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= What to Do When You Are Dead =

What to Do When You Are Dead is the second studio album by American rock band Armor for Sleep. Following the steps of suicide the vocalist/guitarist Ben Jorgensen created a whole story from the protagonist's viewpoint. What to Do When You Are Dead is a concept album, with each song telling the story. Starting with the protagonist's suicide with the first songs then leads into his journey through the afterlife. Recording took place between August and October 2004 with producer Machine. A rough mix of the song "Car Underwater" was made available in November, which lead to two US tours in February 2005. The album What to Do When You Are Dead was later released on February 22 through an independent label Equal Vision Records. The album received mixed reviews but it still went on to sell over 200,000 copies. It peaked at number 101 on the Billboard 200 and reached the top 10 on two other Billboard charts.

Background and Recording
In February 2003, Armor for Sleep signed to independent label Equal Vision Records who released the group's debut album Dream to Make Believe in June that year. According to AllMusic biographer James Christopher Monger, the release gave the group "a solid spot" in the developing emo pop genre. This resulted in the group performing alongside Taking Back Sunday, Piebald and Thursday, among others.

What to Do When You Are Dead was recorded between August and October 2004 at Water Music and The Machine Shop in Hoboken, New Jersey. Producer duties were handled by Machine. Frontman Ben Jorgensen recorded his rhythm part first, followed by drums, then guitarist PJ Decicco tracked his lead parts and additional rhythm parts, ending with the bass lines.

Release
On November 11, 2004, What to Do When You Are Dead was announced for release and a rough mix of "Car Underwater" was made available for streaming. What to Do When You Are Dead was released through Equal Vision Records on February 22. Some copies of the album included a bonus DVD that contained live footage, a documentary on the creation of the album, as well as music videos for Dream to Make Believe songs "My Town" and "Dream to Make Believe". The iTunes edition of the album included "Very Invisible" as a bonus track. On March 18, a music video was released for "Car Underwater". "Car Underwater" was released as a radio single on May 3.

Critical response
Many reviewers view the album with a positive light shinning on both the music and the topic.AllMusic reviewer John D. Luerssen wrote that What to Do When You Are Dead "ups the punk/emo ante" with "fabulously" composed songs, as well as a yearning to tackle the "norms of a movement that has grown increasingly stale". He described Jorgensen as going "dark" and toying with "his inner Aaron Lewis", frontman for Staind. Luerssen described the band's choice of working with Machine as "a risk that paid off". Chart Attack called the album a "surprisingly meaty" second record, with the group's "dynamic double-guitar attack" benefiting from Machine's "prog-metal predilections". Chart Attack concluded with: "Songs about dead people have rarely sounded so damned full of life." LAS Magazine writer David Spain called the album an "interesting notch along the battered branch of emo's legacy," with the band giving its contemporaries "food for thought". Spain noted that the group didn't simply intend on making "another 40-minute schmaltz fest; they vested thought and idea into their work". Spain concluded that the band "succeed[ed] in creating a surprisingly original work in a drowning genre".

Raziq Rauf of Drowned in Sound, however was of torn opionion. He wrote that the record had two "great" songs which could "fill the unashamed emo cynic with hope, only to be let down" by the remainder of the album. He went on to say that a "slight redemption" could be made with the album's title, but aside from that, there was "nothing else to say that you've not read before". While mentioning "Basement Ghost Singing" and "Car Underwater", Ellis said the "great tunes are too few" to make him give the album a higher rating. Melodic reviewer Andrew Ellis also expressed disappointment with the album, stating that little had changed since the group's debut album, aside from the "more edgy guitars ... the songs [don't] grab me at all". Laura McKee of musicOMH considered the "brutal" sincerity of Jorgenen's lyrics and subject to be interesting, but she also thought that the music might be generic. However, she ends on a high note by stating that the group managed to make their mark in the "otherwise overcrowded industry" in terms of lyrics. According to Now writer Jered Stuffco, Equal Vision was "banking heavily" on the band to accumulate strong sales, and based on the group's "poster-boy image, melodramatic harmonies and tight emo riffage," he felt they might succeed.

Personnel
Personnel per booklet.

Armor for Sleep
 * Ben Jorgensen – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano
 * Anthony Dilonno – bass guitar, backing vocals
 * PJ Decicco – lead guitar
 * Nash Breen – drums

Production
 * Machine – producer, engineer, mixing
 * Jacob Nyger – additional engineering
 * Will Quinnell – mastering
 * Ben Jorgensen – art direction
 * Asterik Studio – art direction, design
 * Rob Dobi – booklet
 * Dave Hill – photography