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Blurryface

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Untitled

Blurryface (stylized as BLURRYFΛCE) is the fourth studio album by American musical duo Twenty One Pilots. It is the band's second album released through Fueled by Ramen. Originally set to be released on May 19, 2015, it was released two days earlier on May 17, via iTunes.[8] The album was preceded by its lead single, "Fairly Local", released on March 17, 2015. As of July 2016, the album has sold over 1 million copies in the United States.[9] It contains the Billboard Hot 100 top-five singles, "Stressed Out" and "Ride", which reached numbers two and five on the chart, respectively.

Background and recording

Twenty One Pilots performing at Shepherds Bush Empire in late 2015

Following the release of their third album Vessel (2013), the band toured extensively in support of the album worldwide.[10] While on tour the band had a portable recording studio that allowed them to lay down ideas.[11]

"Heavydirtysoul", "Ride", "Fairly Local", "Tear in My Heart", "Lane Boy" and "Doubt" were recorded with producer Ricky Reed at Serenity West Recording in Hollywood, California. "Stressed Out", "Polarize", "Hometown" and "Not Today" were recorded with producer Mike Elizondo at Can Am in Tarzana, California. "Ride" was recorded with Reed at Sonic Lounge Studios in Grove City, Ohio. "The Judge" was recorded with producer Mike Crossey at Livingston Studios in London. "We Don't Believe What's on TV" and "Goner" were recorded with Reed at Paramount Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. "Message Man" was recorded with Tim Anderson at Werewolf Heart in Los Angeles, California. The album was mixed by Neal Avron, with assistance from Scott Skrzynski, at The Casita in Hollywood, California. The album was mastered by Chris Gehringer at Sterling Sound in New York City, New York.[12]

Title and artwork

The album is named after a character the band created called Blurryface. According to Joseph, he "represents all the things that I as an individual, but also everyone around, are insecure about."[13] Joseph wears black paint on his hands and neck during his live shows and music videos for the album, to represent Blurryface, saying: "Very dramatic, I know, but it helps me get into that character."[14]

Art direction and design was done by Brandon Rike, Reel Bear Media and Virgilio Tzaj.[12] Rob Gold was the art manager, while Josh Skubel was in charge of packaging production.[12] Jabari Jacobs provided photography.[12] Rike mentions on his blog about the different feel of the artwork from Vessel and how the red on Blurryface is "the color of passion, violence, and anger". although the band is famous for their content being open to interpretation.[15]

Release

On March 17, 2015, the band announced the album's title, track listing and release date.[16] The band's fans crashed their website attempting to pre-order the album.[17] The band released their new single "Fairly Local" on the same day accompanied by its music video which premiered on the official Fueled by Ramen YouTube channel.[18]

On April 6, the band released the second single of the album, "Tear in My Heart", with an official music video released through YouTube.[19] "Tear in My Heart" was released to radio on April 14, 2015.[20] The third single, "Stressed Out", was released on April 28[21][22] with a music video.[23] On May 4, 2015, the band posted a YouTube video streaming the audio of the album's 6th track, "Lane Boy",[24] and released "Ride" seven days later through the same media;[25] both were also singles, being released on the 4th and 12th, respectively.[6][7] Between the 11th and the 14th the band toured the UK.[26] The music video for "Ride" was released on May 14,[27] directed by Reel Bear Media.[28]

On May 19, 2015, the duo performed at the iHeartRadio Theater LA in Burbank, CA to celebrate the album's release.[29] The concert was livestreamed on iHeartRadio's website. The band has shows and festival stops lasting from May 19 to December 14.[30] On July 20, the music video for "Lane Boy" was released.[31] The band played in the UK in November.[32] The tour sold out in a matter of minutes.[33]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[34]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[35]
Alternative Press[36]
The Austin Chronicle[4]
Billboard[5]
Cleveland.comB[37]
Rolling Stone Australia[38]
Sputnikmusic3.5/5[2]

