Fast Times at Barrington High

Fast Times at Barrington High
Studio album by
The Academy Is...
ReleasedAugust 19, 2008
RecordedSpring–Summer 2008
StudioAvatar, New York City, New York
Genre
Length43:08
LabelFueled by Ramen, Decaydance
ProducerS*A*M and Sluggo
The Academy Is... chronology
Santi
(2007) 		Fast Times at Barrington High
(2008) 		Lost in Pacific Time: The AP/EP
(2009)
Singles from Fast Times at Barrington High
  1. "About a Girl"
    Released: July 15, 2008
  2. "Summer Hair = Forever Young"
    Released: September 12, 2008
  3. "His Girl Friday"
    Released: 2009
  4. "The Test"
    Released: 2009

Fast Times at Barrington High is the third studio album by American rock band The Academy Is..., released on August 19, 2008.[1][2]

Background[edit]

It was produced by S*A*M and Sluggo. The title refers to the high school to which William Beckett and Adam Siska went,[3] and a play on the title of the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The album cover photo was taken by William Beckett's sister, Courtney Beckett, and shows William sitting on a couch with Naomi, who was guitarist Michael Guy Chislett’s girlfriend at the time, whom he later married.

Pete Wentz posted a blog entry saying that he heard the demos for the new album and called them, "Mind blowing. Miles away from where they were."[4] Collaborations include Andrew McMahon from Jack's Mannequin; Gabe Saporta, Ryland Blackinton and Alex Suarez from Cobra Starship; and Mason Musso and Blake Healy from Metro Station.

Release[edit]

In May 2008, the band performed at SunFest.[5] On June 26, 2008, Fast Times at Barrington High was announced for release in two months' time.[6] Between June and August 2008, the band performed on the Warped Tour.[7][8] In between dates on this tour, they performed a handful of shows with artists on Decaydance Records.[9] The band performed "About a Girl" and "Summer Hair = Forever Young" on Warped Tour and their Australian tour with Panic! at the Disco and Cobra Starship. Hot Topic released two new The Academy Is... T-shirts, one of which comes with a code for the free download of an acoustic version of "His Girl Friday".

The first single off the album is "About a Girl", which was released on July 15, 2008. On July 23, "Summer Hair = Forever Young" was posted on the group's Myspace profile.[10] "About a Girl" impacted radio on August 12.[11] Fast Times at Barrington High was released through Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance Records on August 19.[6] The Academy Is... held a contest for releasing new tracks, email addresses were entered on a page off the main website page and 8 winners were selected at random to receive a song off the album and also a call from the band and a free signed copy of Fast Times at Barrington High. In October and November, the band went on a headlining US tour, titled Bill & Trav's Bogus Journey Tour. They were supported by We the Kings, Carolina Liar and Hey Monday.[12] In April 2009, the group performed at Give it a Name festival in the UK and Groezrock in Belgium.[13][14] In August, the band went on a tour of Australia with Anberlin.[15]

Reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk(68%)[16]
Allmusic[17]
Alternative Press[18]
Entertainment Weekly(B+)[19]
IGN7.5/10 [20]
Melodic [21]
The New York Times(favorable)[22]
Rolling Stone
Spin[23]

The album sold 35,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 17 on the Billboard 200.[24] It was named the 46th best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone.[25] By October 2009, the album's sales stood at 85,000.[26]

Track listing[edit]

All lyrics written by William Beckett; all music composed by The Academy Is... with Sam Hollander and Dave Katz on tracks 1–6 and 11.

