Falling In Reverse vocalist Ronnie Radke has explained the logic behind his band’s shift to singles over the years. According to the controversial frontman, the decision was in part spurred by the relatively poor performance the band’s last full-length album, 2016’s “Coming Home“. had.
While that album opened with a respectable 19,000 units, its performance was seen to be a letdown by Radke. A recent interview with 100.3 The X Rocks found Radke opening up on that and how the band’s continued focus on singles has been more creatively beneficial for him:
“Well, my album ‘Coming Home’ didn’t do well; it tanked. It did bad. It didn’t do well. The numbers don’t lie, like they say — in good ways and bad ways. So, I noticed a lot of bands that were my age that were putting out [new music], trying their hardest and they were trying to figure it out, and I just remember being, like, ‘I can’t put another album out.’ I’m, like, ‘What can I do? Because I don’t wanna go down.
I don’t wanna disappear into the abyss of aging emo….’ There’s a lot of bands that have done that. So I looked to rap, like Drake, and I was, like, ‘What are they doing?’ And they’re putting out singles. They just drop a single. Pop artists drop singles. I’m, like, ‘Okay, so what if I put all my creativity into one song instead of putting all my creativity into 10 songs and being rushed to get it out?
Your creativity starts spreading out over 10 songs. If you put it all into one song, it’s really good. And then you put all your creativity into this music video. And it worked. Slowly. ‘Cause it was ‘Losing My Mind‘, then it was ‘Losing My Life‘, then ‘Drugs‘. Corey Taylor [Slipknot], who’s the nicest guy ever, jumped on it. And then ‘Popular Monster‘, it [shot right up]. I was like, ‘Oh, I need to keep doing this.’ I was, like, ‘This is somehow working.'”
Breaking down why the jump to singles proved to be successful, he continued:
“It was just because I honed in my creative juices and I just really spent… Like ‘Popular Monster‘, I wrote that chorus six times. And I realized, ‘Wait a minute. I don’t have to be sold on the first chorus that I write.’ And I figured that out, and I’m, like, I’ll just keep making it until when I wake up the next day I don’t question the song anymore. I’m, like, ‘Dang.’ It’s like seven in the morning. I’m going to get coffee. I put the song on. I’m, like, ‘This slaps.’ Instead of being, like, ‘It’s pretty good,’ it’s, like, ‘No. This is insanely good.'”
While Falling In Reverse‘s 2011 debut album “The Drug In Me Is You” botched up an eventual gold status in the United States and Silver in the UK, it took roughly some eight years to hit those milestones.
Conversely, the band’s 2019 single “Popular Monster” was certified gold in the United States by December of 2020 and earned the group their first platinum award in October of 2021.
With Ice Nine Kills, Our Last Night & Catch Your Breath:
07/29 Sacramento, CA – Heart Health Park
07/30 Redding, CA – Redding Civic Lawn
With Avenged Sevenfold:
09/16 West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
09/17 Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union
09/19 Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
09/20 Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
09/22 Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
09/25 Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
09/26 Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
09/28 Denver, CO – Ball Arena (support TBA)
09/30 West Valley City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre
10/02 Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Dome
10/03 Portland, OR – Moda Center
10/07 Chula Vista, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
10/08 Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
10/10 Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater
10/12 The Woodlands, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
10/13 Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater
10/14 Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena
