Paper Walls is the third major-label album from American pop punk band Yellowcard, released on July 17, 2007, but their fourth full-length studio album with Ryan Key and sixth including those recorded before him. This is also the last Yellowcard album with Peter Mosely. On its first day of release it reached 4th most popular album on the iTunes charts. The album was recorded at Ocean Studios in Burbank, California and was mixed at South Beach Studios in Miami, Florida.

In an interview with Jason Tate of AbsolutePunk.net released on June 17 (one month before the release of the album), vocalist Ryan Key described the album as

Recording and production

On October 16, 2006, only six months after the release of their previous album, Lights and Sounds, the band announced over their official website that they were back in the studio recording a new album. Pre-production began in October 2006 and tracking began in January 2007. From January to March 2007, studio footage labeled "Yellowcard Sessions" regarding the band's progress on making the album was posted on the band's MySpace.

"Light Up The Sky" was the first track to be fully mixed and finished. However, "Fighting" was the first track to be released to the public on Yellowcard's official MySpace page. Shortly afterward, the full version of "Light Up The Sky" was posted as well along with another new song, "Five Becomes Four". On June 4, "Light Up the Sky" was released to radio stations across America, and became the most added song to radio that week.

On July 17, 2007, the release date of "Paper Walls", lead singer Ryan Key posted a blog on the band's official MySpace page regarding the album's debut as well as thoughts concerning its previous leak onto the internet.

Shortly after the album's leak and release date, the songs "Shadows and Regrets" and "Five Becomes Four" were first believed to have been written about former guitarist Ben Harper, who left the band to focus on his record label, after recording Lights and Sounds last year. However, recently it has been said that "Shadows and Regrets" is about Scott Shad, former drummer of Inspection 12 and best friend of Ryan Key, who died in a car crash. The song seems to reflect this interpretation better, as the chorus states "We were only kids. And we were best of friends. And we hoped for the best. Let go of the rest." While this could understandably be about Ben Harper, he and Key only met in high school, whereas Key and Shad knew each other their entire lives.

Yellowcard Sessions

Between the months of December 2006 and March 2007, several videos chronicling the progress of the album's production were posted on the band's YouTube and MySpace pages, with a new video added every Thursday. Ten videos were posted in total. The first few videos didn't have much to do with the band's progress on the album, and they just showed the band in their time off from recording and writing. One video was purely a comedy show, featuring Ryan Key getting pranked by the rest of the band. In the ninth video, "Light Up the Sky" was previewed for the first time for those watching and for the band.

The tenth and last video in the series chronicled the last day of production, which lasted until 6 a.m. on March 22, 2007. The video contains footage of the band finishing the last song to be completely finished and tracked, which was the iTunes bonus, "Bombers".

Since the studio footage videos, the band has been making videos of their experiences while touring and on the road.

Music style

Throughout the months of October 2006 to March 2007, Yellowcard engaged in feedback response with their fans to somewhat suggest or influence the outcome of the upcoming album. When asked about the direction of the album, Ryan Mendez responded that this follow-up to Lights and Sounds "has the energy and intensity that Ocean Avenue had and some similarities, but not necessarily exactly the same". He also stated on the official Yellowcard message board on October 21, 2006 that three songs were currently completed and that " really thinks fans of both older and newer Yellowcard are going to be very happy." Additionally, in January 2007, some sample demo songs were released on the band's MySpace, though they were only rough recordings from pre-production and not the final recorded versions. One demo was a 30-second rough recording of "Date Line (I Am Gone)". Another was the intro to "Bombers", which ultimately did not make it onto the album.

Promotion and sales

The first Yellowcard show since October 2006, when the album began production, took place on March 29, 2007 at the Troubadour in Hollywood, California. At the show, lead singer Ryan Key announced to a sold out crowd that the new album would be titled Paper Walls. During the Troubadour show, Yellowcard played two songs from their new album ("Fighting " and "The Takedown"). The band played an acoustic set the next night at the Troubadour and also played two new songs, "Shadows and Regrets" and "Light Up the Sky".

On May 22, 2007, the cover art for the album was posted on the band's MySpace profile, along with new promotional pictures. The cover art of the album shows the night skyline of Jacksonville, Florida, the band's hometown. It was announced in a press release for the album that Paper Walls would be released in an additional CD/DVD format, much in the same vein as Lights and Sounds was the previous year. Additionally, on June 11, 2007, Yellowcard's official website was updated to feature a new design for the new album. Their MySpace page was also updated to a new layout to match the theme of the album. Three MySpace skins resembling the Paper Walls theme were made available on the Capitol Records website on June 29.

