The Drug in Me Is You
The Drug in Me Is You
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The Drug in Me Is You

The Drug in Me Is You is the debut studio album by American rock band Falling in Reverse. Production for the album took place following lead singer Ronnie Radke's departure from Escape the Fate in 2008. Recording took place in December 2010 and lasted until February 2011 at Paint it Black Studios in Orlando, Florida. Michael Baskette, who worked with Radke on Escape the Fate's Dying Is Your Latest Fashion, returned as the executive producer for the album, alongside former bandmate Omar Espinosa and others as additional composers and production aids in the studio. The Drug in Me Is You was released on July 25, 2011, in Europe and Japan, and on July 26, 2011, in the United States.

The album charted at number 19 on the US Billboard 200, selling 18,000 copies in its first week in the United States. It also charted internationally on the national album charts in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. By December 2019, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Upon release, The Drug in Me Is You received generally favorable reviews. Critics consistently noted the contrast between hardcore music and pop music on the tracks, but to mixed reception. Overall, the lyrics were viewed as being cliché while Radke's singing and return to making music were noted. In addition, critics focused on the bitter relationship between Radke and his former band, Escape the Fate, in which reviewers noticed the choice to attack the band in many of the album's tracks. The Drug in Me Is You was chosen by the Guitar World magazine as the album number 21 among the top 50 albums of 2011.

It is the only album that features founding bassist Nason Schoeffler and drummer Scott Gee.

In 2006, Ronnie Radke was involved in an altercation in Las Vegas that resulted in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Cook, eventually leading to Radke's two-year imprisonment for parole violation. Following his incarceration and forced departure from his old band, Escape the Fate, Radke formed Falling in Reverse with the help of longtime friend Nason Schoeffler, who found band members and visited Radke while he was in prison. However, Radke was unable to work with the band prior to his release on December 12, 2010. After going through a few bassists and drummers, the band prepared to record their full-length debut album. After the album finished production, bassist and founding member Nason Schoeffler and drummer Scott Gee left the band, making the album their only release with the band. Former Aiden, I Am Ghost, and The Bigger Lights drummer Ryan Seaman replaced Scott Gee and former Cellador member Mika Horiuchi took over bass for Schoeffler.

Originally conceived as a double album, the band's debut was originally going to contain one disc of post-hardcore and another with pop-punk. This was eventually scrapped in favor for a single album, soon confirmed to be titled, The Drug in Me Is You. The band also confirmed that Radke's friend, Michael Baskette, who had previously worked on Blessthefall's album Witness and Escape the Fate's debut Dying Is Your Latest Fashion (which was also with Radke), would produce the album. Radke announced that the album would be released in 2011 by Epitaph Records, Radke's former label with Escape the Fate. The album was slated for a July 26, 2011 release date, with pre-orders scheduled for June 7.

In December 2010, the band began composing songs together for the first time. They announced on December 20 that they would go to Orlando, Florida to record a full-length debut album over a period of two months with a tentative release date of the first quarter of 2011. The eleven song track list was released soon after. With the help of Executive Producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette, mixing and tracking for the album concluded on April 2, 2011. Speaking about working with Baskette as producer, Radke said, "The dude’s a genius, he really is. I don’t know if he’s under the radar or anything, but the guy knows what he’s doing. He’s a vocalist guy. That’s why me and him get along so well."

The Drug in Me Is You has been described as post-hardcore and pop punk. The songs also included synths, pop-choruses, and other sounds. Radke commented on the inclusion of different genres in songs, comparing different parts of the same song to the sounds of Norma Jean, Underoath, and Katy Perry. Lyrically, according to Radke, some of the songs on the album had tones of being arrogant, comparing the attitude to that commonly found in rap music. This is because Radke has cited Eminem as one of his major influences, so much so that he even included a beat made by Eminem and Dr. Dre during a breakdown on the track "Sink or Swim". In an interview, Radke's experiences were compared to Eminem's, noting that, "[Eminem] is someone who has been knocked down and knocked down, and he’s gotten back up again. Time and time again. And he’s triumphed." While the album itself was written during Radke's time in prison, he does not consider it a "Jailhouse record", though some songs that did not make the album do address a prison theme.

The lyrics for the album were all written by Radke during his imprisonment. He has often called the album a breakup record, but with a band and not a girl. Radke said that, "I would think all day, for days and days, [about] what people would want to hear. I would dissect my old album and read all the fan letters and the reasons why they loved my band and why they listened to it. And I wrote about that, but in different ways. I don’t know why these kids love the tragedies that I write about. I guess they can relate to it." Also on the writing process, Radke said that his lyrics were much more evolved than his past works and that he felt this was a high-point for the post-hardcore genre, owing success to being incarcerated and writing lyrics for two years with no other musical influences. The title, The Drug in Me Is You, came from Radke's experiences concerning his previous self-destructive behavior, which Radke explained that, "We named it that because ... It's me, looking in the mirror, saying, 'I am my own worst [enemy]. I do the worst damage to myself — more than anybody else can to do me.'"

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