The Betrayed
Encyclopedia
The Betrayed is the fourth studio album
by the Welsh alternative rock
band Lostprophets
, released through Visible Noise
and Sony Music Entertainment
on 13 January 2010. Although the band initially wished to record a quick follow-up to 2006's Liberation Transmission
, problems with labels and producers led to numerous delays. Consequently, tracks from the album were performed live as early as 2007, but recording was not completed until July 2009, following an entire album's worth of material being scrapped by the band.
The singles include: "It's Not the End of the World, But I Can See It from Here", "Where We Belong
" and "For He's a Jolly Good Felon
". "A Better Nothing" was set to be the fourth single however it is thought to be cancelled in waiting for the singles album due out at the end of the year as well as the poor sales to third single For He's A Jolly Good Felon.
's garage in San Diego, and album sessions with producer John Feldmann
in Foxy Studios, Bel Air. A demo of "Weapon" was played on BBC Radio 1
's Rock Show in August 2007, and subsequently revealed by the band to have been rejected from the album. In January 2008, Kerrang!
magazine revealed six new song titles, five of which ("Credible vs Incredible", "The Mourning Reign", "What Seems to Be the Problem Officer?", "She's with the Banned" and "Save Yourself") have not been mentioned since.
Although the band had recorded a full album's worth of material in LA, reportedly spending around $500,000, they felt that the resultant recordings were too "slick and shiny", featuring layers of Pro Tools
and even trumpet
s. Dissatisfied with this, the recordings were scrapped and the band approached Bob Rock
(producer of Liberation Transmission) to produce the album in March 2008. However, Rock's hectic and unpredictable schedule, coupled with his scepticism that the songs were good enough to work on full-time, meant that they were not able to record with him until April or June 2009. The band also left their US record label, Columbia
, also unconvinced of the quality of the new material, around this time, with Sony Music Entertainment
taking over their actions in the American market. Faced with such adversity, Lostprophets decided to take control of the record back, with bassist Stuart Richardson (who had produced the band's demo EPs in the late 90s and the self-titled debut album for Attack! Attack!
earlier in 2008) leading the production alongside Justin Hopfer for the album. They continued writing in 2008, debuting eventual first single "It's Not the End of the World, But I Can See It from Here" (a title that had been mentioned since August 2007, having been one of the first songs written for the new album in 2006) and "Streets of Nowhere" live, as well as a new version of "Next Stop Atro City".
In November 2008, Lostprophets finally began the sessions for what would become The Betrayed. Following pre-production in Alabama
the band moved on to Sunset Sound
, Kingsize Soundlabs
and Richardson's home, all in Los Angeles
. The band enjoyed the freedom self-production gave them, feeling that the album is "totally representative" of them rather than being "diluted with someone else's vision". Rubin was invited by Trent Reznor
to join the touring band for Nine Inch Nails
in November 2008, and so left Lostprophets but not before tracking all of the drums and helping pen some of the music for the album. Former Beat Union
drummer Luke Johnson joined Lostprophets around June 2009, has filmed the videos for the album's first two singles and has played live with the band since late August. The album recordings were announced to be completed via a MySpace
blog on 31 March 2009, with interludes recorded around May. In August 2009, "If It Wasn't for Hate We'd Be Dead by Now" followed by "Dstryr/Dstryr" and "Where We Belong" were played live for the first time.
blog reported the release to be August or September of that year.
Stuart Richardson announced via Twitter
that the album was totally finished on 26 July 2009. The website for the magazine Rock Sound
subsequently revealed that the album had been delayed once more to early 2010, and that the first single is "It's Not the End of the World, But I Can See It from Here", due for release in October 2009. The title and several tracks were revealed in the 5 August issue of Kerrang!
magazine. "It's Not the End of the World" was played for the first time on Zane Lowe
's BBC Radio 1
show on 19 August, where the release date was mentioned on 12 October. This was later confirmed on the band's website. On 7 October 2009, an email from the band's mailing list stated the album is to be released on 18 January 2010, and on 9 November XFM
and BBC Radio 1
confirmed the second single as "Where We Belong
", to be released a fortnight prior to the album. The third single from the album was "For He's a Jolly Good Felon
", which was released on 12 April 2010.
