Blackbird (Alter Bridge album)

This article is about the Alter Bridge album. For the Värttinä album, see Musta Lindu.

Untitled

Blackbird is the second album of rock band Alter Bridge. The album was released on October 9, 2007. The first single, "Rise Today", was released on July 30, 2007. The album peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 200, selling 47,000 copies in its first week on the charts. As of December 2008, Blackbird has sold 227,000 copies.[1]

Personnel

• Myles Kennedy - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
• Mark Tremonti - Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
• Scott Phillips - Drums, Percussion
• Brian Marshall - Bass

Production

Songwriting

The band stated in early 2006 that the song writing process was two thirds complete.

On February 8, 2007, the band announced that all of the album's songwriting was finished and that they would be entering the studio to begin the recording process for the new record.

Recording

It was announced on May 11, 2007 (by Mark Tremonti on the alterbridgeband.net forums), that the recording of the album was complete, the mixing has been finished, and only a few small minor things are still to be done.

There are many differences between One Day Remains, the band's 2004 debut album, and Blackbird with the most notable being the full integration of Myles Kennedy as a guitarist and songwriter. While a large majority of the songs on One Day Remains were written before Kennedy came on board, this time around it was a collaborative effort with Tremonti and Kennedy sharing the songwriting duties (Tremonti writing the music and Kennedy writing most of the lyrics), while all four band members worked on the arrangements.

It’s a natural evolution after three years of working together. We knew Myles was an amazing singer, that’s why we hired him. What we found out when we toured the first record was that he’s also an incredibly gifted guitar player and songwriter, as well as a vocalist. It would have been a crime not to utilize all that talent. We wanted to use every weapon we had in our arsenal for this album.

- Mark Tremonti

Pre-release reviews

"This weekend's postbag contained a watermarked promo of Alter Bridge's new album, Blackbird, which knocked me senseless. A notch heavier than the band's debut, One Day Remains, it's a right l'il belter from start to finish. Pick it up on October 8 or miss out on something special." - Dave Ling's music review from Daveling.co.uk

Label changes

Alter Bridge left Wind-Up Records in 2006 due to Wind-Up pressing for a Creed reunion, and have now signed to Universal Republic Records. Mark Tremonti is quoted saying, "The material we’ve been working on is really aggressive and I think it’s the best work we’ve ever done".

Singles

"Rise Today" was the first single from the album. It was officially released on July 30, 2007. The music video of "Rise Today" was released on Yahoo! on October 4, 2007. It was also made available for download on iTunes on July 31, 2007.

The single has since received a release date within the UK set for October 15, on both CD and 7" Picturedisc.

At their concert on Oct. 30, 2007 in Dallas, Texas, the group recorded a live music video for a future single, "Ties That Bind". It was later announced by Michael Tremonti that "Ties That Bind" will be released as a single in the UK and Europe and that the video will be used to promote that single. On January 2, 2008, it was announced that "Watch Over You" will be the third single from Blackbird. Before Tomorrow Comes" has been said to be the fourth single off the album, and the third to be released in the U.S. according to Mark Tremonti's brother Michael as of April 3, 2008. There is also currently a duet version of "Watch Over You" featuring Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil found on the band's MySpace.

It is rumored that "Come to Life" will be the album's fifth, and possibly final, single.

Release information

On July 23, 2007, there was another official press release containing the official release date of the first single from the album, the track listing for the album and that tour dates will be released at a later date.

On July 26, 2007, Alter Bridge uploaded two new songs on to their official MySpace page for fans to listen to as a taste of the new album. The songs were "Ties That Bind" and the album's single "Rise Today." The single "Rise Today" can now be purchased from iTunes.

A UK version of the album was released on October 8 with two special UK bonus track titled "We Don't Care At All," a track also found on the iTunes version of the album. There is also a version of the album sold exclusively through Best Buy that contains the two bonus tracks "The Damage Done" and "New Way To Live," and a Walmart version with a bonus DVD containing exclusive interviews and an in-depth look at the making of the album.

Also, prior to the album's official release, Universal Republic Records put up a page of e-cards on their main home page on August 24 of 2007, which contained the then-unreleased "Before Tomorrow Comes," "Watch Over You," "Buried Alive" and "Come to Life." They were then removed on Saturday, the 25th of August, as their discovery resulted in many fans accessing them in a short period of time. Their accessibility online appears to have been a mistake on Universal's part, but it can also have been a unique marketing strategy.

On March 19, 2009, the band released a tabulature book for the album, containing the tabulature sheet music for every song on the album.

Chart history

Blackbird debuted at #37 on the UK Album Chart, and at #2 on the UK Rock Album Chart. In the US, it debuted at number 13 on the Billboard 200 chart and #4 on the Billboard Rock Album chart, selling about 47,000 copies in its first week and 170,000 copies in total.

Album Chart performance

Chart Title	Year	Peak Position
Billboard 200	2007	#13
UK Album Chart	2007	#37
UK Rock Album Chart	2007	#2

Singles

Year	Title	Hot 100	Main. Rock	Mod. Rock	Rock Chart
2007	"Rise Today"	-	#3	#32	#13
2008	"Ties That Bind"	-	-	-	#3
2008	"Watch Over You"	-	#19	-	-
2008	"Before Tomorrow Comes"	-	#29	-	-

Official track listing

All tracks written by Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti and arranged by Alter Bridge.

1. "Ties That Bind" - 3:19
2. "Come to Life" - 3:51
3. "Brand New Start" - 4:54
4. "Buried Alive" - 4:35
5. "Coming Home" - 4:19
6. "Before Tomorrow Comes" - 4:06
7. "Rise Today" - 4:21
8. "Blackbird" - 7:58
9. "One by One" - 4:20
10. "Watch Over You" - 4:19
11. "Break Me Down" - 3:56
12. "White Knuckles" - 4:24
13. "Wayward One" - 4:47

Bonus Tracks

1. "The Damage Done" - (Best Buy Bonus Track and on "Ties That Bind" single) - 3:45
2. "New Way to Live" - (Best Buy Bonus Track and on "Rise Today" single) - 5:40
3. "We Don't Care At All" - (UK and iTunes Bonus Track) - 3:42

Credits

• Michael "Elvis" Baskette - producer
• Dave Holdredge - engineer
• Jef Moll - digital engineer

External links

• KvltSite.com review