Hesitant Alien

Hesitant Alien is the debut studio album by Gerard Way, lead singer of the American rock band My Chemical Romance, released in the US on September 29, 2014 and on September 30 worldwide. It was officially announced in May 2014, although demos of the songs "Zero Zero" and "Millions" have circulated since 2012. The album was produced by Doug McKean, known for his work as recording engineer on a number of projects with producer Rob Cavallo, including several releases by My Chemical Romance. Hesitant Alien received mostly positive reviews, and was a moderate commercial success reaching No. 16 on the US Billboard 200 and some international charts. To support the album, Way assembled a touring band, "The Hormones".

Hesitant Alien
Studio album by
Gerard Way
ReleasedSeptember 29, 2014 (2014-09-29)
RecordedLightning Sound Studio (Hidden Hills, California), Sonic Ranch (Tornillo, Texas), 2014[1]
Genre
Length38:51
Label
ProducerDoug McKean
Singles from Hesitant Alien
  1. "No Shows"
    Released: August 18, 2014
  2. "Millions"
    Released: November 17, 2014

Background

On March 22, 2013, My Chemical Romance officially disbanded. This was followed by the release of a greatest hits album entitled May Death Never Stop You a year later. Having recently signed with Warner Bros. Records, Gerard went on to announce the beginning of his solo career with the release of an advance-single, "Action Cat", on June 11, 2014.[8] This was accompanied by a new website featuring concept artwork for the album and a new logo.[9] The album's first single, "No Shows", was released on August 18, 2014.[10] "Millions", the second single, was released on November 17, anticipated by a music video released on October 6.[11]

Release and promotion

"No Shows" was released to radio on August 25, 2014.[12] Hesitant Alien was released on September 29, in the UK, and a day later in the U.S.[5] Pre-orders for both the vinyl and CD versions of the album became available in August, featuring a T-shirt and promotional zine created specifically for the pre-orders.[13] On September 29, 2014, Way premiered Hesitant Alien on the online platform VyRT during a listening party with album commentary.[14] The following month, Way and The Hormones appeared as the musical guest on an episode of Conan.[15] They also toured extensively throughout the world in 2014 and 2015, and performed at several festivals.[16] In February and March 2015, Way performed at Soundwave festival in Australia.[17] On Record Store Day 2016, Way released two exclusive, unreleased tracks from Hesitant Alien titled "Don't Try" and "Pinkish".[18]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?6.4/10[19]
Metacritic75/100[20]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[21]
Alternative Press[22]
American Songwriter[6]
Billboard[3]
The Guardian[23]
Mojo[24]
NME8/10[4]
The Observer[25]
Q[26]
Rolling Stone[27]

Hesitant Alien received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 75 out of 100, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews" based on 15 reviews.[20] David McLaughlin from Rock Sound magazine stated that some of the songs from the album were some of the best Way has written to date, labelling the album as alternative rock. He also stated that it is nothing like the efforts made into the albums of My Chemical Romance.[28] Jason Pettigrew from Alternative Press said: "Now in his late-30s, he’s going back to the things that turned him on, pretentious ’70s glam-rock, fractured ’80s post-punk and all the English sonic conventions of ’90s Britpop and shoegazer noise", and that the album "has enough requisite cool and clamor to insure [sic] he stays both relevant and remarkably vibrant".[22]

Hesitant Alien topped the "Ten Essential Albums Of 2014" list in Alternative Press.[22] The album was included at number 24 on Rock Sound's "Top 50 Albums of the Year" list.[29] The album was included at number 4 on Kerrang!'s "The Top 50 Rock Albums Of 2014" list.[30]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Bureau"Gerard Way2:38
2."Action Cat"Way3:07
3."No Shows"
4:12
4."Brother"Way4:31
5."Millions"
3:28
6."Zero Zero"Way2:49
7."Juarez"
2:50
8."Drugstore Perfume"Way4:50
9."Get the Gang Together"
  • Way
  • Blum
3:40
10."How It's Going to Be"
3:44
11."Maya the Psychic"Way3:02
Total length:38:51
Japanese bonus track[31]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Television All the Time"Way3:34
Total length:42:25

Personnel

The Hormones

Additional musicians
  • Jason Freese – horn (on tracks 3 and 9)
  • Tom Rasulo – percussion (on track 2)
  • Mikey Way – backing vocals (on track 5)
  • Sabina Olague – spoken word (on track 7)

Production
  • Doug McKean – production
  • Tom Rasulo – engineer
  • Andrew Law – assistant engineer
  • Gerardo "Jerry" Ordonez – assistant engineer
  • Zach Mauldin – assistant engineer
  • Lance Sumner – assistant engineer
  • Tchad Blake – mixing
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Gerard Way – art direction
  • Norman Wonderly – art direction

