Billy Talent (album)

Billy Talent is the debut studio album of Canadian rock band Billy Talent, released in 2003. The band's previous album Watoosh! (1999) was released under their old name Pezz.

Billy Talent
Studio album by Billy Talent
Released	September 16, 2003
Recorded	December 2002 The Factory, Vancouver^[1]
Genre	Punk rock, post-hardcore, pop punk, alternative rock, emo
Length	41:04
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Gavin "Golden" Brown
Billy Talent chronology
Try Honesty / Living in the Shadows (2003) Billy Talent (2003) Billy Talent II (2006)
Alternative cover
Cover of the 10th anniversary edition
Singles from Billy Talent
"Try Honesty" Released: September 1, 2003 "The Ex" Released: December 23, 2003 "River Below" Released: July 5, 2004 "Nothing to Lose" Released: November 16, 2004

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
The Daily Princetonian	(favorable)^[3]
Decoy Music	^[4]
Ottawa XPress	^[5]
Q Magazine	^[6]
Rock Hard	9.5/10^[7]
Sputnikmusic	^[8]

Commercial performance

Billy Talent debuted at number 6 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 7,700 copies in its first week.^[9] The album was certified four-time platinum in Canada in January 2021. Between 1996 and 2016, Billy Talent was among the top 15 best-selling albums by Canadian bands in Canada and among the top 40 best-selling albums by Canadian artists overall in Canada.^[10]

Reception

In 2005, Billy Talent was ranked number 453 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.^[11]

Tenth anniversary

In August 2013, Billy Talent announced a Canadian tour for fall of that year entitled "A Return to the Roots", in which they played their entire first self-titled album live to celebrate its 10th anniversary.^[12] Soon after the tour, the band announced a 10th anniversary reissue of the album, released on November 26, 2013, through Warner Bros. Records, that features a bonus disc of rare demos and live recordings of the album's track list.^[13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Billy Talent

No.	Title	Length
1.	"This Is How It Goes"	3:27
2.	"Living in the Shadows"	3:15
3.	"Try Honesty"	4:13
4.	"Line & Sinker"	3:37
5.	"Lies"	2:58
6.	"The Ex"	2:40
7.	"River Below"	2:59
8.	"Standing in the Rain"	3:20
9.	"Cut the Curtains"	3:50
10.	"Prisoners of Today"	3:53
11.	"Nothing to Lose"	3:38
12.	"Voices of Violence"	3:10

Disc 2 – 10th anniversary edition reissue

No.	Title	Length
1.	"This Is How It Goes" (demo)	3:08
2.	"Living in the Shadows" (demo)	3:15
3.	"Try Honesty" (demo)	4:05
4.	"Line & Sinker" (live at Nova Rock Festival)	4:51
5.	"Lies" (live acoustic)	3:05
6.	"The Ex" (demo)	2:36
7.	"River Below" (live at the Orange Lounge)	3:00
8.	"Standing in the Rain" (live at Metalworks)	3:34
9.	"Cut the Curtains" (demo)	3:38
10.	"Prisoners of Today" (demo)	3:43
11.	"Nothing to Lose" (live at Phillipshalle)	3:59
12.	"Voices of Violence" (live at Norwegian Wood Festival)	3:20

Chart positions

Chart	Position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[14]	38
Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[15]	6
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[16]	97
UK Albums^[citation needed]	124
US Billboard 200^[17]	194
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)^[18]	11

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)^[19]	4× Platinum	400,000^‡
Canada (Music Canada)^[20] 10th Anniversary Edition	Gold	40,000^‡
Germany (BVMI)^[21]	Platinum	200,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)^[22]	Silver	60,000^‡
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

• Benjamin Kowalewicz – lead vocals
• Ian D'Sa – guitar, vocals, art direction, package design
• Jonathan Gallant – bass guitar, vocals
• Aaron Solowoniuk – drums

References

1. Bliss, Karen, , Access Magazine (February 2003 – March 2003), archived from the original on June 12, 2010
2. AllMusic review
3. . Archived from the original on April 27, 2005. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
4. Quote on decoymusic.com Review With Broken Link
5. Ottawa XPress review February 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
6. Q Magazine December 2003, p. 120
7. Himmelstein, Andreas. "Rock Hard". issue 198. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
8. Boy, Davey. "Billy Talent Billy Talent". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
9. . Archived from the original on November 7, 2004. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
10. (PDF). bdsradio.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 2, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
11. Best of Rock & Metal – Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 27. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
12. "Billy Talent Celebrate 10th Anniversary of Debut Album with Canadian Tour". exclaim.ca. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
13. "Billy Talent Give Self-Titled Debut Expanded Reissue for 10th Anniversary". exclaim.ca. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
14. "Austriancharts.at – Billy Talent – Billy Talent" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
15. "Billy Talent Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
16. "Offiziellecharts.de – Billy Talent – Billy Talent" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
17. "Billy Talent Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
18. "Billy Talent Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
19. "Canadian album certifications – Billy Talent – Billy Talent". Music Canada. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
20. "Canadian album certifications – Billy Talent – Billy Talent 10th Anniversary Edition". Music Canada. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
21. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Billy Talent; 'Billy Talent')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
22. "British album certifications – Billy Talent – Billy Talent". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 6, 2021.