A War You Cannot Win

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A War You Cannot Win
Studio album by
All That Remains
ReleasedNovember 6, 2012
Recorded2012
StudioZing Studios, Westfield, Massachusetts
GenreMetalcore, hard rock[1]
Length39:19
LabelRazor & Tie
ProducerAdam Dutkiewicz
All That Remains chronology
For We Are Many
(2010) 		A War You Cannot Win
(2012) 		The Order of Things
(2015)
Singles from A War You Cannot Win
  1. "Down Through the Ages"
    Released: August 13, 2012
  2. "Stand Up"
    Released: August 27, 2012
  3. "You Can't Fill My Shadow"
    Released: October 26, 2012
  4. "Asking Too Much"
    Released: March 18, 2013
  5. "What If I Was Nothing"
    Released: September 4, 2013
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarHalf starFile:Star empty.svg[2]
Artist DirectStarStarStarStarStar[3]
Blabbermouth.netStarStarStarStarStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svgFile:Star empty.svgFile:Star empty.svg[4]
LoudwireStarStarStarHalf starFile:Star empty.svg[5]
Metal ForcesStarStarStarStarStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svgFile:Star empty.svgFile:Star empty.svg[6]
Tuned UpStarStarStarHalf starFile:Star empty.svg[1]

A War You Cannot Win is the sixth studio album by the American metalcore band All That Remains. The album was released on November 6, 2012, through Razor & Tie.[7][8]

The album has some tracks which have a heavier sound closer to the band's metalcore roots and some with a standard metal sound which have only singing.[2]

Album sold over 25,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 13 on The Billboard 200 chart.[9] As of February 2015, the album has sold 123,000 copies in the United States.[10]

Background

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The album was produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, who has produced albums for the band in the past.

The writing phase began soon after their 18-month tour in support of their prior album For We Are Many. The group noted that songwriting matured over time; the process wasn’t overly complicated or formulaic with them basically writing the first batch of songs (10-12) they felt good about and used those.[11] Labonte stated in an interview with Blabbermouth.net "We really busted our asses and tried to do some new stuff.”[12]

The first song to be released from the album was "Down Through the Ages". The song was first posted to Labonte's YouTube channel on August 13, 2012. "Stand Up" was released as the next single on August 27 it became one of the band most successful radio hits and reached number one on the Mainstream Rock chart. On October 26, "You Can't Fill My Shadow" was announced as the album's third single.

But the fifth and last single, "What If I Was Nothing", was the greatest hit of the album and of their whole discography. It is a power ballad which has already reached 97 million views in YouTube. In this song Philip Labonte sings about some of his former problems with his wife. it peaked at number two on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and at number 3 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Musical style

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Drummer Jason Costa stated about the album: "This is a very guitar, very melody-oriented album. It wasn't very rhythm-based at all. I would just say it's metal; it's a metal album. We've got some heavy songs on there, some heavy, groovy songs on there. We've got some fast, heavy songs on there, we've got some more radio-friendly, melodic songs on there. It's typical ALL THAT REMAINS, really, but we've definitely stepped up the musicianship there and the writing."[13] The vocals are a balance between clean and harsh.[14]

Many of the albums lyrics touch upon fighting against overwhelming forces — whether they’re societal systems, corrupt powers, or internal struggles. Many songs pair dark subject matter with messages of perseverance, growth, and hope urging listeners to keep fighting “wars” even when victory seems out of reach.[15]

The album was viewed as the bands shift to a more radio friendly sound. In Loudwire’s review they commented on the albums“more mainstream hard rock direction” and highlights tracks like “What If I Was Nothing” as clear attempts to reach rock radio. Which ultimately worked as the song and other singles from the a received heavy play time on the mainstream rock radio stations.[16]

Reception

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The album peaked at number 13 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and 13 on the Canadian Billboard Albums.

The album was met with generally positive reviews, Rick Florino writing for Artists Direct gave the album a perfect score stating “Every element has been enhanced here from the vocals to the solos. In essence, it's the perfect hard rock, metal, or whatever-you-want-to-call-it heavy record. A War You Cannot Win sees All That Remains emerge victorious as leaders of the new guard with one of the best albums of 2012.”[17] Chad Bowar writing for Loudwire gave the album a positive review stating “A War You Cannot Win’ is packed with catchy singles and a polished production from Killswitch Engage’s Adam D. that will appeal to the mainstream. There’s also an ample supply of aggression and heaviness to satisfy metalheads. The combination should make it a very successful album.“ He did add “By the last third of the album, there are a few misses.”[16]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Down Through the Ages"Philip Labonte3:31
2."You Can't Fill My Shadow"Philip Labonte3:33
3."Stand Up"Johnny Andrews / Rob Graves / All That Remains4:00
4."A Call to All Non-Believers"Philip Labonte2:44
5."Asking Too Much"Rob Graves / All That Remains3:28
6."Intro"Philip Labonte0:21
7."Just Moments in Time"Philip Labonte3:27
8."What If I Was Nothing"Rob Graves / All That Remains4:36
9."Sing for Liberty"Philip Labonte3:41
10."Not Fading"Rob Graves / All That Remains3:34
11."Calculating Loneliness" (Instrumental)Oli Herbert2:39
12."A War You Cannot Win"Rob Graves / All That Remains3:45
Total length:39:19
Japanese edition bonus track[18]
No.TitleLength
13."Let Nothing Bind Me"3:03
Total length:42:22

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart (2012) Peak
position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[19] 12
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[20] 84
US Billboard 200[21] 13
US Digital Albums (Billboard)[22] 12
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[23] 2
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[24] 3
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[25] 4
US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard)[26] 11

References

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  4. ^ https://blabbermouth.net/reviews/a-war-you-cannot-win#google_vignette
  5. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  6. ^ https://www.metalforcesmagazine.com/site/album-review-all-that-remains-a-war-you-cannot-win/
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  18. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  19. ^ "All That Remains Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard.
  20. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  21. ^ "All That Remains Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  22. ^ "All That Remains Chart History (Digital Albums)".[dead link] Billboard.
  23. ^ "All That Remains Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  24. ^ "All That Remains Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
  25. ^ "All That Remains Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  26. ^ "All That Remains Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.

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