This album has been submitted by a user and is not included in any edition of the book.
Bleed American is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Jimmy Eat World, released on July 24, 2001, by DreamWorks Records. The album was re-released as Jimmy Eat World following the September 11 attacks; that name remained until 2008, when it was re-released with its original title returned. Following the commercial failure and lack of recognition for their third studio album Clarity (1999) from Capitol Records, Jimmy Eat World were dropped by the label in late 1999. Aside from working odd jobs, the band toured to raise money for their next album. It was recorded with Mark Trombino and the band served as producers in October and November 2000 at the Cherokee and Harddrive studios in Los Angeles, respectively. The musical style was more direct and accessible than its predecessor, with simpler chord structures. "Bleed American" was released to radio on June 5, 2001 as the album's lead single, coinciding with Jimmy Eat World's tours of Australia and Japan (the latter supporting Eastern Youth). After appearing on the East Coast dates of the Warped Tour, the band supported Blink-182 and Weezer. "The Middle" was released as a single on November 19, 2001. The band went on a headlining European tour in early 2002, followed by a Japanese tour, leading up to a two-month support slot for Blink-182 and Green Day on their Pop Disaster Tour. "Sweetness" was released as the third single on June 3, 2002. The band supported Incubus in Australia, before embarking on headlining tours of the UK and the US. "A Praise Chorus" was released as a promotional single during 2002. Each single from Bleed American entered the top twenty of at least one US chart. The most successful was "The Middle", which reached number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number five on the Billboard Hot 100. In August 2002, Bleed American was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after its sales reached over one million copies. As of September 2016, the album has sold over 1.6 million copies in the US. Bleed American was well-received by critics and appeared on several publications' best-of-the-year album lists, by the likes of CMJ New Music Report and Q, as well as all-time lists by publications such as Consequence of Sound, NME and Spin.
Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Bleed American, The middle, Your house, Sweetness, Hear you me, If you don’t don’t, Get it faster, The authority song
Man, "The Middle" is a perfect god-damned song
This one was missed on the original list. Make it right in the next edition Dimery, make it right.
Saw them Live once. The only song I knew back then was 'The Middle'. The performance was great, but I never came to listening a full album. So thank you for the recommendation. Very good album
I got into this in 2001 as I was resisting the thought of being in my 30s. I love Jimmy Eat World’s poppy punky fun sound. The songs are great, and I very much enjoyed listening to this again. I love it!
Besides "The Middle," this was new to me, and a very enjoyable visit today! Thank you!
I'll try to keep this brief but it will probably be difficult. "Futures" would be on my desert island disc list, but this is a fucking incredible album in its own right. Band gets kicked off label, and manages to write one of the best emo records of all time, with bonus crossover appeal. I'm, personally, a little tired of "The Middle", but I still enjoy it, and that rollercoaster of a guitar solo, my word. Pure exuberance. The first three tracks (title track "Bleed American", "A Praise Chorus", and "The Middle") might be one of, if not the, best one-two-three in the genre. "Sweetness" has an intense urgency, "Cautioners" a slow-burn gallop, and a song like "The Authority Song" manages to be a wonderful pastiche and an insanely catchy song. Six stars. Ten stars. If you do not fuck with this album, either as a true-blue emo classic or just a phenomenal pop record, dude, how? Favorite tracks: Everything. All of it.
Really hard not giving this a 5. Lots of memories with this album: college years. Relistening after all these years does bring back some college memories, but Bleed American just doesn't hold up as much as I thought it would. Easily a 4, but really thought I was going to give this a 5.
I vaguely know of these guys, never heard them though. Name is a bit of a turnoff tbh. Ok, initial thoughts are that it rocks decent enough. I recognise The Middle, heard it a lot... somewhere? Rest of the album stacks up as well. Good find, not fantastic but still an easy 4/5.
This is about what I expected from a Jimmy eat world album. It has one of the best anthems of the 2000s then one or two other hits then the rest is pretty alright 2000s alt rock.
Pioneers of the early 2000s emo movement. This is a slab of catchy alt rock with nice melodies and harmonies. The 42 year old me likes it a lot more than the 19 year old me did. Rating: 4 Playlist track: The Middle Date listened: 02/12/24
This albums is so good to my younger self and when I listen to it now it’s really amazing how well it still holds up as a good alternative album. The classics are still fun, simple, and energetic songs that are easy to go along with and rock out. This album probably used to be overplayed but as time has gone on I feel gets looked over for being so good in the early 00s. 8.1/10
Great choice! Crazy how there are NO Emo/Emo-Pop albums on the original list. Just an entire subgenre (one of the most popular ones of all time) completely ignored because Robert Dimery said that "he doesn't like this kind of music". Weak. The children love it and the children crave more of it. I am the children. This shit rocks. 4/5.
It’s impossible to overstate just how dominant a pop culture force ‘The Middle’ was when this dropped – it’s one of the first songs I remember hearing on the radio as I was driven to elementary school. I do feel for the band because the sheer power of the one song was always going to be difficult to top, as it completely outshone the rest of the album (case in point, this was my first full listen ever). Though definitely a product of its time, this LP still brings some ideas to the table that feel fresh even today, and whoever mixed this did a damn good job and as it’s still light and punchy. The lowest points are the draggy, sappy ballads (plural!) that were required by law for any album released at the time, and though they do kill the overall flow of the LP it still moves along with a good deal of genuine energy and verve. Not the most cohesive artistic statement ever, but a worthwhile blast from the past that made its mark.
Straight ahead modern rock, nothing wrong with that, and certainly well executed. A little too slickly constructed for my taste, and under the gloss not a huge amount of substance, lyrically or musically.
Singles all good, the rest of album not for me
Good indie power rock, strong riffs, but not too heavy and singing is also not obviously heavy rock style. I liked Sweetness.
It's hard not to like this. Catchy, melodic and full of energy, musically smarter than I expected it to be. A little weak on the back half, but overall a fun listen. Fave Songs: The Middle, A Praise Chorus, Bleed American, Sweetness, My Sundown
Alternative rock, emo pop, pop-punk, power pop. Ni fu ni fa.
I bleed American red
They are good musicians, good performers, however their most popular songs are not to my particular taste, they have potential with that style that draws from the classic combined with the modern.
As a millennial I'm contractually obligated to love The Middle. I've never heard the rest of this album. It sounds weirdly like Adult Alternative Christian Rock.
Have a natural aversion to the emo-rock of this period. Every song sounds the same to me.