Ex Lives
2012 studio album by Every Time I Die
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Ex Lives is the sixth studio album by American metalcore band Every Time I Die.
| Ex Lives | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 6, 2012 | |||
| Recorded | Mid-2011 | |||
| Studio | JHOC, Pasadena, California | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 32:09 | |||
| Label | Epitaph | |||
| Producer | Joe Barresi | |||
| Every Time I Die chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
In early 2011, vocalist Keith Buckley went on tour with the Damned Things.[1] Ex Lives was recorded at JOHC in Pasadena, California; producer Joe Barresi also served as an engineer, with assistance from Morgan Stratton and Sean Oakley. Barresi later mixed the recordings.[2] Josh Newton left the band five months after the recording, and was replaced by former bassist Stephen Micciche for touring.[3] According to Buckley, for him to write the lyrics to "Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space" he had to "pay attention to the defeatism that the music suggested."[4]
Release
On January 3, 2012, Ex Lives was announced for release in March, and the album's track listing and artwork was revealed. In addition, a music video was released for "Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space", directed by Buckley. According to Blabbermouth.net, the video "features a barrage of startling visceral images which perfectly match the raging brutality of the track."[4] Buckley said that to make the video he needed to "acknowledge the masochism I wrote of [in the lyrics] to myself. You don't get rewarded for your faith and you don't get celebrated for your heroism."[4] On January 25, Epitaph Records began posting a series of videos to YouTube offering viewers a behind the scenes look into the making of Ex Lives.[5]
On February 22, a music video was released for the song "Revival Mode", which was directed by Robert Schober. Buckley said the video had a "very ambiguously creepy David Lynch vibe to it" and that it features a "story line that exists outside of us as members of a band. It's dark and weird and while not completely adhering thematically to the lyrics, it sets a larger, broader mood which marries the song perfectly."[6] Schober said the video is a "surrealist crime drama set on a lost highway...the story loosely interprets key phrases from the song...the guys were awesome and put up with many hours of freezing temperatures in the middle of the desert."[6]
Ex Lives was made available for streaming on February 28,[7] before being released on March 6 through Epitaph Records.[8] In October, the band went on a tour of Australia.[9] In January 2013, the band toured Australia as part of the Big Day Out festival.[10]
Reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 78/100[11] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AbsolutePunk |   [12] |
| AllMusic |  [13] |
| Alternative Press | [14] |
| The A.V. Club | B−[15] |
| BBC Music | Very Favorable[16] |
| Blare Magazine | [17] |
| FasterLouder | (favorable)[18] |
| The List | [19] |
| Punknews.org | [20] |
| Rock Sound | [21] |
"Ex Lives" debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 20 selling around 14,300 copies.[22] This is their highest charting position to date.
Track listing
All songs written by Every Time I Die.[2]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space" | 2:43 |
| 2. | "Holy Book of Dilemma" | 1:49 |
| 3. | "A Wild, Shameless Plain" | 1:49 |
| 4. | "Typical Miracle" | 2:26 |
| 5. | "I Suck (Blood)" | 2:56 |
| 6. | "Partying Is Such Sweet Sorrow" | 3:12 |
| 7. | "The Low Road Has No Exits" | 2:52 |
| 8. | "Revival Mode" (featuring John Christ of Danzig) | 3:46 |
| 9. | "Drag King" | 4:12 |
| 10. | "Touch Yourself" | 2:18 |
| 11. | "Indian Giver" | 4:10 |
- Bonus tracks
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Grudge Music" | 2:25 |
| 13. | "Business Casualty" | 2:45 |
| 14. | "Starve an Artist, Cover Your Trash" | 2:53 |
Personnel
Personnel per booklet.[2]
|
Every Time I Die
Additional musician
|
Production
|
Chart performance
| Chart (2012) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Vinyl Albums[23] | 3 |