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Vice Verses is the eighth studio album by American alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was released on September 27, 2011. Future Releases on Alternative Radio Stations - Published June 7, 2011 (retrieved June 7, 2011) "Dark Horses" was the first single released from the album, with an August 2 radio date and digital release on the same day. Vice Verses debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number eight. "Afterlife" impacted radio on February 28, 2012. "The Original" impacted radio on September 11, 2012.
The song "Afterlife" was nominated for the 2013 GMA Dove Award in the category Rock/Contemporary Song of the Year.
As of November 2013, the album has sold 188,000 copies in the U.S.
In October 2009, Foreman said that most of the songs were ready to go and "if the next record came out today, it would be called Vice Verses." In December, bassist Tim Foreman was quoted saying that the album was nearly done and that he thought it was going to be even better than Hello Hurricane.
However, nothing more was heard about the project until July 2010, when Jon Foreman and guitarist Drew Shirley said the band was aiming to complete Vice Verses by the summer of 2011. On several occasions during the summer, the band stated that they were pushing for Vice Verses to be a double album, but they eventually decided to scale the project back down to a single disc collection.
During the Hello Hurricane tour, Switchfoot began debuting new songs that were candidates for inclusion on Vice Verses, for example in the summer 2010, the band played a song titled "Against the Voices", which Jon Foreman stated was "from the next record." On August 8, 2010, Switchfoot debuted a song titled "Dark Horses" at a show in Chicago. Foreman also played other new songs at his acoustic aftershows throughout the tour, including "Thrive" and "She Says (The Black Eyed Blues)". After the conclusion of the Hello Hurricane tour, the band members each took personal time off but very quickly resumed work on Vice Verses. On November 21, 2010, Shirley tweeted that the band were "tracking new songs in the studio tonight. You'll see..." while the next day, Foreman simply tweeted "making vice verses."
On January 31, 2011, the band tweeted that bassist Tim Foreman was laying down bass tracks on a song titled "Selling the News". In February, a tentative track listing was posted on the web.
On April 6, 2011, the band tweeted that they were "going into the studio one last time to put the finishing touches" on Vice Verses, with final mixes to come later that week. Final mixing was completed on April 13, with band photographer Andy Barron tweeting that he was "watching the band sit in a dark room in hollywood listening to #viceverses front to back."
On April 9, 2011 Foreman debuted the Vice Verses song "Restless" during a live performance. During a two-week stint in Canada in May, the band began to debut more songs from the record. On May 18 at the London Convention Centre, the band debuted "Restless" live in its full-band arrangement. They played "The Original" for the first time in Kingston on the 20th, and a reworked version of "Dark Horses" on May 23 in Winnipeg, MB. Two more songs, "Afterlife" and "The War Inside" saw play during the tour as well. The band continued to preview their material throughout the summer months leading up to the album's release, offering fans a chance to hear the lead single, "Dark Horses" at their Bro-Am event, and some other tracks during a tent event at the Alive Festival on July 1.
The band premiered 11 of the 12 tracks on September 17, 2011 through ESPN Music commencing with the match between Oklahoma and Florida State.
The band says that this record is different from their previous records in that it is driven more by the drums and bass, whereas their previous records were driven more by guitar. The music is rooted heavily in the rhythm section, consisting of Chad Butler's drum work and Tim Foreman's bass work, which the editor heard was a more "swampier" heavy metal sound.
Unlike the Hello Hurricane sessions, in which the band tracked over 80 songs, the Vice Verses session saw the band taking on a more selective process. Instead of writing multiple songs and picking from amongst them the best for the album, they wrote just enough songs for one album and focused them so as to perfect each one.
At Jesus Freak Hideout, Roger Gelwicks rated it a perfect five stars, and praised the album for being "a significant achievement for Switchfoot and is, beyond a doubt, 2011's crowning tour de force." Founder, John DiBiase of Jesus Freak Hideout rated it a perfect five stars as well, and stated that he found the album to be "satisfying, exciting and consistently enjoyable from listen to listen". At New Release Tuesday, Marcus Hathcock rated it a perfect five stars, and called it "career defining material" because "The kind of gripping, moving, rocking art Switchfoot produces is difficult to find." Founder, Kevin McNeese rated it a perfect five stars, and affirmed that " Vice Verses is just as good as Hello Hurricane, my top pick a few years back, and it's great to continue to witness the latest surge of this incredible band."
Joshua Hedlund of Indie Vision Music rated it four stars, and said "This is the face of Switchfoot in a new decade." At The Phantom Tollbooth, Bert Saraco rated it four-and-a-half stars, and commented that "Angst never sounded so good." Derek Walker also of The Phantom Tollbooth rated it four-and-a-half stars, and stated that he even liked and preferred this to their greatest hit album, which he wrote "It looks like the next best-of should beat the first." At Worship Leader, Greg Wallace wrote that "Some of the music on Vice Verses actually hints at stepping up Switchfoot's already formidable intensity level." Chad Grischow of IGN rated it six-and-a-half, and he cautioned that the album felt like a "largely lifeless listen" because "more often than not Switchfoot feels like a worn out, uninterested band on their latest."
At Christian Music Zine, David Huey rated it four-and-a-half stars, and called it "solid front to back and a can’t miss." Jonathan Faulkner of Alt Rock Live rated it nine out of ten, and proclaimed that the band have exceeded themselves on the album, which he wrote that " Vice Verses is a stunning example as to the bands maturity over their nearly seventeen year career." At Louder Than the Music, Jono Davies rated it a perfect five stars, and he said "this is the most complete album the band have made." Kevin Thorson of CM Addict rated it four-and-a-half stars, and proclaimed the album to be "perfectly executed". At The Christian Manifesto, J.F. Arnold rated it four stars, and he evoked that "This album is my favorite Switchfoot album to date, though that admittedly isn't saying much." However, Allmusic's Matt Collar rated it three stars, and noted that the album come from a "creatively energized and committed state of mind that should please longtime fans and produce more than a few ear-catching moments."
Recorded at Spot X, San Diego.
Mixed at Paramount.
Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York City.
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