Billy Talent III

Billy Talent III is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Billy Talent. It was released on July 10, 2009, in Europe, July 13 in the United Kingdom, July 14 in Canada, and September 22 in the US. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling over 40,000 copies in its first week.^[13] It also peaked at No. 107 on the Billboard 200, making it Billy Talent's highest-charting album to date. In April 2010, the album won a Juno Award for best rock album of the year. Despite the commercial success, Billy Talent III received mixed to negative reviews. On Metacritic, the album earned a score of 45/100, which means "mixed or average reviews" based on 7 critics; one review being negative and the other six being mixed.

Billy Talent III
Studio album by Billy Talent
Released	July 10, 2009
Recorded	November 2008 – April 2009
Studio	Henson Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California) Southern Tracks (Atlanta, Georgia)
Genre	Alternative rock pop-punk post-hardcore
Length	43:30 (Standard) 1:41:48 (Guitar Villain)
Label	Warner Music Canada, Roadrunner[1]
Producer	Brendan O'Brien
Billy Talent chronology
666 (2007) Billy Talent III (2009) Dead Silence (2012)
Singles from Billy Talent III
"Turn Your Back" Released: September 16, 2008 "Rusted from the Rain" Released: May 19, 2009 "Devil on My Shoulder" Released: August 26, 2009 "Saint Veronika" Released: February 1, 2010 "Diamond on a Landmine" Released: June 21, 2010

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	45/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Chart	[4]
Drowned in Sound	2/10[5]
The Fly	[6]
NME	5/10[7]
Now	[8]
Q	[9]
Rock Sound	9/10[10]
Sputnikmusic	2.0/5[11]
Uncut	[12]

Background

A demo version of one of the album's songs, "Turn Your Back", was released as a single in September 2008 and featured the band members of Anti-Flag, with the first legitimate single spawned by Billy Talent III is "Rusted from the Rain", which premiered May 17, 2009, on Triple J. The album version of "Turn Your Back" does not include Anti-Flag's vocals, as the single version does.

The second single from the album, "Devil on My Shoulder" was released on August 26, 2009.

A promotional website located at billytalent3.com^[14] was launched to showcase the making of the album. Part of the promotion also included the Billy Talent Widget which allowed listeners to become the "Ultimate Billy Talent Fan". The widget rewarded users with rare tracks, videos, pictures and interviews as fans "level up" their widgets.

On June 8, 2009, the band announced the release of a special deluxe edition of the album, entitled Billy Talent III: Guitar Villain Edition.^[15] The special edition featured a second disc of the album, without the inclusion of guitar (referred to as "Guitar Villain Tracks"), plus guitar tabs of the entire album transcribed on two full-size posters, for fans to play along to. Along with this guitar-less version, the disc is concluded with four additional demos.

The band embarked on a supporting tour on February 21, 2009, starting with an Australian first leg.

Track listing

Standard edition

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Devil on My Shoulder"	3:49
2.	"Rusted from the Rain"	4:13
3.	"Saint Veronika"	4:09
4.	"Tears into Wine"	4:12
5.	"White Sparrows"	3:14
6.	"Pocketful of Dreams"	3:21
7.	"The Dead Can't Testify"	4:27
8.	"Diamond on a Landmine"	4:30
9.	"Turn Your Back"	3:22
10.	"Sudden Movements"	3:39
11.	"Definition of Destiny"	4:03
Total length:		43:30

Limited "Guitar Villain" deluxe edition CD ^[16]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Devil on My Shoulder" (Guitar Villain)	3:49
2.	"Rusted from the Rain" (Guitar Villain)	4:13
3.	"Saint Veronika" (Guitar Villain)	4:09
4.	"Tears into Wine" (Guitar Villain)	4:12
5.	"White Sparrows" (Guitar Villain)	3:14
6.	"Pocketful of Dreams" (Guitar Villain)	3:21
7.	"The Dead Can't Testify" (Guitar Villain)	4:27
8.	"Diamond on a Landmine" (Guitar Villain)	4:30
9.	"Turn Your Back" (Guitar Villain)	3:22
10.	"Sudden Movements" (Guitar Villain)	3:39
11.	"Definition of Destiny" (Guitar Villain)	4:03
12.	"Tears into Wine" (Demo Version)	3:51
13.	"White Sparrows" (Demo Version)	3:58
14.	"Pocketful of Dreams" (Demo Version)	3:42
15.	"Turn Your Back" (Demo Version)	3:22
Total length:		1:41:48

US digital special edition ^[17]

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Bloody Nails + Broken Hearts"	3:37
13.	"Don't Need to Pretend"	3:45
14.	"Devil on My Shoulder" (Demo Version)	4:06
Total length:		54:18

UK iTunes bonus tracks ^[18]

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Bloody Nails + Broken Hearts"	3:37
13.	"Devil on My Shoulder" (Demo Version)	4:06
Total length:		51:03

Musicload.de German exclusive

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Don't Need to Pretend"	3:45
Total length:		47:15

EU edition bonus tracks ^[19]

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Tears into Wine" (Demo Version)	3:51
13.	"White Sparrows" (Demo Version)	3:58
14.	"Turn Your Back" (Demo Version)	3:22
Total length:		54:02

Personnel

Billy Talent

• Benjamin Kowalewicz – lead vocals
• Ian D'Sa – guitar, backing vocals
• Jonathan Gallant – bass, backing vocals
• Aaron Solowoniuk – drums

Additional personnel

• Brendan O'Brien – producer, additional percussion, tambourine, hammerchord, piano, mellotron

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Billy Talent III Chart (2009) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[20] 44 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[21] 2 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[22] 1 European Top 100 Albums (Billboard)[23] 6 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[24] 3 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25] 2 Irish Albums (IRMA)[26] 98 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[27] 28 Scottish Albums (OCC)[28] 54 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 3 UK Albums (OCC)[30] 35 UK Album Downloads (OCC)[31] 17 UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[32] 1 US Billboard 200[33] 107 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[34] 43

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Billy Talent III Chart (2009) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[35] 36 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[36] 23 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[37] 32 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[38] 93 Certifications Certifications for Billy Talent III Region Certification Certified units/sales Canada (Music Canada)[39] 3× Platinum 240,000‡ Germany (BVMI)[40] 2× Platinum 400,000^ ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Date	Region
July 10, 2009	Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands
July 13, 2009	France, Norway, Denmark, South Africa, UK and Ireland
July 14, 2009	Canada, Finland, Spain and Sweden
July 17, 2009	Australia and New Zealand
September 22, 2009	US
November 11, 2009	Japan