Billy Talent III
2009 studio album by Billy Talent
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Billy Talent III is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Billy Talent. It was released on July 10, 2009, in Europe, July 13 in the United Kingdom, July 14 in Canada, and September 22 in the US. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling over 40,000 copies in its first week.[13] It also peaked at No. 107 on the Billboard 200, making it Billy Talent's highest-charting album to date. In April 2010, the album won a Juno Award for best rock album of the year. Despite the commercial success, Billy Talent III received mixed to negative reviews. On Metacritic, the album earned a score of 45/100, which means "mixed or average reviews" based on 7 critics; one review being negative and the other six being mixed.
Southern Tracks (Atlanta, Georgia)
| Billy Talent III | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 10, 2009 | |||
| Recorded | November 2008 – April 2009 | |||
| Studio | Henson Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California) Southern Tracks (Atlanta, Georgia) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 43:30 (Standard) 1:41:48 (Guitar Villain) | |||
| Label | Warner Music Canada, Roadrunner[1] | |||
| Producer | Brendan O'Brien | |||
| Billy Talent chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Billy Talent III | ||||
| ||||
Background
A demo version of one of the album's songs, "Turn Your Back", was released as a single in September 2008 and featured the band members of Anti-Flag. The first legitimate single from Billy Talent III is "Rusted from the Rain", which premiered May 17, 2009 on Triple J. The album version of "Turn Your Back" does not include Anti-Flag's vocals, as the single version does.
The second single from the album, "Devil on My Shoulder" was released on August 26, 2009.
A promotional website located at billytalent3.com[14] was launched to showcase the making of the album. Part of the promotion also included the Billy Talent Widget which allowed listeners to become the "Ultimate Billy Talent Fan". The widget rewarded users with rare tracks, videos, pictures and interviews as fans "level up" their widgets.
On June 8, 2009, the band announced the release of a special deluxe edition of the album, entitled Billy Talent III: Guitar Villain Edition.[15] The special edition featured a second disc of the album, without the inclusion of guitar (referred to as "Guitar Villain Tracks"), plus guitar tabs of the entire album transcribed on two full-size posters, for fans to play along to. Along with this guitar-less version, the disc is concluded with four additional demos.
The band embarked on a supporting tour on February 21, 2009, starting with an Australian first leg.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Billy Talent.[16]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Devil on My Shoulder" | 3:49 |
| 2. | "Rusted from the Rain" | 4:13 |
| 3. | "Saint Veronika" | 4:09 |
| 4. | "Tears into Wine" | 4:12 |
| 5. | "White Sparrows" | 3:14 |
| 6. | "Pocketful of Dreams" | 3:21 |
| 7. | "The Dead Can't Testify" | 4:27 |
| 8. | "Diamond on a Landmine" | 4:30 |
| 9. | "Turn Your Back" | 3:22 |
| 10. | "Sudden Movements" | 3:39 |
| 11. | "Definition of Destiny" | 4:03 |
| Total length: | 43:30 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Devil on My Shoulder" (Guitar Villain) | 3:49 |
| 2. | "Rusted from the Rain" (Guitar Villain) | 4:13 |
| 3. | "Saint Veronika" (Guitar Villain) | 4:09 |
| 4. | "Tears into Wine" (Guitar Villain) | 4:12 |
| 5. | "White Sparrows" (Guitar Villain) | 3:14 |
| 6. | "Pocketful of Dreams" (Guitar Villain) | 3:21 |
| 7. | "The Dead Can't Testify" (Guitar Villain) | 4:27 |
| 8. | "Diamond on a Landmine" (Guitar Villain) | 4:30 |
| 9. | "Turn Your Back" (Guitar Villain) | 3:22 |
| 10. | "Sudden Movements" (Guitar Villain) | 3:39 |
| 11. | "Definition of Destiny" (Guitar Villain) | 4:03 |
| 12. | "Tears into Wine" (Demo Version) | 3:51 |
| 13. | "White Sparrows" (Demo Version) | 3:58 |
| 14. | "Pocketful of Dreams" (Demo Version) | 3:42 |
| 15. | "Turn Your Back" (Demo Version) | 3:22 |
| Total length: | 1:41:48 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Bloody Nails + Broken Hearts" | 3:37 |
| 13. | "Don't Need to Pretend" | 3:45 |
| 14. | "Devil on My Shoulder" (Demo Version) | 4:06 |
| Total length: | 54:18 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Bloody Nails + Broken Hearts" | 3:37 |
| 13. | "Devil on My Shoulder" (Demo Version) | 4:06 |
| Total length: | 51:03 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Don't Need to Pretend" | 3:45 |
| Total length: | 47:15 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Tears into Wine" (Demo Version) | 3:51 |
| 13. | "White Sparrows" (Demo Version) | 3:58 |
| 14. | "Turn Your Back" (Demo Version) | 3:22 |
| Total length: | 54:02 | |
Personnel
Personnel taken from Billy Talent III liner notes.[16]
Billy Talent
- Benjamin Kowalewicz – lead vocals
- Ian D'Sa – guitar, backing vocals
- Jonathan Gallant – bass, backing vocals
- Aaron Solowoniuk – drums
Additional musician
- Brendan O'Brien – Mellotron, piano, hammerchord, percussion, other additional instruments
Technical personnel
- Brendan O'Brien – producer, mixing
- Nick DiDia – recording
- Billy Bowers – additional engineering
- Tom Syrowski – recording assistance (Henson Recording)
- Martin Cooke – recording assistance (Henson Recording)
- Tom Tapley – engineering (Southern Tracks)
- Kory Aaron – engineering assistance (Southern Tracks)
- Steve Morrison – engineering assistance (Southern Tracks)
- Tom "TK" Kidd – additional engineering (Southern Tracks)
- Kenny Luong – engineering (The Orange Lounge)
- Jason "Metal" Donkersgoed – engineering assistance (The Orange Lounge)
- Bob Ludwig – mastering
- Dustin Rabin – photography
- Doublenaut – artwork, package design
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
Certifications
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Release history
| Date | Region |
|---|---|
| July 10, 2009 | Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands |
| July 13, 2009 | France, Norway, Denmark, South Africa, UK and Ireland |
| July 14, 2009 | Canada, Finland, Spain and Sweden |
| July 17, 2009 | Australia and New Zealand |
| September 22, 2009 | US |
| November 11, 2009 | Japan |