''Truant'' (styled as ''truANT'') is the third studio album by American

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

Alien Ant Farm Alien Ant Farm is an American rock band that formed in Riverside, California in 1996. They have released six studio albums and sold over 5 million units worldwide. The band's cover of Michael Jackson's " Smooth Criminal" topped the ''Billboard ...

. It was released on August 19, 2003 by

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Mo Ostin, his son Michael Ostin and Lenny Waronker as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label opera ...

. The producers of the album were

Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots, commonly abbreviated as STP, is an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1989. Originally consisting of lead vocalist Scott Weiland, guitarist Dean DeLeo, bassist Robert DeLeo, and drummer :Songs ...

' guitarist and bassist

Robert DeLeo Robert Emile DeLeo (born February 2, 1966) is an American musician, best known as the bassist for rock band Stone Temple Pilots. He is part of Delta Deep and he has also played in Talk Show and Army of Anyone. He is the younger brother of Sto ...

and

Dean DeLeo Dean DeLeo (born August 23, 1961) is an American guitarist known for his work with rock band Stone Temple Pilots. DeLeo is also known for his role in the short-lived bands Talk Show and Army of Anyone. He is the older brother of Robert DeLeo ...

. "These Days" was released to radio on July 1, 2003. " Glow" was released to radio on September 9, 2003. 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 track "These Days" was filmed on a rooftop across the street from the

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. The surprise video shoot was shot during the 2003

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while numerous hip hop artists and rappers were arriving on the red carpet before the awards show. The video catches the reaction from many artists, including

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop g ...

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

, and

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper. She was born and raised in New York City and lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after ...

. The album art is based on the classic Pee Chee brand school folder, featuring the faces of the band members.

Reception

''Truant'' was met with generally favourable reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. At

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, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 63, based on ten reviews. Christina Fuoco 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 ...

awarded it four and a half out of five stars, while Dave Doray of

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gave it a 9 out of 10. Doray compared the vocals to

Incubus An Incubus () is a demon, male demon in human form in folklore that seeks to have Sexuality in Christian demonology, sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. Parallels exist in many c ...

and noted that "the lighter songs on the album are equally as powerful as the heavier ones." ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

s Sean Richardson had a more mixed review in August 2003, giving it a 2.5 out of 5 rating. He wrote that the band "use pop metal as a springboard for some eclectic experimentation", adding that "the album feels unfocused, and this time, Alien Ant Farm don’t have a novelty hit up their sleeve. Maybe another Jacko tribute is in order; given ''TruANT''‘s slightly dated feel, how about ' Remember the Time'?". ''

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political r ...

'' had another mixed review, commenting that it "sounds like a teenage

Faith No More Faith No More is an American Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before September 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/rhythm guitarist ...

at their first practice."

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

reviewer Kate Lawrence similarly claimed in 2003 that "much of the album" was reminiscent of Faith No More, writing "given that Faith No More also erred on the irreverent side of rock, it seems fitting that they should be considered influences for AAF. Mitchell and co. once admitted that they basically 'like to have a good time and be goofy'." She added that "

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

cheeky charm is still very much in evidence in what is a very consistent album." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' had a mixed review in August 2003. They wrote, "on Alien Ant Farm’s ''truANT'', the group's follow-up to its 2001 smash debut ''Anthology'', the proto-

alt-metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

-lite sound gets the occasional spell with swatches of

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

('Tia Lupe'),

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

('Never Meant') and Faith No More (the vocal hook in 'Rubber Mallet' is lifted straight from ' Falling to Pieces')", adding that " t'snice to see Alien Ant Farm branching out, only it’s too bad none of it’s all that riveting."

Commercial response

"These Days" appeared on several ''Billboard'' component charts: number 17 on

Active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

, number 29 on

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 ...

, number 38 on

Mainstream Rock Songs Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...

, and number 40 on

Heritage Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

Track listing

Personnel

Alien Ant Farm * Dryden Vera Mitchell – lead and background vocals, acoustic guitar * Terence Corso – guitar, slide guitar , background vocals * Tye Zamora – bass, acoustic piano , kalimba , background vocals * Mike Cosgrove – drums Technical personnel * DeLeo Brothers (

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

and Dean) – producers * Brendan O'Brien – mixing * Dave Schiffman – engineer *

Andrew Scheps Andrew Scheps is an American mix engineer, recording engineer, record producer, and record label owner based in Los Angeles and the United Kingdom. He has received Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album for his work on Red Hot Chili Peppers' '' Stadi ...

– Pro Tools engineer, additional engineering * Seth Waldman – assistant engineer *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

– mastering * Steve Rosenblatt – production coordination * Tamara Linder – art direction, design Additional musicians * David Campbell – string arranger * Suzie Katayama – contractor, leader, and cello * Joel Derouin – violin * Peter Kent – violin * John Wittenberg – violin * Eve Butler – violin * Norm Hughes – violin * Darius Campo – violin * Mark Robertson – violin * Larry Corbett – cello * Dan Smith – cello *

– trumpet *

Lenny Castro Lenny Castro (born September 19, 1956) is an American percussionist from the Los Angeles area. He is one of the most prolific percussionists of all time, appearing on hundreds of albums, including those by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adele, Maroon ...

– percussion * Otmaro Ruiz – acoustic piano *

– organ , background vocals * Jair Neciosup – background vocals

Charts

References

External links

''Truant''
at

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(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control Alien Ant Farm albums 2003 albums Albums produced by Dean DeLeo DreamWorks Records albums Albums produced by Robert DeLeo