In June fans voted Yellowcard (over My Chemical Romance) for the next AOL . The session went live on July 19, one day earlier than planned. It features two songs from Paper Walls.

Following its release, Paper Walls was heavily advertised and promoted. On July 20, the band participated in an interactive meeting with fans on There.com, a 3-D online virtual world. In August, they played a show in the studio in Los Angeles that was streamed on their MySpace page, while taking song requests directly from fans via the MySpace Instant Messenger. There have also been several other promotional attempts by the band in the month following the album's release.

Following the album's release, it debuted at number 13 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 40,000 copies in its first week, which is less than half of the first week sales of their previous studio album, Lights and Sounds. In its second week, "Paper Walls" fell to #46, selling 17,000 units. On week three it hit #70 with sales of about 10,000 copies, and on week four it fell to #92, selling 7,000 copies that week. A total of 74,000 copies were sold in the first four weeks of release.Katie Hasty, , Billboard.com, July 25, 2007.

The lead single, "Light Up the Sky", is currently on the Billboard Adult Top 40 Tracks in the U.S. It peaked at #32. It is currently at #36. The band has been touring in support of this single, but has canceled their winter European tour as a result of LP requesting time off. After "Light Up the Sky", the band has not decided on a second single.

Capitol records have announced that they will not promote Paper Walls anymore, which means it will not have a second single. Sometime in the near future, Yellowcard will be leaving Capitol Records, however because they own the rights to Paper Walls, no other record company can promote it or release other singles from it. If Yellowcard decide to make another album sometime in the distant future, then it will not be through Capitol Records.

Fighting appears in the video game Madden 08

The Takedown is featured in the video game Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

Response

The reactions of critics who have been sent copies of the album to preview before its release have been overwhelmingly positive, which has a score of 62 (indicating generally favorable reviews) on Metacritic which is higher than its predecessor "Lights And Sounds" .

The webmaster of The Music Nazi claiming it to be the best record since Brand New's "The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me". Jason Tate, webmaster of absolutepunk.net has said it is "the best "pop-punk" album of the past 5 or so years" and Drew Beringer claims it to be "like Ocean Avenue, but with more balls." He went on further to say "The more I listen to Paper Walls by Yellowcard, the more I fall in love with it. It has been a long time since a pop-punk album has really enthralled me. Everyone is going to dig this." Down The Road Webzine gave a high score for this album which is 8.5/10 and said "but this is one fun pop-punk record that is worth listening to and in my eyes, they’ve more than redeemed themselves with this album". Rocklouder gave the album 4 stars out 5 stars and saying " Paper Walls is the perfect pop-punk album for those seeking a leisurely listen." Billboard gave the album 8 out of 10. Amazon gave the album a positive review saying "the lyrics are direct and honest, while they've broadened their sonic palette to allow a tad more dissonance in with their urgent and propulsive pop-punk.

All Music Guide was satisfied with Paper Walls and claimed "Yellowcard is neither the flashiest nor the most popular among the new millennium's pop-punk bands but their fifth album Paper Walls goes a long way in proving that they are among the best of their breed."

With positive critical reception from critics, fans enjoyed Paper Walls as well. This is shown on Metacritic with an 7.5 out of 10, indicating generally positve reviews.

Leak

On June 23, 2007, almost a whole month before the album's official release date, eleven songs from the album leaked onto the internet. The last two songs, "Cut Me, Mick" and "Paper Walls", were leaked closer to the album's release date. Considering the unusually early leak of the album, it is surprising that there have been no official comments on the leak. Between the time of the leak and the release date however, the band members kept insistently urging fans to buy the album and give them their support even if they've already downloaded the songs.

When Ryan Mendez viewed discussion of the leak going on in YCUnderdogs, the band's official fan community and forum, he stated in response, "glad you guys like the album".http Also, on the album's release date, band frontman Ryan Key posted a blog entry on the band's official MySpace concerning the release and the leak:

No other comments have been made about the leak, however the band continues to urge people to buy their record and support them.