Blurryface received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album has received an average score of 80, based on 5 reviews, signifying "generally favorable reviews".[34] Garrett Kamps of Billboard hailed the album as a "hot mess (in a good way)", but gave it a mixed review, saying that Blurryface "doesn't quite reach the heights of Vessel".[5]

Sputnikmusic and Alternative Press gave Blurryface favorable reviews, with the latter being the more positive. Their critic, Jason Pettigrew, described the album as "wonderful" and hailed the band's mix of genres in their songs, highlighting "Ride", "Polarize", "Message Man", "Tear in My Heart", "We Don't Believe What's on TV", "Goner" and "Lane Boy" in his review.[36]

The album was ranked at number one in Alternative Press's "10 Essential Records of 2015" list.[3] Jason Pettigrew of Alternative Press wrote that the band combined "hip-hop vistas, tinges of reggae, everyman pop, furious electronic urgency and bellicose sadness into an impossibly cohesive record."[3] The album was included at number 2 on Rock Sound's top 50 releases of 2015 list.[39] Blurryface was nominated for "Album Of The Year" at the 2016 Alternative Press Music Awards.[40] The album also won the category of "Top Rock Album" at the Billboard Music Awards.[41]

Commercial performance

Blurryface debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, earning 147,000 album-equivalent units (134,000 pure album sales) in the United States in its first week, making it Twenty One Pilots' highest-charting album and marking the band's highest opening week in the US.[42] The group also made their first appearance on the UK top 40 with Blurryface debuting at number 14. By November 2015, the album sold 500,000 copies worldwide.[43] The following month, it was announced the album's US sales was over 505,000 copies.[44] By January 2016, the album had sold 592,000 copies in the US.[45] Two months later, the album's US sales had risen to 753,000 copies.[46] By the end of March, the album's US sales stood at 792,000.[47] By mid-June, the album had sold 924,000 copies,[48] and over 1 million by late July.[49] The album has since been certified gold in Canada[50] and double platinum in the US.[51]

Track listing

All songs written by Tyler Joseph.[12]

No.TitleProducerLength
1."Heavydirtysoul"Ricky Reed3:54
2."Stressed Out"Mike Elizondo3:22
3."Ride"Reed3:34
4."Fairly Local"Reed3:27
5."Tear in My Heart"Reed3:08
6."Lane Boy"Reed4:13
7."The Judge"Mike Crossey4:57
8."Doubt"Reed3:11
9."Polarize"Elizondo3:46
10."We Don't Believe What's on TV"Reed2:57
11."Message Man"Tim Anderson4:00
12."Hometown"Elizondo3:54
13."Not Today"Elizondo3:58
14."Goner"Reed3:56
Japanese bonus tracks[52]
No.TitleProducerLength
15."Guns for Hands"Greg Wells4:30
16."Lovely"Wells4:18

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.[12]

Twenty One Pilots
  • Tyler Joseph – programming (tracks 1–6, 8–9 and 12), piano (tracks 1, 5–7 and 12–14), keyboards (tracks 2, 9 and 12), vocals (track 2, 9, 12 and 13), organs (track 3), lead vocals, backing vocals, Hammond organ, synths and gang vocals (track 7), ukulele (tracks 7 and 10), synth bass (track 9)
  • Josh Dun – drums (tracks 1–7, 9–10 and 12–14), percussion (track 7), gang vocals (track 7), vocals (track 13)

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[82] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[50] Platinum 80,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[83] Gold 10,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[84] Gold 7,500^
Poland (ZPAV)[85] Platinum 20,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[86] Gold 100,000‡
United States (RIAA)[51] 2× Platinum 1,005,000[49]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country Date
 Australia[87] May 15, 2015
 Germany
 Japan
 Ireland
 Netherlands
 Finland May 16, 2015
 Denmark
 France
 Poland
 United Kingdom
 Europe May 17, 2015
 Canada
 United States

