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''American Tragedy'' is the second studio album by American rap rock band Hollywood Undead. Production for the album began following the induction of Daniel Murillo into the band in early 2010 and lasted until December. Don Gilmore and Ben Grosse, who helped produce the band's debut album, ''Swan Songs'' (2008), also returned to produce the album along with several other producers including Kevin Rudolf, Sam Hollander, Dave Katz, Griffin Boice, Jeff Halavacs, and Jacob Kasher. The album is musically heavier and features darker lyrical content than the band's previous effort. Originally set to release in March, ''American Tragedy'' was released on April 5, 2011 in the United States and was released on various other dates that month in other countries. A remix of the album, ''American Tragedy Redux'', was released on November 21, 2011. The album debuted at number four on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling approximately 67,000 copies in its first week in the United States, and ended up becoming the 142nd best selling album of 2011 in the US. It also charted in a few other countries, including Canada and the UK, a first for the band. The album also had five singles: "Hear Me Now", "Been to Hell", "Coming Back Down", "Comin' in Hot", and "My Town", with music videos being made for all of them except "Coming Back Down" as it was released on the same day as "Been to Hell". The band participated in three headlining tours: the ''Revolt Tour'', the ''Endless Summer Tour'', and the ''World War III Tour'', as well as other supporting tours throughout 2011 to promote the album. Upon release, ''American Tragedy'' received mixed reviews. Critics consistently noted the darker and more serious tone of the album, but to mixed reception. Lyrics were widely criticized while the energy and instruments were praised in most reviews. ==Background== Since the release of the live CD-DVD ''Desperate Measures'' (2009), the band had begun writing material for their tentative second studio album. However, in early 2010, clean vocalist Aron "Deuce" Erlichman was voted out of the group due to not arriving at the airport when the band was scheduled to leave for a tour, which left Erlichman and Hollywood Undead on poor terms. Erlichman then released a track, titled "Story of a Snitch", aimed at J-Dog and Johnny 3 Tears. In late 2010, the band confirmed that former touring member Daniel "Danny" Murillo, who was an ''American Idol'' contestant in its ninth season and also the lead singer of the band Lorene Drive, would take over as Erlichman's replacement, providing clean vocals. Recording for the album began in summer 2010 and was originally set to release in fall of that year. Recording lasted until November and was mixed after Thanksgiving. James Diener, head of the band's record label, believed that it would launch the band into more mainstream success, making it a "big next step" for the group. This was proven correct following the commercial success of the album's number four debut in the United States.〔 The band has also confirmed that producer Don Gilmore, who also worked on their debut album, had returned as executive producer for the album.〔 On the recording process, J-Dog said in an interview, "(had ) been a long time, were out of the studio, done recording, beat the shit out of ourselves to make sure our second record is better than our first. It was hard but we finally finished it and we're excited our first track is out there." On January 11, 2011, the band confirmed the title of the album, ''American Tragedy'',〔 and released a preview video of the album with an instrumental snippet of the then untitled track, "Been to Hell".〔〔 In an interview, Johnny 3 Tears explained the meaning of the album's title. The "American Tragedy" refers to the concept that many American youth grow up believing in certain ideals which are discovered to be false upon entering adulthood. On January 19, the band released a photo of their new masks as well as new member Danny's mask. The band reasoned these because, "they represent (Undead ) as a band, and as a whole. We all felt it's years later since the first record and time to start a new chapter." In addition, the growing fan base of the group made Jerry Constantine, the band's molder, to point out that some of the fans masks started looking better than the band's. "So we stepped it up", J-Dog reported in a press release.〔 Each member designed their own mask, with the new designs being much closer to the original concept the band envisioned than before. Johnny 3 Tears feels the masks are more sophisticated and reflect how different the new album is from their previous efforts.〔 Johnny 3 Tears described the album as being much heavier than their debut album, ''Swan Songs'' (2008). "There is more rock, heavier sound and more pain in the songs", Johnny 3 Tears stated, relating this to the situation of the country at the time. "When you write songs, you're very sensitive to what is happening in the world, and I would say that we have incorporated into the song much more than what we see around us at this time. It is hard to write happy, cheerful songs, when 14 percent of the population () unemployed."〔 On February 25, the band confirmed the official release date of the album as April 5, 2011.〔 Speaking about the album as a whole, Johnny 3 Tears said that, "''American Tragedy'' is the record I always hoped that Hollywood Undead would write, we couldn't be more proud. We hope all the fans love it as much as we do. Our fans mean everything to us, and we dedicate this record to them." On April 1, 2011, at Midnight, Hollywood Undead streamed the full album of ''American Tragedy'' for free listening on their Myspace page.〔 〕 The release of the album also boosted sales for their debut album, ''Swan Songs'', bringing it back into the ''Billboard'' 200.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「American Tragedy (album)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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