''Beautiful Nightmare'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by British-Australian recording artist

Reece Mastin Reece John Phillip Mastin (born 24 November 1994) is an English-born Australian singer and songwriter who won the The X Factor (Australia season 3), third season of ''The X Factor (Australian TV series), The X Factor Australia'' in 2011. Mastin ...

, released on 19 October 2012, by

Sony Music Australia Sony Music Entertainment Australia is the predominant record label operated by American parent company Sony Music Entertainment in Australia. Prior to 1995, SMEA published and distributed video games in Australia & New Zealand on behalf of So ...

. It is the follow-up to Mastin's self-titled debut album, and his first album to be made up of solely original material. In composing the album, Mastin collaborated with several songwriters and producers, including

DNA Songs DNA Songs is a songwriting and production company founded by Anthony Egizii and David Musumeci in Australia in 2004. They have worked with a variety of international and local artists including Ricky Martin, Geri Halliwell, The Veronicas, Guy S ...

Benji Madden Benjamin Levi Madden (né Combs; born March 11, 1979) is an American musician. He is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the rock band Good Charlottefor which he has received various awardsas well as pop rock collaboration the Madden Br ...

, Lindsay Rimes,

Damon Sharpe Damon Sharpe, born Damon Jared Reinagle, is an American record producer, songwriter, DJ and recording artist who works in Los Angeles. He first reached notability as a member of Guys Next Door. He has since contributed to various albums that hav ...

Louis Biancaniello Louis John Biancaniello is an American songwriter and record producer. Career Biancaniello's skills were developed while working alongside producer Narada Michael Walden with whom he produced hits for Shanice '' I Love Your Smile'', Whitney H ...

Brian Howes Brian Howes, also known as Howes, is a Canadian songwriter and record producer who has found success within a wide range of genres, including his work with Puddle of Mudd and Simple Plan. Career Howes played in a British Columbia band, Young Gu ...

and

Rune Westberg Rune Westberg is a Danish born songwriter, record producer, mixer and multi instrumentalist living and working in Los Angeles. He has written and produced for artists including Adam Lambert, Colbie Caillat, Daughtry, Sabrina Carpenter, Prince ...

, among others. ''Beautiful Nightmare'' debuted at number three on the Australian

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and number two on the

New Zealand Albums Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Mu ...

. The album was preceded by the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

" Shut Up & Kiss Me" in April 2012, which debuted at number one on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...

and number two on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. The song was certified platinum by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA), and gold by the

Recording Industry Association of New Zealand Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...

(RIANZ). The second single " Shout It Out" was released in June 2012, which debuted at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified platinum. " Rock Star" was released as the album's third single.

Development and writing

''Beautiful Nightmare'' is the follow-up to Mastin's self-titled debut album, which features selected songs he performed as part of the top twelve on ''The X Factor'' (Australia). ''Beautiful Nightmare'' also serves as Mastin's first album to include original material. In an interview with

MTV Australia MTV was a 24-hour general entertainment channel specialising in music and youth culture programming which serves Australia and New Zealand. Paramount Networks UK & Australia headquartered in London with a local office at Network 10's headquarte ...

in December 2011, Mastin said he had already written new material for the album. He described the material as a mixture of old school and modern sounds "that's not really on the radio at that moment, which I think is cool". Mastin went on to say that most of the lyrical content in the songs "are about girls ..But there's lsoa lot about going out with the boys and having a good night". In April 2012, Mastin announced he was in the studio writing songs with

Good Charlotte Good Charlotte is an American rock band formed in Waldorf, Maryland, in 1995. Since 2005, the band's lineup has consisted of Joel Madden (lead vocals), Benji Madden (guitar, vocals), Paul Thomas (bass), Billy Martin (guitar, keyboards), and ...

, and

Ilan Kidron Ilan Kidron (born 22 April 1976), also known as iKid, is a Sydney-based singer songwriter with over one billion combined streams, best known as the lead singer for Australia's multi-platinum selling dance music act The Potbelleez. As a writer ...

The Potbelleez The Potbelleez are a three-member Irish-Australian electro-house and dance music group, which formed in 2003 as a duo by DJs Dave Goode (a.k.a. David Greene) and Jonny Sonic (Jonathon Murphy). In 2005 they were joined by rapper Blue MC (Ma ...

