What Is Love? is the first studio album by American rock band Never Shout Never, released on January 26, 2010, via Loveway, Sire and Warner Bros. Records.
The album debuted at No. 24 on the Billboard 200 and sold 21,000 copies in its first week of its release.
Background and release On May 29, 2009, Never Shout Never signed to Warner Bros. Records. The album was produced by Butch Walker and was recorded in Los Angeles and at Abbey Road Studios in London. On December 3, 2009, Never Shout Never revealed the release date and track list of the album. On December 8, a self-titled EP was released, featuring two songs, "Jane Doe" and "What is Love?" as a preview for the upcoming debut album, as well as a B-side titled "She's Got Style" and a live version of "Big City Dreams".
The 20-minute mini album was written from a "panoramic view of teen angst" about family, politics, drugs, religion, heartbreak. Explaining his decision on keeping the album relatively short, frontman Christofer Drew stated, "I think it's easier for kids to concentrate that way."
The first single "What Is Love?" was released on December 15, 2009. The music video was released in December 2009, directed by Isaac Ravishankara. "I Love You 5" was released on February 4, 2010, as the second single with the music video being released 2 days prior. "Can't Stand It" was released on March 4, 2010, as the third and final single along with its music video that same day directed by Isaac Ravishankara. The video includes visual references of Bob Dylan's, Dont Look Back and The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night. The song peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales chart.
Promotion In support of the album, the group performed eight live shows in December 2009. Christofer Drew also went on a solo acoustic tour in January 2010. The group headlined the Alternative Press AP Tour in the spring of 2010 with support from Joplin, The Cab, Hey Monday, Every Avenue and The Summer Set.
Critical reception
On Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album gained an average score of 55, based on 4 reviews, indicating "mixed to average reviews". The album was given a 2 star rating from Andrew Leahey of AllMusic. He complimented Drew's ability to write a pop melody however was critical of his vocals stating, "it's too hampered by pinched, nasal vocals to make much of an impression." Scott Heisel of Alternative Press wrote, "while it is all good in the Never Shout Never camp, it's going to get better, faster than everyone thinks." Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone gave the album a more negative review stating, "Drew took some bad lessons from emo and his dad's folk records. The vocals are often pained and piercing, and his manner can be gratingly precious – especially on 'Can't Stand It'."
Track listing
Personnel Credits for What Is Love? adapted from AllMusic.
Musicians Christofer Ingle Drew – instrumentation, vocals Caleb Denison – bass, electric guitar Dustin Dobernig – piano, keyboards Nathan Ellison – percussion, drums Butch Walker – backing vocals
Production Christofer Ingle Drew – photography Craig Aaronson – A&R Jonathan Allen – engineer Thomas Bowes – concert master Lori Casteel – music preparation Mike Casteel – music preparation Vic Fraser – music preparation Isobel Griffiths – string contractor
Joe Kaplan – mixing Andrew Kitchen – assistant Frank Maddocks – design – photography Rob Mathes – string arrangement, string conductor Dave McNair – mastering Perry Montague-Mason – concert master Jake Sinclair – engineer Butch Walker – producer Perry Watts-Russell – A&R
Charts +Chart performance for What Is Love? Chart (2010) Peak position Canadian Albums (Billboard) 58
References