Charts
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[32] 29
Irish Albums (IRMA)[33] 17
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[34] 37
Scottish Albums (OCC)[35] 13
UK Albums (OCC)[36] 14
UK Rock Albums[37] 1
U.S. Billboard 200[38] 16
U.S. Billboard Alternative Albums[38] 1
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums[38] 4

Release history
RegionDateLabelFormatCatalog
WorldwideSeptember 30, 2014Warner Bros.DLN/A[39]
September 29, 2014RepriseCD9362493721[40]
LP9362493722[41]

References
Citations
  1. "Gerard Way Explains Why He Went Britpop With 'Hesitant Alien' - Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  2. "Gerard Way talks independence, alternative influences & making art - Fuse". Fuse. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  3. Larson, Jeremy (September 30, 2014). "Album Review: Former My Chemical Frontman Gerard Way Graduates to Glossy Britpop on 'Hesitant Alien'". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 3, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  4. Wright, Lisa (September 24, 2014). "Gerard Way – 'Hesitant Alien'". NME. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  5. "Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien". TeamRock. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  6. Maxwell, Emily (September 30, 2014). "Gerard Way: Hesitant Alien". American Songwriter. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  7. "Gerard Way Announces First Solo Album Hesitant Alien For September 2014 Release". music.mxdwn.com. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  8. "Gerard Way premieres new song, "Action Cat"". Alternative Press. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  9. "My Chemical Romance Singer Gerard Way Releases Debut Solo Album 'Hesitant Alien' See Full Tracklist Here". Hallels.com. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  10. "Alter The Press!: Gerard Way Premieres New Song "No Shows" on BBC Radio One". Alterthepress.com. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  11. Jon Stickler. "Gerard Way Posts Video For New Single Millions". Stereoboard.com. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  12. "FMQB Airplay Archive: SubModern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  13. Gerard Way. "Gerard Way". Gerardway.com. Archived from the original on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  14. "Gerard VyRT Listening Party". My Chemical Romance. September 29, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  17. Sharp, Tyler (August 20, 2014). "Slipknot, Fall Out Boy, All Time Low, Of Mice & Men, more announced for Soundwave 2015". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  18. "AP staff picks for Record Store Day 2016". Alternative Press. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  19. "Hesitant Alien by Gerard Way reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  20. "Reviews for Hesitant Alien by Gerard Way". Metacritic. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  21. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Hesitant Alien – Gerard Way". AllMusic. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  22. Pettigrew, Jason (September 9, 2014). "Gerard Way – Hesitant Alien". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on October 1, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  23. Simpson, Dave (September 25, 2014). "Gerard Way: Hesitant Alien review – a confident, swaggering set of songs". The Guardian. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  24. "Gerard Way: Hesitant Alien". Mojo (252): 120. November 2014.
  25. Khomami, Nadia (September 28, 2014). "Gerard Way: Hesitant Alien review – My Chemical Romance goes Britpop". The Observer. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  26. "Gerard Way: Hesitant Alien". Q (340): 120. November 2014.
  27. Spanos, Brittany (September 29, 2014). "Hesitant Alien". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  28. McLaughlin, David (October 2014). "Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien". www.rocksound.tv (192). Rock Sound. Rock Sound. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  29. Bird, ed. 2015, p. 26
  30. Emily (March 18, 2015). "The Top 50 Rock Albums Of 2014". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  31. "ヘジタント・エイリアン / ジェラルド・ウェイ 時代を駆け抜けてきたマイ・ケミカル・ロマンスのフロントマンによる、キャリア初のソロ・アルバム! 彼のアート・センスの総てをぶつける、ジェラルド・ウェイ色を前面に押し出した快作の登場! 日本先行発売。 日本盤のみボーナス・トラック1曲収録". CDJapan.
  32. "Australiancharts.com – Gerard Way – Hesitant Alien". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  33. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 40, 2014". Chart-Track. IRMA.
  34. "Charts.nz – Gerard Way – Hesitant Alien". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  35. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  36. "Gerard Way | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  37. "2014-10-11 Top 40 Rock & Metal Albums Archive - Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  38. Hesitant Alien - Gerard Way - Awards at AllMusic
  39. "Gerard Way Hesitant Alien (Digital Download - Warner Bros. #)". AllMusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  40. "Gerard Way Hesitant Alien (CD - Reprise #9362493721)". AllMusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  41. "Gerard Way Hesitant Alien (LP - Reprise #9362493722)". AllMusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
Sources
  • Bird, Ryan, ed. (January 2015). "Top 50 Albums of the Year". Rock Sound. London: Freeway Press Inc. (195). ISSN 1465-0185.
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