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My Dinosaur Life

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My Dinosaur Life is the fourth studio album by American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack, released through Columbia Records on January 19, 2010. It is the band's first album on a major label, after they moved from Epitaph Records in June 2008. As with their second album, Commit This to Memory (2005), the album was produced by Blink-182 member Mark Hoppus.

My Dinosaur Life was released to universal acclaim from critics; multiple reviewers stated that the album is the best of the band's career and called it a resounding success for the band. The album debuted at number 15 on the US Billboard 200, with nearly 30,000 copies sold in its first week.[1]

Production and recording

After releasing two records on independent label Epitaph, Motion City Soundtrack signed a multiple-album deal with Columbia Records in late 2006, months prior to releasing their previous album Even if It Kills Me. Following the move, guitarist Joshua Cain said "it just felt right to make the move when there was the right interest there". With the new signing, the band's promotional team aimed to develop a balance between the benefits of a new major label and their previous grass-roots approach.[2]

The band's Columbia debut was produced by Blink-182 member Mark Hoppus, who also worked with the band for their second album, Commit This to Memory. Hoppus revealed that the band wanted to follow in the tracks of Commit This to Memory, but push things further.[3] He said the album would incorporate a heavier, more experimental side of the group. "There's an edge on this record that I'm really excited about getting into," he said. "But it still has all the catchiness of everything that I personally love about Motion City Soundtrack. As a fan, it's really exciting to get to work with them again and help them flesh out this new vision of themselves."[3]

The band announced they were to begin recording sessions with Hoppus in April 2009,[4] and later confirmed recording had been completed on June 28, 2009.[5]

Promotion and release

Whilst on tour with Blink-182, Motion City Soundtrack did an interview for MTV with Mark Hoppus, in which it was revealed that the band's fourth album will be titled My Dinosaur Life.[6]

In October 2009, the band released the first song off of the album, "Disappear", as a free download on their website.[7] On November 3, 2009, My Dinosaur Life was announced to have a release date of January 19, 2010.[8] "Her Words Destroyed My Planet" was first publicly released in November 2009 on Spin's website for streaming. The song became one of the site's most popular streams in 2009. A third song, "A Lifeless Ordinary (Need a Little Help)", was also released on Spin prior to the album.[9] The band released a music video for the single "Disappear" on November 19, 2009.[10] The video for the song "Her Words Destroyed My Planet" was then released on January 11, 2010.[11]

Pre-orders for the album went on sale through the band's official website on November 13, 2009. The pre-orders came in digital, standard and deluxe edition with the deluxe edition featuring a bonus CD.[12]

Throughout January 2010 the band undertook a series of song by song video testimonials to each of the album's tracks. The clips were released on numerous music websites including AbsolutePunk, Spin, Buzznet, Purevolume, Alternative Press, Punknews.org, Alloy.com, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, The A.V. Club, Ultimate Guitar Archive, Buzzgrinder.com and Twitvid.[13]

The album was uploaded for streaming on the band's MySpace on January 12, 2010.[11]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk(92%)[14]
Allmusic[15]
Alternative Press[16]
The A.V Club(B+)[17]
Entertainment Weekly(A-)[18]
Idobi[19]
Lincoln Journal Star(B-)[20]
Slant[21]
Spin[22]
Sputnikmusic[23]

Critical response to My Dinosaur Life was positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received a score of 89, indicating "universal acclaim".[24]

The album was given a nod of approval by Spin prior to its release, who awarded it 3.5/5 stars. The reviewer Mikael Wood said "the band strikes a radio-ready balance between mayhem and melody, (which) may well trigger their long-awaited breakthrough."[22] Drew Beringer of AbsolutePunk also gave the album a glowing review, awarding a 92% rating. He stated that the album, "combines the mayhem and melody of Commit This to Memory, while maintaining the pop sensibilities they showed on Even if It Kills Me. It has the ferocity of a debut album while maintaining the expertise that seasoned bands possess". He also made comparisons to Weezer's earlier work; "If Weezer created the nerdy/quirky pop-rock sound, then Motion City Soundtrack has perfected it on their best album to date".[14] Scott Heisel of Alternative Press was equally impressed, awarding My Dinosaw Life a full five stars. He praised, "Mark Hoppus' fantastic production, which never gets in the way of the song (a complete 180 from his work on 2005's Commit This To Memory); and the unique, textured, background role Jesse Johnson has allowed his synth to play this time around. So let's just end it on this: Motion City Soundtrack have made the best album of their career".[16] The A.V Club critic Kyle Ryan gave a positive review, giving the album a "B+" grade. He claimed the album is full of "maddeningly catchy rock—associated with punk, but undeniably pop with clever, sensitive-boy lyrics". Minor complaints included, "("A Lifeless Ordinary") veers a little too close to Weezer-esque cheese in its generic chorus, and budding “sensitive homeboys” anthem ("@!#?@!")—“Go fuck yourselves, leave us alone”—is a little groan-inducing, but those missteps are pretty minor".[17] Entertainment Weekly writer Andy Greenwald awarded the album an "A-" grade. He stated that frontman Justin Pierre "lets his geek flag fly, likening a breakup to the destruction of Superman's home world and puzzling over ephemera ranging from acid rain (the lovely "Skin and Bones") to Busta Rhymes (the jauntily profane "@!#?@!"), all backed by soaring choruses guaranteed to fossilize themselves into your brain".[18] Lincoln Journal Star journalist L. Kent Wolgamott gave the album a "B-" grade in his review. While stating that their blend of "classic power pop and punk pop" was repetitive, he did also praise the lyrical content; "My Dinosaur Life is full of complaints and clever cultural observations, insecurities and determination to move forward, a heap of modern confusion that is bound together by the catchy if repetitive music".[20] Adam Knott of Sputnikmusic was also favourable in his review, giving the album an "excellent" four out of five rating; "My Dinosaur Life isn't a perfect album by any means, but it's a resounding success for a band whose fourth album couldn't afford to be anything less. It houses numerous tangents which expand on Motion City Soundtrack's back catalogue at the same time as consolidating their strengths and discarding the things that sometimes made them awkward or difficult to take serious. Sure, My Dinosaur Life remains an entirely fun experience, but it blends that trademark smirk with the necessary restraint and spark to produce a record which removes any doubt that Motion City Soundtrack are the masters of their own fate".[23]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Justin Pierre; music composed by Motion City Soundtrack.

