Happy Anniversary “Screaming Bloody Murder!” (March 29, 2011)❤️
Screaming Bloody Murder is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock band Sum 41, released on March 29, 2011, after many delays. It is the band's second album produced by frontman Deryck Whibley. It is the band's last album to be released on Island Records before they had fulfilled their contract with the major label in 2016 and their first album not to be released on Aquarius Records, which they left in 2010. The album has received mixed reviews.
It is the last album to be released with longtime original drummer, Steve Jocz before he announced his departure from the band in April 2013. It is also the first album to feature guitarist Tom Thacker, best known as vocalist for fellow Canadian punk group Gob. Even though Thacker was already a part of the band and co-wrote the title track of the album, all guitars were still recorded by singer Deryck Whibley. Thacker was also uncredited in the album's liner notes, though he was seen in photos with the band in the album's booklet.
The band initially entered the studio in late 2008 with plans to record an EP for release in April 2009, though as more and more material was written, they have decided to keep writing and make the recording a full-length album, with Deryck Whibley commenting that "it's safe to say the album will be released in 2009", though it was fast announced by Jason McCaslin and Steve Jocz not to expect the album any sooner than Summer 2010.Â
In November 2009, it was announced that the band hired legendary British producer Gil Norton to produce the album, and that they would begin pre-production in December, and would begin recording the album in January 2010. The recording did begin in January 2010, but Gil Norton was dismissed one week into the recording, with Deryck Whibley deciding to produce the album himself, just as he did on the band's last effort Underclass Hero.
Recording of instruments began on January 26, 2010, and finished on March 17, 2010, after which only vocals were left to record by Whibley himself in his home studio. Drums were recorded at Capitol Studios and Perfect Sound Studios, after which the band rented a house at the Hollywood Hills which served as their recording studio. Vocals were recorded until late March, when the band relocated to EastWest Studios, on April 7, 2010, to record additional songs for the album. On June 12, 2010, Deryck reported in a video update that the album was "99% done". Recording was finalized on June 24, 2010, a day before the band went on to play on the 2010 Vans Warped Tour. While playing the Warped Tour, the album went into the mixing stage by Tom Lord-Alge in Miami, Florida.
It was announced that a new song entitled "Skumfuk" was set to appear on the Warped Tour sampler CD, though it eventually wasn't ready for release in time. On July 6, 2010, the track was leaked online, in a non-final form. The song began rising in popularity online, which led Sum 41 to start playing it live on their European tour in October. It was later announced that the band would release a 12-minute section from the album (later entitled 'A Dark Road Out of Hell', consisting of tracks 7 – 9 of the final album) for free on their website before the official release. However, this release was later denied by the band's label. It was later revealed on the back of the album that 'A Dark Road Out of Hell' was indeed true, comprising tracks 7–9 entitled Holy Image of Lies, Sick of Everyone, and Happiness Machine.
In December 2010, Jason McCaslin confirmed that the album would finally go into mastering, and that though the album had essentially been ready for months, Island Records decided to postpone its release until after Christmas.
On January 8, 2011, it was announced that the band would release the radio single "Screaming Bloody Murder" on February 7, 2011 in the United States. The song had its worldwide premiere on January 14, 2011, on the Windsor radio station 89X. Universal Japan has confirmed on the official Japanese Sum 41 website, that Screaming Bloody Murder will be released in Japan on March 23, 2011, after which it was confirmed on the band's official website that the album be released on March 29, 2011, in the US. On February 28, 2011, a stream of "Blood In My Eyes", another new song from the album, was released for free listening on Alternative Press. Universal Music Japan then announced that they postponed release date of the album in Japan because of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, until April 6, 2011. On March 24, 2011, Island Records started streaming the record in its entirety on the band's official website.
"Baby You Don't Wanna Know" was the album's second single in the UK and Europe only. On June 22, 2011, during the band's performance in Angers, France, the band debuted the song live for the first time. Sum 41 shot a music video for "Baby You Don't Wanna Know" in June. In July 2011, Matt Whibley confirmed that the music video for the first single "Screaming Bloody Murder" would be left unreleased due to its content and difficulties with the label. On August 3, 2011, the band premiered the music video for "Baby You Don't Wanna Know" exclusively on German website Myvideo.de. On February 29, 2012, the band shot a music video for "Blood In My Eyes", with director Michael Maxxis in Los Angeles. The video was shot in the desert around the Los Angeles area.
The album has received generally mixed reviews since its release. Sum 41 was nominated for the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for the song "Blood in My Eyes", but they lost to Foo Fighters.
The album debuted at number 31 on the US Billboard 200, with first week sales of 15,000 copies. As of October 2016, the album has sold 52,000 copies.