Personnel

*Ryan Key – lyrics, vocals, guitar

*Sean Mackin – violin, vocals, strings and choir arrangement

*Ryan Mendez – guitar, vocals

*Peter Mosely – bass, vocals, piano, keyboards

*Longineu W. Parsons III – drums, percussion

Other Contributors

*Neal Avron – producer, recorder

*Erich Talaba – additional engineering

*Mike Fasano - drum tech

*Rob Dawson - guitar tech

*Bret Rausch & Bryce Iverson – assistant engineers

*Tom Lord-Alge – mixing

*Femio Hernandez – mix assistant

*Ted Jensen – mastering

*Rodney Wirtz – viola

*Christine Choi – cello

Choir on "Paper Walls"

Leanna Brand (contractor), Emme Lehmann, Vili Lehmann, Amy Fogerson, Nicholas Harper, Casey Rae Hands, Zoë Merrill, Daniel O'Brien, Antonella Quintana, Ann Marie Rizzo, Bobbi Page, Edie Lehmann, Helene Quintana

References

Artist/Band Information

Yellowcard is a rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1997, and based in Los Angeles, California since 2000. Their music features the use of a violin, unusual for the genre. They are best-known for their songs "Ocean Avenue", "Only One", "Lights and Sounds", and "Light Up the Sky". The band is currently on an "indefinite hiatus."

History

Early years

Yellowcard was formed in 1997 in Jacksonville, Florida after meeting at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. The band released its first album, Midget Tossing, in 1997. The original members were vocalist Ben Dobson, guitarist/vocalist Todd Clary, bassist Warren Cooke, guitarist Ben Eric Harper, and drummer Longineu W. Parsons III ("LP"). While vocalist/violinist Sean Mackin was featured on some of the songs, he was not a full-fledged member yet, as he still objected to many of the band's messages.

Where We Stand, their second album, featured the same lineup as Midget Tossing, and Mackin was featured on more songs. Soon Ben Dobson was replaced by Ryan Key(vocals and rhythm guitar), because Ryan's father said he would fund the new album's recording. Ryan Key was formerly in a local Jacksonville band called Craig's Brother. This changed the band's music style drastically, from hardcore punk to pop punk. It also changed most of their fan base, leaving them with a new beginning and a fresh start as a band.

In early 2000, the band recorded the Still Standing EP. Soon after Still Standing EP was released, Todd Clary left the band. Key then filled both Clary's and Dobson's duties, guitar and vocals respectively. After sending the new EP to friend Steve Lubarsky at Lobster Records, the band signed their first recording contract in June 2000 and by November had headed west to Camarillo, CA to begin working on another full length album.

The group released their third album, One for the Kids (Lobster Records), in 2001 and followed up with The Underdog EP (Fueled by Ramen Records) in 2002. Both of these were well-received by fans. However, soon after The Underdog EP was released, Warren Cooke left the band due to personal reasons. The band then asked an old friend, Peter Mosely from Inspection 12, to play bass for them. Before Warren Cooke left, the band filmed an unreleased music video for the song "Powder". The video was later put on the enhanced version of the band's next album, Ocean Avenue.

Ocean Avenue

Pete yellow.jpgleftthumbPete Mosely under the stage lights (April 2006). Shortly after releasing The Underdog EP, Yellowcard signed with Capitol Records, which was looking to sign pop punk groups at the time. Yellowcard began recording their major-label debut in late 2002, and the production of the record was finished in the spring of that year. During the recording of Ocean Avenue, Mosely left, citing personal problems. The band again began the search for a new bass player and found Alex Lewis, whose sister, Alieke Wijnveldt, contributed vocals to the Ocean Avenue track, "View From Heaven".

The band released their first single from the album, "Way Away". The song did well on MTV2 and rock radio, peaking at #25 on the modern rock charts. The song created enough buzz to cause the band's mainstream explosion. In the middle of the band's first headlining tour, Peter Mosely returned from his semi-retirement to ask if he could rejoin the band. Because Mosely had been an integral part of the writing for Ocean Avenue and had also been friends with most of the band's members since high school, Lewis was asked to leave, and Mosely was reinstated as the bass player.

In late 2003, the band finally broke through with a hit single, "Ocean Avenue". The song premiered on MTV's TRL program, and quickly shot up the charts to #1. Radio eventually picked up on the single, and the song made it to #37 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song "Empty Apartment" was also featured on an episode of the TV Show One Tree Hill. Suddenly, Yellowcard was everywhere from the covers of Alternative Press, to headliners of the 2004 Warped Tour, to on stage at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, performing "Ocean Avenue". The band took home the MTV2 award as well. Yellowcard featured on an episode of MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge, performing "Way Away" while cast members trashed a mock hotel room in true rock star fashion. The album's first track, "Way Away" appeared on the soundtracks of SSX 3 and Madden NFL 2004. The album's second track, "Breathing", also appeared in EA's Burnout 3: Takedown and FlatOut 2. Following "Ocean Avenue"'s success, the band released the single "Only One", a rock ballad which also did fairly well on TRL and radio. The Ocean Avenue album sold over one million copies in the US alone.