. Mastin and Madden collaborated on the song "Give Up the Girl". Reminiscing on working with Madden, he said, "It was awesome, he was just a dude. He just came in and sat down, and we hung out for about an hour and a half and just started writing. We came out with something pretty awesome!." In an interview with MTV Australia in May 2012, Mastin described the songs he wrote with Kidron: "It doesn't sound like The Potbelleez – I didn't wanna go in and write a Potbelleez track – but it's cool, what we came out with is awesome". The album's first single " Shut Up & Kiss Me" was written by Mastin,

Hayley Warner Hayley Warner (born 23 January 1992) is an Australian singer-songwriter. In 2009, she finished as runner-up in the seventh and final ''Australian Idol'', and was noted for her high-energy performances and vast vocal range. In 2013, ''The Daily ...

, and Anthony Egizii and David Musumeci of the production duo

. Note: enter "Reece Mastin*" as 'Performer' then click 'Search'. The latter two also wrote the second single " Shout It Out" with Mastin. He also collaborated with other songwriters and producers, including Lindsay Rimes, Khalil Walton, Michael Gerrard, and Jenna & Wac of

Tonight Alive Tonight Alive are an Australian rock band from Sydney. For the majority of the band's career, the line-up consisted of lead vocalist Jenna McDougall, guitarists Jake Hardy and Whakaio Taahi, bassist Cameron Adler, and drummer Matty Best. Formed ...

. In an interview with ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', Mastin described the album's sound, saying " t'sa lot of fun. It's rock blended with everything. If you think of your favourite rock song, it's that combined with pop stuff and club stuff ..to make it awesome. It's Reece from all angles, really – it's everything I could think of."

Music and lyrics

Musically, ''Beautiful Nightmare'' is of the

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

genres. Its first song "Addictive" is a

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

-driven rock song, which features "light

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

segments". The second song " Rock Star" is a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

song, which features "American sounding

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

riffs A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based on ...

". A writer for

Take 40 Australia ''Take 40 Australia'' was Australia's first and longest-running radio music countdown. It counted down and played the official top 40 singles on the ARIA chart on a weekly basis, running over a number of hours. It was broadcast nationally each we ...

likened the song's sound to

Wheatus Wheatus is an American rock band from Northport, New York, formed in 1995. They are known principally for their 2000 single, "Teenage Dirtbag". They also experienced success with their 2001 cover version of Erasure (duo), Erasure's "A Little ...

and

Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Mesa, Arizona, in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach ...

. Cameron Adams of the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

'' noted that the song "channels" Wheatus' "

Teenage Dirtbag "Teenage Dirtbag" is a song by American rock band Wheatus. It was released on June 20, 2000, as the lead single from their eponymous debut album (2000). The song was written by guitarist and vocalist Brendan B. Brown and was inspired by a child ...

" (2000)

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...

's "

Sk8er Boi "Sk8er Boi" (pronounced "skater boy") is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, released as the second single from her debut album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002). It was written by Lavigne and The Matrix (productio ...

" (2002). The album's title track "Beautiful Nightmare" is a

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...

and

horror rock Horror punk is a music genre that mixes punk rock and 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sounds with morbid and violent imagery and lyrics which are often influenced by horror films and science fiction B-movies. The genre was pioneered by t ...

song "slightly reminiscent of

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

". "Stars" has been described as a "romantic song", which sees Mastin "heading back to more

traditional pop Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western culture, Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known ...

." In an interview with the ''Herald Sun'', Mastin revealed that the song is about his girlfriend

Rhiannon Fish Rhiannon Fish (born 14 March 1991) is a Canadian-born Australian actress. Her first screen acting role was Lisa Jeffries in the television soap opera ''Neighbours''. She starred as Rocky in the Disney Channel show ''As the Bell Rings'' and as ...

. The album's fifth song "Dirty Paradise" is a pop punk song, which "features fast lyrics such as 'You gave it up last week / now I've been losing sleep / thinking about what we used to do'". "Alive" is an "uplifting" rock song, which uses the

tom-tom drum A tom drum (also known as a tom-tom) is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, thoug ...

. Its lyrics depict the tale of Mastin "learning to believe in himself again". He stated that the song is about his ''X Factor'' mentor

Guy Sebastian Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian singer who rose to fame after winning the Australian Idol (season 1), first season of ''Australian Idol'', in 2003. Born in Malaysia and raised in Adelaide, Australia, Sebastian h ...

