Hawthorne Heights Third Album: New Songs, Come Back Home And Producer Howard Benson

Hawthorne Heights fans are chomping at the bit for the Ohio based hardcore band's highly anticipated new album. With a meteoric rise to success, the scream rock 5-piece has their own big shoes to fill and has been hard at work writing songs for their next installment.

Hawthorne Heights began in 2001 under the name A Day in the Life. But after extensive lineup changes the group signed with Chicago based Victory Records under the new moniker Hawthorne Heights and the rest is history. After releasing their first album, The Silence in Black and White, the band toured extensively making it the label's highest selling debut ever. The music video for the single “Ohio is for Lovers” started getting play on MTV, which in turn sparked national radio play and before long the album went platinum.

The pressure was on for a follow up record, and Hawthorne Heights didn't disappoint. Their sophomore effort If Only You Were Lonely debuted at #3 on the Billboard charts and eventually went gold. However, just before its release, street team promoters released a controversial statement addressed to fans as if it were from members of the band. The letter called for fans to use whatever means necessary to ensure Hawthorne Heights release sold higher than R&B singer Ne-Yo's, whose album came out the same day. It even encouraged fans to intentionally misplace Ne-Yo's album in stores to delay re-ordering and slow down sales. The ploy worked; however, Hawthorne Heights was furious over the tarnishing of their name and it eventually poisoned their relationship with the label.

After two huge albums, Hawthorne Heights severed ties with Victory Records, filing lawsuits that claimed the label withheld royalties and slandered their name with the ill advised promotions. Despite their ongoing legal difficulties with Victory, the band signed a major label deal with Virgin and EMI as well as new management company, The Firm. All of the controversy has only put more pressure on the band to come through with their third album, which they fully intend to do.

With over 24 new songs written, Hawthorne Heights is set to hit the studio in the fall with famed producer Howard Benson, known for his work with All American Rejects and My Chemical Romance. This summer, the band is headlining The Show Must Go On tour which hits dates through mid July. After that, Hawthorne Heights will join the Warped Tour through August, after which they intend on hitting the studio to get to work on the new album. The new “Come Back Home” demo song is available on the band's myspace page as a little taste of what's to come.

With plenty of tour dates set this summer and fall, fans will have plenty of opportunities to see Hawthorne Heights before they disappear into the studio. But with their legal troubles behind them and a major studio recording set up with renowned producer, Howard Benson, the band is sitting pretty and is fully prepared to hit hard with their long awaited third album. For now, fans will just have to live with the “Come Back Home” demo song.


Sources:
Hawthorne Heights. Purevolume.com. 2007. VIRB Inc. 22 June 2007. http://www.purevolume.com/hawthorneheights.
Awdey, Harry. “Hawthorne Heights.” Crush Media Magazine.com. 2006. 22 June 2007. http://www.crushmediamagazine.com/HawthorneHeights -IfOnlyYouWereLonelyReview.html.
Butler, Susan. “Judge: Hawthorne Heights Not Bound to Victory.” Billboard.com. 18 May 2007. Nielsen Business Media Inc. 22 June 2007. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_displa y.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003587670.
"Hawthorne Heights." Wikipedia. 22 June 2007. 22 June 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_Heights.