Almost Here is the first full-length studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by American rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band The Academy Is...

The Academy Is...

The Academy Is... was an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 2003. Before dispersing, they were signed by the Decaydance imprint of the Fueled by Ramen label. They were originally known as "The Academy", but added the "Is..." in 2004 to avoid legal complications with other...

, released on February 8, 2005 by Fueled by Ramen

Fueled by Ramen

Fueled by Ramen is an American record label which operates as a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, and is distributed by Atlantic Records. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida, is based in New York City...

.

Background

After recording the album and a doing a summer tour, the band underwent a lineup change. Tom Conrad, formerly of Chicago local band 5o4plan, replaced LaTrace as the second guitarist/backing vocalist and Andy Mrotek, formerly of Last Place Champs, replaced DelPrincipe as the drummer. Andy Mrotek and Thomas Conrad are listed in the liner notes, but were added to the band after the recording of Almost Here to replace DelPrincipe and LaTrace, respectively.

The album debuted at #20 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Top Heatseekers

Top Heatseekers

Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...

 chart, as well as at #24 on the Billboard Independent Albums

Independent Albums

The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels...

 chart. It also charted at #185 on The Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart. The album spawned three singles

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

: "Checkmarks", "Slow Down" (often incorrectly referred to as "Hollywood Hills"), which was chosen through an online poll on the band's website, and "The Phrase That Pays". "Classifieds" was an intended single off of the album and a video was made for the song. For unknown reasons, this video was never released, but the video's director posted it on YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

.

On February 6, 2010, The Academy Is... performed a 5th Anniversary Show for the album alongside with "Sing It Loud

Sing it Loud

-History:Sing it Loud grew out of a friendship between cousins vocalist Pat Brown and guitarist Kieren Smith, who founded the group together and added members whom they met locally in the Minneapolis music scene. Brown officially brought the group together after his previous band called it quits....

" and special guest.

Track listing

All music was written by Mike Carden and William Beckett, with the exception of "Down and Out" which was written solely by William Beckett. All lyrics by William Beckett.

1. "Attention" – 2:53
2. "Season" – 3:34
3. "Slow Down" – 4:02
4. "The Phrase That Pays" – 3:17
5. "Black Mamba" – 2:46
6. "Skeptics and True Believers" – 2:54
7. "Classifieds" – 2:52
8. "Checkmarks
   Checkmarks
   "Checkmarks" is a song by Chicago emo band The Academy Is..., their first single altogether and first released off Almost Here. This song was also featured on the Warped Tour Compilation 2005.-Music video:...
   
   " – 3:00
9. "Down and Out" – 4:30
10. "Almost Here
    Almost Here (The Academy Is song)
    "Almost Here" is a song by The Academy Is.... It is the title track from their debut album Almost Here.It runs for three minutes and seven seconds and includes a false ending about two minutes in....
    
    " – 3:06

Personnel

• William Beckett – vocals
• Tom Conrad – lead guitar
  Lead guitar
  Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
  
  
• Andrew "The Butcher" Mrotek – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Mike Carden – rhythm guitar
  Rhythm guitar
  Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
  
  
• Adam T. Siska – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....