Champion (The Audition album)

Champion is The Audition's second full-length album. It was released in the USA and the UK on January 22, 2008 by Victory Records. It has roughly sold 75,000 copies since its release in 2008.

Champion
Studio album by The Audition
Released	January 22, 2008
Genre	Pop punk
Length	33:50
Label	Victory
The Audition chronology
Controversy Loves Company (2005) Champion (2008) Self-titled Album (2009)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Alternative Press
AbsolutePunk	73% [2]
Exclaim!	Unfavorable [3]
Melodic	[4]
Popmatters

Release

Champion was announced on December 19, 2007,[5] and released on January 22, 2008.[6] In January and February, the band headlined the PacTour, with support from Envy on the Coast, Danger Radio and Another Day Late. This was followed by a two-week tour in the UK.[7] A music video was released for "Warm Me Up" on February 6.[8] Following appearances at the South by Southwest and South by So What?! festivals, the band headlined the Spring Break 08 tour in the US from mid-March until early May, with support from Hit the Lights, Every Avenue, the Morning Light and Kiros.[9] In April, the band appeared at the Bamboozle Left festival.[10] After this tour, the band participated in Warped Tour from late June until mid-August.[9] In December, the band supported All Time Low on their Christma-Hanu-Kwanza tour in the US.[11]

Critical reception

Champion was received more positively by critics than its predecessor, Controversy Loves Company. Jason McNeil from AllMusic wrote "Champion is a rather uneven affair throughout the record. Perhaps the highlight of the album is when The Audition slows things down for the melancholic, slow-building "What Gets You Through the Night" that comes up very strong, resembling a tight, punchy cross between Maroon 5 and U2. Another sleeper pick is the sparkling "Make It Rain" Overall, The Audition pass the audition, but not with flying colors." Bfhurricane from sputnikmusic.com Gave the album a 3 out 5 and praised Seth Johnson's guitar riffs and solos, bassist Joe Lussa's basslines, Danny Stevens's vocals stating that "you can’t help but to admire how much spirit he’s putting in to his songs. He’s a singer that you can tell really does what he does for the love of it, inspired by real emotion and a desire to let it all out." Later on the review he wrote " There’s not a single song on this album that I wouldn’t call enjoyable. However, the album as a whole really doesn’t show much diversity. While there’s a plethora of mentionable riffs and vocal hooks, there is a lack of musical maturity throughout Champion. They’re not tied to any style, timeline, and they don’t have much of a reputation to lose with experimentation. Which is what this album is – a fun experiment testing the creativity of the musicians of The Audition. I can safely say that there’s not a single bad moment on the album, but it’s nothing more than a combination of a bunch of good riffs and melodies focused around the same emotions. The album as a whole is colorful, funky, and fresh, but still a little immature. The Audition is still a young band, and with time they’re going to mature into some serious hard-hitters with some great singles, But until then, however, they’ll make a great supporting act for the bigger bands."[12] Exclaim!'s Sari Delmar rated the album "Unfavourable" stating "while Chicago's sweethearts have refined their sugar-coated vocals and stepped it up to a whole new level of poppy-ness, they seem to have toned down the originality. And it is unfortunate because now instead of sounding fresh and rejuvenated, they just sound out of ideas. "Hell to Sell could have easily slid onto Cobra Starship's new album, while "Edinboro could have been written by 30 Seconds to Mars. When things do get a bit exciting, as on "Warm Me Up, you'll just want to go listen to Panic! At the Disco's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. So where exactly does that leave the Audition? In your kid sister's record collection right next to Fall Out Boy".[13]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Basbhat"	2:42
2.	"Warm Me Up"	3:32
3.	"Heaven for the Weather"	3:09
4.	"Edinboro"	3:11
5.	"Hell to Sell"	3:48
6.	"Ether"	3:50
7.	"What Gets You Through the Night"	4:24
8.	"Shady Business"	3:21
9.	"Make It Rain"	3:10
10.	"Have Gun, Will Travel"	3:05
Total length:		33:50

Personnel

The Audition

• Danny Stevens - Lead Vocals, Piano on "What Gets You Through The Night"
• Seth Johnson - Lead Guitar (Guitar Solo on "Warm Me Up" and "Have Gun, Will Travel"), Acoustic Guitar,[14] Backing Vocals
• Tim Klepek - Rhythm Guitar
• Joe Lussa - Bass Guitar
• Ryan O'Connor - Drums, Percussion

Production

• John Naclerio - Mastering, Mixing, Producer[14]
• Paul Carabello - Engineer[14]

Management

• Tony Brummel - A&R[14]

Artwork

• Nigel Evan Dennis - Art Direction, Illustrations, Layout Design[14]
• Ryan Bakerink - Photography[14]

Videos

• "Warm Me Up"
• "Make it Rain" on YouTube

References

1. link
2. link
3. link
4. Roth, Kaj (January 13, 2008). "The Audition - Champion". Melodic. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
5. Roth, Kaj (December 19, 2007). "The Audition - Champions Of 2008?". Melodic. Archived from the original on April 28, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
6. "theAUDITION to headline PacSun tour". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. December 4, 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
7. Kilgore, Kym (December 19, 2007). "The Audition leads PacTour lineup". LiveDaily. Ticketmaster. Archived from the original on September 15, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
8. "The Audition release "Warm Me Up" video online". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. February 6, 2008. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
9. Kilgore, Kym (March 12, 2008). "The Audition hits the road hard". LiveDaily. Ticketmaster. Archived from the original on June 25, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
10. "Bamboozle Left reveals more bands". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. March 13, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
11. Dallas (November 12, 2008). "All Time Low Announces the "Christma-Hanu-Kwanza" Tour". Melodic. Retrieved May 30, 2017.