Standard Edition
  1. "About a Girl" – 3:30
  2. "Summer Hair = Forever Young" – 3:39
  3. "His Girl Friday" – 3:41
  4. "The Test" – 3:29
  5. "Rumored Nights" – 3:45
  6. "Automatic Eyes" – 3:26
  7. "Crowded Room" – 3:07
  8. "Coppertone" – 3:18
  9. "After the Last Midtown Show" – 5:13
  10. "Beware! Cougar!" – 3:38
  11. "Paper Chase" – 3:30
  12. "One More Weekend" – 3:43[27]
iTunes Bonus Tracks
  1. "Every Burden Has a Version" – 4:08
  2. "Sodium" – 3:46
  3. "About a Girl" (Acoustic version) – 3:22
Hot Topic Bonus Track
  1. "His Girl Friday" (Acoustic version) – 3:42
7" Vinyl Bonus Track
  1. "Tokyo Bay" – 2:59

Release history[edit]

Country Release date
New Zealand August 18, 2008
United Kingdom
United States August 19, 2008
Australia August 23, 2008

Chart positions[edit]

Chart Position
Billboard 200 17
Rock Albums 5
Digital Albums 17
Alternative Albums 5

Personnel[edit]

Contributions[edit]

References[edit]

Citations
  1. ^ Gamboa, Glenn (10 June 2008). "The Academy Is... ready to rock". Newsday. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  2. ^ Shultz, Brian (26 June 2008). "The Academy Is... set third album name and date". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  3. ^ "Question and Answers with William and Sisky". Friends Or Enemies. 9 October 2007. Archived from the original on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  4. ^ Wentz, Pete (11 July 2008). "Pete Wentz on the new album". Friends Or Enemies. Archived from the original on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  5. ^ Paul, Aubin (May 1, 2008). "The Mighty Mighty Bosstones playing Sunfest in West Palm Beach, Florida". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Paul, Aubin (June 26, 2008). "The Academy Is… announce title, release date". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  7. ^ Paul, Aubin (February 26, 2008). "Warped Tour unveils final band lineup for 2008". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  8. ^ Paul, Aubin (January 28, 2008). "Warped Tour confirms routing". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  9. ^ "Decaydance shows planned w/Gym Class Heroes, the Academy Is…". Alternative Press. June 5, 2008. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  10. ^ "The Academy Is… post another new song". Alternative Press. July 23, 2008. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  11. ^ "AllAccess.com Alternative eWeekly". AllAccess. August 5, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  12. ^ "The Academy Is… announce dates with We The Kings, Carolina Liar and Hey Monday". Alternative Press. August 18, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  13. ^ Paul, Aubin (March 4, 2009). "Groezrock confirms final lineup". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  14. ^ Dan (February 5, 2009). "Give It A Name 2009 line-up in full". Kerrang!. Bauer Media Group. Archived from the original on April 12, 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  15. ^ "Anberlin to tour Australia with The Academy Is…". Alternative Press. May 29, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  16. ^ "The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Barrington High - Album Review". AbsolutePunk. 8 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Fast Time at Barrington High - The Academy Is..." Allmusic.
  18. ^ "The Academy Is... - Fast Times At Barrigton High". Alternative Press.
  19. ^ "Fast Times at Barrington High Review". Entertainment Weekly. 19 August 2008.
  20. ^ Ramirez, Carlos (August 20, 2008). "The Academy Is… Fast Times at Barrington High Review". IGN. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  21. ^ Oliveros, Horacio García (September 21, 2008). "The Academy Is - Fast Times at Barrington High". Melodic. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  22. ^ "Critics' Choice". The New York Times. 18 August 2008.
  23. ^ "The Academy Is..., 'Fast Times at Barrington High' (Decaydance/Fueled by Ramen". Spin.
  24. ^ "'Fast Times at Barrington High' chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  25. ^ Fricke, David; Will Hermes; Christian Hoard; Melissa Maerz; Jody Rosen (25 December 2008). "Fast Times at Barrington High at No.46 in Rollingstone.com's Best albums list of 2008". RollingStone.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  26. ^ Bell; Harding 2009, p. 57
  27. ^ DeAndrea, Joe (11 July 2008). "Fast Times At Barrington High's Track List". Absolutepunk.com. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
Sources
  • Bell, Crystal; Harding, Cortney (October 10, 2009). "Dance of Days". Billboard. Vol. 121, no. 39. Prometheus Global Media. ISSN 0006-2510.

External links[edit]

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