The Betrayed received generally positive reviews from professional critics, with review aggregator Metacritic awarding the album a score of 67/100 from ten reviews.
and Start Something
before it, The Betrayed features interludes between tracks. Several of the new songs performed live incorporate group singalong elements, with the audience encouraged to join in at live shows. "For He's a Jolly Good Felon" and "Streets of Nowhere" are "Motown
-y, mod type songs", a style the band previously explored in "Can't Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won't Save You This Time)
". Inspiration for the new record has also been drawn from Faith No More
and Refused
, bands that inspired Lostprophets in the early days of their career. Similar to previous Lostprophets albums, the closing track uses instrumentation "a little different" to the band's usual style.
except "It's Not the End of the World, But I Can See It from Here", by Lostprophets and Ilan Rubin
. All lyrics by Ian Watkins.
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 the Welsh alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Lostprophets
Lostprophets
Lostprophets is a Welsh rock band from Pontypridd, formed in 1997. Founded by vocalist Ian Watkins, bassist Mike Lewis, drummer Mike Chiplin and guitarist Lee Gaze, they were originally a side-project to hardcore punk band Public Disturbance. To date, Lostprophets have released four studio...
, released through Visible Noise
Visible Noise
Visible Noise is a British independent record label that focuses solely on British bands.-History:Founded in 1998 by ex-Cacophonous Records manager Julie Weir, the label was created with the goal of fostering and breaking new UK rock music...
and Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
on 13 January 2010. Although the band initially wished to record a quick follow-up to 2006's Liberation Transmission
Liberation Transmission
Liberation Transmission is the third studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Lostprophets. The album was released in June 2006 and became the first Lostprophets album to enter the UK album chart at number one . The album peaked at number thirty three on the Billboard 200 album chart with 27,000...
, problems with labels and producers led to numerous delays. Consequently, tracks from the album were performed live as early as 2007, but recording was not completed until July 2009, following an entire album's worth of material being scrapped by the band.
The singles include: "It's Not the End of the World, But I Can See It from Here", "Where We Belong
Where We Belong
"Where We Belong" is the second single from the album The Betrayed, the fourth studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Lostprophets. It was released on 4 January 2010...
" and "For He's a Jolly Good Felon
For He's a Jolly Good Felon
"For He's a Jolly Good Felon" is the third single from the album The Betrayed, the fourth album by Welsh alternative rock band Lostprophets. According to the band's mailing list, the single is set to be released on 11 April 2010...
". "A Better Nothing" was set to be the fourth single however it is thought to be cancelled in waiting for the singles album due out at the end of the year as well as the poor sales to third single For He's A Jolly Good Felon.
Writing and recording history
Having started writing new tracks between tour dates in 2006 and 2007, Lostprophets debuted several new songs live in 2007, including "Next Stop Atro City", "The Dead", "Weapon" and "For He's a Jolly Good Felon". The band recorded demo tracks in then-drummer Ilan RubinIlan Rubin
Ilan Rubin is an American musician, best known for being former drummer of Lostprophets & industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails during their last tour...
's garage in San Diego, and album sessions with producer John Feldmann
John Feldmann
John William Feldmann is an American musician and producer who is the lead singer/guitarist of the band Goldfinger. He is known as an animal rights advocate.- Music :...
in Foxy Studios, Bel Air. A demo of "Weapon" was played on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
's Rock Show in August 2007, and subsequently revealed by the band to have been rejected from the album. In January 2008, Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
magazine revealed six new song titles, five of which ("Credible vs Incredible", "The Mourning Reign", "What Seems to Be the Problem Officer?", "She's with the Banned" and "Save Yourself") have not been mentioned since.
Although the band had recorded a full album's worth of material in LA, reportedly spending around $500,000, they felt that the resultant recordings were too "slick and shiny", featuring layers of Pro Tools
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation platform for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, developed and manufactured by Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, film, and television...
and even trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s. Dissatisfied with this, the recordings were scrapped and the band approached Bob Rock
Bob Rock
Robert Jens Rock, , is a Canadian musician, sound engineer, and record producer best known for producing bands such as Aerosmith, The Cult, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, 311, Metallica, Our Lady Peace, The Offspring and most recently Bush.-Payola$ and Rock and Hyde:Rock began his music career in Langford,...