  1. "Worker Bee" — 2:25
  2. "A Lifeless Ordinary (Need a Little Help)" — 3:23
  3. "Her Words Destroyed My Planet" — 3:38
  4. "Disappear" — 3:12
  5. "Delirium" — 3:29
  6. "History Lesson" — 2:35
  7. "Stand Too Close" — 2:48
  8. "Pulp Fiction" — 3:53
  9. "@!#?@!" — 3:00
  10. "Hysteria" — 3:05
  11. "Skin and Bones" — 3:36
  12. "The Weakends" — 4:48

Bonus tracks

iTunes pre-order
  2. "Sunny Day" — 3:10
Deluxe edition bonus disc
  1. "A Lifeless Ordinary (Need a Little Help)" (Acoustic) — 3:20
  2. "Pulp Fiction" (Acoustic) — 3:23
  3. "So Long Farewell" — 3:07
  4. "Worker Bee" (Acoustic) — 2:36
  5. "Disappear" (Acoustic) — 4:07

Personnel

Motion City Soundtrack

Production

References

  1. ^ "Motion City Billboard". AbsolutePunk. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  2. ^ Leebove, Laura. "Motion City Soundtrack Ready To Ignite 'Dino'-mite". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
  3. ^ Hoppus, Mark. "I'm In A Press Release". himynameismark.com. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  4. ^ "Motion City Soundtrack Finish New Album". Alter the Press. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  5. ^ "Blink-182's Mark Hoppus Grills Motion City Soundtrack About New LP". MTV. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  6. ^ "New song Disappear available free download now". Motioncitysoundtrack.com. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
  7. ^ "My Dinosaur Life Release Date is January 19, 2010". Motioncitysoundtrack.com. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
  8. ^ "Exclusive: New Motion City Soundtrack Song". Spin. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  9. ^ "Disappear Video Premiere". Motioncitysoundtrack.com. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  10. ^ a b ""Her Words Destroyed My Planet" Video Premiere!". Motioncitysoundtrack.com. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  11. ^ My Dinosaur Life - Pre-order.
  12. ^ "Video Countdown Track 12: "The Weakends" + Live From Vintage Vinyl Tomorrow!". Motion City Soundtrack.com. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  13. ^ a b Beringer, Drew. "Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life". AbsolutePunk. Retrieved 2010-01-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  14. ^ Apar, Corey. "Review: My Dinosaur Life". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
  15. ^ a b Heisel, Scott (February 2010), "Motion City Soundtrack: My Dinosaur Life. The Champ is Here", Alternative Press, no. 259, pp. p91 {{citation}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); External link in |title= (help)
  16. ^ a b Ryan, Kyle. "Motion City Soundtrack: My Dinosaur Life". The A.V Club. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
  17. ^ a b Greenwald, Andy. "Motion City Soundtrack: My Dinosaur Life". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  18. ^ McGrath, James. "Album review: Motion City Soundtrack tabs Mark Hoppus for major label debut". Idobi. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
  19. ^ a b Wolgamott, L. Kent. "Review: 'My Dinosaur Life' is repetitive but catchy power pop". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  20. ^ Cole, Matthew. "Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  21. ^ a b Wood, Mikael. "Motion City Soundtrack, 'My Dinosaur Life'". Spin. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  22. ^ a b Knott, Adam. "Motion City Soundtrack: My Dinosaur Life". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2010-01-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  23. ^ "My Dinosaur Life reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
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