The Chronicles of Life and Death is the third album by the American rock band Good Charlotte. Following the release of The Young and the Hopeless (2002), the group spent two years touring. By the second half of 2003, they had begun writing for the next album. With producer Eric Valentine, the band recorded at Barefoot Studios in Hollywood, California, between March and June 2004. Over half of the album's material was written by Benji and Joel Madden, with the remainder being co-written with Valentine, Goldfinger frontman John Feldmann or guitarist Billy Martin. Preceded by the single release of "Predictable", The Chronicles of Life and Death was released through Epic and Daylight Records on October 5, 2004. Two variations were made available: "Life" and "Death" versions which came with different cover artwork (designed by Martin) and a different bonus track.
Drummer Chris Wilson was in therapy and sat out the initial promotional appearances around the album's release; Alkaline Trio drummer Derek Grant filled in for him temporarily during the group's co-headlining US tour with Sum 41. In early 2005, "I Just Wanna Live" was released as a single and tours of Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Europe followed. The band co-headlined the Noise to the World Tour with Simple Plan in May and June, which coincided with the single release of the album's title-track. Wilson left the group a few shows into the trek, and was replaced by Dean Butterworth. "We Believe" was released as a single in August, which coincided with a series of European festival appearances.
The Chronicles of Life and Death received a generally mixed reception from music critics with some finding the lyrics lacking depth and others praising the instrumentation and darker tone. Nevertheless, the record sold 199,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, the band's highest debut on the chart. It was eventually certified platinum, and as of February 2007, sales stood at 1.1 million copies. The album was also successful outside of the US. It charted at number one in Australia, reached the top 10 in Canada, Japan and the UK, as well as the top 20 in Austria, New Zealand, Sweden, Italy and Switzerland. Within these territories, the album was certified platinum in Australia, and gold in Austria, Germany and the UK. "Predictable" and "I Just Wanna Live" appeared on US radio charts and reached the top 40 in Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the UK.
Background and production
Good Charlotte released their second album, The Young and the Hopeless, in October 2002. Three of the album's singles—"Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous", "Girls & Boys", and "The Anthem"—shifted the group from modern rock to mainstream top 40 radio. As a result, The Young and the Hopeless debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart, having sold 117,000 copies in its first week of release. It eventually sold over three million copies in the US. which included two US arena tours. In August 2003, the group began assembling songs for their next album. They planned to write while on tour between September and November,
In January 2004, the group embarked on a tour of Japan. Their label Epic/Daylight Records told the band they would be going into the studio to record shortly after the tour ended. On hearing this, vocalist Joel Madden was unsure what to write about saying, "We were just in this whirlwind bubble." He flew back to the US and travelled from his home in San Francisco to Los Angeles. Recording sessions began in March and ended in June. with elements of British punk rock, arena rock, goth rock, hip-hop, new wave and rock opera.
Michael Odell of Blender described The Chronicles of Life and Death as a concept album that "span[s] the outer reaches of [Good Charlotte's] topsy-turvy philosophical world". Half of the album was written by Benji and Joel Madden, while they co-wrote the remaining tracks with Valentine, Feldmann or guitarist Billy Martin. The opening track "Once Upon a Time: The Battle of Life and Death" is an instrumental featuring strings and a Japanese choir. The title track opens with the beeping sound of a heart-rate monitor before Joel Madden's vocal begins over a power pop groove the album's biggest musical departure from the band's usual style, combines power chords, string samples and disco beats, with Madden rapping over it in the vein of Nelly. The new wave "Ghost of You" "Secrets" comes across as sounding like a Morrissey and Jerry Finn collaboration. Hidden track "Wounded" is an acoustic track. "Predictable" was released to radio on August 24. A behind-the-scenes making-of the song video premiered in early September.
The Chronicles of Life and Death was made available for streaming on October 1 through MTV's The Leak. Initially planned for release in September, the album was released on October 5 through Epic and Daylight Records in two different editions: Life (with "Falling Away" as a bonus track) and Death (with "Meet My Maker" as a bonus track), both with different artwork created by Martin. Some independent stores were annoyed at this gimmick and pulled stock for all Epic releases for the two weeks. The Japanese edition featured both "Falling Away" and "Meet My Maker" and a Japanese version of "Predictable" as bonus tracks. The art for the Life version resembles a new book, while the art for the Death version resembles a 100-year-old book. The album booklet is designed in the style of a storybook with the song lyrics telling a story accompanied by illustrations. Directed by Brett Simon, it features the group performing in a dive bar before the band members return to their day jobs. Eventually, someone from the music industry signs the band, known as the Food Group, who are dressed as different food items. They become the center of attention due a sex tape controversy and a lip-synching disaster. A behind-the-scenes video was released on December 18. "I Just Wanna Live" was released as a CD single in Australia on January 17, 2005, with live versions of "S.O.S." and "The World Is Black" as B-sides.
