The Bravery (album)

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The Bravery
Studio album by
the Bravery
ReleasedMarch 14, 2005 (2005-03-14)
Studio
  • Bushwick (Brooklyn, New York City)
  • Various bedrooms
Genre
Length37:51
LabelIsland
ProducerSam Endicott
The Bravery chronology
The Bravery
(2005) 		The Sun and the Moon
(2007)
Singles from The Bravery
  1. "An Honest Mistake"
    Released: January 31, 2005[1]
  2. "Fearless"
    Released: May 23, 2005[2]
  3. "Unconditional"
    Released: August 22, 2005[1]

The Bravery is the debut studio album by American rock band the Bravery, released on March 14, 2005, by Island Records. It peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard 200[3] and number 5 on the UK Albums Chart.[4]

The first single from the album, "An Honest Mistake", was released on January 31, 2005. The UK and Japanese releases of the album contain the bonus track "Hot Pursuit". The version on the Japanese edition is a different mix, featuring Gillian Conway (keyboardist John Conway's sister) on vocals, along with Sam Endicott.

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic66/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Lost at Sea8/10[7]
NME7/10[8]
Pitchfork5.3/10[9]
PopMatters7/10[10]
Robert Christgau(dud)[11]
Rolling Stone[12]
Uncut[13]

The Bravery garnered positive reviews from music critics who praised their interpretation of the new wave revival movement. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on 24 reviews.[5]

Steve Sutherland of Uncut gave high praise to the new wave revivalist production and the band's musicianship resembling that of their inspirations, in terms of vocals and instrumentals, concluding that, "This album is already one of the debuts of the year. All hail The Bravery and their new bold dream."[13] MacKenzie Wilson of AllMusic praised the band for taking their influences and making them their own with catchability and upbeat optimism, saying that, "The Bravery isn't sonically mind-blowing, but the new millennium new wave revival remains intriguing. This New York five-piece makes an interesting effort without it coming off contrived and dishonest."[6]

While finding Endicott's vocal delivery mediocre at best, Nicholas Taylor of PopMatters praised the danceable production and devil-may-care lyrics for giving the band a nice platform to start from, concluding with, "This debut is certainly promising, and I look forward to seeing whether the Bravery can begin to carve out a more concrete and distinctive image and place for themselves."[10] Robert Christgau graded the album as a "dud",[11] indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought."[14] Pitchfork writer Adam Moerder criticized the band's unremarkable take on '80s new wave with lacklustre instrumentals and Endicott's vocals sounding too close to Robert Smith and Simon Le Bon. He gave praise to the tracks "An Honest Mistake" and "Tyrant" for their intricacies in terms of synth and vocal choices, concluding that "Despite these highlights, though, this is still rock made on an assembly line— predictable, economically efficient, and about as dynamic as a Model T."[9]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Sam Endicott, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."An Honest Mistake"3:39
2."No Brakes"3:04
3."Fearless"3:06
4."Tyrant" (Endicott, John Conway)4:43
5."Give In"2:48
6."Swollen Summer"3:18
7."Public Service Announcement"3:35
8."Out of Line"3:04
9."Unconditional"3:21
10."The Ring Song"3:25
11."Rites of Spring"3:21
Total length:37:51

Bonus tracks[edit]

  2. "Hot Pursuit" (Endicott, Conway) – 3:07 (UK/Japanese bonus track)
  3. "Hey Sunshiney Day" (Endicott, Conway) – 2:26 (Japanese bonus track)
  4. "Unconditional" (video) (Japanese bonus track)
  5. "An Honest Mistake" (video) (Japanese bonus track)

Personnel[edit]

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[15]

The Bravery

  • Sam Endicott – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
  • Michael Zakarin – lead guitar, backing vocals
  • John Conway – keyboards, backing vocals
  • Mike Hindert – bass, backing vocals
  • Anthony Burulcich – drums, backing vocals

Additional musicians

  • Steven Lourie – drums on tracks 1-4 and 6-8
  • Joshua Kessler – tambourine on track 10

Technical

  • Nic Hard – mixing
  • Brian Gardner – mastering

Artwork

  • Louis Marino – art direction

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Certifications for The Bravery
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[21] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". FMQB. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  2. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. May 21, 2005. p. 27.
  3. ^ a b "Billboard 200 – Week of April 16, 2005". Billboard. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "The Bravery by The Bravery". Metacritic. Archived from the original on October 19, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  6. ^ a b Wilson, MacKenzie. "The Bravery – The Bravery". AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 16, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
  7. ^ Peters, Sarah (April 12, 2005). "The Bravery – The Bravery (Island Records)". Lost at Sea. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  8. ^ Moody, Paul (September 12, 2005). "The Bravery : The Bravery". NME. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Moerder, Adam (April 19, 2005). "The Bravery: The Bravery". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  10. ^ a b Taylor, Nicholas (March 27, 2005). "The Bravery: self-titled". PopMatters. Archived from the original on June 21, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Christgau, Robert. "CG: Bravery". robertchristgau.com. Archived from the original on March 30, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
  12. ^ Sheffield, Rob (April 7, 2005). "The Bravery: The Bravery". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
  13. ^ a b Sutherland, Steve (March 8, 2005). "The Bravery – The Bravery". Uncut. Archived from the original on June 14, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  14. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Key to Icons". RobertChristgau.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  15. ^ The Bravery (booklet). The Bravery. Island. 2005. B000416302.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ "ARIA Top 100 Albums – Week Commencing 15th August 2005" (PDF). The ARIA Report. No. 807. August 15, 2005. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2024 – via Trove.
  17. ^ "Lescharts.com – The Bravery – The Bravery". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  18. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography The Bravery". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  19. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  20. ^ "The Official UK Albums Chart – 2005" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. p. 5. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  21. ^ "British album certifications – Bravery – The Bravery". British Phonographic Industry. March 11, 2005. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
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