Bleed American
Bleed American is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Jimmy Eat World, released on July 24, 2001, by DreamWorks Records. The album was re-released as Jimmy Eat World following the September 11 attacks; that name remained until 2008, when it was re-released with its original title returned.
This article is about the 2001 album that was retitled Jimmy Eat World following the September 11 attacks. For the 1994 album, see Jimmy Eat World (1994 album).Bleed American
July 24, 2001
October–November 2000
- Cherokee, Los Angeles
- Harddrive, North Hollywood
46:38
- Mark Trombino
- Jimmy Eat World
Following the commercial failure and lack of recognition for their third studio album Clarity (1999) from Capitol Records, Jimmy Eat World were dropped by the label in late 1999. Aside from working odd jobs, the band toured to raise money for their next album. It was recorded with Mark Trombino and the band served as producers in October and November 2000 at the Cherokee and Harddrive studios in Los Angeles, respectively. The musical style was more direct and accessible than its predecessor, with simpler chord structures.
"Bleed American" was released to radio on June 5, 2001 as the album's lead single, coinciding with Jimmy Eat World's tours of Australia and Japan (the latter supporting Eastern Youth). After appearing on the East Coast dates of the Warped Tour, the band supported Blink-182 and Weezer. "The Middle" was released as a single on November 19, 2001. The band went on a headlining European tour in early 2002, followed by a Japanese tour, leading up to a two-month support slot for Blink-182 and Green Day on their Pop Disaster Tour. "Sweetness" was released as the third single on June 3, 2002. The band supported Incubus in Australia, before embarking on headlining tours of the UK and the US. "A Praise Chorus" was released as a promotional single during 2002.
Each single from Bleed American entered the top twenty of at least one US chart. The most successful was "The Middle", which reached number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number five on the Billboard Hot 100. In August 2002, Bleed American was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America after its sales reached over one million copies. As of September 2016, the album has sold over 1.6 million copies in the US. Bleed American was well-received by critics and appeared on several publications' best-of-the-year album lists, by the likes of CMJ New Music Report and Q, as well as all-time lists by publications such as Consequence of Sound, NME and Spin.
Background[edit]
In February 1999, Jimmy Eat World released their third studio album, Clarity, through Capitol Records.[1][2] Frontman Jim Adkins recalled that the label was disorganized at the time, due to having a new president and new people in charge of each department. As a result, any trust the band had within the company had dissipated.[3] Capitol began to shelve the album until radio stations started playing the song "Lucky Denver Mint", which became its second track.[4] The release of the album marked the end of their two-record deal with the label, which was made official in August 1999.[3][5] Drummer Zach Lind recalled that the label "really didn't believe in us. But in a way, that was sort of a good thing, because it let us take control of what we needed to do. We learned we had to do it ourselves, because no one else would do it for us."[6]
Due to a lack of funds, the members had taken up odd jobs: Adkins sold art supplies; Linton did construction work; Burch sold auto parts; and Lind worked at a car dealership.[7] In August 2000, Jimmy Eat World released the compilation album Singles through the independent label Big Wheel Recreation, which included B-sides and unreleased songs from the band up to that point.[4] They went on a five-week tour of Europe; they bought copies of their previous releases from Capitol at cost value to sell them directly in that territory.[5][7] The band's management were against the idea of this tour as they lacked a foothold in the United States. They decided to break away with their management to work as free agents. The tour was ultimately considered a success by the band, with Clarity selling 500 copies a week by that point.[7] After this, they released a split EP with Jebediah in September 2000.[8]
Recording[edit]
Bleed American was produced by Mark Trombino and Jimmy Eat World.[9] Trombino had already produced two of the band's previous studio albums: Static Prevails (1996)[10] and Clarity (1999).[2] He had struck up a brotherly relationship with the band; he reacted positively to the demos that Adkins had played him.[11] The sales from Singles and the proceeds from Jimmy Eat World's European tour helped fund the album's recording sessions,[12] but the money budgeted for the record was insufficient. Trombino offered to work for free until after the album's production, confident he would be reimbursed by the album's predicted commercial success.[13] Recording sessions took place in Los Angeles, California in October 2000.[14] Clark Robertson, who had been in a band that Linton saw live, rented equipment on the band's behalf.[15]
