Haunted Cities is the second studio album by the American punk rock/hip hop band Transplants. It was released on June 21, 2005, via LaSalle Records/Atlantic Records, and sold close to 34,000 copies in its first week and came in at #28 on the US Billboard 200, #72 on the UK Albums Chart, #140 on the Top 200 Albums France.
Production Audio production of the record was handled by Tim Armstrong and Dave Carlock. Rancid's Matt Freeman, The Slackers' Vic Ruggiero, Cypress Hill's B-Real and Sen Dog, Dilated Peoples' Rakaa, and Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. made their appearances on the album as additional musicians and vocalists. Houston-based rapper Paul Wall made screwed and chopped version of the album, released months later the same year.
Background The album spawned three singles: "Gangsters and Thugs", "What I Can't Describe" and "Crash and Burn". Its lead single, "Gangsters and Thugs", peaked at #25 on the US Alternative Songs and #35 on the UK Singles Chart. It also included two bonus tracks: "Red Dawn", which was previously released as B-side of CD formatted "Gangsters and Thugs" single and was added later on as the thirteenth track on the Japanese version of Haunted Cities, and "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7", which was dropped as non-album promotional single and was added later as the thirteenth track on its Best Buy edition.
Critical reception
Haunted Cities was met with "mixed or averages" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 55 based on 11 reviews.
In a review for AllMusic, Johnny Loftus noted how the album "suffers lyrically", while going on to say, "the whole package ends up having this strangely alluring glimmer. It's like discovering California Babylon after being lost in suburbia." E! Online explained: "Haunted Cities has more of a street-smarts vibe and is actually more listenable. Despite some song titles that foreshadow darker themes, this musical locale is more inviting than intimidating."
Track listing
Personnel
Tim Armstrong - vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, executive producer, producer, engineering Rob "Skinhead Rob" Aston - vocals Travis Barker - drums, loops, percussion Sen Dog - vocals (track 1) Paul Devoux - vocals (track 4) Vincent Devoux - vocals (track 4) Ted Devoux - vocals (track 4) Louis Freese - vocals (track 6) Rakaa Taylor - vocals (track 12) Richard Stites - backing vocals (track 3) Dave Carlock - backing vocals (tracks: 4, 8, 12), bass (tracks: 5, 12), guitar (tracks: 5–6, 8), keyboards & synthesizer (tracks: 2–8, 12), theremin (tracks: 1, 6, 8), organ (tracks: 8, 10), producer, engineering Kim Jade Fry - bass (tracks: 2–3) Matt Freeman - bass (tracks: 5, 11) Gemi Taylor - guitar (track 4) Nic C - drum programming (track 7) Carlos Paugar - drum programming (track 12) Vic Ruggiero - Farfisa organ & Wurlitzer organ (track 6) Jennifer Tefft - flute (track 12) Dave Holden - saxophone (track 5) Obi Fernandez - trombone (track 5) Rich Graiko - trumpet (track 5) Scott Abels - percussion (tracks: 4, 6, 10, 12) Brett Reed - percussion (track 10) DJ Odie - scratches (tracks: 3, 11–12) DJ Pone - scratches (tracks: 4–5, 10) Billy "Jam" Kiernan - sound fx effects (track 5) John Silas Cranfield - assistant engineering Nick Ferrero - assistant engineering Chris Rakestraw - assistant engineering Alicia Simmons - assistant engineering Ian Suddarth - assistant engineering John Morrical - additional engineer, assistant engineering Fredrik Sarhagen - additional engineering Brian "Big Bass" Gardner - mastering Neal Harrington Pogue - mixing Mark Machado - artwork (logo & cover) Estevan Oriol - photography
Charts
Album +Chart performance for Haunted CitiesChart (2005)Peakposition Australian Albums (ARIA) 53 French Top 200 Albums 140 UK Albums Chart 72 US Billboard 200 28
Singles +Chart performance for singles from Haunted Cities Year Song Peak positions US Alternative Songs UK Singles Chart 2005 "Gangsters and Thugs" 25 35 "What I Can't Describe" — — "Crash and Burn" — —
References
External links