As Ocean Avenues popularity began to decrease, the band spent some time contributing songs to various soundtracks. The first, "Gifts And Curses", appeared in the hit film Spider-Man 2. Another, a cover of Lagwagon's "Violins", was featured on Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2 compilation album. At the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, Yellowcard performed a cover of the song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" during a special tribute to the movie The Breakfast Club.

Lights and Sounds

Yellowcard WF.jpgrightthumbYellowcard performing in 2004.

After almost two years of touring, Yellowcard took a few months off at the beginning of 2005. Ryan Key and Peter Mosely moved to New York City to write the songs for their upcoming album. The rest of the band remained in Los Angeles. The band regrouped in LA in the spring and began pre-production for the follow up to Ocean Avenue in March. Recording and production was finished in September and advertising began for the album. The band had originally announced that the album was expected for August 2005, but production and other delays pushed the release date back several months.

In the months following, many problems had arisen between the band mates, mainly involving Ben Harper. Ryan Key has made many comments since then stating, "The fame went to their heads." After two months of court appearances, Ben left the band. He was eventually replaced by Ryan Mendez from the band Staring Back. Up until the announcement of this, Harper's record label was about to record Staring Back's next album. After leaving Yellowcard, Ben Harper joined the band Amber Pacific, but he soon dropped out. Harper is now in the band Hey Mike! and runs Takeover Records in California.

Lights and Sounds was finally released on January 24, 2006.

A loose concept album, the theme centers around the band's negative feelings towards Los Angeles. Prior to the release of Lights and Sounds, Ryan Key said that this ambitious album would probably alienate a large portion of their fan base, and that he was 100 percent OK with that. 20 songs were recorded for the album, 14 of which are on the CD, plus a B-side available on import versions, CD singles, and at the iTunes Store, called "Three Flights Down". Lights and Sounds is also the only Yellowcard album to contain an instrumental track ("Three Flights Up").

The title track, "Lights and Sounds", was the first single, released a week before the album. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks. It is also featured on the video games Burnout Revenge and Guitar Hero: Modern Hits. In its first week of release the album sold just over 90,000 copies, but it only went on to receive gold status. High first week sales are most likely the result of high anticipation of the album, as it was the follow-up to the highly-successful Ocean Avenue; low total sales backup Ryan's statement about the album being very ambitious and different in sound from Ocean Avenue. On May 6, 2006, the second and final single and video of the album, "Rough Landing, Holly", was released. The single wasn't as well received as the first, and after its first week of release it quickly dropped on the charts.

In May 2006, Ryan Key had surgery on his vocal chords done after having problems with his singing. He had started having problems in December 2005. He was mute for a week and couldn't sing for more than a month. The band, after canceling some shows and receiving some time off from touring, joined the Virgin Mega Tour for Summer 2006.

Paper Walls

On October 16, 2006, the band announced over their official website that they were back in the studio recording a new album. Guitarist Ryan Mendez posted on the official Yellowcard message board on October 21, 2006 that three songs had been completed and stated "I really think fans of both older and newer Yellowcard are going to be very happy." Pre-production began in October 2006 and tracking began on January 2007.

Between the months of January and March 2007, studio footage labeled "Yellowcard Sessions" regarding the band's progress on making the album was posted on the band's MySpace, with a new video added every Thursday. In total 10 videos have been posted, with additional footage released on the deluxe CD/DVD edition of Paper Walls. Additionally, in January 2007, some sample demo songs were released on the band's MySpace, though they were only rough recordings from preproduction and not the final recorded versions. The first demo was a 30 second preview of the iTunes bonus track, "Bombers", and the second was a clip of an unmixed version of "Light Up the Sky".

The first Yellowcard show since October 2006 took place on March 29, 2007, at the Troubadour in Hollywood, California. At the show lead singer Ryan Key announced to a sold out crowd that the new album would be titled Paper Walls. He said he would "probably get in trouble for ," but went on to announce the title anyway; Key also announced the album title during a concert at Southern Connecticut State University. During the Troubadour show, Yellowcard played two songs from their new album ("Fighting" and "The Takedown"). Yellowcard played an acoustic set the next night at the Troubadour and premiered two new songs, "Shadows and Regrets" and "Light Up the Sky".

In the teaser of an interview with Jason Tate of absolutepunk.net released on June 17 (one month before the release of the album), Key described the album as

The whole interview was released on July 17, the release date of the album.

