Taking One for the Team explained

Taking One for the Team
Type:studio
Artist:Simple Plan
Cover:Taking One for the Team album cover.jpg
Recorded:March  - November 2015[1]
Studio:West Valley, Woodland Hills, California; Sparky Dark, Calabasas, California
Length:46:10
Label:Atlantic
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Taking One for the Team is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock band Simple Plan. It was released on February 19, 2016 through Atlantic Records and represents the band's first full-length record in nearly five years.[2] Following the release of three buzz singles in mid-2015, the band released "I Don't Wanna Go to Bed" featuring American rapper Nelly as the official lead single for the album on October 16, 2015.[3] It debuted at number 4 on the Canadian Albums Chart, earning the band their fourth consecutive top-5 and a perfect streak of top-10s for their first five studio albums. It is the band's final album release as a quintet, as bassist David Desrosiers left Simple Plan in July 2020 due to sexual misconduct allegations.[4] It is also the band's last album released through Atlantic, as the band fulfilled their contract to the label with this album.[5]

Production

Sessions for Taking One for the Team were held at West Valley Studios in Woodland Hills, California and Sparky Dark Studio in Calabasas, California. Howard Benson produced all of the songs, with co-production from Ryan Stewart on "Perfectly Perfect", while recording was handled by Mike Plotnikoff and Hatsukazu "Hatch" Inagaki. Paul DeCarli did digital editing, and Wendell Teague and Chris Bousquet served as assistant engineers. Neal Avron mixed the recordings, with assistance from Scott Skrzynski, at The Casita in Hollywood, California. Chris Gehringer mastered the album at Sterling Sound in New York City.

Singles

"I Don't Wanna Go to Bed" was released October 16, 2015 as the album's official lead single.[6] The song features pop and funk influences in a stylistic departure from the pop punk and pop rock of the band's earlier work. A Baywatch-inspired music video premiered October 15, 2015  - a day before the song's digital release.[3] It has since peaked outside the top 50 on the Canadian Hot 100 at number 54.[7]

"Singing in the Rain" was released as second single from the album on March 25, 2016.[8] [9] However, the single version of the song does not feature R. City.[10] The music video for "Singing in the Rain was released on April 12, 2016; set in the 1960s, it was a tribute to the movie That Thing You Do.

"Perfectly Perfect" was announced as the third official single on September 26, 2016.[11]

Other songs

The first song released from the era was "Saturday" on June 22, 2015.[12] In September 2015, drummer Chuck Comeau revealed the song would not be featured on the album.[13]

"Boom" was released August 28, 2015 as the second promotional single after its music video premiered a day earlier.[14] [15]

A third buzz track, "I Don't Wanna Be Sad", was released September 18, 2015.[16] Initially presumed to be the album's first official single, it was later announced to be a promotional track only.

The band released the album tracks steadily leading up to the release date. A music video for "Opinion Overload" was released on February 5, 2016.[17] [18] "Farewell" was released on February 14, followed by[19] "I Refuse" on February 15, "Nostalgic",[20] "P.S. I Hate You"[21] and "Perfectly Perfect".[22]

At the end of the album, Canadian sports announcer Bob Cole calls a fictional ice hockey game featuring Simple Plan, concluding with, "Oh my goodness, can you believe it? Just like that, Simple Plan have won the game!".

Reception

Taking One for the Team received generally favorable reviews from music critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 65 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic called the record "pure, no-frills, feel-good fun, a start-to-finish crowd-pleaser for fans of that classic pop-punk sound." He concluded about the band's musical stance they made with their album: "When music is presented this directly, and after so many years holding firm to a particular style, it's hard to root against them […] Simple Plan -- whose members were in their late thirties at the time of recording -- are the comeback underdog team, winning whether critics like it or not." Collin Brennan of Consequence of Sound commended the band for their longevity and continuation to deliver "earnest sentimentalism" through "heavy music for people who don't like heavy music" but was heavily critical towards their attempts at different soundscapes on "Singing in the Rain" and "I Don't Wanna Go to Bed", concluding that "[W]hen their punches land, you want to bless these guys for sticking to their guns and not growing up. But the misses are real and painful, and they make Taking One For the Team a far more embarrassing listen than it needed to be."