, saying "It's an important thing for me; that's where it all started for me. I changed so much over the show and Guy definitely helped with that." "She's a Killer" features a "funky

Panic! at the Disco Panic! at the Disco was an American pop rock band formed in Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2004 by high school friends Ryan Ross (guitar) and Spencer Smith (musician), Spencer Smith (drums), who recruited classmates Brendon Urie (vocals and ...

-esque"

introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

and contains lyrics about "a super-hot girl". "Freakshow", the ninth song from ''Beautiful Nightmare'', is a contemporary rock song with influences by Muse. " Shut Up & Kiss Me" is an

upbeat Up beat may refer to: *Upbeat, in music, the last beat in the previous bar which immediately precedes the downbeat *Anacrusis, a note (or sequence of notes) which precedes the first downbeat in a bar in a musical phrase * ''Upbeat'' (album), by t ...

pop punk song, which contains lyrics about "making out with a girl". Mastin described it as "a

tongue-in-cheek Tongue-in-cheek is an idiom that describes a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walte ...

, muck around song". "She Calls This Love" features lyrics about a "boy stuck in a relationship who realises that he's not in love with his girl anymore". The album's last song "Give Up the Girl" is a rock song that makes reference to

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

Reception

Cameron Adams of the ''

'' awarded ''Beautiful Nightmare'' three and a half stars, writing that the album "Sounds like teen spirit". ''

The Border Mail ''The Border Mail'' is a daily newspaper and online news brand published in Albury-Wodonga, Australia, serving the twin cities and the surrounding region. It was originally published as ''The Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times'' and later ...

s Jamie Horne also gave the album three and a half stars, calling it "fun and punchy — there's equally great pop to rock moments". ''Beautiful Nightmare'' debuted at number three on the

on 29 October 2012, becoming Mastin's second consecutive top-five album on the chart. That same week, the album debuted at number two on the

. ''Beautiful Nightmare'' was certified gold by the

(ARIA), denoting shipments of 35,000 copies. It was also certified gold by the

(RIANZ), denoting shipments of 7,500 copies.

Release and promotion

''Beautiful Nightmare'' was released through

on 19 October 2012, as both

digital download Digital download may refer to: *Downloading, the processing of copying data to a computer from an external source *Digital distribution, a method of downloading software or audio-visual media as opposed to buying it at a traditional point of sale * ...

and CD formats. On 16 October 2012, Mastin performed "Rock Star" during the live results show of the fourth season of ''The X Factor'' (Australia). During the week of the album's release (19–25 October), Mastin toured several Westfield shopping malls in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, to perform songs from ''Beautiful Nightmare'' and sign CD copies of the album for fans.

The Summer Nights Tour

To further promote the album, Mastin embarked on The Summer Nights Tour across Australia and New Zealand, which began on 1 December 2012 in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, and ended in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

on 24 February 2013.

Justice Crew Justice Crew is an Australian dance and music group consisting of John and Len Pearce, Lukas Bellesini, Paul Merciadez, Samson Smith, and Solo Tohi. Although the group is Australian, members Samson and Solo are from New Zealand. The group origin ...

and Janoskians served as the supporting acts for the nine capital city show dates of the Australian leg of the tour, and Evan Sinton was the supporting act for all eight show dates of the New Zealand leg.

Singles

" Shut Up & Kiss Me" was released as the album's

on 20 April 2012. The song debuted and peaked at number two on the

, and became Mastin's second number-one single on the

. "Shut Up & Kiss Me" was certified platinum by the

(ARIA), and gold by the

(RIANZ). " Shout It Out" was the second single released from ''Beautiful Nightmare'' on 29 June 2012. It was certified platinum and became Mastin's second number-one single on the ARIA Singles Chart, following his debut single "

Good Night Good Night or Goodnight may refer to: Film and television * ''Good Night'' (2008 film), a short film from India * Good Night (2023 film), an Indian Tamil-language film * '' The Good Night'', a 2007 film * ''Good Night, and Good Luck'', a 2005 ...

