Night Shades

Night Shades
Studio album by Cobra Starship
Released	August 29, 2011
Genre	Synthpop, dance-pop
Length	39:32
Label	Fueled by Ramen Decaydance
Producer	Cobra Starship, Steve Mac, Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle, Ari Levine, Grant Michaels, Adam Pallin, Stargate
Cobra Starship chronology
Hot Mess (2009) Night Shades (2011)
Singles from Night Shades
"You Make Me Feel...[1]" Released: May 10, 2011

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Alternative Press	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B-[4]
Rate Your Music	[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
Metromix	[7]
CultureTease	[8]
Sputnikmusic	[9]

Night Shades is the fourth studio album by American dance rock band Cobra Starship, being released through Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance Records on August 29, 2011. The album is the follow-up to 2009's Hot Mess.

The first single from the album, "You Make Me Feel...", features singer Sabi and was released on May 10, 2011. A music video has been created for it.

The full album was made available to stream for free on their Facebook page prior to its release.

The album debuted at number 50 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 9,000 in its first week,^[10] but plummeted to number 185 in its second week.^[11]

Cobra Starship played pre-show on MTV's 2011 Video Music Awards and following their performance, their single "You Make Me Feel..." reached the top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100 to become their second top 10 hit at number seven.^[12] The band are set to open for Justin Bieber in October through South America.^[13]

Speaking of Night Shades, Saporta commented, "This record might be the most commercial record, but also our most honest." Fueled By Ramen president said, "[Cobra Starship] delivered an album that has the Cobra sound but delivers those radio records" and thought that "there are multiple singles on [the] album."^[13]

Promotional singles

For Night Shades the band engaged in a staged rollout, offering fans sneak peeks of the album through pre-release tracks or promotional singles starting with "#1Nite (One Night)" on July 26, "Fool Like Me" (featuring Plastiscines) on August 9 and "Middle Finger" (featuring Mac Miller) on August 23, available exclusively through iTunes, where fans were be able to collect them with the option to complete the album on release date for the remainder of the album price.^[13] "Don't Blame the World, It's the DJ's Fault" was released separately onto iTunes on August 29, 2011, the day of Night Shades's release.^[14] Fueled by Ramen also had three separate preorder options: a premium bundle that includes a hoodie, T-shirt and white "night shades" for $75; a shirt/album package for $25; or a CD for $10.^[13]

Reception

Night Shades received Generally favorable reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 63, based on 4 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews the reviews upon its release, ranging from AllMusic's 3.5 star rating to Rate Your Music's 1.5 stars. Diminuendo gave the album a 3 out of 11, standardized as a volume on an amplifier, questioning, "Where's the life in the album? Even the singles are lacking and unoriginal," and that "[the album] doesn't possess the edge so apparent on their previous efforts."^[15]

Concept

As confirmed by the band, the album tells a story, namely that of a love story between a boy in love with his broken-hearted ex-girlfriend. The reason they first broke-up is not explicitly stated but is believed to be because he cheated on her. He tells her on a beach that "she belongs with him even if her hope is gone", but she thinks the boy is immature (even "blew her mail box up, hit her car in a tree and hit her dog with his bike, making it lose one leg") so she is not sure if she should come back to him or not. He states several times that she will come back home with him. ("You Belong to Me")

He seems to be a really womanizer, hence "he's know for taking what he thinks he deserves", but who he really wants is her. She admits that she is also in love with him, and will be "everything he wants". She states that he "makes her world stop". ("You Make Me Feel...") They then make up. They party all the time, get drunk in a club, and live like they only have one night left together. ("#1Nite (One Night)") Her family disapproves of the relationship because of his immaturity, despite the boy's feelings for the girl; they say he "only [got] eyes for her" but acts "like an idiot"; her dad says she "shoulda stayed away from a fool like him"; her mother "hangs up on him when she sees him calling on her telephone", and her friends question her, "How can she be with him?". ("Fool Like Me") He says he would "do anything for love", but they argue and the pair break up once again. This time he is the one broken-hearted so he runs away because he wants another shot. ("Anything for Love") The boy, broken-hearted, gets drunk in a club, gets into a fight and tries to call the girl late at night. ("Middle Finger" and "Disaster Boy") In the meantime, the girl goes out to dance but can't stop thinking about being in love with him. ("Don't Blame the World, It's the DJ's Fault")