(producer of Liberation Transmission) to produce the album in March 2008. However, Rock's hectic and unpredictable schedule, coupled with his scepticism that the songs were good enough to work on full-time, meant that they were not able to record with him until April or June 2009. The band also left their US record label, Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, also unconvinced of the quality of the new material, around this time, with Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
taking over their actions in the American market. Faced with such adversity, Lostprophets decided to take control of the record back, with bassist Stuart Richardson (who had produced the band's demo EPs in the late 90s and the self-titled debut album for Attack! Attack!
Attack! Attack!
Attack! Attack! are a Welsh rock band from Caerphilly and Aberdare, formed in 2006. They have toured across the UK with other Welsh bands such as The Blackout, Funeral for a Friend, Lostprophets, SaidMike, Kids in Glass Houses and also English bands You Me at Six and Go:Audio and have toured with...
earlier in 2008) leading the production alongside Justin Hopfer for the album. They continued writing in 2008, debuting eventual first single "It's Not the End of the World, But I Can See It from Here" (a title that had been mentioned since August 2007, having been one of the first songs written for the new album in 2006) and "Streets of Nowhere" live, as well as a new version of "Next Stop Atro City".
In November 2008, Lostprophets finally began the sessions for what would become The Betrayed. Following pre-production in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
the band moved on to Sunset Sound
The Sound Factory
The Sound Factory is a recording studio in Hollywood, California.The Sound Factory was built in the 1960s on Selma Avenue in Hollywood. At the time, it served as the home of Moonglow Records and the Moonglow Recording Studio...
, Kingsize Soundlabs
Kingsize Soundlabs
Kingsize Soundlabs is a recording studio in Silver Lake, California, run by record producer Dave Trumfio.Located at the "Rock Block", Kingsize Soundlabs has recorded bands such as Jesus and Mary Chain, Built To Spill, Wilco, The Vines, American Music Club, Patrick Park, Moving Units, Rilo Kiley,...
and Richardson's home, all in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. The band enjoyed the freedom self-production gave them, feeling that the album is "totally representative" of them rather than being "diluted with someone else's vision". Rubin was invited by Trent Reznor
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
to join the touring band for Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
in November 2008, and so left Lostprophets but not before tracking all of the drums and helping pen some of the music for the album. Former Beat Union
Beat Union
Beat Union was a pop-punk band from Birmingham, Bromsgrove and Redditch, United Kingdom. They were formerly known as Shortcut to Newark. The group has garnered comparisons to Elvis Costello and The Jam, as well as pop punk groups like Green Day....
drummer Luke Johnson joined Lostprophets around June 2009, has filmed the videos for the album's first two singles and has played live with the band since late August. The album recordings were announced to be completed via a MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
blog on 31 March 2009, with interludes recorded around May. In August 2009, "If It Wasn't for Hate We'd Be Dead by Now" followed by "Dstryr/Dstryr" and "Where We Belong" were played live for the first time.
Release history
Due to the issues the band faced whilst making the album, its release was delayed many times. Initially the band wished for a quick-follow up to Liberation Transmission, hoping to release the album before the end of 2007. The band soon revised this timeframe, hoping to release a single in Autumn 2007 and the album as soon as possible afterwards. Before the Feldmann sessions were scrapped, the release was set for mid-2008. With the second attempt at recording underway in late 2008, the band planned to release a single in April and the album in June 2009. In May 2009 a YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
blog reported the release to be August or September of that year.
Stuart Richardson announced via Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
that the album was totally finished on 26 July 2009. The website for the magazine Rock Sound
Rock Sound
Rock Sound is a British magazine which champions rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, whilst also giving coverage to more well known acts.-History:...
subsequently revealed that the album had been delayed once more to early 2010, and that the first single is "It's Not the End of the World, But I Can See It from Here", due for release in October 2009. The title and several tracks were revealed in the 5 August issue of Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
magazine. "It's Not the End of the World" was played for the first time on Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe also known as 'Zipper', is a radio DJ and television presenter. He was born in New Zealand and grew up in Auckland, where he was a presenter on the local music station Max TV, before moving to England...
's BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
show on 19 August, where the release date was mentioned on 12 October. This was later confirmed on the band's website. On 7 October 2009, an email from the band's mailing list stated the album is to be released on 18 January 2010, and on 9 November XFM
Xfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
and BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
confirmed the second single as "Where We Belong
Where We Belong
"Where We Belong" is the second single from the album The Betrayed, the fourth studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Lostprophets. It was released on 4 January 2010...