The drums were recorded at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, which proved costly to the group.[7][11] The band took a brief break to tour with Jebediah for two and a half weeks, including a performance at CMJ's New Music Marathon festival, before returning to Los Angeles.[3] To save money, sessions moved to Harddrive in North Hollywood, where they did overdubs over the course of a month and a half from November 2000.[11][16] Partway through, at the suggestion of Trombino, the band uploaded demo versions of songs on the music platform Napster for fans to hear.[17][18] By this point, artists and repertoire (A&R) people from various labels visited the band, often unannounced. As a result of this, they had to lock the doors to keep people out.[19] The album was mixed at South Ecstasy Recording Studio, also in Los Angeles, in January 2001.[9][20] As Lind was writing a check to cover the cost of mixing, he was worried they were close to bankruptcy, and hoped it would not bounce.[7]
Touring[edit]
Following two one-off US shows in February 2001, Jimmy Eat World embarked on a two-week tour in Germany.[20] In June 2001, the band then went on a tour of Australia and Japan, the latter being a supporting slot for Eastern Youth.[20][82] After they made their second appearance on Warped Tour, where they played the East Coast shows in July and August 2001, they supported Blink-182 and Weezer.[20][22][65] The band then appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (around which, the band played three shows in Los Angeles) and the Late Show with David Letterman,[83][84] and performed at Edgefest II in Canada.[85] They supported Weezer on their Extended Midget Tour in the US to close out the year; Jimmy Eat World were augmented by touring musicians Brian McMahan (of the For Carnation) on sampler, keyboards and guitar and Haden on backing vocals.[22][86] Alongside this, the band performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.[87] In January and February 2002, the band were due to support Blink-182 on their tour of Europe; however, when that band postponed, Jimmy Eat World embarked on a headlining European tour instead.[88]
After returning to the US, Jimmy Eat World played four shows in the southern states, before traveling to Japan, where they played until March 2002.[88] The band supported Blink-182 and Green Day on their co-headlining US Pop Disaster Tour in April and May 2002, which coincided with appearances on Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[89][90][91] Following this, Jimmy Eat World supported Incubus on their headlining tour of Australia, before going on their own tour of the UK with support from the Promise Ring, and playing a series of US festivals and Canadian shows.[92][93] Preceded by an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, they embarked on a headlining US tour, with support from Desaparecidos, Recover and the Promise Ring. Following this, the band performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in the UK.[92][94] In September and October, the band performed at This Ain't No Picnic festival and on two dates of the Plea for Peace/Take Action Tour, in addition to an appearance on Last Call with Carson Daly.[95][96][97]
Commercial performance[edit]
Bleed American was a commercial success, helping Jimmy Eat World gain mainstream popularity.[113] It sold 30,000 copies in its first week of release.[114] It peaked at number 54 on the Billboard 200 on August 11, 2001; the renamed version peaked at number 31 in July 2002.[115] Outside the US, the album peaked at number 20 in Germany,[116] number 43 in New Zealand,[117] number 54 in Australia,[118] and number 62 in the UK.[119]
Bleed American became a bestseller, and in its first four months on the US market, it sold 173,000 copies, making the album Jimmy Eat World's most successful release.[120] Lind said that these sales were "definitely a big deal to the band because it shows how the fanbase is growing. [If you're] doing anything creative, you want more and more people to enjoy what you do."[120] It was certified gold in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in March 2002, and it reached platinum status five months later.[121] Alongside this, the album was certified platinum in Canada by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA),[122] and Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in the UK.[123] As of September 2016, Bleed American' has sold over 1.6 million copies in the US.[124]
"The Middle" reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100.[125] It also charted at number one on Alternative Songs,[126] number two on Adult Pop Songs,[127] number four on Pop Songs,[128] number five on Radio Songs,[129] number 39 on Mainstream Rock Songs[130] and number 44 on Rock Digital Songs.[131] Outside the US, it charted at number 26 in the UK, where it was certified platinum,[132][133] number 28 in New Zealand,[134] number 29 in Scotland,[135] number 49 in Australia,[136] number 92 in the Netherlands,[137] and number 98 in France.[138]
"Bleed American" peaked at number 16 on Alternative Songs.[126] It also charted at number 59 in Scotland and number 60 in the UK.[132][139] "Sweetness" peaked at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100,[125] number two on Alternative Songs,[126] number 40 on Adult Pop Songs,[127] and number 74 on Radio Songs.[129] Outside the US, it charted at number 31 in Scotland and number 38 in the UK.[132][140] "A Praise Chorus" peaked at number 16 Alternative Songs.[126]