Billy Talent III

Billy Talent III
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 10, 2009
RecordedNovember 2008 – April 2009
StudioHenson Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California)
Southern Tracks (Atlanta, Georgia)
GenrePost-punk, post-hardcore, punk rock
Length43:30
47:15 (German edition)
51:14 (iTunes edition)
1:41:48 (Guitar Villain edition)
LabelWarner Music Canada, Roadrunner[1]
ProducerBrendan O'Brien
Billy Talent chronology
666
(2007)
Billy Talent III
(2009)
Dead Silence
(2012)
Singles from Billy Talent III
  1. "Turn Your Back"
    Released: September 16, 2008
  2. "Rusted from the Rain"
    Released: May 19, 2009
  3. "Devil on My Shoulder"
    Released: August 26, 2009
  4. "Saint Veronika"
    Released: February 1, 2010
  5. "Diamond on a Landmine"
    Released: June 21, 2010
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
BBC(favourable)[3]
Chart[4]
Drowned in Sound[5]
The Fly[6]
NME[7]
Now[8]
Q[9]
Rock Sound[10]
Sputnikmusic[11]
Uncut[12]

Billy Talent III is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Billy Talent. It was released on July 10, 2009, in Europe, July 13 in the United Kingdom, July 14 in Canada, and September 22 in the US. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling over 40,000 copies in its first week.[13] It also peaked at No. 107 on the Billboard 200, making it Billy Talent's highest-charting album to date. A demo version of one of the album's songs, "Turn Your Back", was released as a single in September 2008 and featured the band members of Anti-Flag, with the first legitimate single spawned by Billy Talent III is "Rusted from the Rain", which premiered May 17, 2009, on Triple J. The album version of "Turn Your Back" does not include Anti-Flag's vocals, as the single version does.

The second single from the album, "Devil on My Shoulder" was released on August 26, 2009.

A promotional website located at billytalent3.com[14] was launched to showcase the making of the album. Part of the promotion also included the Billy Talent Widget which allowed listeners to become the "Ultimate Billy Talent Fan". The widget rewarded users with rare tracks, videos, pictures and interviews as fans "level up" their widgets.

On June 8, 2009, the band announced on their website, the release of a special deluxe edition of the album, entitled Billy Talent III: Guitar Villain Edition.[15] The special edition includes a second disc of the album, with the guitar tracks removed so fans can play along. This edition includes also 4 additional demo songs, as well as guitar tabs for the whole album transcribed on 2 full size posters.

The band embarked on a supporting tour on February 21, 2009, starting with an Australian first leg.

In April 2010, the album won a Juno Award for best rock album of the year. Despite the commercial success, Billy Talent III received mixed to negative reviews. On Metacritic, the album earned a score of 45/100, which means "Mixed or average reviews" based on 7 critics; one review being negative and the other six being mixed.

  1. ^ "Billy Talent Gets US Release Date – News Article". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
  2. ^ Lymangrover, Jason. "Billy Talent III: Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  3. ^ Bruce, Sophie (July 8, 2009). "BBC – Music – Review of Billy Talent – Billy Talent III". BBC. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  4. ^ Harper, Kate (July 14, 2009). "Billy Talent — Billy Talent III". Chart. Archived from the original on November 26, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ Wink, Richard (July 15, 2009). "Billy Talent – III :Releases: Releases: Drowned in Sound". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on July 20, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  6. ^ Johnny K. "Billy Talent/Billy Talent III". Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
  7. ^ Patashnik, Ben (July 9, 2009). "Canadian Punks keep it real". NME. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  8. ^ Keller, Jason. "NOW Magazine: Music: Billy Talent". NOW. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  9. ^ Q: 101. August 2009. It may not be an unpleasant listen, but it's a strangely soulless one. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ^ Durham, Victoria. "Billy Talent – 'Billy Talent III'". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  11. ^ Knott, Adam. "Billy Talent Billy Talent III". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  12. ^ Uncut: 79. September 2009. Maybe they should have bigger ambitions. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ^ "Billy Talent debuts at No. 1". Jam!. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ "www.billytalent3.com". www.billytalent3.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  15. ^ Ambrose, Anthony. "inTuneMusic Online: Billy Talent Announced Guitar Villain". Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2009.