In Some Way, Shape, or Form

In Some Way, Shape, or Form
Studio album by Four Year Strong
Released	November 8, 2011
Recorded	June–August 2011
Studio	House of Loud, Elmwood Park, New Jersey, U.S.
Genre	Pop punk, melodic hardcore, alternative rock
Length	40:55
Label	Decaydance, Universal Republic
Producer	David Bendeth, Shep Goodman, Aaron Accetta
Four Year Strong chronology
Enemy of the World (2010) In Some Way, Shape, or Form (2011) Go Down in History (2014)
Singles from In Some Way, Shape, or Form
"Just Drive" Released: September 27, 2011 "Falling on You" Released: September 8, 2011

In Some Way, Shape, or Form is the fifth studio album by American rock band Four Year Strong, released through Decaydance and Universal Republic on November 8, 2011.[1]

Recording and composition

On April 4, it was announced that keyboardist Josh Lyford had left the group.[2] The album was recorded between June–August 2011 at House of Loud Recording Studios in Elmwood Park, New Jersey. David Bendeth produced all of the tracks except for "Fairweather Fan" and "Bring on the World"; recording was handled by Dan Korneff, Kato Khandwala, and John Bender. "Fairweather Fan" and "Bring on the World" were produced and engineered by Shep Goodman and Aaron Accetta. Chris Fasulo and Jon D'Uva did additional engineering with assistance from Brian Robbins and Jon Lammi. Bendeth mixed the recordings with Korneff as engineer, before they were mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound.[3] The album was influenced by Alexisonfire's Crisis (2006).[4]

Release

In August 2011, the group performed at the Hevy and Sonisphere festivals in the UK.[5] On August 18, the band released the song "Stuck in the Middle" for free listening as a free taster from the album, with an unofficial music video following on October 19, which showed footage of the band on their latest tour and features scenes of the recording process of In Some Way, Shape, or Form.[1] On September 8, 2011, the band released another song for free, "Falling on You", which was already played live on the band's latest tour.[6][7] On September 11, In Some Way, Shape, or Form was announced for release in November. Alongside it, the album's artwork was revealed.[8] "Just Drive" was released to radio on September 27.[9] On October 14, Alternative Press revealed the track list of the album.[10]

On October 26, the band released another song for free listening. The song, entitled "Fairweather Fan", is a special song the band dedicated to their fans and was previously leaked in low quality footage that was filmed during the band's Fall 2011 AP Tour, where they debuted the song. The band released the song as a free download on their Facebook page.[11] A music video was released for "Just Drive" on October 27.[12] On November 4, the band uploaded the whole album for free streaming on their Facebook page.[13][14] In October and November, the band headlined the AP Fall Tour with support from Gallows, Title Fight, the Swellers and Sharks.[15]

In December, the band went on a brief holiday tour dubbed It's a Wonderful Gig Life, with support from Set Your Goals, Balance and Composure, Transit, and Diamond.[16] In January 2012, the group went on a tour of Brazil with New Found Glory,[17] leading up to a UK tour that ran into February, with support from Don Broco and A Loss for Words.[18] Though This Time Next Year was intended to also join the tour, they had to pull out due to financial issues.[19] In June, the group appeared at Download Festival,[20] and supported Blink-182 for a handful of shows on their UK tour.[21] Alongside this, they played a one-off headlining show.[22]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	60/100[23]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	60%[24]
AllMusic	[25]
Alter the Press!	[26]
Big Cheese	[27]
Dead Press!	[28]
Kill Your Stereo	[29]
Loudwire	Favorable[30]
Sputnikmusic	[31]

The album sold over 6,500 copies in its first week,[32] debuting at number 88 on the Billboard 200, nearly half of what their previous album Enemy of the World sold in its first week.

Track listing

All songs written by Four Year Strong, except where noted.[3]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Infected"	Four Year Strong, David Bendeth	3:17
2.	"The Security of the Familiar, the Tranquility of Repetition"	Four Year Strong, Bendeth	3:28
3.	"Stuck in the Middle"		3:42
4.	"Just Drive"		3:32
5.	"Fairweather Fan"		3:30
6.	"Sweet Kerosene"		3:22
7.	"Falling on You"		3:36
8.	"Heaven Wasn't Built to Hold Me"		3:06
9.	"Unbreakable"		3:12
10.	"Bring on the World"		3:12
11.	"Fight the Future"		3:04
12.	"Only the Meek Get Pinched. The Bold Survive"		3:51
Total length:			40:52

Song titles

• "The Security of the Familiar, the Tranquility of Repetition" is a line from the film V for Vendetta.
• "Only the Meek Get Pinched, the Bold Survive" is a line from the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
• "Fight The Future" is titled in reference to the first X-Files film, of which "Fight the Future" was the subtitle and tagline. The X-Files is also heavily referenced in the music video for the album's first single "Just Drive", including a street sign that reads "The truth is out there," one of the mottos of the series.
• When a tentative track listing was released, "Bring on the World" was shown to be titled "This Is Your Life and It's Ending One Minute at a Time", a line from the film Fight Club.

