Riders of the Night
Riders of the Night | ||
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Studio album by Caymon | ||
Released |
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Recorded | 2011-2012 | |
Genre | Pop, dance, R'n'B, urban | |
Length |
40:14 (Standard) 53:19 (Reloaded Edition) | |
Label | Fusion Records | |
Producer | Timbaland, Darkchild, Jim Beanz, Diplo, Emile Haynie, Dada Life, Danja, The Messengers, J.R. Rotem, The Invisible Men | |
Reloaded Edition | ||
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Singles from "Riders of the Night" | ||
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Riders of the Night is the sophomore album release by Caymon, released on July 27th in Ireland, July 30th in the UK and Oceania and on July 31st in the USA via Fusion Records. It was his second consecutiive album to debut at #1 on the album charts.
Caymon worked on the album from early 2012 with a wide range of producers such as Darkchild, Diplo, Timbaland, Danja and Dada Life amongst others, to produce the follow up to 2011's mini-album Nocturnal. The album was proceeded by the single "Girls", released on July 30th also.
With the release of the Reloaded edition in February 2013, the album rose back up to #6, selling close to 400K.
Background and production[edit | edit source]
The talk of a follow up to Caymon's 2011 album "Nocturnal" began in December 2012 when Caymon was spotted leaving a recording studio holding a disk titled "My CD". He later claimed this was just a collection of old demos and that he was taking a break from music in order to star in the CW television series Playing Preston. However, the show was cancelled in June 2012 and almost instantly, Caymon announced his return to the music scene.
The album's recording process was rather rushed, but overall critical reviews claimed this did not affect the quality of the album. Most tracks were recorded within 2 months. "Girls", the album's lead single, was a last minute recording. Initially, "Bittersweet", was going to be the first single from the album.
Caymon said working with Bella-May was an "experience I will never forget". According to the singer, Bella was "a pleasure to work with, if you know what I mean..." and added that she was "full of creative ideas and was a total pro". He also asked Ashley! and rapper Melody Jackson of popular girlband Bloom to feature on the track "Rockstar", which eventually turned out to become a huge fan favourite.
Caymon worked with a large variety of producers on the album, mainly ones with a R'n'B/Hip-hop sound to differ the album from his much more pop orientated debut. He said that his favourite producer to work with was Jim Beanz as he "had an unusual way of working and never left the studio until the song was perfect".
Since it's release, Caymon has admitted to not being totally happy with the album and announced plans to re-release it with some new songs in February 2013.
Reception[edit | edit source]
Critical[edit | edit source]
Professional ratings | |
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Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | (62/100) |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
BBC Music | (positive) |
The Daily Telegraph | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | C |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
NME | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Sunday Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Prior to its release, Riders of the Night received lots of negative reviews. Allmusic claimed the album had "lots of potential to be full of floor fillers" but said it fell short and the floor fillers seemed more like your usual "fillers". BBC Music said that while the album was not ground-breaking, it was enjoyable. NME gave the album a relatively positive review and cited their favourite track as Rockstar which featured Ashley! and Melody Jackson from the girl-band Bloom. The Sunday Times gave the album 1.5/5 stars and called it "diabolical". They added that the tracks were "cheap, uninspired" and claimed Caymon has "zero talent".
Commercial[edit | edit source]
The album debuted at number one in the UK, with sales close to 100,000 copies. In the United States, the album was not well recieved and managed a debut (and peak) at #65 on the Billboard 200. In his home country of Australia, Riders of the Night spent a total of five consecutive weeks at the top spot and has since been certified 3X platinum.
Track listing[edit | edit source]
All tracks, except Without You (written by Elizabeth Grant), written by Caymon.
No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length | |
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1. | "Foam" | Diplo | 3:25 | |
2. | "Drum D-Dum Drum" | Timbaland | 4:11 | |
3. | "Girls" | Darkchild | 3:30 | |
4. | "Lethal Injection" | Timbaland | 3:54 | |
5. | "Bittersweet" (featuring Bella-May) | Darkchild | 3:44 | |
6. | "Without You" | Emile Haynie | 4:02 | |
7. | "Burnin' Up" | Dada Life | 3:12 | |
8. | "Rockstar" (featuring Ashley! and Melody Jackson of Bloom) | Jim Beanz | 3:42 | |
9. | "Don't Panic" | Danja | 3:26 | |
10. | "Shadow" | J.R. Rotem | 4:32 | |
11. | "Farewell" | The Messengers | 4:21 | |
12. | "Cry (UK Bonus Track)" | The Messengers | 3:48 | |
Total length: |
42:36 |
Reloaded Edition | ||||||||||
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No. | Title | Producers | Length | |||||||
12. | "Suck My" | Jim Beanz | 3:42 | |||||||
13. | "Hatin' on the Club" (Feat. Jason) | The Invisible Men | 3:07 | |||||||
14. | "Hurt Me" | The Messenders | 4:16 | |||||||
15. | "Fuck" | Billboard, Ammo | 3:53 |
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Certifications and sales[edit | edit source]
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Promotion[edit | edit source]
"Girls" was released as the first single from the album, on July 30th 2012 and was first performed on the UK version of The Voice. Other than that, the single received minimal promotion except from a music video. But due to Caymon's popularity and strong airplay, the single debuted at #5 and rose to #3 a week later.
Caymon later appeared on 4Music's "The Crush" to perform a few tracks from the album ("Girls", "Foam", "Lethal Injection" and "Don't Panic") In an interview on the show, he said he hoped to tour the album in 2013. The second single from the album, "Without You" failed to to much for the album. In February 2013 the album was re-released alongside a new single "Hatin' on the Club", which charted at #8 on the UK singles charts.
Singles[edit | edit source]
- "Girls", written by Caymon and produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, was released in the United Kingdom on July 30th and in the United States on July 31st as the album's lead single. It spent a total of 8 weeks in the UK charts and sold 245,543 copies, receiving a gold status. The music video was directed by Anthony Mandler and has approximately 42,956,000 views on Vevo. A remix video, featuring the Wideboys Radio Mix, was released towards the end of the single campaign and received heavy rotation on music channels.
- "Without You" was the second single released from the album. It was released on November 5th 2012. The track is a cover of a song by Lana Del Rey and was produced by Emile Haynie. The music video was also directed by Anthony Mandler and premiered on 4Music on October 12th 2012. The single charted at #9 on the UK singles charts and #5 in Australia but did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100.
- "Hatin' on the Club" was released as the lead single from the album's re-release and the album's third single overall. It featured guest vocals from Caymon's older brother Jason. A music video directed by Anthony Mandler was premiered on January 30th and consisted of Caymon getting into a fist fight at a party. The single peaked at #8 and sold 80,059 copies altogether. A US release was planned, but later scrapped.
- "Rockstar" (Featuring Ashley! and Melody Jackson) was released as the album's fourth and final single on July 8th 2013. The single charted at #10.
Single cover | Single information | Sales |
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Girls
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245,543 | |
Without You
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79,425 | |
Hatin' on the Club (Ft. Jason)
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80,059 | |
Rockstar (Ft. Ashley! & Melody Jackson)
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110,879 |
Tour[edit | edit source]
In April 2013, Caymon will embark on the Riders of the Night Tour 2013, visiting arenas in the UK & Ireland and in Australia & New Zealand.
Artwork[edit | edit source]
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