Mayday Parade (album)

In March 2009 it was announced Mayday Parade had signed to Atlantic.[3] While working on their major label debut, Anywhere but Here (2009), Atlantic expected the band to make a pop album.[4] While the band attempted to follow this direction, they were weighed down by "so much overbearing pressure", according to guitarist Brooks Betts.[4] Vocalist Derek Sanders later recalled that "there was a lot of outside influence" from Atlantic that resulted in "a lot of co-writes".[5] In retrospect, Sanders said the band simply recorded songs that they "didn't care about as much or love as much".[5] Brooks pointed out that it wasn't "the best representation [of the band]."[4]

The album was written by the band during early 2011 at a beach house in Panacea, Florida.[6] For this album, the band wrote all of the material.[7] "Stay" is about pain experienced when losing a loved one.[8] They began recording with Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount on February 24, 2011 and the record was reportedly completed "[the band's] way," not "someone else's way," on April 18.[9] Recording took place at Vinatage Song Studio in Alpharetta, Georgia and at Tree Sound Studios in Norcross, Georgia.[10] The group brought in a string section for certain tracks.[11]

On July 6, 2011 Mayday Parade was announced for release and the track listing was revealed.[12] In July and August, the band supported All Time Low on their North America tour.[13] "Oh Well, Oh Well" was made available for streaming via Alternative Press on July 27.[14] On July 31, the artwork was revealed.[15] "Oh Well, Oh Well" was released as a single on August 1.[16] On September 8, "When You See My Friends" was made available for streaming via MTV,[17] and was released as a single a day later.[18] Short clips of every song on the album were made available for steaming on September 22.[19] On October 3, Mayday Parade was made available for streaming,[20] and was released a day later[12] through ILG.[21] On October 7, a music video was released for "Oh Well, Oh Well",[22] which was directed by Thunder Down Country.[23] In October and November, the band went on The Noise Tour with support from We Are the in Crowd, There for Tomorrow, You Me at Six, The Make[24] and Sparks the Rescue.[25]

In January 2012 the band filmed a music video for "Stay"[26] in Ohio.[27] In February and March, the band went on a co-headlining tour with We the Kings, with support from The Downtown Fiction and Anarbor.[28] The band supported You Me at Six on their tour of the UK in March and April.[29] On April 4, the "Stay" music video was released,[30] which was directed by Thunder Down Country.[31] On April 12, the band released an acoustic version of "When You See My Friends" as a free download.[32] The band went on the 2012 edition of Warped Tour.[33] In early June, the band toured Japan on the 2012 edition of the Beyond [The] Blue tour.[34] In September, the group performed at the Bazooka Rocks Festival in the Philippines.[35] The band went on co-headlining tour with The Maine, with support from The Postelles, in October and November.[36] In December, the band went on a short Australian tour with We Are the in Crowd and Heroes for Hire.[37]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	70%[2]
AllMusic	[38]
Alter the Press!	[39]
Melodic	[40]
Sputnikmusic	4/5[41]
Rockfreaks.net	[42]

Mayday Parade was projected to sell 25,000 copies,[43] it eventually sold near to 27,000 copies in the first week,[44] an increase of 30% over their previous album's first week sales.[8] "Stay" charted at number 26 on the Rock Digital Songs chart in the U.S.[45] The album was ranked at number 4 on PopMatters' best pop punk releases of 2011 list.[1] The album has sold over 100,000 copies in the US as of 2014.[46]

Bonus tracks

Personnel per digital booklet.[10]

Footnotes

Citations

• Mayday Parade at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)