"Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)" is a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Balla ...

by Welsh

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 ...

band

Lostprophets Lostprophets (stylised as lostprophets or LOSTPROPHETS) were a Welsh rock band from Pontypridd, formed in 1997 by singer Ian Watkins and guitarist Lee Gaze. The group was founded after their former band Fleshbind broke up. They later recruit ...

. It was released as the lead single to the band's third album '' Liberation Transmission'', first to American radio on 16 May 2006 and then as a physical single on 19 June 2006, preceding the album's release by a week. The song debuted at No. 8 on the UK singles chart, tying " Last Train Home" for the band's highest-peaking song. It was nominated for the

Kerrang! Award for Best Single The ''Kerrang!'' Award for Best Single is an honor presented at the Kerrang! Awards, ''Kerrang!'' Awards, an annual ceremony established in 1993 to recognise achievements in rock music. The award was renamed 'Best Song' for the 2018 ceremony onwar ...

. In the United States, it peaked at No. 15 on the

Alternative Airplay Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart.

Background

The first live performance of the single in the UK was in the Muni Arts Centre in

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

on 24 April 2006 prior to it even getting radioplay. The B-sides found on the single came from the same sessions – all of which are brand new tracks.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song was filmed on location in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California and was directed by Ryan Smith. It shows the band performing on what appears to be a helicopter pad at the top of a tall building (possibly a hospital or a news station). At the beginning, the individual band members are shown while a flag showing the band's logo flutters behind them. As the band begins, three teenagers are shown: a girl sitting at dinner with her parents, who suddenly start arguing, a boy sitting in the back seat of a car as his father shouts at him while driving and another boy working in a restaurant kitchen as his boss starts berating at him. When the band reaches the "scream your heart out" refrain near the end of the song, the teenagers start to scream suddenly: the girl shatters every wine glass on the table as her mother covers her ears, the boy in the kitchen blows plates off the shelf in front of him, and the boy in the car shatters the car's windows. Another group of teenagers are then shown on the helicopter pad, in front of the same flag the band members were in front of at the beginning of the video, during the final chorus. The band then finishes the song, and the video fades out.

Track listing

(The B side of the vinyl release was an etched design rather than containing music)

Personnel

* Ian Watkins –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

* Lee Gaze –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Mike Lewis –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

Stuart Richardson Stuart Richardson (born 15 August 1973) is a Welsh musician. He is the bassist for the rock band No Devotion, formed by former members of Lostprophets with Geoff Rickly of Thursday. He is also the touring bassist for Thursday. Career Richards ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Jamie Oliver Jamie Trevor Oliver Order of the Star of Italy, OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and o ...

–

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, keyboard, samples,

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

Josh Freese Joshua Ryan Freese (born December 25, 1972) is an American drummer. A member of punk rock band the Vandals since 1989, Freese has also been a member of new wave band Devo since 1996. He was previously a member of hard rock band Guns N' Roses ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

* Ilan Rubin – drums, percussion

Charts

Certifications

Other media

*The song was included as a playable track in the video games ''

Guitar Hero World Tour ''Guitar Hero World Tour'' is a 2008 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment and the sixth overall installment in the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was launched in North A ...

'' and ''

Lego Rock Band ''Lego Rock Band'' is a 2009 rhythm game developed by TT Fusion in partnership with Harmonix and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the fifth console installment in the ''Rock Band ''series, while it incorporates elemen ...

''. *

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

used the song as the background track for a promotional video highlighting the career of

Jeff Hardy Jeffrey Nero Hardy (born August 31, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and also appears on partner promotion WWE on its NXT (WWE brand), NXT brand. He is re ...

. However, on the WWE Network, the song has been replaced due to the sexual offences of Ian Watkins.

References

External links

ContactMusic review
{{Lostprophets Lostprophets songs 2006 singles Rock ballads 2006 songs Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Bob Rock UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles