VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Recordings celebrates the 15th anniversary of A Day to Remember’s best-selling third album, Homesick, with a bonus-filled vinyl reissue.
The 2-LP set pairs the original album (which includes such hits as “The Downfall of Us All,” “Have Faith in Me,” and “If It Means a Lot to You”) with nine live tracks from the era—all captured in Switzerland in 2009—plus acoustic recordings of “Homesick” and “Another Song About the Weekend.” Arriving July 19 and available for pre-order, this special anniversary edition of Homesick can also be found in a variety of exclusive, colored variants, including those at the A Day to Remember store (Clear with Blue and Red Marble with 3-D jacket and Clear with Green, Purple and Blue Splatter with O-card and poster), Urban Outfitters (Translucent Grape), Revolver (Translucent Sea Blue) and Craft Recordings (Purple Smoke).
Hailing from Ocala, FL, A Day to Remember (ADTR) was formed in 2003 and currently consists of Jeremy McKinnon (lead vocals), Neil Westfall (guitars), Kevin Skaff (guitars), and Alex Shelnutt (drums). The band blended their passions for metal, pop-punk, emo, and hardcore to create a dynamic, genre-bending new style. The hardworking young band released an EP and a full-length debut (2005’s And Their Name Was Treason), eventually selling tens of thousands of copies through grassroots efforts.
After the release of 2007’s For Those Who Have Heart, the band saw their profile rise exponentially, thanks to non-stop shows across the US and UK, including spots on the 2008 Vans Warped Tour and Easycore Tour, plus high-profile appearances at the Bamboozle and Download festivals. Their third studio album, Homesick, was written during this period and found the band documenting the highs and lows of life on the road while coming to terms with their growing fame.
Recorded in late 2008, Homesick reunited ADTR with producer-engineer Andrew Wade, plus New Found Glory’s Chad Gilbert and Killswitch Engage’s Adam Dutkiewicz, all of whom helped the band continue to push the boundaries of their sound. Balancing scorching metal moments with anthemic pop hooks, the versatile musicians wrote about their experiences in the industry in tracks like “My Life for Hire,” “Another Song About the Weekend,” “Homesick,” and “If It Means a Lot to You” (feat. Sierra Kay of VersaEmerge), a ballad about yearning for loved ones at home.
ADTR also spoke to more universal themes in such songs as “Have Faith in Me,” “You Already Know What You Are,” and the album’s dynamic opener, “The Downfall of Us All,” which, McKinnon told Alternative Press, “Is about being yourself, and just doing what you feel is right.” Throughout the recording process, several special guests lent their talents, including The Acacia Strain’s Vincent Bennett (featured on “Welcome to the Family”) and The Devil Wears Prada’s Mike Hranica (“I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?”)
Upon its release in February 2009, Homesick served as ADTR’s commercial breakthrough, landing at No.21 on the Billboard 200, topping the Independent Records chart and peaking at No.2 and No.7 on Billboard’s Hard Rock and Rock charts, respectively. The album went on to sell well over half a million units worldwide, earning Gold Records in the US, UK and Canada, while singles “The Downfall of Us All” and “Have Faith in Me” were both certified Gold by the RIAA.
Homesick was also a critical success, with AbsolutePunk’s Thomas Nassiff calling it “honest and entertaining . . . one of my favorite albums of 2009.” AllMusic hailed the album as “a collection of perfectly executed . . . post-hardcore emo-pop,” adding that “The Downfall of Us All” is “a hugely melodic slice of metal-infused punk-pop bliss.” Months later, Homesick topped KillYourStereo’s 2009 reader’s poll for Album of the Year, while in 2012, Britain’s RockSound included the title in their 101 Modern Classics roundup, calling Homesick “the ideal example of ADTR’s unmatched ability to combine metalcore shapes with danceable pop sensibilities. Full to bursting with melodic sweetness . . . and growling chuggery . . . Homesick is the sound of a band finally becoming comfortable in their own eclectic skin.”
In the years following Homesick, ADTR have continued their upward trajectory through best-selling albums like 2010’s What Separates Me From You (No.11) and 2016’s Bad Vibrations (No.2), while hits like 2010’s “All I Want” (featuring Andrew W.K. and Pete Wentz, among others), “All Signs Point to Lauderdale” (2011) and “Paranoia” (2016) made the band staples on rock radio and MTV.
Today, McKinnon, Westfall, Shelnutt, and lead guitarist Kevin Skaff (who joined in 2009) remain just as busy and released their seventh studio album, You’re Welcome, in 2021. In addition to breaking the Top 15 in the US, Australia and Germany, among other territories, their latest LP also landed in the Top 3 of Billboard’s Alternative Albums, Rock Albums and Hard Rock Albums charts, as well as the UK’s Rock & Metal Albums chart. In 2022, ADTR scored a Top 20 hit on Billboard’s Alternative and Mainstream Rock charts with “Re-Entry” (feat. Mark Hoppus).