In early April 2005, a music video was filmed for "We Believe" with director Sam Erickson at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The video features the group in an abandoned theatre performing in front of a movie screen showing images of war and people suffering. "The Chronicles of Life and Death" was released as a CD single in Australia on June 3 with live versions of "The Chronicles of Life and Death" and "Mountain", and a remix of "I Just Wanna Live" as B-sides. "We Believe" was released as a single on August 15. On November 13, the album was released on the DualDisc format. It included a making-of documentary and live performances. In September 2010, the album was reissued as a two-CD package with Good Morning Revival.
Touring
In June 2004, the group was due to perform a few shows on the Warped Tour, but these appearances were cancelled and rescheduled in August. Several TV appearances across Europe followed in late September and early October, leading to a performance at AOL Music Live in New York in the same year. In October and November, the group went on a co-headlining US tour with Sum 41. They were supported by Lola Ray and Hazen Street.
In February 2005, the band toured Japan, New Zealand and Australia. Later that month, they performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and at MTV's TRL Awards, and appeared at MTV Asia's tsunami relief event. The group embarked on European and the UK tour and Millencolin. In May and June, the group went on a co-headlining US tour with Simple Plan, A few dates into the tour, Wilson left the group citing health concerns. He was replaced by Dean Butterworth, who had been introduced to the group by fellow musician John Feldmann. In between dates on this tour, the band headlined a number of shows before going on a tour of Asia in July. The Canadian leg of the Noise to the World tour followed later in July followed by a series of European festivals in August. and played a few shows in South America in November and December.
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score =
| rev2 = Blender
| rev2score =
| rev3 = E!
| rev3Score = B
| rev4 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev4Score = B+
| rev5 = The Guardian
| rev5Score =
| rev6 = NME
| rev6score = 0/10
| rev7 = Q
| rev7score =
| rev8 = Rolling Stone
| rev8Score =
| rev9 = Stylus
| rev9Score = B−
| rev10 = The Village Voice
| rev10Score = C+
Critical response
The Chronicles of Life and Death has received generally mixed reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Michael Endelman of Entertainment Weekly called the record a "giant leap forward" in terms of "instrumental prowess, and in emotional and melodic scope." The New York Times gave the album a negative review, saying it was "full of ham-fisted ideas." Betty Clarke of The Guardian wrote that the band "delve[s] deeper into their tortured psyche while striving to be taken seriously" as pop punk "rhythms crash into string sections, empathy clashes with loathing." As of February 2007, it had sold 1.1 million copies in the US and has been certified platinum. Outside of the US, it charted at number 12 in the UK, number 27 in New Zealand, and number 39 in the Netherlands. "I Just Wanna Live" charted in the US at number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 18 on the Mainstream Top 40. number 21 in Switzerland, and number 23 in the Netherlands. "The Chronicles of Life and Death" charted at: number 27 in Sweden, number 30 in the UK, Two tracks were remixed for inclusion on the band's Greatest Remixes (2008) compilation: "I Just Wanna Live" (by Teddy Riley) and "Predictable" (by Stress the Whiteboy featuring Rahzii Hi-Power). "Predictable", "I Just Wanna Live", "The Chronicles of Life and Death" and "We Believe" were included on the band's Greatest Hits (2010) compilation. In 2016, Benji Madden said of the album: "We were showing our depth. We didn't want any rules, we didn't want any boundaries ... We wanted to do the things that we wanted to do." The following year, Joel Madden added: "'Chronicles' was us putting something above the success and it cemented us as the band who will always go left when you want us to go right.""
Track listing
All songs written by Benji and Joel Madden, except where noted.
Personnel
Personnel per booklet.
Good Charlotte
- Benji Maddenguitars, vocals
- Joel Maddenvocals
- Paul Thomasbass
- Billy Martinguitars, keyboards
- Chris Wilsondrums
Additional musicians
- David Campbellstring conducting, string arrangement
- Eric Valentinestring arrangement
- Matt Radosevichpiano <small>(track 9)</small>
- Michele Itovocals, translation <small>(track 1)</small>
- Chikako Horiivocals, translation <small>(track 1)</small>
- John Feldmannadditional guitars <small>(track 2)</small>
Production
- Eric Valentineproducer, engineer, mixing, mastering
- Jacquire Kingmixing <small>("Meet My Maker")</small>
- Andy Huntmixing assistant
- Matt Radosevichediting, programming, additional engineering
- Trevor Whateverstudio assistant
- Chris Roachstudio assistant
- Stephen Jarvisequipment guru
- Billy Martindrawings, concept
- Domestic Dancoloration, design
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Weekly chart performance for The Chronicles of Life and Death
|-
!Chart (2004–2005)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| style="text-align:center;"|6
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+2004 year-end chart performance for The Chronicles of Life and Death
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2004)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|75
|-
!scope="row"|US Billboard 200
|171
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+2005 year-end chart performance for The Chronicles of Life and Death
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2005)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|60
|-
!scope="row"|Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)
|73
|-
!scope="row"|German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
|88
|-
!scope="row"|US Billboard 200
|117
|}
Certifications
References
Citations
Sources
External links
<!-- This is a licensed stream for the album, which is allowed under Wikipedia polices -->
- The Chronicles of Life and Death ("Death" version) at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
- Review at The Spokesman-Review