Death of an Optimist

Death of an Optimist is the debut studio album by Canadian-American musician Grandson. The album was released on December 4, 2020, through Fueled by Ramen.

Death of an Optimist
Studio album by Grandson
Released	December 4, 2020 (2020-12-04)
Recorded	2019–2020
Genre	Rap rock, alternative rock
Length	38:00
Label	Fueled by Ramen
Producer	Travis Barker Taylor Bird Boonn Andrew Dawson JT Daly Krupa No Love for the Middle Child Mike Shinoda Gabe Simon
Grandson chronology
A Modern Tragedy Vol. 3 (2019) Death of an Optimist (2020) I Love You, I'm Trying (2023)
Singles from Death of an Optimist
"Identity" Released: June 26, 2020[1] "Riptide" Released: July 31, 2020[2] "Dirty" Released: September 25, 2020 "We Did It!!!" Released: November 13, 2020

Background and recording

Benjamin's EP, A Modern Tragedy, Vol. 3 was released on September 13, 2019. After the release of the third and final EP of the A Modern Tragedy trilogy, Grandson began working on his first studio album.^[3]

The album was first announced on September 23, 2020, with the single "Dirty".^[4]

Music and composition

In an interview with NME, Grandson said that Death of an Optimist is a critical outlook of the current state of affairs and of the year 2020 in general saying, "it is both an origin story and an obituary navigating hope, anxiety, and the state of optimism in 2020."^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Kerrang!	[5]

Initial reaction to the album has been positive. David McLaughlin of Kerrang! praised grandson's blending of sounds, saying, "Here’s an artist unafraid of flexing his creativity, exploring sounds from whatever genre tickles his fancy."^[5] The Rock Matters Podcast said, "It’s very much a millennial coming of age album. It’s a guy in his mid-20s trying to cling to hope that real change for a better future is possible. And credit to Grandson. He definitely sounds like he's in for the fight."^[6]

Track listing

Death of an Optimist track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Death of an Optimist // Intro"	Jordan Benjamin Chester Krupa Carbone Kevin Hissink Maxwell Joseph	Boonn Krupa	2:31
2.	"In Over My Head"	Benjamin Carbone JT Daly Hissink	Boonn Krupa Daly	3:18
3.	"Identity"	Benjamin Carbone Andrew Dawson Hissink	Boonn Krupa Dawson	3:36
4.	"Left Behind"	Benjamin Carbone Hissink Sam Hollander Andrew Migliore	Boonn Krupa No Love for the Middle Child	3:25
5.	"Dirty"	Benjamin Carbone Hissink Gabe Simon	Boonn Krupa Simon	3:28
6.	"The Ballad of G and X // Interlude"	Benjamin Carbone Hissink	Boonn Krupa	2:22
7.	"We Did It!!!"	Benjamin Carbone Daly Hissink Joseph	Boonn Krupa Daly	2:49
8.	"WWIII"	Benjamin Carbone Hissink	Boonn Krupa	3:22
9.	"Riptide"	Benjamin Taylor Bird Hissink Mike Shinoda	Boonn Bird Shinoda	3:12
10.	"Pain Shopping"	Benjamin Carbone Hissink Daniel Ledinsky	Boonn Krupa	3:17
11.	"Drop Dead"	Benjamin Travis Barker Carbone Hissink	Boonn Krupa Barker	3:09
12.	"Welcome to Paradise // Outro"	Benjamin Carbone Ross Golan Hissink	Boonn Krupa	3:31
Total length:				38:00

Personnel

• Grandson – vocals (all tracks), programming (track 3)
• Chris Gehringer – mastering (tracks 1, 2, 4–8, 10–12)
• Mark Jackson – mastering (track 3)
• Taylor Bird – mastering, mixing, programming (track 9)
• Krupa – mixing (tracks 1, 3, 6, 12), programming (3, 5, 7)
• Adam Hawkins – mixing (tracks 2, 5, 11)
• Nick Rad – mixing (tracks 4, 7, 8, 10)
• Andrew Dawson – programming (track 3)
• Kevin Hissink – programming (track 3)
• Boonn – programming (tracks 5, 7)
• Gabe Simon – programming (track 5)
• JT Daly – programming (track 7)
• Mike Shinoda – programming (track 9)

Charts

Chart performance for Death of an Optimist

Chart (2020)	Peak position
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[7]	28
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[8]	7

See also

• Blood // Water