The Great Burrito Extortion Case

The Great Burrito Extortion Case is the sixth studio album by American rock band Bowling for Soup, released on November 7, 2006.

The Great Burrito Extortion Case
Studio album by Bowling for Soup
Released	November 7, 2006
Recorded	May 15 – June 14, 2006
Studio	Ruby Red Productions (Atlanta, Georgia) Pulse Recording (Silverlake, California) Rosewater Studios (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
Genre	Pop-punk alternative rock
Length	64:42
Label	Jive Zomba
Producer	Russ-T Cobb Jaret Reddick Butch Walker Adam Schlesinger
Bowling for Soup chronology
Bowling for Soup Goes to the Movies (2005) The Great Burrito Extortion Case (2006) Bowling for Soup: Live and Very Attractive (2008)
Singles from The Great Burrito Extortion Case
"High School Never Ends" Released: September 19, 2006 "When We Die" Released: 2007 "I'm Gay" Released: 2007

Background

According to the band on their official website "there are at least 12 verses' worth of total joy for every sort-of-sad chorus about an ex-girlfriend on this record."

Release

In June and July, the band went on tour with Flashlight Brown.^[1]

This album's first single to be released was "High School Never Ends", which is available on iTunes. It was released on November 7, 2006, through Jive Records. It was originally set to be titled All My Rowdy Friends Are Still Intoxicated or We're Not Fat, We Just Have Small Heads. The album's title originated from the news ticker on the bottom of a TV screen that the group saw when in a hotel bar. The headline said "Burrito Extortion Case," which intrigued the band members.^[2]

In July and August 2007, the group went on tour with Mêlée, Quietdrive and Army of Freshmen.^[3] They toured Australia in April 2008 with Pennywise, Sum 41, and the Vandals.^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	6.2/10[5]
AllMusic	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[7]
Melodic	[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]

AllMusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that the record was "still proudly goofy, poppy punk, stuff that's fun without quite being memorable", but found the band's humor outdated with its '80s pop culture references, saying their "pandering a little bit, trying to deliver what they believe today's teens want," concluding that "even when they're coming across like Gen-X cranks, they're still nimble and melodic, so it's easy enough to listen to The Great Burrito Extortion Case and enjoy it – it sure is hard to get worked up about it, though."^[6] Gary Susman from Entertainment Weekly said the album "starts out fun but turns self-indulgent", concluding with, "Still, at least two tunes will lodge forever in your skull. One day, you’ll recall them fondly, and BFS, trafficking in insta-nostalgia, will be there to write a catchy number about that feeling."^[7] Rolling Stone's Christian Hoard said that "between the we're-happy-to-be-happy "I'm Gay" and the laudatory "Val Kilmer," the dozens of not really clever jokes about crazy girls and John Mellencamp, and whined harmonies and chug-a-chug guitars that blend together, the songs wear out their charm with a quickness."^[9]

The album got an 'Honorable Mention' on Ultimate-Guitar's top ten albums of 2006, and debuted at number 88 on the Billboard 200.^[10]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Epiphany"	Jaret Reddick, Zac Maloy	4:12
2.	"High School Never Ends" (**)	Reddick, Adam Schlesinger	3:31
3.	"Val Kilmer"	Reddick, Maloy	3:34
4.	"I'm Gay"	Reddick	3:29
5.	"Why Don't I Miss You?"	Reddick, Stacy Jones	3:51
6.	"A Friendly Goodbye"	Reddick	3:30
7.	"Luckiest Loser"	Reddick, Jones	3:50
8.	"Love Sick Stomach Ache (Sugar Coated Accident)"	Reddick, Maloy	4:08
9.	"Much More Beautiful Person" (with Lesley Roy)	Reddick, Mitch Allan	3:27
10.	"Friends Like You"	Reddick	2:33
11.	"When We Die" (*)	Reddick, Butch Walker	4:15
12.	"99 Biker Friends"	Reddick, Maloy	3:17
13.	"Don't Let It Be Love"	Reddick, Maloy	3:28
14.	"If You Come Back to Me" (includes "Outro" hidden track)	Reddick, Maloy	20:13
Total length:			64:42

Bonus tracks

UK Edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"Everyday's a Saturday"	Maloy, Reddick	3:32
16.	"No Opinion" (Acoustic)		3:30
Total length:			71:44

Japan Edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"...Baby One More Time"	Max Martin	3:30
16.	"No Opinion" (Acoustic)		3:30
Total length:			71:42

Hastings Edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"Home Alone"	Reddick, Allan	3:26
Total length:			68:16

iTunes Edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"Not a Love Song"	Coplan, Reddick	3:36
Total length:			68:25

Napster Edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"Straight to Video"	Reddick, Walker	2:48
Total length:			67:29

Rhapsody Edition^[11]

No.	Title	Length
15.	"No Opinion" (Acoustic)	3:30
Total length:		68:12

Wal-Mart Edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"Good to Be Me"	Reddick	2:32
Total length:			67:25

Many of the bonus tracks were released in 2008 on the Japanese 2008 Re-Issue of Bowling for Soup Goes to the Movies.

