club(B+) link
Blender link
Entertainment Weekly(A-) link
Kerrang!
Spin link
Sputnikmusic link
Rolling Stone link

In Defense of the Genre was well received by most critics, averaging a 79% on Metacritic.[12] Entertainment Weekly gave the album an A-, noting that the album's "sonic twists almost always work". Alternative Press gave the album a 4.5/5 and stated that Max Bemis created an album musicians "more than twice his age could only hope to create." Blender, in a 4/5 review, called it a "mess" but an "exhilarating one."[13][14][15]

In more mixed reviews, PopMatters noted that the wide variety of styles was a "gift and curse at the same time". Rolling Stone said "When Bemis is on... his songs are tuneful and invigorating."[16][17][18]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Max Bemis; all music composed by Max Bemis, Coby Linder and Alex Kent.

Disc One
No. TitleGuest vocalist(s) Length
1. "Skinny, Mean Man"  Pete Yorn 3:33
2. "No Soul" (contains a portion of the composition "Juicy Fruit", originally written by James Mtume; features DJ Swamp on turntables)Anna Waronker 3:36
3. "That Is Why"    4:13
4. "Surgically Removing the Tracking Device"  Adam Lazzara, Fred Mascherino 2:30
5. "This Is Fucking Ecstasy"  Anthony Raneri 2:39
6. "The Church Channel"  Hayley Williams 3:04
7. "Shiksa (Girlfriend)"  Caithlin De Marrais 3:38
8. "Baby Girl, I'm a Blur"    4:19
9. "Retarded in Love" (features Casey Prestwood on pedal steel guitar)Chris Carrabba, Michael Auerbach 3:06
10. "People Like You Are Why People Like Me Exist"  Trever Keith 3:28
11. "Died a Jew"    2:29
12. "An Insult to the Dead" (Additional arrangement by Joshua Sultan)  4:09
13. "Sorry, Dudes. My Bad."  Chris Conley 2:43
Disc Two
No. TitleGuest vocalist(s) Length
1. "Spay Me"    3:13
2. "In Defense of the Genre"  Gerard Way 4:02
3. "The Truth Is, You Should Lie with Me"  Joshua Sultan 2:31
4. "The Word You Wield"    3:50
5. "Vexed"    2:39
6. "About Falling"  Matt Skiba, Laura Kirsch 4:13
7. "You're the Wanker, If Anyone Is"  Jordan Pundik, Chad Gilbert, Aaron Gillespie 3:22
8. "Spores"    2:49
9. "We Killed It"  Andy Jackson 1:53
10. "Have at Thee!"    3:03
11. "Hangover Song"  Anthony Green 0:58
12. "Goodbye Young Tutor, You've Now Outgrown Me"    4:20
13. "I Used to Have a Heart"    4:17
14. "Plea"  Hayley Williams and Kenny Vasoli 4:31

Personnel

Album personnel

Tour personnel

References

External links

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