Harmlessness Explained

Harmlessness
Type:studio
Artist:The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die
Cover:Harmlessness_Cover.jpg
Released:September 25, 2015
Length:61:03
Label:Epitaph
Producer:Chris Teti
Prev Title:Whenever, If Ever
Prev Year:2013
Next Title:Always Foreign
Next Year:2017

Harmlessness is the second studio album by American indie rock band The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die. It was announced on August 4, 2015, and was released on September 25. The title of the album is a play on the name of the band's first EP, Formlessness.[1]

Reception

Harmlessness charted at number 11 on the Heatseekers Albums chart,[2] and at number 46 on the Independent Albums chart.[3] Upon release, the album received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from specialized critics, the album received an average score of 84, based on 6 reviews. Stereogum placed the album at number 13 on their top 50 albums of 2015 list.[4] James of Stereogum wrote: "It's not the kind of music that will change the world, but it might just change your life."[4] Aaron Mook of AbsolutePunk wrote: "Harmlessness is ambitious and intimidating in scope; it is not an easy listen, but with the right amount of time and dedication, it is easily one of the most rewarding listens of 2015." "January 10th, 2014" appeared on a best-of emo songs list by Vulture.[5]

Legacy

In 2017, Harmlessness placed seventh on Spins list of the emo revival's 30 best albums, with writer Ian Cohen dubbing it "one of the most stunningly accomplished indie rock records of the past decade."[6] Several months later, Cohen called it "an astonishing redirection" for indie rock, seeing it anticipate the genre's impending fusion of the late 90's Pacific Northwest scene's "experimental and expanse" with mid-00s Canadian indie's "grandeur" that would give way to the emo revival.[7] In 2021, Exclaim!s Adam Feibel wrote that the album had "frequently been held up as [the band's] crowning achievement".[8]

Accolades

PublicationAccoladeYearRank
StereogumThe 50 Best Albums of 20152015
  1. 13[9]
Brooklyn MagazineThe 20 Best Rock Albums of 20152015
  1. 1[10]
BrooklynVeganOur 50 Favorite Albums of 20152015--[11]
Absolutepunk.netStaff's Top 30 Albums of 20152015
  1. 5[12]

Personnel

The lineup for this album is:[13]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Broken World Media - TWIABP - Harmlessness. Store.brokenworldmedia.com. 2015-08-10.
  2. The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Chart history (Heatseekers Albums). Billboard. October 21, 2015.
  3. The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Chart history (Independent Albums). Billboard. October 21, 2015.
  4. Web site: The 50 Best Albums Of 2015: The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Harmlessness. Stereogum. December 1, 2015. December 1, 2015.
  5. Web site: The 100 Greatest Emo Songs of All Time. https://web.archive.org/web/20200213181251/https://www.vulture.com/article/best-emo-songs.html. Vulture. Garland, Emma. February 13, 2020. February 13, 2020. August 14, 2020.
  6. Web site: 30 Best Emo Revival Albums, Ranked. Spin staff. June 14, 2017. Spin. July 22, 2023.
  7. Web site: Q&A: The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die. Cohen. Ian. September 29, 2017. Stereogum. July 22, 2023.
  8. Web site: The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die Balance Anger and Ambition on 'Illusory Walls'. Feibel. Adam. October 6, 2021. Exclaim!. July 22, 2023.
  9. Web site: The 50 Best Albums Of 2015 . stereogum.com . 2015-12-01 . 2015-12-10.
  10. Web site: 2015-12-17 . The 20 Best Rock Albums of 2015 . 2015-12-18 . Brooklyn Magazine.
  11. Web site: 2015-12-31 . Our Favorite Albums of 2015 . 2016-01-03 . Brooklyn Vegan.
  12. Web site: Staff's Top 30 Albums Of 2015 . absolutepunk.net . 2016-01-06 . 2016-01-06.
  13. Web site: TWIABP detail new album 'Harmlessness,' share new single "January 10th, 2014". brooklynvegan.com. Sacher, Andrew. 10 August 2015 . 2015-08-10.

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