B-sides

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Much More Beautiful Person (Acoustic Version)" (UK "High School Never Ends" single b-side)		3:41
2.	"Ride of a Lifetime" (UK "I'm Gay" single b-side)		2:58
3.	"London Bridge (Radio Edit)" (UK "I'm Gay" single b-side)		3:37
4.	"Got Beat Up By a Girl[A]" (demo)		4:27
5.	"Are You Kidding Me?[B]" (demo)	Jaret Reddick, Zac Maloy	4:04
6.	"Hey Hey Joline[C]" (demo)		4:09
7.	"Everyday's a Saturday[D]" (live demo)	Reddick	3:39

Credits

• Jaret Reddick — lead vocals, guitars
• Erik Chandler — bass, vocals
• Chris Burney — guitars, backing vocals
• Gary Wiseman — drums
• Produced by Russ-T Cobb. and Jaret Reddick except track 11 Produced by Butch Walker and track 2 Produced by Russ-T. Cobb and Jaret Reddick, Additional Production by Adam Schlesinger
• Recorded May 15 to June 14, 2006 at Ruby Red Productions, Atlanta, GA, Pulse Recording, Silverlake, CA and Rosewater Studios, Tulsa, Ok
• Engineered and Mixed by Russ-T Cobb Additional Engineering by Casey Diiorio
• Mixed at Ruby Red Productions, Atlanta, GA except * and **
• Assistant Engineers: Sean Loughlin and James Salter
• * Recorded and Engineered by Karl Egsieker at Pulse Recording, Silverlake, CA
• Strings Arranged and Conducted by Rob Mathes
• Recorded by Mark Mandelbaum Assisted by Alex Veneguer at Legacy Recording Studios, NYC
• ** Mixed by Tom Lord-Alge at South Beach Studios, Miami, FL
• Album mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk, NYC

Additional musicians/backing vocals and all around swell dudes:

• Russ-T Cobb — "Make Mine a Decaf," "So ugh...you got my money"
• Casey Diiorio — "Someone drank my birthday present," "That's what happens man"
• Zac Maloy — "you guys aren't going to be seeing much of me for the rest of the week," "pretty, pretty good!!!"
• Butch Walker — Guitar, Keyboards, and Percussion on "When We Die"
• Adam Schlesinger – Guitar and Vocals on "High School Never Ends"
• Joey Huffman – Additional Organ, Piano and Moog
• Lesley Roy sang her BUTT off (literally) on "Much More Beautiful Person" The "When We Die" Orchestra: Rob Mathes (Piano), Sandra Park, Tomas K. Carney, Michael Casteel, Vivek Kamath, Shmuel Katz, Lisa E. Kim, Maria Kitsopoulos, Elizabeth Lim-Dutton, Suzanne Ornstein, Larua J. Seaton, Sarah J. Seiver, Sharon H. Yamada, Jung Sun Yoo, Rebecca H. Young
• Various gang vocals, whistling, drinking, laughing, poking and prodding in Tulsa, Oklahoma:

Greg Lobdell, Neal Tiemann, BRANDO, Bryan Jewett, Andy Skib, Alexis "Lyndsay" Skib, Josh Center, Davey Danger

• Chicks that sing on "Friends Like You" and made the room NOT smell like boy:

Nikki Messing, Niki Smith, Kira Von Sutra, Lindsey Campbell, April Farmer

Bowling for Soup crew:

• Greg Lobdell – Drum Technologist, Monitors and the Chiefs
• Edo Levi – Front of House, Stage Manager, DJ and the Star of David
• Sean Bailey – Tour Manager, One Liners and Bus Pooper
• Bobby-Wayne – Guitar Tech, Bass Tech and Beelzebub
• Dave "Mrs. Garrett" Hale – Merch, Taker Upper of Slack, Anxiety and Lifetime
• A&R: Pablo Mathiason
• Management: Mike Swinford, Paul Nugent and Randy Miller at Rainmaker Artists
• Booking: Andy Somers for The Agency Group/Paul Bolton from Helter Skelter (UK/Europe)
• Legal: Michael L. McKoy, Esq., for Serling Rooks and Ferrara

Release history

Country	Date
United States	November 7, 2006
United Kingdom	February 5, 2007

Notes

• A ^ Featured in frontman Jaret Reddick's second Bowling for Soup podcast, released November 30, 2009.
• B ^ Featured in frontman Jaret Reddick's third Bowling for Soup podcast, released December 16, 2009.
• C ^ Featured in frontman Jaret Reddick's fourth Bowling for Soup podcast, released January 7, 2010.
• D ^ Featured in frontman Jaret Reddick's seventh Bowling for Soup podcast, released March 10, 2010.

References

1. "Flashlight Brown tour with the Spill Canvas, Bowling For Soup". Alternative Press. April 17, 2006. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
2. "Bowling for Soup Interview". IGN Music. January 5, 2007. Archived from the original on January 9, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
3. "Mêlée post official "Built To Last" music video". Alternative Press. July 10, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
4. Paul, Aubin (January 18, 2008). "Pennywise / Sum 41 / The Vandals / Bowling for Soup". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
5. Pascarella, Tony (January 16, 2007). "Bowling for Soup – The Great Burrito Extortion Case". AbsolutePunk. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
6. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Great Burrito Extortion Case - Bowling for Soup". AllMusic. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
7. Susman, Gary (November 10, 2006). "The Great Burrito Extortion Case Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
8. Roth, Kaj (November 6, 2006). "Bowling for Soup - The Great Burrito Extortion Case". Melodic. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
9. Hoard, Christian (October 30, 2006). "The Great Burrito Extortion Case : Bowling For Soup : Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 24, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
10. "Bowling for Soup - Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
11. Archived August 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

External links

• The Great Burrito Extortion Case at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
• Ultimate Guitar's Top Ten Albums of 2006. "The Great Burrito Extortion Case" gained an Honorable Mention.