", to be released a fortnight prior to the album. The third single from the album was "For He's a Jolly Good Felon
For He's a Jolly Good Felon
"For He's a Jolly Good Felon" is the third single from the album The Betrayed, the fourth album by Welsh alternative rock band Lostprophets. According to the band's mailing list, the single is set to be released on 11 April 2010...
", which was released on 12 April 2010.
The Betrayed received generally positive reviews from professional critics, with review aggregator Metacritic awarding the album a score of 67/100 from ten reviews.
Influences and themes
Since the album was first talked about in November 2006, Lostprophets have stated numerous times that the album will be "darker", "more apocalyptic", "grittier" and lyrically less optimistic and more cynical than their previous efforts. In August 2009, Stuart Richardson stated that this thematic change had been nurtured by the subsequent difficulties with "behind the scenes bullshit". Both Richardson and fellow band members Jamie Oliver and Mike Lewis have stated that the new album draws upon elements from across the band's three previous albums. Oliver considers the lyrical content of the album the main source of the "dark element", with vocalist and lyricist Ian Watkins having previously called the lyrics "nasty" and "horrible", displaying a "more honest" representation of his own character. Despite this, the album has still been described as "poppy" and "catchy", with the "massive hooks" the band are known for remaining. Like ThefakesoundofprogressThefakesoundofprogress
Thefakesoundofprogress is the debut studio album by the Welsh rock band Lostprophets, originally released on 27 November 2000 through Visible Noise, the album would be released in 2001 by Columbia Records and meeting stronger sales numbers around the world...
and Start Something
Start Something
Start Something is the second studio album by the Welsh alternative metal band Lostprophets, released on 2 February 2004 through Visible Noise in the United Kingdom and South Korea. The album was released internationally on 5 February 2004. The band began work on the album in 2003 after touring for...
before it, The Betrayed features interludes between tracks. Several of the new songs performed live incorporate group singalong elements, with the audience encouraged to join in at live shows. "For He's a Jolly Good Felon" and "Streets of Nowhere" are "Motown
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
-y, mod type songs", a style the band previously explored in "Can't Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won't Save You This Time)
Can't Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won't Save You This Time)
"Can't Catch Tomorrow " is the third single from the album Liberation Transmission, the third studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Lostprophets. It entered the UK singles chart at 35, the lowest position yet for a single from Liberation Transmission.The band worked with Ryan Smith on the...
". Inspiration for the new record has also been drawn from Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
and Refused
Refused
Refused was a Swedish hardcore punk band originating from Umeå, Sweden, formed in 1991. In total the band released five EPs and three albums, before splitting up in 1998...
, bands that inspired Lostprophets in the early days of their career. Similar to previous Lostprophets albums, the closing track uses instrumentation "a little different" to the band's usual style.
Track listing
All songs by LostprophetsLostprophets
Lostprophets is a Welsh rock band from Pontypridd, formed in 1997. Founded by vocalist Ian Watkins, bassist Mike Lewis, drummer Mike Chiplin and guitarist Lee Gaze, they were originally a side-project to hardcore punk band Public Disturbance. To date, Lostprophets have released four studio...
except "It's Not the End of the World, But I Can See It from Here", by Lostprophets and Ilan Rubin
Ilan Rubin
Ilan Rubin is an American musician, best known for being former drummer of Lostprophets & industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails during their last tour...
. All lyrics by Ian Watkins.
- Track 13 includes a hidden trackHidden trackIn the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
, which was also uploaded to the band's MyspaceMyspaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
profile under the title "The Storm Is Coming..."
Personnel
- Ian Watkins – lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Jamie Oliver – synth, turntables, samplesSampling (music)In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
, vocals - Lee Gaze – lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
- Mike Lewis – rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm 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...
- Stuart Richardson – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Ilan RubinIlan RubinIlan Rubin is an American musician, best known for being former drummer of Lostprophets & industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails during their last tour...
– drumsDrum kitA 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 ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Chart performance
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
49 |
| Irish Album Charts | 42 |
| UK Album Charts | 3 |
| UK Indie Chart UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered... |
1 |