Armed to the Teeth is the fifth studio album by Canadian hip-hop group Swollen Members. It was released on October 27, 2009 by Battle Axe Records and Suburban Noize Records. Production was handled by Rob The Viking, Karim Goldan, DJ Kemo, Metty The Dert Merchant, Moka Only, Roger Swan, Russ Kline, Spawn and Tre Nyce. It features guest appearances from Tre Nyce, Young Kash, Barbie Hatch, Everlast, Glasses Malone, Krondon, Phil Da Agony, Saafir, Slaine, Talib Kweli and Tech N9ne.

The album debuted at number 146 on the Billboard 200, number 23 on the Independent Albums and number 5 on the Heatseekers Albums charts, selling 3,400 copies in the first week in the United States. It also entered the Billboard Canadian Albums at number 19.

It is their first release in three years, as the group had taken a break over the past few years while member Madchild dealt with drug addiction and legal issues. On August 25, 2009, the lead single, "Warrior", was released and peaked at number 94 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. The second single "Red Dragon" was released on September 8. It was originally a solo Moka Only track from the 2002 album Monsters in the Closet, this version includes verses from Madchild and Prevail. Three days later, a music video for the lead single "Warrior" was released. On October 19, the full album became listenable on Swollen Members' MySpace page. The third single, "Bollywood Chick", was released around October and the music video was released on November 10 via Swollen Members' YouTube account. A music video for "Pornstar" was released in early 2010 via Swollen Members YouTube channel. In 2025, the album was released on vinyl for the first time, for Record Store Day.

Critical reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 62 based on four reviews.

AllMusic's David Jeffries gave it a mixed review, claiming: "fans hungry for SM material won't mind at all, since after three years a redundant track beats no track, and while all of it seems familiar, the crew deliver the material with new life, suggesting they're mad happy to be back on the grind".

Chris Faraone of The Boston Phoenix wrote "at the core of any Swollen Members project--and Armed to the Teeth, their first in three years, is no exception--is a clean, uncomplicated spread of kaleidoscopic semi-pop bangers from producer Rob the Viking".

Paul Terefenko of Now stated "the newest disc from the once-innovative Vancouver group assaults you with 18 contrived, lazy tracks. The best is a seven-year-old re-release, 'Red Dragon', from when Moka Only gave this outfit some class".

Emanuel Wallace of RapReviews praised the album, saying "the members were certainly armed, and they seem to hit more than they miss".

Track listing

Personnel

Shane "Madchild" Bunting – vocals, executive producer Kiley "Prevail" Hendriks – vocals Daniel "Moka Only" Denton – producer Robin "Rob The Viking" Hooper – producer, engineering Trumaine "Tre Nyce" Lecesne – vocals, producer Brandon "Young Kazh" Doran – vocals Aaron D. "Tech N9NE" Yates – vocals Reggie "Saafir" Gibson – vocals Barbie Hatch – vocals Marvin "Krondon" Jones – vocals Talib Kweli – vocals Jason "Phil Da Agony" Smith – vocals Erik "Everlast" Schrody – vocals George "Slaine" Carroll – vocals Charles "Glasses Malone" Penniman – vocals Christopher "CJ The Prodigy" Leigh – guitar Kyla "Kytami" LeBlanc – electric violin Russ Kline – guitar, producer "DJ Itchy Ron" Mejia – scratches Elmo Chong – violin, cello Roy Chong – violin, cello Karim Goldan – producer, engineering Roger Swan – producer, engineering, mixing Cristian "DJ Kemo" Bahamonde – producer, engineering, mixing O. "Spawn" Sinclair – producer, engineering Bryan "Metty The Dert Merchant" Trevitt – producer, engineering Richard "Segal" Huredia – mixing Mike Kumagai – mixing Kevin Zinger – executive producer, management Brad "Daddy X" Xavier – executive producer Casey Quintal – art direction, design Shock Mansion – skull design Fabrice Henssens – photography Ivory Daniel – management Josh Eldridge – management

Charts Chart (2009) Peak position Canadian Albums (Billboard) 19US Billboard 200 (Billboard) 146US Independent Albums (Billboard) 23US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) 5

References

External links