Paper Walls was released in the U.S. on July 17 (July 16 on iTunes) in an additional CD/DVD format, as Lights and Sounds was the previous year. The DVD contains exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the band, an extensive photo gallery and two additional live bonus tracks. On July 9, Yellowcard released Paper Walls on their Myspace music player to give fans a taste of what was to come on the new album. Yellowcard announced on May 15 on their MySpace blog that the first single would be "Light Up the Sky". This song was released to iTunes and radio on June 5. Soon after its release, Paper Walls became the second most popular album on iTunes and the most popular album in the alternative section. In June 2007, Yellowcard was voted to do AOL Sessions Under Cover. It was released on July 20, and it featured two songs from Paper Walls. The album debuted at #13 on the U.S. Billboard 200 selling about 40,000 copies in its first week.

Yellowcard has been promoting their new album nonstop since its release and has started touring for Paper Walls. They supported Blue October in their United States 2007 fall tour and also supported Linkin Park in Japan in November/December 2007. While touring for Paper Walls, Peter Mosely announced in a MySpace blog message that he would be leaving Yellowcard to pursue other endeavors. The band has not yet made any long-term decisions, but Josh Portman from the band Near Miss is acting as stand-in bass player at present.

The band canceled several European shows in January due to drummer Longineu Parsons taking a couple months off. He spent the time with his grandmother in Jacksonville, FL who raised him and whose health was failing. On January 7 Yellowcard went to the Middle East to do a USO tour. They went to Kuwait, but as originally planned, couldn't get into Iraq because of the president arriving and canceling all flights there.

Yellowcard was originally scheduled to headline a spring tour with All Time Low, but All Time Low dropped out to take part in the Alternative Press spring tour. They were then replaced by MxPx, who canceled a few weeks later. Yellowcard then went on an acoustic tour with The Spill Canvas, Secondhand Serenade, PlayRadioPlay!, and Treaty of Paris.

Yellowcard released a live album on January 22, 2008. It is titled Live from Las Vegas at the Palms and was recorded during their Blue October Tour in October 2007 in Las Vegas .

Indefinite Hiatus

Yellowcard announced an interview in April 2008 that they would be going on an "indefinite hiatus." Their European tour set for 2008 was canceled, so the band decided to embark on an acoustic tour in the spring of 2008 before taking a break.

Another reason for the band's hiatus was individual member situations. LP took some time off in the winter to spend time with family; he is now part of a side project band based in Jacksonville, FL. Sean is due to get married this year, and he wanted to take some time off to spend with his family. Ryan Key stated that the members needed some time to figure out their personal lives. The band does not know how long the hiatus will be, but they have assured their fans that they are not breaking up, just taking some time off. Also, as of May 2008, Yellowcard has left Capitol Records and is now unsigned.

The original Yellowcard lineup from 1997 featuring Ben Harper, Warren Cooke, Todd Clary, Longineu Parsons and Ben Dobson announced they would be performing tracks from Where We Stand in Jacksonville, FloridaThey go by the album name "Where We Stand" instead of their original name, due to the fact that Sean Mackin would not be present with them.

Yellowcard announced on their MySpace page that they would be performing their first show in months at Utah State University on September 30, 2008. It was an acoustic set much like that of their recent tour performed by Ryan Key, Ryan Mendez, and Sean Mackin, featuring songs from their entire discography. The band later announced on their MySpace page that they would be having another acoustic performance at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana on November 13.

In early January 2009, it was rumored that Longineu Parsons had joined the band Lostprophets to fill in a gap left when their drummer left to join Nine Inch Nails. However, Lostprophets bassist Stuart Richardson and Parsons himself have stated that these reports are untrue.

On June 16, 2009, Capitol released an EP titled "Deep Cuts", which consists of four previously-released tracks.

Longineu Parsons has been seen playing drums for Adam Lambert's band during their performance on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien which aired on December 14th, 2009 and during their most recent performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno which aired on March 2, 2010, also on American Idol.

Band members

* Ryan Key - lead vocals, rhythm guitar (since 2000)

* Sean Mackin - violin, vocals (since 1997)

* Ryan Mendez - lead guitar, vocals (since 2006)

* Longineu W. Parsons III - drums, percussion (since 1997)

Former members

* Ben Harper - guitar, vocals (1997–2006)

* Alex Lewis - bass, vocals (2003–2004)

* Warren Cooke - bass, vocals (1997–2002)

* Todd Clary - guitar, vocals (1997–2000)

* Ben Dobson - vocals (1997–1999)

* Peter Mosely - bass, piano, vocals (2002–2003, 2004–2007)

Discography

*Midget Tossing (1997)

*Where We Stand (1999)

*One for the Kids (2001)

*Ocean Avenue (2003)

*Lights and Sounds (2006)

*Paper Walls (2007)

References