Fake History is the second studio album by American rock band Letlive and the first written and recorded with Jason Aalon Butler (vocals), Jean Nascimento (guitar), Jeff Sahyoun (guitar), Ryan Jay Johnson (bass guitar) and Anthony Rivera (drums). Originally released on Tragic Hero Records in April 2010, it was re-released by Epitaph Records April 12, 2011, with three additional tracks.[1]
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| Released | April 13, 2010 | |||
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Lyrically, the band didn't write the album with a particular political stand point and wanted the album to stimulate political, emotional and intellectual awareness.[2] Upon its re-release on Epitaph, the album received favorable reviews, generating an aggregated score of 76/100.[3] British publication Rock Sound added Fake History into their 101 Modern Classics.[4]
On April 13, 2020, the tenth anniversary of the album's original release, the band released a collection of demos for tracks that were eventually worked and finalised to feature on the album.[5]
Critical reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 76/100[3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [6] |
| Alternative Press | [7] |
| BBC Music | (very positive)[8] |
| Blare Magazine | [9] |
| PopMatters |   [10] |
| Rock Sound | [11] |
| Sputnikmusic | [12] |
| Thrash Hits | [13] |
Fake History received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 8 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[3] Sputnikmusic gave Fake History a 4.5 out of 5 or "superb" rating, calling it "a post-hardcore album fit for many of 2010's best-of lists".[12] Rock Sound magazine called it "a frenetic, hugely entertaining and inventive genre mash-up".[11] Thrash Hits gave the album a 4 out of 6 rating, calling it "a good album but it smacks of a band struggling hard to fit their entire repertoire into one record".[13]
In 2012, British publication Rock Sound added letlive.'s album Fake History into their 101 Modern Classics placed at number 51. They considered the album more of a classic than Queens of the Stone Age's Songs for the Deaf and Alkaline Trio's Good Mourning. Stating that "The essence of hardcore distilled by five LA lifers, ‘Fake History’ is at once a howl of vulnerability and a fuck-you-you-will-never-break-me clarion call of utter defiance. Truly, genuinely thrilling."[4]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by letlive
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Le Prologue" | 1:45 |
| 2. | "The Sick, Sick, 6.8 Billion" | 3:12 |
| 3. | "Renegade 86'" | 3:35 |
| 4. | "Enemies [Enemigos]" | 4:56 |
| 5. | "Casino Columbus" | 3:58 |
| 6. | "Muther" (feat. Chelsea Warlick) | 5:40 |
| 7. | "Homeless Jazz" | 3:41 |
| 8. | "We, the Pros of Con" | 4:13 |
| 9. | "H. Ledger" | 3:36 |
| 10. | "Over Being Under" | 3:37 |
| 11. | "Day 54" | 6:45 |
| Total length: | 44:58 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Hollywood, and She Did" | 4:00 |
| 13. | "Lemon Party" | 3:59 |
| 14. | "This Mime [A Sex Symbol]" | 3:25 |
| Total length: | 56:22 | |
Personnel
edit- Jason Aalon Alexander Butler – lead vocals
- Ryan Jay Johnson – bass guitar
- Jean Francisco Nascimento – guitar, keyboards
- Jeff Sahyoun – guitar, backing vocals
- Anthony Rivera – drums, percussion
- Production
- Kit Walters – engineer, producer
References
edit- ^ "letlive. – Artist Info". Epitaph Records. 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ^ Richard (April 2, 2013). "Interviews: Letlive". Punknews.org. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ a b c "Fake History Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
- ^ a b "Rock Sound's 101 Modern Classics: 74 – 50". Rock Sound. Freeway Press Inc. June 27, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
Few albums encapsulate the idea of a modern classic quite as perfectly as this one. The essence of hardcore distilled by five LA lifers, 'Fake History' is at once a howl of vulnerability and a fuck-you-you-will-never-break-me clarion call of utter defiance. Truly, genuinely thrilling.
- ^ "NEWS: Letlive. Share 'Fake History' demo collection for 10th anniversary!". 13 April 2020.
- ^ Heaney, Gregory. "Fake History – Review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
- ^ Pearlman, Mischa (2011). "Reviews – Fake History". Alternative Press. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
- ^ "Music - Review of letlive. - Fake History". BBC. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ^ Beresford, Leah (May 22, 2011). "REVIEW: letlive. – "Fake History"". Blare Magazine. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
- ^ Chris Colgan (April 11, 2011). "Letlive: Fake History < PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
- ^ a b Newbound, Tim (April 11, 2011). "letlive. – Fake History Album review". Retrieved April 12, 2011.
- ^ a b Pond, Jared (August 20, 2010). "Fake History (album review)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ^ a b Doyle, Tom (April 6, 2011). "Album: letlive. – Fake History". Thrash Hits. Retrieved April 6, 2011.
External links
edit- "letlive. @ myspace.com". Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- "This Is letlive". Retrieved April 6, 2011.
- "Band of the Week: Exclusive: Letlive 'Fake History'". Rock Sound. April 4, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2011.