See also

References

Citations
  1. ^ a b c Curcic, Andja (June 5, 2015). "Album Review: Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e SowingSeason (May 20, 2015). "Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e Pettigrew 2015, p. 96
  4. ^ a b Curtin, Kevin (October 2, 2015). "ACL Fest 2015 Saturday Record Review – Twenty One Pilots: Blurryface (Fueled by Ramen)". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Kamps, Garrett (May 19, 2015). "Pop Duo Twenty One Pilots Makes a Hot Mess (in a Good Way) on 'Blurryface': Album Review". Billboard. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Lane Boy - Twenty One Pilots - Release Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Ride - Twenty One Pilots - Release Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  8. ^ "SURPRISE! Twenty One Pilots Release "Blurryface" Early!". Radio 104.5. May 17, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  9. ^ Caulfield, Keith (July 29, 2016). "Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Twenty One Pilots' 'Blurryface' Surpasses 1 Million U.S. Sales". Billboard. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
  10. ^ Thomas, Fred. "Twenty One Pilots | Biography". allmusic.com. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  11. ^ Tom (June 14, 2014). ""We're used to not fitting in…" – twenty one pilots". HMV. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Blurryface (Booklet). Twenty One Pilots. Fueled by Ramen. 2015. 7567-86692-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  13. ^ "Twenty One Pilots Explain Why Their Album Is Called "Blurry Face" - MTV News". YouTube. April 28, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  14. ^ "Um, Why Is The Dude From Twenty One Pilots Covered In Black Goo?". MTV News.
  15. ^ http://brandonrike.com/behind-blurryface
  16. ^ Ritchie, Andy (March 17, 2015). "Twenty One Pilots Just Dropped A New Track, Announced An Album And Four UK Dates. WOW". Rock Sound Magazine. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  17. ^ Bird, Ryan (July 2015). Bird, Ryan (ed.). "Who Are Ya?". Rock Sound (201). London: Freeway Press Inc.: 69. ISSN 1465-0185.
  18. ^ Whitt, Cassie. "Hear twenty one pilots' eerie new single "Fairly Local" from impending album 'Blurryface' - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  19. ^ twenty one pilots: Tear In My Heart [Official Video]; YouTube, April 6, 2015
  20. ^ "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  21. ^ "Twenty One Pilots: Stressed Out - Music on Google Play". google.com. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  22. ^ "Twenty One Pilots - Stressed Out MP3 Music". cduniverse.com. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  23. ^ Biddulph, Andy (April 28, 2015). "This New Twenty One Pilots Video Is Adorable". Rock Sound Magazine. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  24. ^ Emily. "twenty one pilots Stream New Song, Lane Boy". Kerrang!. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  25. ^ twenty one pilots: Ride (Audio). YouTube. May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  26. ^ Biddulph, Andy (April 28, 2015). "This Twenty One Pilots Video Is Really Quite Confusing". Rock Sound Magazine. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  27. ^ Biddulph, Andy (May 14, 2015). "Twenty One Pilots Have Posted A (Quite Literally) Dark Video For 'Ride'". Rock Sound Magazine. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  28. ^ twenty one pilots: Ride (Video). YouTube. May 13, 2015. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  29. ^ "iHeartRadio LIVE with twenty one pilots". iHeartRadio. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  30. ^ "Tour". Twenty One Pilots' official website. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  31. ^ Biddulph, Andy (July 20, 2015). "Watch Twenty One Pilots' Video For 'Lane Boy'". Rock Sound Magazine. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  32. ^ Biddulph, Andy (May 12, 2015). "Twenty One Pilots Unveil New Track, Announce ANOTHER UK Tour". Rock Sound Magazine. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  33. ^ Travers 2015, p. 5
  34. ^ a b "Reviews for Blurryface by Twenty One Pilots". Metacritic. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  35. ^ Yeung, Neil Z. "Blurryface – Twenty One Pilots". AllMusic. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  36. ^ a b Pettigrew, Jason (May 19, 2015). "twenty one pilots – Blurryface". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on August 12, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ Smith, Troy L. (May 18, 2015). "Twenty One Pilots' 'Blurryface' leaves a haze of disappointment (album review)". Cleveland.com. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  38. ^ Yates, Rod (May 11, 2015). "Twenty-One Pilots – Blurryface". Rolling Stone Australia. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  39. ^ Bird, ed. 2016, p. 29
