War Is the Answer

War Is the Answer is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch. It was released on September 22, 2009, through Prospect Park. The album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200, selling approximately 44,000 copies in its first week. It is the band's last album to feature bassist Matt Snell, who departed in late 2010, and the first with Jason Hook.[6] War Is the Answer has been certified platinum in the U.S.,[7] with sales of 1,000,000.[8]

War Is the Answer
Studio album by
Five Finger Death Punch
ReleasedSeptember 22, 2009
RecordedApril–June 2009
StudioGump Punch Studios (Las Vegas)
Genre
Length45:17
Label
ProducerKevin Churko
Five Finger Death Punch chronology
The Way of the Fist
(2007)		 War Is the Answer
(2009)		 American Capitalist
(2011)
Singles from War Is the Answer
  1. "Hard to See"
    Released: July 21, 2009
  2. "Walk Away"
    Released: November 2, 2009
  3. "Dying Breed*"
    Released: November 16, 2009
  4. "No One Gets Left Behind*"
    Released: March 8, 2010
  5. "Bad Company"
    Released: May 17, 2010
  6. "Far from Home"
    Released: September 16, 2010
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Jukebox:Metal[4]
Rock Sound[5]

Writing and recording

War Is the Answer was announced as Five Finger Death Punch's second studio album in May 2009. The album was produced by Kevin Churko, who had previously produced Ozzy Osbourne's Black Rain, and mixed by Randy Staub, who had previously worked with Metallica, Nickelback, and Stone Sour.[9] Guitarist Zoltan Bathory, commenting on the style of the album, stated "we've continued the journey we started on the first album, so there's a healthy balance of melody and aggression, and as always we concentrated on writing strong metal songs in the traditional sense."[9]

Bathory said to Metal Hammer about the album title:

"It's a phrase we've had up our sleeve for some time, and I've been talking about it a lot in interviews. In fact, somebody just said to me: 'If war is the answer, then what is the question?', and I guess the answer to that is 'life'! Basically, you're fighting against something or other right from the start – fighting for survival with pretty much everything against you, and there are occasions when the only really appropriate response is to punch someone in the mouth! It's a pretty involved subject once you really start to think about it, and this record covers it all – the deeper meaning and of course the more shallow one too!"[10]

Singles

Six singles were released from the album: "Hard to See", "Walk Away", "Dying Breed", "No One Gets Left Behind", "Bad Company", and "Far from Home". "Hard to See" began receiving radio play on July 13, 2009. The song was noted for having "undeniable melodies". According to Bathory, the song is about people being attached to opinions based on limited amounts of information.[11] It is also a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

The second single, "Walk Away", was released on November 2, 2009, and appeared in Tap Tap Revenge 3 as one of their weekly free tracks and also was used as the theme song for TNA's 2010 PPV Lockdown. The next two singles, "Dying Breed", released on November 16, 2009,[12] and "No One Gets Left Behind", released on March 8, 2010,[13] were both released exclusively in the UK.

The band released their cover of Bad Company's song "Bad Company" as the fifth single on May 17, 2010. "Far from Home" was released as the sixth single on September 16, 2010.[14] "Far from Home" was also featured as the incidental music over the closing scenes of the TV drama show Criminal Minds episode "What Happens at Home".

Year Title Peak chart positions
US
Alt.		 US
Main.		 US
Rock
2009 "Hard to See" 40 8 28
"Walk Away" 31 7 21
2010 "Dying Breed" — — —
"No One Gets Left Behind" — — —
"Bad Company" 26 2 8
"Far from Home" 29 4 16
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.

Release

Although War Is the Answer was originally announced to be released on June 8, 2009, this was put back to October 6, 2009,[11] then brought forward to September 22, 2009.[15] On August 10, 2009, they announced the first leg of their Shock and Raw Tour, which will promote the new album. The second leg was announced on August 17, 2009.

"Bad Company" was originally only played live. One of Jeremy's friends told him Five Finger Death Punch should record "Bad Company" and release it on their next album, War Is the Answer. "Bad Company" was originally going to be a bonus track, but ended up making the standard edition of the album and became one of Five Finger Death Punch's biggest songs.

