"Reckless Paradise" is a song by Canadian punk band

Billy Talent Billy Talent is a Canadian rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with lead vocalist Benjamin Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jonathan Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. There have been no lineup changes, alth ...

. Initially released as the first single for their sixth album, ''

Crisis of Faith A crisis of faith is a deep and painful questioning, loss, or transformation of belief. Commonly, the term is used in reference to a crisis of religious faith, such as doubt about the existence or doubt about the goodness of God, but it can also be ...

'', it became the album's second single after the band chose to include their previous single, "

Forgiveness I + II Forgiveness, in a psychological sense, is the intentional and voluntary process by which one who may initially feel victimized or wronged, goes through a change in feelings and attitude regarding a given offender, and overcomes the impact of th ...

", on ''Crisis of Faith''.

Background

"Reckless Paradise" was primarily written by vocalist,

Ben Kowalewicz Benjamin Ian Kowalewicz (; born December 16, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist of rock band Billy Talent. Early life Kowalewicz, of Polish descent, was born December 16, 1975, in Pierrefonds, Quebec, and raised ...

, and guitarist,

Ian D'Sa Ian D'Sa is a Canadian guitarist and producer best known as a member of the rock band Billy Talent. Early life and career Ian was born in the suburb of Southall, London. He is of Goan background. His family moved to Canada when he was three ...

, about the need for people to be more active in their communities during times of conflict. Kowalewicz detailed the song's message more in an interview with

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication '' Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

“We’re in a very interesting time in the world. In my 45 years on this planet, it’s never been more dangerous, volatile or divisive. The four of us are saying we need to come together and put our bullshit aside. We’re only on this planet for a short time together and we need to make sure we treat each other with respect, treat the climate with respect and also realise that the things we’re being sold as truth are not always right. We get a lot of, ‘You’re a political band!’ – we’re not necessarily a political band, but we are socially-minded. This is past the point of left or right-leaning politics.” - Ben Kowalewicz

Release and reception

"Reckless Paradise" was released on January 24, 2020, with the intention of it being the first single for ''Crisis of Faith'' when the album was still set to release that fall. When the album was postponed to 2022, the band chose to include their previous non-album single "Forgiveness I + II" on ''Crisis of Faith'', technically making "Reckless Paradise" the second released single from the album. Upon release, "Reckless Paradise" was met with mostly positive review. Rob Sayce of

Rock Sound ''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, ...

called the song "Powerful", while Kaitlin Milligan of

Broadway World BroadwayWorld is a theatre news website based in New York City covering Broadway, Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres ...

felt the song delivered "the powerful driving riffs and pointed lyrics the band is famous for." Alternative Press' Koltan Greenwood called the song "a school lesson in melodic yet powerful riffs and supreme vocal range."

Music video

A music video was released alongside "Reckless Paradise" as part of the band's Forgiveness short film series. The video has since been removed from

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

, but the band also uploaded a lyric video to the website as well.

Personnel

Billy Talent *

- lead vocals, songwriting *

- guitars, synthesizers, piano, backing vocals, producer *

Jonathan Gallant Billy Talent is a Canadian rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with lead vocalist Benjamin Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jonathan Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. There have been no lineup changes, althou ...

- bass, songwriting *

Jordan Hastings Jordan "Ratbeard" Hastings (born March 15, 1982) is a Canadian musician born in Hamilton, Ontario. He is best known as the drummer of Alexisonfire, having replaced their former drummer Jesse Ingelevics. Hastings was originally intended to be a t ...

- drums, songwriting Production *

Eric Ratz Eric Ratz is a Canadian producer, engineer, and mixer. He has won multiple Grammy and Juno awards. Throughout his career, Ratz has worked with some of Canada's most successful and influential rock bands, including Arkells, Big Wreck, Billy Tale ...

- engineering *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' '' Come Away with Me''. Biograp ...

- engineering *

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 compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

- mixing

Charts

References

{{Billy Talent 2020 singles 2020 songs Billy Talent songs Songs written by Ian D'Sa Songs written by Benjamin Kowalewicz Songs written by Jonathan Gallant