  40. ^ Whitt, Cassie (March 18, 2016). "Here are the nominees for the 2016 AP Music Awards!". Alternative Press. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  41. ^ "Billboard Music Awards 2016: Complete Winners List". Billboard. Retrieved May 24, 2016. {{cite web}}: |first1= missing |last1= (help)
  42. ^ "Blurryface flies to number one of Billboard 200". Billboard.
  43. ^ Garner 2015, p. 21
  44. ^ Caulfield, Keith (December 23, 2015). "Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Taylor Swift's 'Fearless' Surpasses 7 Million Sold in U.S." Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  45. ^ Caulfield, Keith (January 4, 2016). "Adele's Hello Tops Hot 100 for 10th Week as Twenty One Pilots Fly to Top 10". Billboard. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  46. ^ Trust, Gary (March 3, 2016). "Twenty One Pilots Fly to No. 1 on Pop Songs Chart With 'Stressed Out'". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  47. ^ Rutherford, Kevin (March 29, 2016). "Twenty One Pilots 'Ride' to No. 1 on Alternative Songs Chart". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  48. ^ Rutherford, Kevin (June 16, 2016). "Twenty One Pilots' 'Ride' Replaces Their Own 'Stressed Out' Atop Hot Rock Songs Chart". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  49. ^ a b Caulfield, Keith (July 29, 2016). "Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Twenty One Pilots' 'Blurryface' Surpasses 1 Million U.S. Sales". Billboard. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  50. ^ a b "Canadian album certifications – Twenty One Pilots – Blurry Face". Music Canada.
  51. ^ a b "American album certifications – Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface". Recording Industry Association of America.
  52. ^ "ブラーリーフェイス" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved May 26, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  53. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  54. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  55. ^ "Ultratop.be – Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  56. ^ "Ultratop.be – Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  57. ^ "Twenty One Pilots Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard.
  58. ^ "Hitlisten.NU - Danmarks officielle hitlister". Tracklisten. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  59. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  60. ^ "Twenty One Pilots: Blurryface" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
  61. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes - SNEP (Week 36, 2016)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  62. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  63. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2016. 25. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  64. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 34, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  65. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  66. ^ "トゥエンティ・ワン・パイロッツの作品" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved May 27, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  67. ^ "Gaon Weekly Albums Chart April 24–30, 2016". Gaon Music Chart. South Korea. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  68. ^ "Top Album - Semanal". Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  69. ^ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  70. ^ "VG-lista - Topp 40 Album uke 31, 2016". VG-lista. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  71. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
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  73. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  74. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  75. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
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  83. ^ "Danish album certifications – John Legend – Love in the Future". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  84. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  85. ^ "Wyróżnienia – Platynowe płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2016 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  86. ^ "British album certifications – Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 6, 2016. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Blurryface in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  87. ^ "Blurryface". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
Sources
  • Bird, Ryan, ed. (January 2016). "Top 50 Releases of the Year". Rock Sound (208). London: Freeway Press Inc. ISSN 1465-0185.
  • Garner, George (November 7, 2015). McMahon, James (ed.). "On the Road". Kerrang! (1593). London: Bauer Media Group. ISSN 0262-6624.
  • Pettigrew, Jason (December 2015). "10 Essential Records of 2015". Alternative Press (330). Cleveland: Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. ISSN 1065-1667.
  • Travers, Paul (June 27, 2015). McMahon, James (ed.). "Twenty One Pilots: The World at Their Feet". Kerrang! (1574). London: Bauer Media Group. ISSN 0262-6624.
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