Hesitant Alien

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Hesitant Alien
File:Hesitant Alien by Gerard Way.jpg
Studio album by
Gerard Way
ReleasedSeptember 29, 2014 (2014-09-29)
Recorded2014
StudioLightning Sound Studio (Hidden Hills, California)
Sonic Ranch (Tornillo, Texas)
Genre
Length38:51
Label
ProducerDoug McKean
Alternative cover
Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Original vinyl cover
Singles from Hesitant Alien
  1. "No Shows"
    Released: August 18, 2014
  2. "Millions"
    Released: November 17, 2014

Hesitant Alien is the debut solo studio album by Gerard Way, lead singer of the American rock band My Chemical Romance, released in the US on September 29, 2014, and on September 30 worldwide. It was officially announced in May 2014, although demos of the songs "Zero Zero" and "Millions" have circulated since 2012. The album was produced by Doug McKean, known for his work as recording engineer on a number of projects with producer Rob Cavallo, including several releases by My Chemical Romance. Hesitant Alien received mostly positive reviews, and was a moderate commercial success reaching No. 16 on the US Billboard 200 and some international charts. To support the album, Way assembled a touring band, "The Hormones".

Background

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On March 22, 2013, My Chemical Romance officially disbanded. This was followed by the release of a greatest hits album entitled May Death Never Stop You a year later. Having recently signed with Warner Bros. Records, Way went on to announce the beginning of his solo career with the release of an advance-single, "Action Cat", on June 11, 2014.[8] This was accompanied by a new website featuring concept artwork for the album and a new logo.[9] The album's first single, "No Shows", was released on August 18, 2014.[10] "Millions", the second single, was released on November 17, anticipated by a music video released on October 6.[11]

Release and promotion

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"No Shows" was released to radio on August 25, 2014.[12] Hesitant Alien was released on September 29, in the UK, and a day later in the U.S.[5] Pre-orders for both the vinyl and CD versions of the album became available in August, featuring a T-shirt and promotional zine created specifically for the pre-orders.[13] On September 29, 2014, Way premiered Hesitant Alien on the online platform VyRT during a listening party with album commentary.[14] The following month, Way and The Hormones appeared as the musical guest on an episode of Conan.[15] They also toured extensively throughout the world in 2014 and 2015, and performed at several festivals.[16] In February and March 2015, Way performed at Soundwave festival in Australia.[17] On Record Store Day 2016, Way released two exclusive, unreleased tracks from Hesitant Alien titled "Don't Try" and "Pinkish".[18]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?6.4/10[19]
Metacritic75/100[20]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svg[21]
Alternative PressStarStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svg[22]
American SongwriterStarStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svg[6]
BillboardStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svgFile:Star empty.svg[3]
The GuardianStarStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svg[23]
MojoStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svgFile:Star empty.svg[24]
NME8/10[4]
The ObserverStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svgFile:Star empty.svg[25]
QStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svgFile:Star empty.svg[26]
Rolling StoneStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svgFile:Star empty.svg[27]

Hesitant Alien received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 75 out of 100, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews" based on 15 reviews.[20] David McLaughlin from Rock Sound magazine stated that some of the songs from the album were some of the best Way has written to date, labelling the album as alternative rock. He also stated that it is nothing like the efforts made into the albums of My Chemical Romance.[28] Jason Pettigrew from Alternative Press said: "Now in his late-30s, he’s going back to the things that turned him on, pretentious ’70s glam-rock, fractured ’80s post-punk and all the English sonic conventions of ’90s Britpop and shoegazer noise", and that the album "has enough requisite cool and clamor to insure [sic] he stays both relevant and remarkably vibrant".[22]

Hesitant Alien topped the "Ten Essential Albums Of 2014" list in Alternative Press.[22] The album was included at number 24 on Rock Sound's "Top 50 Albums of the Year" list.[29] The album was included at number 4 on Kerrang!'s "The Top 50 Rock Albums Of 2014" list.[30]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Gerard Way, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Bureau" 2:38
2."Action Cat" 3:07
3."No Shows"
4:12
4."Brother" 4:31
5."Millions"
3:28
6."Zero Zero" 2:49
7."Juarez"
2:50
8."Drugstore Perfume" 4:50
9."Get the Gang Together"
  • Way
  • Don Blum
3:40
10."How It's Going to Be"
3:44
11."Maya the Psychic" 3:02
Total length:38:51
Japanese bonus track[31]
No.TitleLength
12."Television All the Time"3:34
Total length:42:25

Personnel

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  • Gerard Way – vocals, guitar (all tracks); percussion (1–3, 8–11), bass guitar (1, 3, 4), piano (2, 4), keyboards (10)
  • Ian Fowles – guitar (all tracks), percussion (9)
  • Matt Gorney – bass guitar (all except 1), piano (1), guitars (4), percussion (9), additional vocals (5)
  • Jarrod Alexander – drums (all tracks), percussion (1, 2, 6, 9)
  • Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards (1, 3, 4, 6, 8–10)
  • Jason Freese – horn (3, 9)
  • Tom Rasulo – percussion (2)
  • Mikey Way – additional vocals (5)
  • Sabina Olague – spoken word (7)

Production

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  • Doug McKean – production
  • Tom Rasulo – engineer
  • Andrew Law – assistant engineer
  • Gerardo "Jerry" Ordonez – assistant engineer
  • Zach Mauldin – assistant engineer
  • Lance Sumner – assistant engineer
  • Tchad Blake – mixing
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Gerard Way – art direction
  • Norman Wonderly – art direction

Charts

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Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[32] 29
Irish Albums (IRMA)[33] 17
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[34] 37
Scottish Albums (OCC)[35] 13
UK Albums (OCC)[36] 14
UK Rock Albums[37] 1
U.S. Billboard 200[38] 16
U.S. Billboard Alternative Albums[38] 1
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums[38] 4

Release history

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Region Date Label Format Catalog
Worldwide September 30, 2014 Warner Bros. DL —[39]
September 29, 2014 Reprise CD 9362493721[40]
LP 9362493722[41]

References

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Citations
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  6. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  20. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  28. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  29. ^ Bird, ed. 2015, p. 26
  30. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  31. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  32. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Gerard Way – Hesitant Alien". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  33. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 40, 2014". Chart-Track. IRMA.
  34. ^ "Charts.nz – Gerard Way – Hesitant Alien". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  35. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  36. ^ "Gerard Way | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  37. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  38. ^ a b c Hesitant Alien - Gerard Way - Awards at AllMusic
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Sources
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