Nothing Personal

Nothing Personal is the third full-length studio album by American pop punk band All Time Low, released through Hopeless Records on July 7, 2009. Written by the band, the album was recorded with producers Matt Squire, Butch Walker, David Bendeth and the team of S*A*M & Sluggo. The title for Nothing Personalcomes from a lyric in the second song on the album "Break Your Little Heart".

Prior to the album's release, Billboard magazine predicted that Nothing Personal looked "like it could" enter the top ten of the Billboard 200 in its debut week, saying that it may start with anywhere between 60,000-75,000 sales. As it happened, Nothing Personal debuted at number four and sold 63,000 copies, becoming the group's best sales week and highest charting album. It became one of the best selling rock albums of the year, and exposed the band to a new audience.

Talking about the album, vocalist Alex Gaskarth explained to Alternative Press, "our music explains all the troubles we've been through...it has many things...This time, we tried to explore something a little bit deeper. We're exploring some new moods, which is pretty cool."

Writing and recording process
They began writing for their third album in between tours. It was widely reported by the media, notably MTV and Alternative Press, that All Time Low had collaboratively written a song with Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 and +44. The band came into contact with Hoppus after exchanging emails when a video of drummer Rian Dawson getting a Blink-182 tattoo was posted online. Months later, All Time Low contacted a number of producers whom they had had in mind to work on the record: some of them said they would want to work with the band, and others said they would not. Hoppus' management replied saying he wanted to do something with the band, so they co-wrote a song with him. It was later revealed that the song would not feature on Nothing Personal, Alex Gaskarth saying "It just didn't fit the vibe of the record," but, "It will definitely come out at some time."

Although still in the writing process, All Time Low went into the studio to begin recording the album in January 2009.They chose an ensemble of producers, with Matt Squire, Butch Walker, David Bendeth, the team of S*A*M & Sluggo all involved. The song "Too Much" was also produced by R&B artist The-Dream. The band completed recording in February 2009.

Promotion and release
The first song from Nothing Personal released to the public was "Weightless", which was made available online at AbsolutePunk.net on March 24, 2009. The single was then released for paid download in the iTunes Store on April 7, 2009. A music video for the single was created, with it debuting on MTV, MTV2, mtvU and HITS the day before the album's release, on July 6, 2009. The single was released in the UK on August 3.

In April 2009, All Time Low announced the album's release date to be 7 July 2009. Nothing Personal's track listing was first released on AbsolutePunk.net in May 2009. The album was released digitally in the UK the same day as the US, on 7 July; however, the physical CD was not released until 14 September 2009.

The second single, titled "Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don't)", made its first appearance prior to the album's release on June 3, 2009. SupJustin.com posted a clip of the song's chorus. The song was posted on the band's MySpace page on June 15 and was released digitally on June 16.

On June 6, another short clip from Nothing Personal was posted on SupJustin.com. It was 8 seconds of the demo version of "Lost in Stereo". "Lost in Stereo" is the third single off Nothing Personal.

Prior to its official release, the entire album was made available for streaming download on June 30, 2009 through MTV's The Leak. The album was then sold exclusively on July 2 at the Hopeless Records Booth on Warped Tour.

Reception and legacy
Nothing Personal has been met with positive reviews. Alternative Press gave the album 3.5/5. Commenting on the album's first single, they said "'Weightless' is an insta-classic". The reviewer, however, was disappointed in the producers for their use of Auto-Tune, saying "This boy (Gaskarth) can sing, let him already." The article also contradicted AbsolutePunk's view on the song "Too Much", saying it "is a remarkable progression for the quartet: a slow, electronic-tinged number." The Washington Post was also hugely favorable of the album. Reviewer Nancy Dunham said "The songs on Nothing Personal are what pop-punk is all about -- or should be, anyway." She also said the album "will likely gain the band plenty of media and popular attention" and that "the album's 12 tunes are so jaunty and their lyrics about first love, betrayal and parties so angst-filled you can easily imagine them playing in the background of the TV shows The Hills or 90210." Tim Sendra of Allmusic awarded a score of 3.5/5. Although he stated "All Time Low shows signs of maturing", he summarised by adding, "Nothing Personal is an example of emo-pop at its best, and anyone who thinks emo is just a bunch of pop junk might be surprised at how catchy and powerful a modern rock album it is". Kerrang! writer Nick Ruskell, rated the album with KKKK's (5/5) and praised lead single, "Weightless", as "a three minute rush of punk smothered in pop fairy dust". He went onto add that, "Nothing Personalis simply a good, fun record". Rock Sound stated the band had "nailed it with their third offering" awarding a score of 8/10. The review went onto say, "Lead single ‘Weightless’ kicks things off in cracking fashion with its epic sing-along chorus, and the momentum continues well into the rest of the album. Matt Squire (Panic! at the Disco) returns with his trademark production polish". Courtney Lear of online music site ShockHound, also praised the album awarding a score of 5/5. She commented that the album had "massive hooks and memorable choruses, with frontman Alex Gaskarth singing songs about cross-country partying, drinking too much, and hooking up. Who needs classy guys? Rebel against your parents, girls".

The album was a big influence on Tonight Alive's What Are You So Scared Of? (2011), Fall Out Boy's Save Rock and Roll (2013), Neck Deep's Wishful Thinking (2014), 5 Seconds of Summer's 5 Seconds of Summer (2014) and As It Is' Never Happy, Ever After (2015).

Track listing
All songs written and composed by All Time Low.

Personnel

 * All Time Low
 * Alex Gaskarth – Lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards
 * Jack Barakat – Guitar, backing vocals
 * Zack Merrick – Bass guitar, backing vocals
 * Rian Dawson – Drums, percussion
 * Artwork
 * Mark Capicotto – Artwork, Layout Design
 * Production
 * Matt Squire - Producer on "Weightless", "Break Your Little Heart", "Stella", "Too Much", "Keep the Change, You Filthy Animal" and "A Party Song (The Walk of Shame)"
 * Butch Walker - Producer on "Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don't)" and "Sick Little Games"
 * David Bendeth - Producer, mixer, writer on "Walls" and "Therapy"
 * S*A*M & Sluggo - Producer on "Lost in Stereo" and "Hello, Brooklyn"
 * The-Dream - Producer on "Too Much"
 * Ted Jensen – Mastering
 * Tom Lord-Alge & Brian Malouf – Mixing

Chart history
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Certifications

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Certifications
In 2013, Nothing Personal was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry in the UK, denoting the shipment of 60,000 copies.