Billy Talent II

Billy Talent II is the second studio album by Canadian rock band Billy Talent, released on June 27, 2006. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 48,000 copies in its first week.[6] The album also reached No. 1 on the German albums chart.[7] Despite its great success in Canada and Germany, the album was not as successful in the United States, where it peaked at No. 134 on the Billboard 200 music chart, selling just 7,231 units in its first week.

Billy Talent II
Studio album by
Billy Talent
ReleasedJune 27, 2006
Recorded2005–2006
StudioThe Warehouse Studio, Vancouver
GenreAlternative rock, punk rock, post-hardcore
Length47:00
LabelAtlantic
ProducerGavin "Golden" Brown with Ian D'Sa
Billy Talent chronology
Billy Talent
(2003)		 Billy Talent II
(2006)		 Rusted from the Rain EP
(2006)
Singles from Billy Talent II
  1. "Devil in a Midnight Mass"
    Released: June 15, 2006
  2. "Red Flag"
    Released: September 11, 2006
  3. "Fallen Leaves"
    Released: November 19, 2006
  4. "Surrender"
    Released: April 2, 2007
  5. "This Suffering"
    Released: November 26, 2007
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk(89%)[1]
AllMusic[2]
IGN(7.9/10)[3]
Jam![4]
Sputnikmusic[5]

Themes

The album has less anger and language than their previous self-titled album, as they had mellowed out and matured as men and as a band. More of the songs dealt with real-life issues, to the praise of fans and critics.[7]

We wanted to do something completely different from the first record because we had changed dramatically and had learned a lot from personal relationships. Everyone in the band is partnering up and dealing with those issues. The general theme of this record is trust, the lack thereof or breaking up. That seemed to fuel the record.

— Jonathan Gallant speaking with the Ottawa Sun[7]

Release

The band temporarily released the entire album to their MySpace page for June 23.

Beginning in the fall of 2005, songs from the new album were purposely leaked by the band. A demo of "Red Flag" circulated across the internet, even though it had already appeared on the soundtracks to Burnout Revenge, Burnout Legends, SSX on Tour, NHL 06 and on the Atlantic Records compilation Black by Popular Demand.

"Devil in a Midnight Mass" was the first single. A demo of the song was released on MySpace and Purevolume on Christmas Day of 2005, and the official single was released on April 20, 2006. "Red Flag" was released as the second single. A video for it was shot on July 21, 2006, in Los Angeles.[8]

The day after its debut, the band performed an Intimate & Interactive outdoor concert on MuchMusic in the CHUM-City Building parking lot in Toronto, Ontario. They were also interviewed by Much VJ Devon Soltendieck, and asked questions from viewers via telephone, e-mail, and videophone.[9]

"Surrender" was offered for download exclusively on Valentine's Day, 2006; it also appears on this album. According to a MuchMusic interview with the band, Surrender is supposed to be a love song. Radio recordings of that song, as well as "Covered in Cowardice", "This Suffering", and a low quality version of "Worker Bees" became available several weeks before the album's release.

The music video for their third single, "Fallen Leaves", was shot on the first two days of November 2006, in Los Angeles. It was first played in Canada on Much on Demand on November 27, 2006, and worldwide the following week.

The band performed a live session for Mike Davies on BBC Radio 1's The Lockup on September 12, playing the tracks "Red Flag", "Devil in a Midnight Mass" and "This Suffering".

On November 22, the band made its American premiere on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien show, performing "Red Flag".

On January 12, 2007, the music video for "Fallen Leaves" was made available to watch in the UK on the rock channels Kerrang!, Scuzz and MTV2.

In February 2007, the video for "Surrender" was shot and debuted in Germany on April 2, 2007.[10]

In April 2007, the album won a Juno Award for best rock album of the year.

Although never released as a single, the band shot a music video for "The Navy Song", released exclusively through the band's Myspace, during summer 2007.

On November 26, 2007, the video for "This Suffering" was released. It was released mainly to promote the band's new live DVD 666 Live, and the music video was just a collection of clips from the 666 performances.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Devil in a Midnight Mass"2:52
2."Red Flag"3:16
3."This Suffering"3:57
4."Worker Bees"3:44
5."Pins and Needles"3:11
6."Fallen Leaves"3:19
7."Where Is the Line?"3:49
8."Covered in Cowardice"4:12
9."Surrender"4:06
10."The Navy Song"4:31
11."Perfect World"3:06
12."Sympathy"3:18
13."Burn the Evidence"3:40
Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
14."Beach Balls" (Best Buy purchase (US only) bonus track, originally released on the Try Honesty EP)3:51
15."When I Was a Little Girl" (Best Buy purchase (US only) bonus track, re-recording of track from earlier Watoosh! album)2:11
16."Ever Fallen in Love? (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" (Buzzcocks cover released with iTunes version of the album)2:41
17."Devil in a Midnight Mass" (Demo, iTunes Bonus track) 
18."Red Flag" (Live at the Horseshoe Tavern, available only by download) 
19."Fallen Leaves" (Live at the Horseshoe Tavern, available only by download) 

Personnel

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[21] Platinum 30,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[22] 4× Platinum 400,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[23] 2× Platinum 400,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[24] Silver 60,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Billy Talent – Billy Talent II – Album Review". AbsolutePunk.
  2. "Billy Talent II – Billy Talent". AllMusic.
  3. "Billy Talent – II". IGN. June 26, 2006.
  4. "Album Review: Billy Talent II". Jam!.
  5. Boy, Davey. "Billy Talent Billy Talent II". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  6. Williams, John. "BT ousts Nelly Furtado from No. 1". Jam!. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
  7. Armstrong, Denis (January 31, 2007). "Billy Talent mellows out". Jam!. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
  8. According to a posting on Network Records news Archived August 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine in July 2006
  9. Portions of the program are available at Muchmusic Axs Archived July 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Aired on MuchMusic television June 28, 2006
  10. Billy Talent - Surrender Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic, retrieved May 16, 2023
  11. "Austriancharts.at – Billy Talent – Billy Talent II" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  12. "Ultratop.be – Billy Talent – Billy Talent II" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  13. "Billy Talent Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  14. "Billy Talent: Billy Talent II" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  15. "Offiziellecharts.de – Billy Talent – Billy Talent II" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  16. "Swisscharts.com – Billy Talent – Billy Talent II". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  17. "Billy Talent | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  18. "Billy Talent Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  19. "Billy Talent Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  20. Archived December 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  21. "Austrian album certifications – Billy Talent – Billy Talent II" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  22. "Canadian album certifications – Billy Talent – Billy Talent II". Music Canada. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  23. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Billy Talent; 'Billy Talent II')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  24. "British album certifications – Billy Talent – Billy Talent II". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
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