A Poet's Life
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A Poet's Life is the first solo album by Tim Armstrong (Rancid, Transplants, Operation Ivy), made in collaboration with Hellcat-signed reggae band The Aggrolites. It was released on May 22, 2007 (see 2007 in music) on Armstrong's own label, Hellcat Records.
The album was initially announced to be released for free as downloads on the internet. Later it was announced that it would be a physical product as well. The album comes with a DVD featuring a video for every song on the album.[1]
History
On August 29, 2006, Armstrong sent out a bulletin over MySpace, the text of which later appeared on Epitaph Records' site (Hellcat Records is a subsidiary of Epitaph) that explained his decision to release a solo LP. Unlike most albums, Armstrong said that it would be free and downloadable over the internet, with one song being released at a time. That same day, the first track, "Hold On", appeared as an MP3 and music video on Epitaph's site. Almost two months later, on October 11, 2006, the second track, "Wake Up", was released in the same manner. No more tracks have been released in this manner, but in March 2007, "Into Action" was played on KROQ-FM.
At some point, Epitaph's site listed a release date of February 6, 2007 but sometime after that it was changed to June 7. Then, when KROQ started playing the single "Into Action", the release date was pushed up to May 22[2]. Into Action peaked on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks at number 39 and stayed on the chart for a respectable 2 weeks without much promotion.
In Epitaph's last newsletter, it was said that they will be releasing the last eight tracks of the album (including the video to the track) in the coming weeks before it is released. However, they also mentioned that, they won't be telling listeners where. Those wishing to download the album have to find the songs on various websites. The currently available songs are linked in the Track Listing section below.
Track listing
Links point to download sources for currently available songs.
- Hold On - 2:59
- Wake Up - 3:52
- Into Action (featuring Skye Sweetnam) - 3:39
- Translator (broken link) - 4:11
- Take This City - 3:14
- Inner City Violence - 3:48
- Oh No - 3:07
- Lady Demeter - 2:24
- Among The Dead - 3:32
- Cold Blooded - 2:45
All Songs written by Tim Armstrong
Videos from the DVD are also available for viewing at Hellcat's Youtube page.
Variations
The Japanese release includes a remix of "Into Action" as track 11.
The following tracks were once listed to be on the album, but were removed or renamed for the final release.
- "The Dark" - No word on whether this is a song left off the album or if it had its name changed
- "Girl, I Only Want What's Best For You" - Now called "Translator"
- "Burning Angel" - Now called "Lady Demeter"
Personnel
- Tim Armstrong - lead vocals, guitar, video director, video editor, artwork, photography, mixing, engineer, producer
- Rachel Tejada - artwork, photography, video editor, video director, producer
- John Morrical - guitar, piano, harmonica, mixing, engineer, producer
- Jesse Wagner - guitar, backing vocals
- Brian Dixon - guitar, engineer
- Bibi McGill - guitar
- Hunter Perrin - guitar
- J. Bonner - bass guitar
- Roger Rivas - organ
- Korey Horn - drums
- Scott Abels - drums
- Saliva Cano - percussion
- Jubal Jones - saxophone
- Ethan Avineri - trumpet
- Tom Cook - trombone
- DJ Odi - DJ
- Skye Sweetnam - vocals on track 3
- Daphna Dove - backing vocals
- Ritchie Stites - backing vocals
- Gene Grimaldi - mastering
- Tom D. Klime - layout design
- Chris Lasalle - A&R
- Camden Lock - wardrobe
- Chelsea Rebelle - wardrobe