The two bonus tracks, "Succubus" and "Undone", were originally cut from their first album The Way of the Fist. A demo version of "Succubus" was leaked onto the Internet under the title "Hate Me". The band decided to re-record both songs and include them as bonus tracks on War Is the Answer. According to Jeremy Spencer's book Death Punch'd, Jeremy was drunk while editing "Succubus" and forgot to save the original edit.

"Never Enough" was going to be on War Is the Answer but was then released as a bonus track on both the re-release and "The "Iron Fist" edition" of The Way of the Fist due to the band wanting to release the song before War Is the Answer.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Five Finger Death Punch, except where noted.

Standard edition
No.TitleLength
1."Dying Breed"2:56
2."Hard to See"3:15
3."Bulletproof"3:28
4."No One Gets Left Behind"3:23
5."Crossing Over"2:54
6."Burn It Down"3:33
7."Far from Home"3:32
8."Falling in Hate"3:34
9."My Own Hell"3:00
10."Walk Away"3:42
11."Canto 34" (instrumental)4:09
12."Bad Company" (Bad Company cover)4:22
13."War Is the Answer"3:18
Total length:45:17
iTunes bonus track
No.TitleLength
14."Walk Away" (live)3:40
Total length:48:57
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
14."Succubus"3:09
15."Undone"3:44
Total length:55:50
  • In the early Spotify version, "Bad Company" was incorrectly "War Is the Answer" and "War Is the Answer" was incorrectly "Bad Company". This was fixed in the recent version.[16]

Personnel
Five Finger Death Punch
Production
Imagery
  • Sxv'leithan Essex and Zoltan Bathory – art direction and design
  • Alyson Blanchard – live photo
  • Nathan Gallagher – military photos

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[26] Gold 40,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[27] Silver 60,000‡
United States (RIAA)[28] Platinum 1,000,000‡

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

References
  1. "War Is The Answer | Five Finger Death Punch Album Review". Decade. November 18, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  2. "Five Finger Death Punch - War Is The Answer Review". metal.de (in German). September 24, 2009. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  3. Roach, Pemberton. "War Is the Answer - Five Finger Death Punch". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  4. Lye, Andy. "Five Finger Death Punch - War Is The Answer". Jukebox:Metal. Archived from the original on May 30, 2017. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  5. Burt, Jim (September 22, 2009). "Five Finger Death Punch 'War Is the Answer' Review". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
  6. Itzkoff, Dave (October 1, 2009). "Pearl Jam Is No. 1". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2010.
  7. "Five Finger Death Punch To Host Second Annual 'Love Songs For Tough Guys' Special". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner Records. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  8. "Who Is Five Finger Death Punch? 5 Things to Know About Metal Band With Week's Top-Selling Album". Billboard. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  9. "Five Finger Death Punch Guitarist Discusses Upcoming Album". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner Records. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  10. "War Is The Answer Songfacts". Songfacts. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  11. "Five Finger Death Punch: New Single Available For Streaming". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner Records. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  12. "FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH To Release 'Dying Breed' Digital Single". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner Records. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  13. "FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH To Release New Single; New Mic Stand Unveiled". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner Records. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  14. Anderson, Sara D. (September 14, 2010). "Five Finger Death Punch, 'Far from Home' -- New Song". AOL. Retrieved October 3, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. "Five Finger Death Punch Guitarist Interviewed On Australia's 'The Racket'; Audio Available". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner Records. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  16. "War Is The Answer". January 1, 2009. Retrieved May 20, 2023 – via open.spotify.com.
  17. "Five Finger Death Punch: War Is The Answer" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  18. "Five Finger Death Punch Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  19. "Five Finger Death Punch Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  20. "Five Finger Death Punch Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  21. "Five Finger Death Punch Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  22. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  23. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  24. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2011". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 16, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  25. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2011". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  26. "Canadian album certifications – Five Finger Death Punch – War Is the Answer". Music Canada. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  27. "British album certifications – Five Finger Death Punch – War Is the Answer". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  28. "American album certifications – Five Finger Death Punch – War Is The Answer". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
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