". Mastin became the first Australian artist to achieve two number one singles during the 2010s decade. In New Zealand, "Shout It Out" reached number eight. The album's third single " Rock Star" was released on 5 October 2012. It peaked at number 16 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and at number 14 on the New Zealand Singles Chart. "Rock Star" was certified platinum by the ARIA. " Timeless" was released as the fourth single on 1 March 2013. It debuted and peaked at number 85 on the ARIA Singles Chart.

Track listing

;Notes * signifies a vocal producer

Credits and personnel

Adapted from the liner notes of ''Beautiful Nightmare''. ;Locations *Recorded at New Holland Studios, Sydney; The Rockpool, Los Angeles; Sony Studios, Sydney;

Studios 301 Studios 301 is an Australian recording studio and is both the longest-running professional recording studio in the southern hemisphere and the largest studio complex in Australia. History The studio was founded in 1926 under the Columbia Grap ...

, Sydney. *Mixed at New Holland Studios, Sydney; The Rockpool, Los Angeles; Song Rimes Studio. *Drums engineered at Ultimate Rhythm Studio in Los Angeles. *Mastered at Studios 301 in Sydney. ;Creative and vocal credits *Jeff Darmanin – photography *Killanoodle – artwork design *

– additional backing vocals *

– lead vocals, backing vocals *David Musumeci (

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

) – backing vocals *

Louis Schoorl Louis Schoorl (born 23 December 1976) is a Dutch-born Australian songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Career Based in Sydney, Australia, Schoorl has written or produced for 5 Seconds of Summer, Taylor Henderson, Jessica Ma ...

– backing vocals *

Scott Stevens Ronald Scott Stevens (born April 1, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. As a defenseman, Stevens played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues and New Jersey ...

– backing vocals ;Technical credits *Brian Allison – engineering, mixing * Michael Avenaim – drums *

– songwriter, producer *Michael Biancaniello – songwriter, producer *Marcus Catanzaro – songwriter * Gary Clark – songwriter, producer, mixing, guitar, synth, bass, programming *Carl Dimataga – additional acoustic guitars *Anthony Egizii (DNA) – songwriter, producer, mixing, programming and keys *

Matthew Gerrard Matthew Gerrard is a Canadian record producer and songwriter. Biography Gerrard grew up in Don Mills, a suburb of Toronto's north-east end. He attended George S. Henry Secondary School where he played trombone in band, later playing bass in a sc ...

– songwriter, producer, guitars, bass, keyboards, programming *Robin Grubert – songwriter, producer, vocal producer, mixing * Anton Hagop – drums and bass engineering *

– songwriter *Jon Ingoldsby – songwriter, producer, vocal producer, mixing *Sean Ingoldsby – additional mastering *Dave Jenkins Jnr – songwriter *

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic range compression for molding mixes that ...

– mixing *Benji Madden – songwriter *Reece Mastin – songwriter, guitar, additional guitars, synth *

Mike Morgan Michael or Mike Morgan may refer to: Music * Michael Morgan (conductor) (1957–2021), American conductor * Mike Morgan (musician) (born 1959), American Texas blues musician, frontman of Mike Morgan and the Crawl * Mike Morgan (producer), Austral ...

– guitars engineering *David Musumeci (DNA) – songwriter, producer, guitars, bass *Brian Paturalski – mixing *Lindsay Rimes – songwriter, producer, mixing, instruments, programming *Ben Rodgers – guitars, bass *Benjamin Rogers – songwriter *Louis Schoorl – producer, recording, mixing, drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, programming *

– songwriter *Scott Stevens – songwriter, producer, mixing, instrumentation, programming *

Andy Stochansky Andy Stochansky is a musician and songwriter from Toronto, Canada. Early years Born and raised in Toronto, Stochansky began tinkering with the family piano at the age of five. To stop him from making music with anything he could get his hands ...

– songwriter *Nathan Tuffin – drums * Khalil "Cassius D. Kalb" Walton – songwriter *

– songwriter *Charlie Waymire – drums engineering *

– songwriter, producer, mixing *

Leon Zervos Leon Zervos is a mastering engineer who has worked with artists including Pink, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Beastie Boys, and Willie Nelson. Life and career Leon Zervos began his mastering career in 1982 at the then EMI Studios 301 in Sydney, where ...

– mastering

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2012 albums Reece Mastin albums Sony Music Australia albums Albums produced by DNA Songs