Survival of the Sickest (album)

2004 studio album by Saliva

Survival of the Sickest

Studio album by

Saliva

Released

August 17, 2004

Recorded

2003–2004

Studio

747 Studios (Memphis, Tennessee)

Long View Farms Studios (North Brookfield, Massachusetts)

Genre

Southern rock, rock

Length

51:03

Label

Island

Producer

Paul Ebersold

Saliva chronology

Back into Your System
(2002)

Survival of the Sickest
(2004)

Blood Stained Love Story
(2007)

Singles from Survival of the Sickest

"Survival of the Sickest"
Released: June 15, 2004
"Razor's Edge"
Released: November 9, 2004

Survival of the Sickest is the fourth studio album by American rock band Saliva. It was released on August 17, 2004. "No Hard Feelings" is the only song which features rap vocals in the bridge and it also has the same exact lyrics in "No Regrets" just using a different musical approach to both songs. The album produced two singles: "Survival of the Sickest" in June 2004, and "Razor's Edge" in November 2004. The title track was featured in the video games NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup^[1] and Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood, and was the official theme song for WWE's Unforgiven 2004 pay per view. It is their final album to feature original rhythm guitarist Chris D'Abaldo, who would leave the band in 2005.

Background and development

In an interview with MTV, lead singer Josey Scott explained how he and the band changed their approach to crafting the album by cooling down on the girls and partying so that they're "well rested and well prepared" to record material that Scott made on his free time: "On our last tour, I personally got in the back of the tour bus with a little Wal-Mart tape recorder and just started beating these songs out. So when we went into the studio this time, I was prepared. I had 25 songs ready to go."^[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(56/100)^[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[4]
Entertainment Weekly	A−^[5]
Kerrang!	^[6]
Spin	C−^[7]

Entertainment Weekly writer Sean Richardson found the album going back to the band's early hard rock sound from their 1997 self-titled debut, praising Josey Scott for crafting tracks that pay tribute to 80s hair metal and penning both "aching redemption songs and seething revenge tirades" that make it more contemporary.^[5] Johnny Loftus of AllMusic was mixed about the material throughout the record, criticizing the band's foray into "glowering, melodramatic plods ("No Regrets, Vol. 2", "Eyes Open")" and slumming with "massively compressed, hard-head rockers ("Carry On", "Fuck All Y'All")" but highlighted the title track, "Rock & Roll Revolution" and "Razor's Edge" for containing quality hard rock credentials with a Southern style, concluding with "That said, it's too bad the rest of Survival of the Sickest panders to unimaginative industry and genre posturing."^[4] Chuck Klosterman, writing for Spin, criticized Scott's musical craftsmanship on the album for giving the band a "crisis of confidence" when delivering his skewed vision of rock music, concluding that "Still, there's some Godsmackian guitar work on Survival of the Sickest, and the production has a Montana-esque vastness that will undoubtedly sound good on terrible radio stations across the U.S."^[7]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Rock & Roll Revolution"	Josey Scott Wayne Swinny	4:39
2.	"Bait & Switch"	Scott Swinny	3:34
3.	"One Night Only"	Scott	3:55
4.	"Survival of the Sickest"	Scott Swinny	4:08
5.	"No Regrets (Volume 2)"	Scott Swinny Michael Baskette Paul Crosby	5:02
6.	"Two Steps Back"	Scott Swinny Chris D'Abaldo	3:34
7.	"Open Eyes"	Scott Baskette Swinny	3:56
8.	"Fuck All Y'all"	Scott D'Abaldo Swinny	3:29
9.	"I Want You"	Scott Swinny	3:41
10.	"Carry On"	Scott D'Abaldo Dave Novotny	3:30
11.	"Razor's Edge" (featuring Brad Arnold)	Scott Novotny Swinny	3:22
12.	"No Hard Feelings"	Scott Swinny Baskette Crosby Swinny	3:56
13.	"Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll [Hidden Track]"		4:17
Total length:			51:05

Chart positions

Album

Chart (2004)	Peak position
US Billboard 200^[8]	20

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2004	"Survival of the Sickest"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	6
	"Survival of the Sickest"	Modern Rock Tracks	22
	"Razor's Edge"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	17

Credits

Credits adapted from album’s liner notes.^[9]

Saliva

Josey Scott - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion
Wayne Swinny - lead guitar, backing vocals
Chris D'Abaldo - rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Dave Novotny - bass, backing vocals
Paul Crosby - drums

Additional personnel

Paul Ebersol – producer, strings, keyboards, drum programming
Matt Martone — engineer
Skidd Mills — mixing (tracks 1-3, 5-10, 12-14)
Andy Wallace — mixing (tracks 4, 11)
Howie Weinberg — mastering

References

^ "NASCAR 2005 Chase for the Cup: The Music". IGN. October 1, 2004. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
^ Dangelo, Joe (July 28, 2004). "Saliva Get The Girls In 'Survival of the Sickest' Video". MTV. Archived from the original on December 27, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
^ "Survival of the Sickest Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Loftus, Johnny. "Survival of the Sickest – Saliva". AllMusic. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Richardson, Sean (September 10, 2004). "Survival of the Sickest Review". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. p. 165. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
^ Thomas, Olly (August 28, 2004). "Rated: Albums". Kerrang!. No. 1020. EMAP. p. 42.
^ ^a ^b Klosterman, Chuck (September 2004). "Saliva 'Survival of the Sickest'". Spin. 20 (9). Spin Media LLC: 119. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
^ "Saliva Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
^ Survival of the Sickest (booklet). Island. 2004.