You Fail Me

You Fail Me
Studio album by Converge
Released	September 21, 2004 (2004-09-21)
Genre	Metalcore, mathcore, hardcore punk
Length	35:26
Label	Epitaph
Producer	Kurt Ballou, Shawn Mosely, Chris Moylan
Converge chronology
Unloved and Weeded Out (2003) You Fail Me (2004) No Heroes (2006)

You Fail Me is the fifth studio album by American metalcore band Converge, released on September 20, 2004 through Epitaph Records, it is the band's first release on the label, previously being signed to Equal Vision Records. It was the band's first to chart commercially, reaching number 171 on the Billboard 200. It also charted at number 12 in the Top Heatseekers chart and number 16 in the Independent Albums listings.^[1]

On June 17, 2016, Converge reissued the album under the name You Fail Me Redux through Epitaph/Deathwish.

Theme

Jacob Bannon explained the theme of the album when asked in an interview with Magnus Jaschke "what's the concept or theme of it?"

Lyrically/Thematically: After "Jane..." was recorded and released, I thought I was going to feel the emotional burden I was carrying lift from my shoulders. I had all the puzzle pieces there in front of me. Outlets bring closure, or at least that's what I thought. With that, I put myself out on the line looking for an emotional resolve with "Jane..." and it never came. When the album was released I didn't feel any better, nothing was changed. My depression kept collapsing on itself. At that point I stopped hoping and searching and I took a long hard look at my life and at my heart. I did a huge amount of soul searching and found so much failure within myself. That discovery was a massive realization. As I started to see clear again, I also saw the failure in friends and loved ones around me. How we fail each other, and how we fail ourselves. These are songs of failure. And ultimately, surviving self destruction and tragedy we all face in our lives. Musically our only goal was to write an album that moved us and challenged us. We feel we accomplished that.^[2]

You Fail Me Redux

On June 17, 2016, Converge reissued the album under the name You Fail Me Redux through Epitaph/Deathwish. The band was "never quite content with the original mix" and had guitarist Kurt Ballou remix the album and Alan Douches remaster it. You Fail Me Redux also features updated cover artwork with an inverted color scheme, a black-outlined hand on a white background.^[3] The redux had the same track list as the vinyl version of the original album.

Kurt Ballou explained in an interview with Noisey why he felt that the album needed to be remixed/remastered;

Probably since we did No Heroes [in 2006]. You Fail Me was the last time Converge did a record where I wasn’t involved in the entire engineering process. The record that followed You Fail Me, which was No Heroes, was the first time that I both recorded and mixed a Converge record, with the exception of The Poacher Diaries, which was an EP or a split. Upon completing No Heroes and managing to make my bandmates happy with the work I did on that record, I thought that I’d really like to go back and remix You Fail Me. I recorded that one, but Matt Ellard, who did most of the engineering work on Jane Doe, was the one who mixed it. But it was also mixed under less than ideal circumstances.

Jane Doe was mixed at Fort Apache on a console that Matt was familiar with, and we had sufficient time to do those mixes. With You Fail Me, he came up and mixed in my studio, which he’d never worked in before, and it was an unfamiliar console. He’s a very malleable engineer and can work anywhere, but it probably wasn’t his top choice to mix at my place. We also kept having power outages during the mixes. I can’t remember the exact details, but I think we booked six days of mixing with him, but he ended up having to do it in about three because he’d come in, work for half an hour, and the power would go out. It was mixed in the summer under brownout conditions, so we’d have electricity in the morning while it was still relatively cool but then as things heated up in the afternoon we’d lose power. So he spent a lot of time lying on the couch waiting for the power to come back on. I still think it turned out great, but there was something about the lack of consistency from song to song and a few other details that made me want to remix it. Sonically, I wanted to make it fit more logically between Jane Doe and No Heroes.^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Lambgoat	link
Pitchfork Media	8.0/10 link
Sputnikmusic	4/5 link
Stylus Magazine	A link

Joe Pazner of Stylus Magazine said that "Converge has emerged an impeccably pared-down case study in calculated cruelty, resourcefulness and cunning tempered by desperation. More than any record in their expansive catalog, You Fail Me stands as testament to the brutal necessities Converge has created to ensure its survival."

Adam Turner-Heffer of Sputnikmusic said that "They are as important as Botch and Palehorse in their own genres, and with [You Fail Me], they are here to prove it.

Sam Ubl of Pitchfork Media complimented the album by stating "Not only have Converge retained (even sharpened) their razorblade cut, they're now bolstered by a brawny low-end".^[5]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Jacob Bannon, all music composed by Converge.

Personnel

You Fail Me personnel adapted from CD liner notes.^[6]

References

External links

• Official promotional website for the album
• You Fail Me on Bandcamp