Billy Talent II

Infobox Album
Name = Billy Talent II
Type = Album
Artist = Billy Talent

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Released = June 27, 2006
Recorded = The Warehouse Studio, Vancouver, B.C. 2005-2006
Genre = Alternative rock
Punk Rock
Length = 47:00
Label = Warner Music Canada
Atlantic Records
Mixer = Chris Lord-Alge
Producer = Gavin Brown with Ian D'Sa
Reviews =
* AbsolutePunk.net (89%) [http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=416071 link]
* Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:ybx1z81a6yvn link]
* IGN rating-10|7.9 [http://music.ign.com/articles/714/714912p1.html link]
* Kerrang! Rating|4|5
* Music Emissions Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.musicemissions.com/artists/albums/index.php?album_id=6235 link]
* Rocklouder Rating|3|5 [http://www.rocklouder.co.uk/articles/731.html link]
* Music-Critic Rating|3|5 [http://www.music-critic.ca/wp/2006/billy-talent-billy-talent-ii/ link]
* Jam Canoe Rating|3.5|5 [http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/B/Billy_Talent/AlbumReviews/2006/06/22/1647697-sun.html link]
* Aversion Rating|3|5 [http://www.aversion.com/bands/reviews.cfm?review=2632 link]
Last album = "Billy Talent"
(2003)
This album = "Billy Talent II"
(2006)
Next album = "Live From The UK Sept./2006"
(2006)

"Billy Talent II" is the second album by the Canadian band Billy Talent, released on June 27, 2006. The album immediately jumped to number 1 on the Canadian and German music charts in its debut week, cite news
last = Armstrong
first = Denis
title = Billy Talent mellows out
publisher = Ottawa Sun
date = 2007-01-31
url = http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/B/Billy_Talent/2007/01/31/3489129.html
accessdate = 2007-07-08] but the success was not duplicated in the United States, where it peaked at #134 on the Billboard 200 music chart, selling just 7,231 units in its first week.

The album has less anger and language than their previous self-titled album, as they had mellowed out and matured as men and as a band. More of the songs dealt with real-life issues, to the praise of fans and critics.

cquote|We wanted to do something completely different from the first record because we had changed dramatically and had learned a lot from personal relationships. Everyone in the band is partnering up and dealing with those issues.
The general theme of this record is trust, the lack thereof or breaking up. That seemed to fuel the record.
--Jonathan Gallant speaking with the Ottawa Sun

The included lyric book was illustrated with original artwork by Henry Fong, with each song getting its own related art.

The entire album was leaked onto BitTorrent on June 19, 2006.Fact|date=July 2007 The band temporarily released the entire album to their MySpace page for June 23.

Beginning in the fall of 2005, songs from the new album were purposely leaked by the band. A demo of "Red Flag" circulated across the internet, even though it had already appeared on the soundtracks to Burnout Revenge, Burnout Legends, SSX On Tour, EA Sports' NHL 06, and on the Atlantic Records compilation "Black by Popular Demand".

"Devil In A Midnight Mass" was the first single. A demo of the song was released on MySpace and Purevolume on Christmas Day of 2005, and the official single was released on April 20, 2006. "Red Flag" was released as the second single. A video for it was shot on July 21, 2006, in Los Angeles, California. [According to a posting on [http://www.nettwerk.com/news.jsp Network Records news] in July 2006]

The day after its debut, the band performed a "Intimate & Interactive" outdoor concert on MuchMusic in the CHUM-City Building parking lot in Toronto, Ontario. They were also interviewed by Much VJ Devon Soltendieck, and asked questions from viewers via telephone, e-mail, and videophone. [Portions of the program are available at [http://www.muchmusic.com/axs/ Muchmusic Axs] . Aired on MuchMusic television June 28, 2006]

"Surrender" was offered for download exclusively on Valentine's Day, 2006; it also appears on this album. According to a MuchMusic interview with the band, "Surrender" is supposed to be a love song. Radio recordings of that song, as well as "Covered in Cowardice", "This Suffering", and a low quality version of "Worker Bees" became available several weeks before the album's release.

The music video for their third single, "Fallen Leaves", was shot on the first two days of November 2006, in Los Angeles, CA. It was first played in Canada on Much on Demand on November 27, 2006, and worldwide the following week.

The band performed a live session for Mike Davies on BBC Radio 1's The Lockup on September 12, playing the tracks "Red Flag", "Devil In A Midnight Mass" and "This Suffering".

On November 22, the band made its American premiere on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien show, performing "Red Flag."

On January 12, 2007, the music video for "Fallen Leaves" was made available to watch in the UK on the rock channels Kerrang TV, Scuzz and MTV2.

In February 2007, the video for "Surrender" was shot and debuted in Germany on April.2.2007. Fact|date=March 2007.

In April 2007, the album won a Juno Award for best rock album of the year.

Certifications

*3x Gold::Germany 300,000 units [http://www.ifpi.d]

*2x Platinum::Canada 200,000 units [ [http://www.cria.ca Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) ] ]

*1x Platinum::Austria 30,000 units [ [http://www.ifpi.at IFPI Austria - Verband der Österreichischen Musikwirtschaft ] ]

Worldwide Sales Estimation 1,000,000 units.

Track listing

# "Devil in a Midnight Mass" – 3:00
# "Red Flag" – 3:20
# "This Suffering" – 3:57
# "Worker Bees" – 3:44
# "Pins and Needles" – 3:11
# "Fallen Leaves" – 3:19
# "Where Is the Line?" – 3:49
# "Covered in Cowardice" – 4:12
# "Surrender" – 4:06
# "The Navy Song" – 4:31
# "Perfect World" – 3:06
# "Sympathy" – 3:18
# "Burn the Evidence" – 3:40

Bonus tracks

# "Beachballs" – 3:51 (Best Buy purchase (US only) Bonus Track, originally released on the Try Honesty EP)
# "When I Was a Little Girl" – 2:11 (Best Buy purchase (US only) Bonus Track, originally released on the "Watoosh!" album)
# "Ever Fallen in Love? (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" (Buzzcocks cover released with iTunes version of the album)
# "Fallen Leaves (Live)" (available only by download)

Personnel

*Ian D'Sa - guitar, vocals
*Jon Gallant - bass, backing vocals
*Aaron Solowoniuk - drums
*Ben Kowalewicz - lead vocals

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.billytalent.com Official Billy Talent Website]
*
* [http://www.punktv.ca/streetteam/jrox.php?id=1008_1_bid_10 Interview with Ian and Jon in support of BIlly Talent II]
* [http://www.myspace.com/billytalent Billy Talent] at MySpace
* [http://www.last.fm/music/Billy+Talent Billy Talent] at Last.fm
* [http://www.warnermusic.ca/discography.jsp?artist=10304&release=30920001-30920001 Sample clips from Billy Talent II]
* [http://www.billytalent.com/sections/listen/player.html Billy Talent and Billy Talent II Player]

Billy Talent