Fast Times at Barrington High
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 19, 2008
RecordedSpring–Summer 2008
StudioAvatar, New York City, New York
Genre
Length43:08
LabelFueled by Ramen, Decaydance
ProducerS*A*M and Sluggo
The Academy Is... chronology
Santi
(2007)
Fast Times at Barrington High
(2008)
Lost in Pacific Time: The AP/EP
(2009)
Singles from Fast Times at Barrington High
  1. "About a Girl"
    Released: July 15, 2008
  2. "Summer Hair = Forever Young"
    Released: September 12, 2008
  3. "His Girl Friday"
    Released: 2009
  4. "The Test"
    Released: 2009

Fast Times at Barrington High is the third studio album by American rock band The Academy Is..., released on August 19, 2008.[1][2]

Background

It was produced by S*A*M and Sluggo. The title refers to the high school to which William Beckett and Adam Siska went,[3] and a play on the title of the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The album cover photo was taken by William Beckett's sister, Courtney Beckett, and shows William sitting on a couch with Naomi, who was guitarist Michael Guy Chislett’s girlfriend at the time, whom he later married.

Pete Wentz posted a blog entry saying that he heard the demos for the new album and called them, "Mind blowing. Miles away from where they were."[4] Collaborations include Andrew McMahon from Jack's Mannequin; Gabe Saporta, Ryland Blackinton and Alex Suarez from Cobra Starship; and Mason Musso and Blake Healy from Metro Station.

Release

In May 2008, the band performed at SunFest.[5] On June 26, 2008, Fast Times at Barrington High was announced for release in two months' time.[6] Between June and August 2008, the band performed on the Warped Tour.[7][8] In between dates on this tour, they performed a handful of shows with artists on Decaydance Records.[9] The band performed "About a Girl" and "Summer Hair = Forever Young" on Warped Tour and their Australian tour with Panic! at the Disco and Cobra Starship. Hot Topic released two new The Academy Is... T-shirts, one of which comes with a code for the free download of an acoustic version of "His Girl Friday".

The first single off the album is "About a Girl", which was released on July 15, 2008. On July 23, "Summer Hair = Forever Young" was posted on the group's Myspace profile.[10] "About a Girl" impacted radio on August 12.[11] Fast Times at Barrington High was released through Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance Records on August 19.[6] The Academy Is... held a contest for releasing new tracks, email addresses were entered on a page off the main website page and 8 winners were selected at random to receive a song off the album and also a call from the band and a free signed copy of Fast Times at Barrington High. In October and November, the band went on a headlining US tour, titled Bill & Trav's Bogus Journey Tour. They were supported by We the Kings, Carolina Liar and Hey Monday.[12] In April 2009, the group performed at Give it a Name festival in the UK and Groezrock in Belgium.[13][14] In August, the band went on a tour of Australia with Anberlin.[15]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk(68%)[16]
Allmusic[17]
Alternative Press[18]
Entertainment Weekly(B+)[19]
IGN7.5/10 [20]
Melodic [21]
The New York Times(favorable)[22]
Rolling Stone
Spin[23]

The album sold 35,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 17 on the Billboard 200.[24] It was named the 46th best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone.[25] By October 2009, the album's sales stood at 85,000.[26]

Track listing

All lyrics written by William Beckett; all music composed by The Academy Is... with Sam Hollander and Dave Katz on tracks 1–6 and 11.

Standard Edition
  1. "About a Girl" – 3:30
  2. "Summer Hair = Forever Young" – 3:39
  3. "His Girl Friday" – 3:41
  4. "The Test" – 3:29
  5. "Rumored Nights" – 3:45
  6. "Automatic Eyes" – 3:26
  7. "Crowded Room" – 3:07
  8. "Coppertone" – 3:18
  9. "After the Last Midtown Show" – 5:13
  10. "Beware! Cougar!" – 3:38
  11. "Paper Chase" – 3:30
  12. "One More Weekend" – 3:43[27]
iTunes Bonus Tracks
  1. "Every Burden Has a Version" – 4:08
  2. "Sodium" – 3:46
  3. "About a Girl" (Acoustic version) – 3:22
Hot Topic Bonus Track
  1. "His Girl Friday" (Acoustic version) – 3:42
7" Vinyl Bonus Track
  1. "Tokyo Bay" – 2:59

Release history

Country Release date
New Zealand August 18, 2008
United Kingdom
United States August 19, 2008
Australia August 23, 2008

Chart positions

Chart Position
Billboard 200 17
Rock Albums 5
Digital Albums 17
Alternative Albums 5

Personnel

Contributions

References

Citations
  1. Gamboa, Glenn (10 June 2008). "The Academy Is... ready to rock". Newsday. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  2. Shultz, Brian (26 June 2008). "The Academy Is... set third album name and date". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  3. "Question and Answers with William and Sisky". Friends Or Enemies. 9 October 2007. Archived from the original on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  4. Wentz, Pete (11 July 2008). "Pete Wentz on the new album". Friends Or Enemies. Archived from the original on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  5. Paul, Aubin (May 1, 2008). "The Mighty Mighty Bosstones playing Sunfest in West Palm Beach, Florida". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  6. 1 2 Paul, Aubin (June 26, 2008). "The Academy Is… announce title, release date". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  7. Paul, Aubin (February 26, 2008). "Warped Tour unveils final band lineup for 2008". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  8. Paul, Aubin (January 28, 2008). "Warped Tour confirms routing". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  9. "Decaydance shows planned w/Gym Class Heroes, the Academy Is…". Alternative Press. June 5, 2008. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  10. "The Academy Is… post another new song". Alternative Press. July 23, 2008. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  11. "AllAccess.com Alternative eWeekly". AllAccess. August 5, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  12. "The Academy Is… announce dates with We The Kings, Carolina Liar and Hey Monday". Alternative Press. August 18, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  13. Paul, Aubin (March 4, 2009). "Groezrock confirms final lineup". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  14. Dan (February 5, 2009). "Give It A Name 2009 line-up in full". Kerrang!. Bauer Media Group. Archived from the original on April 12, 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  15. "Anberlin to tour Australia with The Academy Is…". Alternative Press. May 29, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  16. "The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Barrington High - Album Review". AbsolutePunk. 8 October 2023.
  17. "Fast Time at Barrington High - The Academy Is..." Allmusic.
  18. "The Academy Is... - Fast Times At Barrigton High". Alternative Press.
  19. "Fast Times at Barrington High Review". Entertainment Weekly. 19 August 2008.
  20. Ramirez, Carlos (August 20, 2008). "The Academy Is… Fast Times at Barrington High Review". IGN. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  21. Oliveros, Horacio García (September 21, 2008). "The Academy Is - Fast Times at Barrington High". Melodic. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  22. "Critics' Choice". The New York Times. 18 August 2008.
  23. "The Academy Is..., 'Fast Times at Barrington High' (Decaydance/Fueled by Ramen". Spin.
  24. "'Fast Times at Barrington High' chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  25. Fricke, David; Will Hermes; Christian Hoard; Melissa Maerz; Jody Rosen (25 December 2008). "Fast Times at Barrington High at No.46 in Rollingstone.com's Best albums list of 2008". RollingStone.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  26. Bell; Harding 2009, p. 57
  27. DeAndrea, Joe (11 July 2008). "Fast Times At Barrington High's Track List". Absolutepunk.com. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
Sources
  • Bell, Crystal; Harding, Cortney (October 10, 2009). "Dance of Days". Billboard. Vol. 121, no. 39. Prometheus Global Media. ISSN 0006-2510.
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