Harmlessness
Harmlessness is the second studio album by American indie rock band The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die. It was announced on August 4, 2015, and was released on September 25. The title of the album is a play on the name of the band's first EP, Formlessness.[3]
| Harmlessness | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 25, 2015 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 61:03 | |||
| Label | Epitaph | |||
| Producer | Chris Teti | |||
| The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die chronology | ||||
| ||||
Reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 84/100[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AbsolutePunk | |
| Alternative Press | |
| Blurt | |
| Pitchfork | 7.9/10[7] |
| Punknews.org | |
| Under the Radar | 7.5/10[9] |
Harmlessness charted at number 11 on the Heatseekers Albums chart,[10] and at number 46 on the Independent Albums chart.[11] Upon release, the album received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from specialized critics, the album received an average score of 84, based on 6 reviews. Stereogum placed the album at number 13 on their top 50 albums of 2015 list.[12] James of Stereogum wrote: "It's not the kind of music that will change the world, but it might just change your life."[12] Aaron Mook of AbsolutePunk wrote: "Harmlessness is ambitious and intimidating in scope; it is not an easy listen, but with the right amount of time and dedication, it is easily one of the most rewarding listens of 2015." "January 10th, 2014" appeared on a best-of emo songs list by Vulture.[13]
Accolades
| Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stereogum | The 50 Best Albums of 2015 | 2015 | #13[14] |
| Brooklyn Magazine | The 20 Best Rock Albums of 2015 | 2015 | #1[15] |
| BrooklynVegan | Our 50 Favorite Albums of 2015 | 2015 | --[16] |
| Absolutepunk.net | Staff's Top 30 Albums of 2015 | 2015 | #5[17] |
Track listing
All music is composed by The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You Can't Live There Forever" | 4:01 |
| 2. | "blank #11" | 1:09 |
| 3. | "January 10th, 2014" | 5:39 |
| 4. | "The Word Lisa" | 2:03 |
| 5. | "Rage Against the Dying of the Light" | 3:29 |
| 6. | "Ra Patera Dance" | 4:30 |
| 7. | "Mental Health" | 4:07 |
| 8. | "Wendover" | 2:57 |
| 9. | "We Need More Skulls" | 4:20 |
| 10. | "Haircuts for Everybody" | 2:44 |
| 11. | "Willie (For Howard)" | 3:10 |
| 12. | "I Can Be Afraid of Anything" | 7:10 |
| 13. | "Mount Hum" (ends at 8:20; hidden track "Make Mistakes" begins at 11:28) | 15:44 |
| Total length: | 61:03 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Make Mistakes" (appears on the CD edition as a hidden track to "Mount Hum", beginning at 11:28) | 4:16 |
Personnel
The lineup for this album is:[19]
- David Bello - vocals
- Nicole Shanholtzer - guitar, vocals
- Josh Cyr - bass guitar, acoustic guitar
- Katie Dvorak - synthesizer, vocals
- Steven Buttery - percussion
- Chris Teti - production, engineering, mixing, guitar, vocals, percussion
- Nick Kwas - violin
- Tyler Bussey - guitar, banjo, vocals
- Greg Horbal - guitar
References
- Cohen, Ian. "The Emo Revival Ends Here: The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die Made a Perfect Indie Rock Record | NOISEY". Noisey.vice.com. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
- Nassiff, Thomas (December 3, 2015). "Thomas Nassiff - Article". AbsolutePunk. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
- "Broken World Media - TWIABP - Harmlessness". Store.brokenworldmedia.com. Retrieved 2015-08-10.
- "Reviews for Harmlessness by The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die". Metacritic. 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
- Drew Beringer (2015-09-25). "The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Harmlessness - Album Review". Absolutepunk.net. Retrieved 2015-10-04.
- Daniel Matti (2015-10-02). "The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Harmlessness". Blurtonline.com. Retrieved 2015-10-04.
- Evan Rytlewski (2015-09-28). "The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die: Harmlessness". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2015-10-04.
- "The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Harmlessness". Punknews.org. 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2015-10-04.
- Dransfield, Scott (November 19, 2015). "The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die: Harmlessness". Under the Radar. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- "The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Chart history (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
- "The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Chart history (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
- "The 50 Best Albums Of 2015: The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Harmlessness". Stereogum. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- Garland, Emma (February 13, 2020). "The 100 Greatest Emo Songs of All Time". Vulture. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- "The 50 Best Albums Of 2015". stereogum.com. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
- "The 20 Best Rock Albums of 2015". Brooklyn Magazine. 2015-12-17. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
- "Our Favorite Albums of 2015". Brooklyn Vegan. 2015-12-31. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
- "Staff's Top 30 Albums Of 2015". absolutepunk.net. 2016-01-06. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
- "Anonymous asked: what's the deal with 'make mistakes'? ..." theworldisabeautifulplace.com. Retrieved 2015-08-10.
- Sacher, Andrew. "TWIABP detail new album 'Harmlessness,' share new single "January 10th, 2014"". brooklynvegan.com. Retrieved 2015-08-10.
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