Track listing

All writing credits per booklet.

Bonus tracks

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.[23] Simple Plan

Additional musicians

Production and design

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Simple Plan - Timeline Photos. Facebook. December 23, 2015. It's officially happening! We're really excited to.... February 13, 2015.
  2. Web site: Taking One for the Team by Simple Plan. iTunes Store (Canada). Apple Inc. December 23, 2015.
  3. News: Gonshor. Adam. SIMPLE PLAN + NELLY + DAVID HASSELHOFF???!!!. December 23, 2015. Warner Music Canada. October 15, 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20151223143718/http://www.warnermusic.ca/press-release/573/simple-plan-nelly-david-hasselhoff/. December 23, 2015.
  4. Web site: Simple Plan's David Desrosiers leaves band following sexual misconduct allegations . July 10, 2020 . Global News.
  5. Web site: Pierre on Simple Plan leaving their record label Atlantic Records: "The deal is done. We're free agents now." . April 19, 2022 . EN: SimplePlan.cz . en-US.
  6. Web site: I Don't Wanna Go to Bed (feat. Nelly) - Single by Simple Plan. iTunes Store (Canada). Apple Inc. December 23, 2015.
  7. Simple Plan - Chart history (Canadian Hot 100). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 23, 2015.
  8. Web site: Singing In The Rain (Explicit, Single) by Simple Plan : Napster. Rhapsody.com. March 25, 2016. September 26, 2016.
  9. simpleplan. Simple Plan. 715208372157546496. Simple Plan on Twitter: "Check out our new single "Singing In The Rain" in the Top 10 on #TheScene playlist @Spotify". March 30, 2016. September 26, 2016.
  10. Web site: Singing in the Rain - Single by Simple Plan on iTunes . . April 12, 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160412175338/https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/singing-in-the-rain-single/id1094906537 . April 12, 2016.
  11. Web site: Simple Plan - "Perfectly Perfect is about being in love with someone and seeing beauty in every part of them, even the parts they don't like about themselves...". Facebook. September 26, 2016. photo. September 26, 2016. Buy our #TeamSP album featuring the single.
  12. Web site: Saturday - Single by Simple Plan. iTunes Store (Canada). 22 June 2015 . Apple Inc. December 23, 2015.
  13. Chuck Comeau. Simple Plan. chuckcomeau. 644753646861832192. September 17, 2015. no. Saturday will not be on the new album.. December 23, 2015.
  14. Web site: Boom - Single by Simple Plan. iTunes Store (Canada). Apple Inc. December 23, 2015.
  15. News: Sherman. Maria. Simple Plan Returns! Check Out The Star-Studded "Boom" Now . December 23, 2015. Fuse. Fuse Networks, LLC. August 28, 2015.
  16. Web site: I Don't Wanna Be Sad - Single by Simple Plan. iTunes Store (Canada). Apple Inc. December 23, 2015.
  17. Web site: Simple Plan Premiere New Song/Video, Opinion Overload. Kerrang!. February 5, 2016. September 26, 2016.
  18. Web site: Simple Plan. Simple Plan - "We are so excited to share with all of you the video for "Opinion Overload", the opening song of our new album "Taking One For The Team"...". Facebook. September 26, 2016. post. February 4, 2016.
  19. Stream Simple Plan's new track "Farewell" featuring New Found Glory's Jordan Pundik (exclusive). Alternative Press. February 14, 2016. September 26, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160216190036/http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/simple_plan_has_returned_with_premiere_of_new_track_farewell_from_upcoming. February 16, 2016. dead.
  20. Simple Plan Have Unveiled A Nostalgic New Song. Biddulph. Andy. Rock Sound. February 16, 2016. September 26, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20220406150957/https://www.rocksound.tv/features/read/simple-plan-have-unveiled-a-nostalgic-new-song. April 6, 2022. live.
  21. Web site: Simple Plan - P.S. I Hate You (Lyrics) . . February 17, 2016 . September 26, 2016.
  22. Web site: CBC Music . Music.cbc.ca . September 26, 2016.
  23. Taking One for the Team. Simple Plan. 2016. booklet. Atlantic Records. 7567-86657-3.