How to Ruin Everything

How to Ruin Everything is the seventh studio album by the punk rock band Face to Face, released in 2002 (see 2002 in music).

How to Ruin Everything
Studio album by
Face to Face
ReleasedApril 9, 2002
RecordedAugust–September 2001
StudioAudio International
GenrePunk rock[1]
Length46:00
LabelVagrant
ProducerTrever Keith, Scott Shiflett, Chad Blinman
Face to Face chronology
Reactionary
(2000)		 How to Ruin Everything
(2002)		 Shoot the Moon: Essential Collection
(2005)

As of the release date, How to Ruin Everything was Face to Face's only album since their 1992 debut Don't Turn Away without Chad Yaro on guitar. The band remained as a three-piece, marking the first time in over a decade that Face to Face had recorded and played live as a trio.

Background and production

Guitarist Chad Yaro left the band in 2000; frontman Trevor Keith said Yaro had spent a few years between focusing on the band, and his committing to his family.[2]

Sessions for How to Ruin Everything were held at Audio International in Ojai, California produced by Keith, Scott Shiflett, and Chad Blinman, who also handled recording.[3] The band reportedly recorded 22 songs for the album.[4] Blinman mixed the recordings at Westbeach Recorders in Hollywood, California, with assistant engineer Chris Gresham/ Ramon Breton mastered the album at Oceanview Mastering in Los Angeles, California.[3]

Composition

Musically, the sound of How to Ruin Everything has been described as arena rock,[5] and punk rock.[1] Keith said the band wrote the album as a three-piece, and were aware of the limitations of arranging music as a trio.[6] "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" is about self-criticism. "Why Would I Lie?" is a rock song, and is followed "The New Way", which comes across as a mix of the Offspring and Nirvana.[1][7]

Release

In March 2002, the band supported Alkaline Trio on their UK headlining tour.[8] On March 29, the band appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly.[9] How to Ruin Everything was released in April 2002. The Japanese edition, released by Victor, featured "Nothing Succeeds Like Success" and "Anybody Listening?" as bonus tracks.[10] In April and May, the band embarked on a headlining US tour, with support from Thrice, Thursday, and Midtown.[11] In August, the band appeared at Bizarre Festival in Germany.[12] On May 10, the band appeared on The Late Late Show.[13] In October and November, the band played a handful of shows with Brand New, and appeared on Boom Boom Huck Jam tour and at Smoke Out Festival.[14][15][16] From June to August 2003, the group went on the 2003 edition of Warped Tour.[17] In November 2003, the band announced they were breaking up.[18] They played a farewell US tour in August and September 2004.[19]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Chart AttackFavorable[20]
CMJ New Music ReportFavorable[1]
Ox-FanzineFavorable[21]
Punknews.org[5]
Sputnikmusic3.5/5[22]

How to Ruin Everything was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. AllMusic reviewer MacKenzie Wilson wrote that the album "emerges as Face to Face's strongest material to date." He noted that the band avoided "current punk-pop sounds for a gnarling rock growl."[7] Chart Attack writer Keith Carman found the album to be a return-to-form, full of "an impressive set of songs that blend pop melodies with a Rocket from the Crypt flare for arranging and songwriting and Straight Faced aggression".[20] Christopher Ward of CMJ New Music Report also acknowledged the album's return-to-form status. adding that it "delivers what all punk fans have been yearning for: the good old-fashioned punk rock."[1]

Ox-Fanzine's Joachim Hiller wrote that the band "have remained consistent", with the album's 15 songs "just run through and down and in and are a lot of fun."[21] In a retrospective review, Sputnikmusic emeritus 204409 called the album "a perfect swan song for a band that stayed pretty uniformly great through all the crests and troughs of their career."[22] He added that while it wasn't the band's best album, it acted as "more than satisfying end to a great career."[22] Punknews.org staff member Scott Heisel viewed the album as "nothing more than boring, boring SoCal punk. [...] I'm baffled on how people could be inspired by music this mediocre."[5]

Track listing

All music by Face to Face, all lyrics by Trever Keith.[3]

  1. "Bill of Goods" – 2:46
  2. "The Take-Away" – 2:47
  3. "14 Hours" – 2:20
  4. "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" – 3:06
  5. "The New Way" – 3:35
  6. "The World in Front of You" – 2:44
  7. "Why Would I Lie?" – 2:46
  8. "Unconditional" – 3:13
  9. "Shoot the Moon" – 3:20
  10. "Graded on a Curve" – 3:43
  11. "Fight or Flight" – 3:06
  12. "Waiting to Be Saved" – 3:18
  13. "Double Standard" – 2:42
  14. "The Compromise" – 3:31
  15. "How to Ruin Everything" – 3:04

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.[3]

Charts
Chart (2002) Peak
position
US Billboard 200 178
US Heatseekers 12
US Independent Albums 13

References
  1. Ward, Christopher (April 8, 2002). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 71, no. 757. ISSN 0890-0795. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  2. Sculley, Alan (May 9, 2002). "Back to the ruins". News & Review. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  3. How to Ruin Everything (booklet). Face to Face. Vagrant Records. 2002. 910 366-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. Paul, Aubin (September 1, 2001). "New face to face album…". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on December 22, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  5. Heisel, Scott (April 9, 2002). "Face To Face - How To Ruin Everything". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  6. Green, Stuart (April 1, 2002). "Face to Face How to Ruin Everything". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  7. Wilson, MacKenzie. "How to Ruin Everything - Face to Face | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  8. "Tour Diary". B-Unique Records. Archived from the original on March 23, 2002. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  9. Heisel, Scott (March 22, 2002). "Face to Face with Carson Daly". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on May 14, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  10. How to Ruin Everything (sleeve). Face to Face. Victor. 2002. VICP-61742.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. Heisel, Scott (January 27, 2002). "Face To Face Spring Tour Dates Announced". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  12. Heisel, Scott (April 3, 2002). "Vagrant gets bizarre". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on May 14, 2020. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  13. Heisel, Scott (May 8, 2002). "Bands on TV - Addendum". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on May 14, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  14. White, Adam (August 26, 2002). "Social Distortion, Face to Face, Devo play dates of Huck Jam Tour". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  15. Heisel, Scott (September 22, 2002). "Brand new Brand New news!". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  16. Paul, Aubin (October 31, 2002). "Bands You Like Playing Cypress Hill's Smokefest". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  17. "Used, Simple Plan, Rancid, Distillers On Warped Tour '03". MTV. January 14, 2003. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  18. Paul, Aubin (November 7, 2003). "Face To Face (1991-2003)". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  19. White, Adam (May 4, 2004). "Face To Face to embark on final US tour". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  20. Carman, Keith (April 9, 2002). "CD Reviews: Face To Face, Goo Goo Dolls, Motorhead, Bodega and many more". Chart Attack. Archived from the original on December 4, 2005. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  21. Hiller, Joachim (June–August 2002). "Face to Face Vs. Dropkick Murphys CD / How To Ruin Everything CD / Everything Is Everything CD + DVD". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  22. "Face to Face - How to Ruin Everything (album review)". Sputnikmusic. July 17, 2007. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
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