Harmony (Never Shout Never album)

Harmony is the second studio album by Never Shout Never and was released on August 24, 2010. The album was streamed on his MySpace on August 22, 2010. Harmony debuted at number 14 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and sold 23,000 copies in its first week.

Background and release
On July 27, 2010, Never Shout Never released the Melody EP, as well as announcing that their second studio album would be released on August 24, 2010. The album was produced by Butch Vig and was recorded in El Dorado, Burbank, California. According to Christofer Drew, the album was made in two weeks.

"CheaterCheaterBestFriendEater" was released as the album's first single via MySpace on July 28, 2010. A music video for the song was later released onto YouTube on August 2. A music video for the song, "I Love You More Than You Will Ever Know" was released on August 13. He premiered a music video for "This Shit Getz Old" the following day. Never Shout Never premiered a music video for the track, "Lousy Truth" on August 26. On September 8, the band released the album's second single "Lovesick" along with its music video. They also released a music video for "First Dance" that same day. A music video for "Sellout" premiered via YouTube on September 14. The music video for "Trampoline" was released on September 27. On October 13, a music video for "Harmony" was released.

The packaging of the CD comes with flower seeds (while the limited edition bundle also includes a flower pot with the album name on it) with planting instructions "so you can get involved and make the world a more beautiful place!."

Melody
Melody is a digital release described by record label Sire as a "Deluxe Digital Collection". It contains the song from Harmony, "cheatercheaterbestfriendeater" as well as an exclusive track titled, "Coffee and Cigarettes" along with a music video for the song. It was released on July 27, 2010.

Promotion
In the fall of 2010, Never Shout Never co-headlined the Harmony Tour with The Maine, where the bands had fans gather canned food to help those in need. As a gift to the fans, they released a live split EP which was made available for free download on Never Shout Never's website.

Critical reception
Harmony has so far received mixed to negative reviews. Gregory Heaney from Allmusic, although applauding the production of the album, criticized the album's lyrics, saying that "while the production has grown up, Drew still seems to be in the same place as a songwriter. [...] Though Drew has proven that he has a good ear for melody, his over-sweetened lyrics rob the songs of any real emotional weight." Scott Heisel from Alternative Press, however, was more positive, stating that "the most hated man in emo [...] sounds even stronger than he did on [What is Love?, his debut album], turning in consistently better vocal performances that demonstrate a slight hint of [...] maturity while handling lyrical topics both serious [...] and not-so-much."

In an interview with Propertyofzack.com, when asked if he was happy with the album's reception, Drew responded, "Sort of. It was a fun record to make, but we only had two weeks to make it. It was a very fun record. Butch was a great guy to work with. Harmony was okay; it's not my favorite album ever. I don't listen to it. I would never listen to it."

Personnel
Credits for Harmony adapted from AllMusic.


 * Never Shout Never
 * Christofer Drew Ingle – lead vocals, guitars, bass, ukulele, violin, drums, percussion, tambourine, cabasa, djembe, glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba, sleigh bells, piano, keyboards, synthesizers, programming, banjo, harmonica, composer, lyrics
 * Caleb Denison – additional guitars


 * Production
 * Produced by Butch Vig
 * Engineered by Billy Bush
 * Mastered by Dan Hersch
 * Mixed by Jon Kaplan
 * Designs and illustrations by Frank Maddocks
 * Additional engineering by Chris Steffen
 * Photography by Colby Moore and Christofer Drew Ingle
 * Production coordination by Shari Sutcliffe
 * A&R by Craig Aaronson and Perry Watts-Russell