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.[3]

Four Year Strong Alan Day – lead vocals, guitar, additional piano Dan O'Connor – lead vocals, guitar Joe Weiss – bass guitar, additional vocals (tracks 3 and 12) Jake Massucco – drums

Production David Bendeth – producer (all except tracks 5 and 10), mixing Dan Korneff – recording, mix engineer Kato Khandwala – recording John Bender – recording Shep Goodman – producer (tracks 5 and 10), engineer (tracks 5 and 10) Aaron Accetta – producer (tracks 5 and 10), engineer (tracks 5 and 10) Chris Fasulo – additional engineering Jon D'Uva – additional engineering Brian Robbins – assistant engineer Michael "Mitch" Milan – guitar technician Jon Lammi – assistant engineer Ted Jensen – mastering Design Joe Spix – art direction, design F. Scott Schafer – photography Bryn Bowen – props Four Year Strong – props

References

Citations

1. "Alternative Press | News | Four Year Strong release new song, delay album release date". Altpress.com. 2011-09-08. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
2. Redrup, Zach (April 4, 2011). "NEWS: Four Year Strong keyboard player leaves the band!". Dead Press!. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
3. In Some Way, Shape, or Form (booklet). Four Year Strong. Decaydance/I Surrender/Universal Republic. 2011. 00602527834894.
4. Sayce 2015, p. 32
5. • Hevy Fest: Redrup, Zach (April 1, 2011). "NEWS: Hevy Fest announce more line-up additions!". Dead Press!. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
   • Sonisphere: Redrup, Zach (March 15, 2011). "NEWS: The Mars Volta and others join Sonisphere 2011 line-up!". Dead Press!. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
6. "New Song + Release Date". Facebook. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
7. "Four Year Strong - "Falling on You"". YouTube. 2011-09-08. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
8. Redrup, Zach (September 11, 2011). "NEWS: Four Year Strong announce release date for new album!". Dead Press!. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
9. "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
10. "Alternative Press | News | Exclusive: Four Year Strong reveal tracklist of "In Some Way, Shape, Or Form."". Altpress.com. 2011-10-14. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
11. "Four Year Strong - Fairweather Fan". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
12. Redrup, Zach (October 27, 2011). "VIDEO: Four Year Strong – Just Drive". Dead Press!. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
13. "Four Year Strong - Music". Facebook. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
14. "In Some Way,..." Facebook. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
15. Heisel, Scott (July 21, 2011). "Four Year Strong, Gallows, Title Fight, more on AP Tour Fall 2011". Alternative Press. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
16. Common, Tyler (November 9, 2011). "Four Year Strong announce holiday shows with Set Your Goals, Balance And Composure, and more". Alternative Press. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
17. Bird, Michele (September 9, 2011). "Four Year Strong announce South American tour with New Found Glory". Alternative Press. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
18. Redrup, Zach (October 13, 2011). "NEWS: More supports confirmed for Four Year Strong Jan/Feb UK tour!". Dead Press!. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
19. Redrup, Zach (December 18, 2011). "NEWS: This Time Next Year pull out of Four Year Strong UK tour!". Dead Press!. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
20. Redrup, Zach (April 3, 2012). "NEWS: Refused and 12 more bands join Download Festival 2012 line-up!". Dead Press!. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
21. Redrup, Zach (January 25, 2012). "NEWS: Blink-182 confirm UK tour support and add Bournemouth date!". Dead Press!. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
22. Redrup, Zach (April 2, 2012). "NEWS: Four Year Strong play Liverpool O2 Academy 2 on June 9th!". Dead Press!. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
23. "In Some Way, Shape, or Form by Four Year Strong". Metacritic. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
24. Nassiff, Thomas7 (2011-11-03). "Four Year Strong - In Some Way, Shape or Form". Absolute Punk. Archived from the original on 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
25. Heaney, Gregory (2011-11-28). "Album Review: Four Year Strong - In Some Way, Shape Or Form". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
26. 'Kiki' Goodchild, Chantelle (2011-11-10). "Album Review: Four Year Strong - In Some Way, Shape Or Form". Alter The Press!. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
27. Pitt, Gem (2011-11-02). "Four Year Strong - In Some Way, Shape Or Form". Big Cheese Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
28. Thompson, Oliver (November 8, 2011). "ALBUM: Four Year Strong - In Some Way, Shape, Or Form". Dead Press!. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
29. "Four Year Strong - In Some Way, Shape Or Form". Kill Your Stereo. 2011-11-09. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
30. Erickson, Anne (November 6, 2011). "Four Year Strong, 'In Some Way, Shape, or Form' – Album Review". Loudwire. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
31. West Foss, Dakota (2011-11-05). "Four Year Strong are stuck in the middle". Sputnik Music. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
32. "Disturbed Debut At No. 13". rockaccess.net. Rock Access. Retrieved 2011-11-20.

Sources

• Sayce, Rob (August 2015). Bird, Ryan (ed.). "Hall of Fame: 'Crisis' Alexisonfire". Rock Sound (202). London: Freeway Press Inc. ISSN 1465-0185.

External links

• In Some Way, Shape, or Form at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)