''Famous Last Words'' is the second studio album by Canadian pop-rock band Hedley. It was released on October 30, 2007. It debuted at number three on the

Canadian Albums Chart The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...

upon release. In the

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, the album is known as ''Never Too Late'' and was released on May 12, 2009. The album only includes 8 tracks from the Canadian release and contains 5 tracks from '' Hedley'', which replaced the missing tracks from ''Famous Last Words''. Unlike ''Famous Last Words'', ''Never Too Late'' has a blue background on its album cover, whereas the Canadian release has a red background on its cover.

Background and recording

The group began working on their second studio album in May 2007 with producers Dave Genn and

Greig Nori Greig Andrew Nori (born November 21, 1962) is a Canadian producer and musician from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and is the frontman, co-lead vocalist and guitarist of the pop punk band Treble Charger. In the late 1990s, he began working as a pro ...

. The album was recorded at Hipposonic Studios and

The Warehouse Studio The Warehouse Studio is a multi-media recording facility and photography studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, owned by Bryan Adams. Building The studio is within the Oppenheimer Building, a three-story Victorian building recognized ...

in Vancouver, British Columbia and in Rock Beach Recording in White Rock, British Columbia. According to Hoggard; the album completion process was lengthy. The group were originally supposed to embarked on a headlining Canadian tour, however, the band was chosen to open for

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...

on their

Lost Highway Tour The Lost Highway Tour was a worldwide concert tour by American rock band Bon Jovi in support of their 10th studio album, '' Lost Highway''. It took place from October 2007 to July 2008. Originally planned as a 2008 greatest hits tour, the tour w ...

at their Canadian stops for 14 shows which forced them to postpone their own tour. It was rescheduled for January 2008 and they were supported by State of Shock. In the United States, the group released ''Famous Last Words'' under the name ''Never Too Late'' on May 12, 2009, by

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Singles

The first single from the album, " She's So Sorry", was released to radio on August 21, 2007. The video was shot in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

on August 30 and premiered on

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

on September 20, 2007. The album's second single, " For the Nights I Can't Remember", was serviced to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

in November 2007. The song peaked at number six on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

. The third single, " Never Too Late", was released on April 8, 2008, and peaked at number four on the Canadian Hot 100. The fourth single from the album, " Old School" was released in August 2008, and peaked at number 10 on the Canadian Hot 100. "Dying to Live Again" was released in November 2008, as the fifth single from the album. The song peaked at number 59 on the Canadian Hot 100.

Critical reception

''Famous Last Words'' was received with mixed to low reviews. Andrew Leahey of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave the album a 2.5/5 star rating. He said, "''Famous Last Words'' delivers the same kick of Hedley's innumerable pop-punk colleagues, relying on a blend of snot-nosed vocals and guitar muscle that evokes the likes of

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and Hot Topic in the same breath. He ends off stating, "''Famous Last Words'' does sound destined for airplay as a result, proving that

Jacob Hoggard Jacob William Hoggard (born July 9, 1984) is a Canadian former musician who was the lead singer for the pop rock band Hedley. Hoggard competed on the second season of ''Canadian Idol'' in 2004, where he placed third. In 2018, Hoggard was arr ...

knows how to stay in the spotlight better than he knows how to craft original music. Nick of Tunelab.com gave the album a 5/10 star rating. He stated, "If you are familiar with Hedley’s sound, then their often times hard to take seriously and borderline sugarcoated approach shouldn’t come as a shock." Kaj Roth of

Melodic A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term c ...

called the tracks " For the Nights I Can't Remember" and "Dying to Live Again" as "modern rock version of

Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler) or Ivar (born 1984), American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English ...

." Adrian Mack of ''

The Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools ...

'' stated that the group, "abandoned any effort to distinguish itself from the network of tatty Canadiana it finds itself caught up in, settling for an almost mathematically perfect melding of

Treble Charger Treble Charger is a Canadian rock band formed in 1992 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, consisting of vocalist and guitarist Greig Nori, vocalist and guitarist Bill Priddle, bassist Rosie Martin and drummer Richard Mulligan. They began with a melo ...

and

Sum 41 Sum 41 was a Canadian rock band formed in Ajax, Ontario, in 1996. The band's final lineup consisted of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Dave Baksh (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason McCaslin (bass, backing vocals), Tom T ...

." ''

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'' wrote, "At the core are such propulsive, Vans Warped tour-ready rock anthems as 'She's So Sorry', 'Narcissist' and 'Hand Grenade'. Hedley also comes stocked with the buoyant pop of the title track and such pining power ballads as the sentimental first single 'Old School'. It can be a tough jump from Much Music to MTV, but Hedley may be able to pull it off."

Track listing

Never Too Late (USA Release)

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Famous Last Words'' booklet. ;Hedley *

– Vocals and piano * Tommy Mac – Bass and backing vocals * Dave Rosin – Guitar and backing vocals * Chris Crippin – Drums and backing vocals ;Additional musicians * Brian Howes – Guitar solo (on "She's So Sorry") *

– Guitar solo (on "Brave New World") *Ray Garraway – Drums (on "Never Too Late") *Gillian Mott (Violin), Joshua Belvedere (Violin), Bernard Kane (Viola), Alexandra Sia (Cello) – Strings (on "Old School" and "Dying to Live Again") *Sal Ferreres – Percussion * Dave Genn – Guitars, string arrangements, piano, keyboards, additional production *Ben Kaplan – Additional keyboards *Elaine Shepherd, April White, Carly "Charly" Campbell – Back-up singers ;Production * Mike Fraser – Mixing *Dean Maher – Engineering *

Brian Gardner Brian Knapp Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, is an American mastering engineer. He has worked on a number of recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk and dance-p ...

– Mastering (

Bernie Grundman Mastering Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chri ...

;

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) *Alex Aligizakis – Additional recording *Dave Ottoson – Pre-Pro recording, mixing *Shawn O'Hara – Assistant engineer (Rock Beach Recording) *Brendon Brown, Brock McFarlane, Chris Michael – Assistant engineers (Hipposonic Studios) *Eric Mosher – Assistant engineer (Warehouse Studios) ;Artwork *Garnet Armstrong – Art direction, design *Matt Barnes – Photography *Simon Paul – Design *Steve McArdle – 3D illustration

Charts

Weekly charts

Year end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Famous Last Words (Hedley Album) 2007 albums Albums recorded at Hipposonic Studios Albums recorded at The Warehouse Studio Hedley (band) albums Universal Music Canada albums