Reckless & Relentless

Not to be confused with Relentless Reckless Forever.

Untitled

Reckless & Relentless is the second studio album by English metalcore band Asking Alexandria. It was released on 5 April 2011 through Sumerian Records. Announced on 22 December 2009, recording for the album began in June 2010 at the Foundation Recording Studios in Connersville, Indiana and ended in the fall of that year. The songs "Welcome," "Reckless & Relentless," "To The Stage," "Dear Insanity," and "A Lesson Never Learned" make up the short film Through Sin + Self-Destruction, which features the band's "party hard" lifestyle.

Musical style

Musically, Reckless & Relentless is a metalcore album that includes a little less elements of euro-trance than Stand Up and Scream and has influences of old-school rock and heavy metal from the 1980s. The album received generally positive reviews, which commended its loud guitars and drums and vocalist Danny Worsnop's vocals and death growls, however, criticised its use of electronic instruments. It debuted at number 9 on the Billboard 200, selling more than 31,000 copies in its first week.

Background and release

Reckless & Relentless was recorded during the summer and autumn of 2010 at the Foundation Recording Studios in Connersville, Indiana. The first official confirmation of the sophomore full-length was on 22 December 2009, wherein Asking Alexandria announced that they were to start the works on a second album in January. They informed that they were to be streaming parts of the writing process through a webcam feed via the service Stickam. It was also announced that they will be entering the studio on 1 September 2010, again with producer Joey Sturgis, who produced the band's debut album Stand Up and Scream. The band later announced that they were scheduled to begin recording on 22 June 2010. Asking Alexandria confirmed through an interview with Shred News that the album would be released on 5 April featuring 12 tracks. However, the original album was supposed to contain 13 tracks and 3 bonus iTunes tracks. This didn't make it because they didn't wish to delay the album release date. In the same interview, the band informed that a title was not yet established. One song, "Breathless" was played live to promote the album, and was released with their Life Gone Wild EP.

During an interview with Fallen Blue, Danny Worsnop said of the album cover, "We wanted something shocking, so we had the famous porn actress, Belladonna, just sitting in The Dirty Room." Danny further discussed, "Someone, Somewhere", a song off the new album as the first one "that I wrote the lyrics to using my emotions as a backdrop."

The first official single from the album entitled "Morte et Dabo" was released on 15 February 2011, as announced beforehand by the band. Pre-orders for Reckless & Relentless were made available on 3 March 2011. A music video for "Closure" was released 5 July 2011 and a music video for "To the Stage" was released on 12 July 2011. The video featured musicians including Sebastian Bach and Jake Pitts.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Alternative Press
Mind Equals Blown
Revolver
Rocksound
Ultimate Guitar

Critical response

Reckless & Relentless received generally positive reviews from music critics. Phil Freeman from Allmusic gave the album a positive review, saying, "What separates Asking Alexandria from most of their peers is an awareness of classic rock & roll dynamics – some of the riffs they write are straightforward updates of Guns N' Roses or Skid Row (two of whose songs they covered on their Life Gone Wild EP), and they're as interested in getting listeners singing along as moshing." Alternative Press also gave the album a positive review, saying, "Asking Alexandria haven't radically changed their sound, but there's enough evolution on Reckless & Relentless to convince any listener that they're more than metalcore also-rans or one-trick ponies".

Commercial performance

Reckless & Relentless debuted at number 9 on the Billboard 200, selling more than 31,000 copies within its first week. It spent 7 weeks on the chart whilst also debuting within the top 5 of the Billboard Rock Albums, Hard Rock Albums and Independent Albums charts. It also peaked at number 30 and 98 in Australia and the United Kingdom.Reckless & Relentless has sold over 161,000 copies in the U.S alone.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Welcome"	1:49
2.	"Dear Insanity"	3:09
3.	"Closure"	3:58
4.	"A Lesson Never Learned"	3:54
5.	"To the Stage"	3:30
6.	"Dedication"	1:03
7.	"Someone, Somewhere"	3:37
8.	"Breathless"	4:10
9.	"The Match"	4:15
10.	"Another Bottle Down"	3:34
11.	"Reckless & Relentless"	4:08
12.	"Morte et Dabo"	5:15
Total length:		42:25

Best Buy bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
13.	"When Everyday's the Weekend" (Big Chocolate remix)	3:51
14.	"Nobody Don't Dance No More" (Noah D remix)	3:49
15.	"If You Can't Ride Two Horses at Once... You Should Get Out of the Circus" (Noah D remix)	3:53
16.	"I Was Once, Possibly, Maybe, Perhaps a Cowboy King" (Robotsonics remix)	5:31
17.	"A Prophecy" (Big Chocolate remix)	4:26
Total length:		62:52

Hot Topic bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
13.	"The Final Episode (Let's Change the Channel)" (Borgore's Die Bitch remix)	4:12
14.	"A Candlelit Dinner with Inamorta" (Run DMT remix)	4:14
15.	"A Prophecy" (Big Chocolate Electro remix)	4:17
Total length:		54:06

Charts

Charts	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart (ARIA Charts)	30
UK Albums Chart	98
US Billboard 200	9
US Rock Albums (Billboard)	4
US Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)	2

Personnel

Credits for Reckless & Relentless adapted from Allmusic.

Asking Alexandria

• Danny Worsnop – Lead vocals, keyboards, programming
• Ben Bruce – Lead guitar, vocals, programming
• Cameron Liddell – Rhythm guitar
• Sam Bettley – Bass guitar
• James Cassells – Drums

Additional musicians

• James Murray – Spoken vocals and lyrics on "Dedication"

Production

• Produced, engineered, mixed by Joey Sturgis
• Mastered by Joey Sturgis
• Additional engineering and editing by Nick Sampson
• Recorded at the Foundation Recording Studios
• Photography by Paul Harries
• Logo by Daniel Wagner
• Layout by Daniel McBride
• A&R by Shawn Keith and Nick Walters
• Publicity by George Vallee

Miscellaneous

New Zealand hard rock trio Like A Storm reference "A Lesson Never Learned" in their 2014 release "Wish You Hell".