On April 13, 2004, the Academy Is signed to Fueled by Ramen; in the same month, they went on tour supporting Less Than Jake.[8] On July 6, 2004, a demo of "Slow Down" was posted on their PureVolume account; that same month, they went toured the US with Fall Out Boy, Armor for Sleep and Bayside.[9]
Almost Here was recorded at Wisner Productions in St. Cloud, Florida, with James Paul Wisner, who produced, engineered, and recorded the sessions. He also mixed the album with Jeremy Dubois at The Dungeon in Miami, Florida; Alan Douches mastered the album at West West Side Music.[10]
After recording the album and a doing a summer tour, the band underwent a lineup change. Tom Conrad, formerly of Chicago local band 504 Plan, replaced AJ LaTrace as second guitarist/backing vocalist and Andy Mrotek, formerly of Last Place Champs, replaced Mike DelPrincipe as the drummer. Andy Mrotek and Thomas Conrad are listed in the liner notes, but were added to the band after the recording of Almost Here to replace DelPrincipe and LaTrace, respectively.
In January 2006, the band went on a sold-out UK tour with Panic! at the Disco.[20] In February and March, the group went on the Truckstops and Statelines tour, alongside Panic! at the Disco, Acceptance and Hellogoodbye.[21] On February 21, the band released an acoustic EP, titled From the Carpet, which included three songs from Almost Here: "The Phrase That Pays", "Down and Out" and "Black Mamba".[22] The band went on the 2006 edition of the Warped Tour.[23]
The album spawned three singles: "Checkmarks", "Slow Down" (often incorrectly referred to as "Hollywood Hills"), which was chosen through an online poll on the band's website, and "The Phrase That Pays". "Classifieds" was an intended single from the album and a video was made for the song. This video was never officially released, but the video's director posted it on YouTube.[24]
The album debuted at #20 on the BillboardTop Heatseekers chart, as well as at #24 on the BillboardIndependent Albums chart.[26] It also charted at #185 on The Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart. By May 2006, the album had sold over 144,000 copies.[27] By October 2009, the album's sales stood at 265,000.[28]
BuzzFeed included the album at number 33 on their "36 Pop Punk Albums You Need To Hear Before You F——ing Die" list.[29]Cleveland.com ranked "Checkmarks" at number 88 on their list of the top 100 pop-punk songs.[30]
On February 6, 2010, The Academy Is... performed a 5th Anniversary Show for the album with Sing It Loud and special guest.
On September 12, 2015, rumors were confirmed that the band would embark on a 10th Anniversary show for Riot Fest in Chicago.[31] Following the announcement of the Riot Fest reunion show, the band released dates for the 10th Anniversary U.S. tour.[32]
Track listing
All songs written by Mike Carden and William Beckett, except "Down and Out" by Beckett. All lyrics by Beckett.[10]
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Attention"
2:53
2.
"Season"
3:34
3.
"Slow Down"
4:02
4.
"The Phrase That Pays"
3:17
5.
"Black Mamba"
2:46
6.
"Skeptics and True Believers"
2:54
7.
"Classifieds"
2:52
8.
"Checkmarks"
3:00
9.
"Down and Out"
4:30
10.
"Almost Here"
3:06
Total length:
32:57
Personnel
Adapted credits from the Almost Here liner notes.[10]
The Academy Is...
William Beckett – vocals
AJ LaTrace – guitars
Mike Carden – guitars
Adam T. Siska – bass
Mike DelPrincipe – drums
Production and design
James Paul Wisner – producer, engineer, recording, mixing
^ abcAlmost Here (booklet). The Academy Is... Fueled by Ramen. 2005. FBR 071.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
