The Bright Lights of America

The Bright Lights of America is the seventh studio album released by Anti-Flag on April 1, 2008. Much of the album was released on the band's MySpace with twelve of the thirteen tracks on March 24, 2008. This album was different from the previous one; it was the first to feature a string section and child choirs.^[1] It was the band's final release on RCA Records.

The Bright Lights of America
Studio album by Anti-Flag
Released	April 1, 2008
Recorded	2007–2008
Genre	Punk rock
Length	48:51
Label	RCA
Producer	Tony Visconti
Anti-Flag chronology
A Benefit for Victims of Violent Crime (2007) The Bright Lights of America (2008) The People or the Gun (2009)
Singles from The Bright Lights of America
"The Bright Lights of America" Released: February 11, 2008 "The Modern Rome Burning" Released: March 1, 2008

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	63/100 link
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
AbsolutePunk.net	(69%) link
Alternative Press
Sputnikmusic	link
Unglued Reviews	link

Singles and videos

The first song released from the album was "Good 'N' Ready", featured on Fat Wreck Chords Hanuk-Comp From the Dreidel to the Grave compilation.

In April 2008 Anti-Flag teamed up with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and a host of roller derby girls for a video for "The Bright Lights of America".^[2] "The video demonstrates the audacity and the craziness of the seemingly endless war... We're trying to get that across in a funny and interesting way. In the video there are different teams that represent various places in the world and various nationalities. Team USA comes out and plays dirty and wipes the floor with everyone. Throughout all that you have Tom Morello as the coach of Team USA - he's a fiery coach and he's out for blood! He gets the ladies to perform at their peak!", bassist Chris #2 told Kerrang!. The Los Angeles Roller Derby team and a group of fans took part in the 20-hour show, with many suffering on-set injuries; one girl sprained her knee, another broke her collar-bone, according to the magazine.^[2]

Track listing

No.	Title	Featuring	Length
1.	"Good and Ready"		3:59
2.	"The Bright Lights of America"		3:32
3.	"Vices"	Clip from Mumia Abu-Jamal at the end of the song	4:59
4.	"The Modern Rome Burning"		4:19
5.	"If You Wanna Steal (You Better Learn How to Lie)"		4:04
6.	"No Warning"		3:00
7.	"Spit in the Face"		4:09
8.	"We Are the Lost"		4:17
9.	"Go West"		4:19
10.	"The Smartest Bomb"		3:48
11.	"Shadow of the Dead"		3:51
12.	"The Ink and the Quill (Be Afraid)"		4:34

Personnel

Anti-Flag Justin Sane – Lead vocals, lead guitar Chris #2 – Lead vocals, bass Chris Head – Rhythm guitar, backing vocals Pat Thetic – Drums, percussion Artwork Robert Larson – Album Artwork, album design Additional musicians Benjamin Kowalewicz – additional vocals on "Wake Up the Town" Benjamin Karp – Cello Patrick Binford – Cello

Production Tony Visconti – Producer, mixing, percussion Matt Marshall – A&R Mass Giorgini – Mastering – LP format Emily Lazar – Mastering – CD format Mario J. McNulty – Engineer, percussion Joe LaPorta – Mastering Assistant Tim Price – Assistant Engineer

Charts

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA Charts)[3]	97
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[4]	89
US Billboard 200[5]	118