Entertainment (Waterparks album)

On October 20, 2017, Waterparks revealed the album's title, artwork, and release date via social media, and released the first single from the record, "Blonde".[4] Pre-orders for the album opened in tandem with the release of the "Blonde" official music video on November 2, 2017.[5][6] The album's second and third singles, "Lucky People" and "Not Warriors", were released on December 14, 2017,[7] and January 17, 2018, respectively.[8][9]

Musically, Entertainment has been described as pop punk,[10][11][12] pop rock,[13][14][15] pop,[10][12] bubblegum pop,[16] rock,[17] electropop,[10] and synth-pop.[10] The album also uses elements of post-hardcore and dark pop.[18]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Bring the Noise UK	7/10[19]
Dead Press	[13]
Dork	[11]
GIG Soup	86%[16]
New Noise Magazine	[17]
Rock Sound	[20]
Substream Magazine	[14]
Wall of Sound	8/10[12]

Phoebe Constable of Dead Press gave praise to Awsten Knight's vocals and the catchability throughout the track listing, concluding that "Ultimately, Entertainment is a consistently strong pop-rock release. [A] bit more variety in places would've been a nice touch, but nevertheless it doesn't stop it being an incredibly fun listen that's bound to be a great soundtrack to the summers ahead."[13] Rob Sayce of Rock Sound praised the band for avoiding the sophomore slump by crafting a record that's "vibrant, surprising and borderline-scarily addictive" with a creative mix of various subgenres and Knight's "uniquely relatable" lyricism, concluding that, "By taking some huge risks and refusing to be to tied to any one lane, they've proved every doubter wrong."[20] Logan White of Substream Magazine felt the album started off strong with its first two tracks and kept the momentum going with surprising forays into acoustic-driven love songs and electronic beats, concluding that "Entertainment is fun, catchy, and even a little bit unpredictable. Waterparks have pushed forward to become the best version of themselves that they can be, proving that they are here to stay."[14] Dork writer Dan Harrison commented about the band's penchant for matching "awkward emotion" with a "day-glo" pop punk soundscape and sugary choruses over salty subject matter, saying "A juxtaposition that's proven effective time and time again, Entertainment may be more popcorn than a three course dinner, but it hits the spot every time."[11]

Notes

• The track "Tantrum" is stylized in all caps.

Credits for Entertainment[22][23]

Waterparks

• Awsten Knight – lead vocals, guitar, bass, additional programming
• Geoff Wigington – guitar
• Otto Wood – drums

Production

• Benji Madden – producer
• Courtney Ballard – producer, mixing, engineering
• Colin Schwanke – engineering
• Matt Lang – engineering
• Patrick Kehrier – engineering
• Bryan Gardner – mastering
• Jared Poythress – programming
• Marty Tzonev – cover art
• Bill Scoville – cover art layout