What Is Love? is the first studio album by American rock band Never Shout Never, which was released on January 26, 2010.[1][2]
The album debuted at No. 24 on the Billboard 200 and sold 21,000 copies in its first week of its release.[3][4]
Background and release
On May 29, 2009, Never Shout Never signed to Warner Bros. Records.[5] The album was produced by Butch Walker and was recorded in Los Angeles and at Abbey Road Studios in London.[6][7] On December 3, 2009, Never Shout Never revealed the release date and track list of the album.[1]
The first single "What Is Love?" was released on December 15, 2009.[8] The music video was released in 2009 and was directed by Isaac Ravishankara.[9] "I Love You 5" was released on February 4, 2010 as the second single with the music video being released 2 days prior.[10] "Can't Stand It" was released on March 4, 2010 as the third and final single along with its music video that same day directed by Isaac Ravishankara.[11] The video includes visual references of Bob Dylan's, Dont Look Back and The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night.[11] The song peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales chart.[12]
On Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album gained an average score of 55, based on 4 reviews, indicating "mixed to average reviews". The album was given a 2 star rating from Andrew Leahey of AllMusic. He complimented Drew's ability to write a pop melody however was critical of his vocals stating, "it's too hampered by pinched, nasal vocals to make much of an impression."[6] Scott Heisel of Alternative Press wrote, "while it is all good in the Never Shout Never camp, it's going to get better, faster than everyone thinks."[17] Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone gave the album a more negative review stating, "Drew took some bad lessons from emo and his dad's folk records. The vocals are often pained and piercing, and his manner can be gratingly precious – especially on 'Can't Stand It'."[18]
