Alive or Just Breathing

Alive or Just Breathing
Studio album by Killswitch Engage
Released	May 21, 2002
Recorded	October, 2001 - February, 2002
Genre	Metalcore
Length	44:56
Label	Roadrunner
Producer	Adam Dutkiewicz
Killswitch Engage chronology
Killswitch Engage (2000) Alive or Just Breathing (2002) The End of Heartache (2004)
Alternative cover
Roadrunner 25th Anniversary re-release cover

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Lambgoat	[2]
Sputnik Music	[3]
Metal Review	[4]
Ultimate Guitar	[5]
Mostly Metal	[6]
Metal Storm	[7]
411 Mania	[8]

Alive or Just Breathing is the second studio album by American metalcore band Killswitch Engage. It was released on May 21, 2002 through Roadrunner Records. It is the last album to feature vocalist Jesse Leach. The album's title comes from a lyric in the track "Just Barely Breathing.", It is also one of the first albums to spark the mainstream rise of the metalcore genre in the early 00s

Background

Alive or Just Breathing managed to peak at #37 on the Heatseekers Chart. Although the album did not receive much mainstream success, it received generally positive reviews from contemporary critics and is also recognized for the rising popularity of metalcore. The album is 33rd in Music Radar's list of Greatest Heavy Metal albums ^[9] and is featured in IGN's honorable mentions in their list of 25 Greatest Metal Albums.^[10]

A music video was made for the track "Life to Lifeless", which shows the band performing live in black and white. Another music video directed by P. R. Brown was made for the track "My Last Serenade."

It is the last album to feature vocalist Jesse Leach, who left the band because of family issues and depression from being on the road. It is also the last album to feature Adam Dutkiewicz as the drummer, who immediately switched to guitar after production for the album finished.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Numbered Days"	3:35
2.	"Self Revolution"	3:09
3.	"Fixation on the Darkness"	3:34
4.	"My Last Serenade"	4:14
5.	"Life to Lifeless"	3:17
6.	"Just Barely Breathing"	5:42
7.	"To the Sons of Man"	1:58
8.	"Temple from the Within"	4:04
9.	"The Element of One"	4:09
10.	"Vide Infra"	3:29
11.	"Without a Name"	1:45
12.	"Rise Inside"	5:57
Total length:		44:56

• The thirteenth track is a hidden track with a length of 2:50.

2005 bonus disc
No.	Title	Length
1.	"In the Unblind"	2:48
2.	"When the Balance is Broken"	4:35
3.	"Untitled and Unloved" (Instrumental)	3:20
4.	"Numbered Days" (Demo)	3:37
5.	"Transfiguration" (Demo)	3:38
6.	"Just Barely Breathing" (Demo)	5:13
7.	"Fixation on the Darkness" (Re-recorded version with Howard Jones on lead vocals)	3:37
8.	"AOJB studio out takes"	1:17

Personnel

Band

• Jesse Leach - lead vocals
• Adam Dutkiewicz- drums, lead guitar in 'My Last Serenade' Video
• Joel Stroetzel - all guitars
• Mike D'Antonio - bass guitar

Additional musicians

• Tom Gomes - drums in 'My Last Serenade' video
• Becka Dutkiewicz - Backing vocals on "My Last Serenade"
• Philip Labonte - Backing vocals on "Self Revolution" and "To The Sons Of Man"

Production

• Daniel Moss - Photography
• Mike Gitter - A&R
• Andy Sneap - Mixing and mastering

References

1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r588062
2. ^ http://www.lambgoat.com/albums/view.aspx?id=366
3. ^ http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/37169/Killswitch-Engage-Alive-or-Just-Breathing/
4. ^ http://www.metalreview.com/reviews/2247/killswitch-engage-alive-or-just-breathing---reissued-(2-discs)
5. ^ http://www.metalreview.com/reviews/2247/killswitch-engage-alive-or-just-breathing---reissued-(2-discs)
6. ^ http://mostlymetal.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/review-killswitch-engage-alive-or-just-breathing/
7. ^ http://www.metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=277
8. ^ http://www.411mania.com/music/album_reviews/69/Killswitch-Engage--Alive-Or-Just-Breathing-Review.htm
9. ^ http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/the-50-greatest-heavy-metal-albums-of-all-time-245511/18#content
10. ^ http://music.ign.com/articles/755/755929p7.html