The boy blames himself, saying that he should have "[stuck] to what he said". He admits he is "stupid and a moron"; he's "wasted" and played his last card and still lost her. ("Fucked in Love") She can't sleep after they break up. He keeps on drunkenly calling her and even realizes that she never really understood him. She doesn't want to give him a second chance but both of them know that he will never change, and she wants an adult relationship, so she tells him to not get so attached because they are not making up. She also says: "Honestly, we're not in love, we're never gonna be. So why pretend? Baby, can't you see it would have been better if we never [happened]?" The boy finally gives up. He refuses to talk about it or sing love songs; he gives up on love altogether, admiting that all their love was just a dream, and all that he knew about her was the girl he wanted her to turn into. In the end, he says: "I won't believe in love if it's just a lie." ("Disaster Boy" and "Schwick")

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"You Belong to Me"	Cobra Starship	Cobra Starship	4:35
2.	"You Make Me Feel..." (featuring Sabi)	Steve Mac, Ina Wroldsen	Steve Mac	3:36
3.	"#1Nite (One Night)"	Cobra Starship, Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle	Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle	3:39
4.	"Fool Like Me" (featuring Plastiscines)	Cobra Starship, Ari Levine, Albert Winkler, Grant Michaels, Adam Pallin	Cobra Starship, Ari Levine, Grant Michaels, Adam Pallin	3:40
5.	"Anything for Love"	Cobra Starship	Cobra Starship	4:11
6.	"Middle Finger" (featuring Mac Miller)	Cobra Starship, Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Malcolm McCormick, Nate Walka	Stargate	3:33
7.	"Don't Blame the World, It's the DJ's Fault"	Cobra Starship	Cobra Starship	3:36
8.	"Fucked in Love"	Cobra Starship, Kara Dioguardi	Cobra Starship	4:17
9.	"Disaster Boy"	Cobra Starship, Frank Staniszewski	Cobra Starship	3:44
10.	"Shwick" (featuring Jump Into the Gospel)	Cobra Starship, Johanna Fateman, JD Samson, Jump Into the Gospel	Cobra Starship	4:42
Total length:				39:32

Bonus track
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"You Make Me Feel..." (featuring Sabi) (Futurecop Remix)		4:02

iTunes Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
11.	"You Belong to Me" (Electro Mix)			5:13
12.	"Anything for Love" (Cobra Starship Mix featuring Shaggy)			3:47
13.	"You Make Me Feel..." (Futurecop Remix featuring Shaggy)			4:02
14.	"You Make Me Feel..." (featuring Sabi) (music video)			3:35
Total length:				56:14

Personnel

Cobra Starship

• Gabe Saporta – lead vocals
• Ryland Blackinton – guitar, backing vocals and synthesizer
• Alex Suarez – bass, syntheziser and backing vocals
• Nate Novarro – drums
• Victoria Asher – keytar and vocals

Additional musician

• Sabi - "You Make Me Feel..."
• Ryan Tedder - "#1Nite"
• Plasticines - "Fool Like Me"
• Mac Miller - "Middle Finger"
• Jump Into Gospel - "Schwick"

References

1. ^ "iTunes - Night Shades". iTunes. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/you-make-me-feel...-feat./id435620532. Retrieved August 7, 2011. 
2. ^ [http://www.allmusic.com/album/nightshades-r2250363 Nightshades Cobra Starship]. Allmusic.com
3. ^ Night Shades from Cobra Starship. Alternative Press.com.
4. ^ [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20522579,00.html Music Review Night Shades (2011)]. www.ew.com
5. ^ Night Shades. rateyourmusic.com
6. ^ [http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/night-shades-20110830 Cobra Starship Night Shades]. Rollingstone.com
7. ^ Cobra Starship, 'Night Shades'. metromix.com
8. ^ Cobra Starship, 'Night Shades Review'. CultureTease.com
9. ^ [http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/45383/Cobra-Starship-Night-Shades/ Cobra Starship Night Shades]. sputnikmusic.com
10. ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/news/mtv-vmas-boost-adele-beyonce-on-billboard-1005340772.story
11. ^ Billboard 200 Week of September 24, 2011 by Biggest Drop Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
12. ^ Adele's 'Someone Like You' Soars To No. 1 On Hot 100 Billboard Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
13. ^ ^{a b c d} Cobra Starship Looks to Clean Up With 'Night Shades' Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
14. ^ http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dont-blame-world-its-djs-fault/id459436064
15. ^ "Cobra Starship - Night Shades (2011)". Diminuendo: A Musical Discourse. http://amusicaldiscourse.blogspot.com/2011/09/cobra-starship-night-shades-2011.html. Retrieved September 7, 2011.