The Quilt
Studio album by Gym Class Heroes
Released	September 9, 2008[1]
Genre	Alternative hip hop alternative rock alternative R&B
Length	58:04
Label	Decaydance Fueled by Ramen
Producer	Patrick Stump Cool & Dre Tricky Stewart Allstar
Gym Class Heroes chronology
As Cruel as School Children (2006) The Quilt (2008) The Papercut Chronicles II (2011)
Singles from The Quilt
"Peace Sign/Index Down" Released: July 8, 2008 "Cookie Jar" Released: July 8, 2008 "Guilty as Charged" Released: December 1, 2008

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(69/100)[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Alternative Press	[3]
AllMusic	[4]
Blender	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	(B)[6]
RapReviews	(8/10)[7]
Robert Christgau	[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
Spin	[10]
Slant	[11]
USA Today	[12]

The Quilt is the fourth studio album by the American rap rock band Gym Class Heroes, released by Fueled By Ramen/Decaydance on September 9, 2008.

The album, featuring the hit single "Cookie Jar," debuted at number fourteen on the Billboard 200 with 32,266 copies sold in its first week.^[13]

Background

The Quilt was the follow-up to Gym Class Heroes breakthrough album As Cruel As School Children, which skillfully combines pop and hip-hop.^[14]

The album title "The Quilt" represents the "patchwork of sounds, different arrangements (and) real lyrics."^[14] "Musically, I think it's a big cocktail of everything that's inspired us over the past two years," frontman Travie McCoy McCoy told the Associated Press.^[14]

Music

Half of the album's 14 tracks are produced by Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, Cool & Dre, Tricky Stewart. Allstar produced the rest. Featured artists on the record include Busta Rhymes, Estelle, The-Dream and Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates. Additional background vocals on the album are provided by Patrick Stump, Patty Crash, Andre Leon and Lyndsey Ray. Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy is also credited with working on a track.

Singles

The first single from the album was "Peace Sign/Index Down" which featured Busta Rhymes. It made no impact globally so it was released alongside "Blinded by the Sun" and "Cookie Jar" featuring The-Dream. A video was shot for both "Peace Sign/Index Down" and "Cookie Jar" as they were official singles whereas "Blinded by the Sun" was a pre-release single from the album.

The next single from the album was "Guilty as Charged" featuring Estelle. The song was premiered on UK radio November 1 and Gym Class Heroes later shot a video for the song in Las Vegas.

The song "Don't Tell Me It's Over" originally featured Lil Wayne.

While not released as a single, the song "Home" was used on Madden NFL 09 without the minute-long introduction.

"Live a Little"'s music video was uploaded to YouTube on November 17, 2009.

Release

In some stores, notably Future Shop, The Quilt was released before the release date, September 9.

The Quilt debuted at number 14 in the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 32,266 copies in its first week, becoming the group's highest-peaking album on the chart. By October 2009, the album had sold 108,000 copies in the United States.^[15]

In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 41 in the UK Albums Chart, even though the second single from the album became their third top ten hit in the UK.

iTunes version

Along with the normal 14-track album, iTunes offered an extended edition for $12.99 that included three "Stressed Out Remix" versions of "Cookie Jar" and "Blinded by the Sun" and music videos of "Peace Sign / Index Down" and "Cookie Jar".

Critical reception

Michael Hewlett of the Winston-Salem Journal wrote that McCoy's "battle-rap rhymes ride along rock-edged rhythms that dip also into straight-up hip-hop, reggae, ska and emo. It shouldn't work but it does, a roller-coaster ride of sound that feels at times like a therapy session and at other times like an alcohol-fueled after-party. ... In this mish-mash of a CD is a beguiling kind of poetry that pulls in listeners rather than pushes them away. This is a beautiful mess of music."^[16]

In a review for RapReviews, Steve "Flash" Juon stated: There are no shortage of dope songs on “The Quilt” to nod your head to lyrically and tap your feet to musically. ... you can file 'The Quilt”' right next to your collection of Roots classics – this is a band you should be looking out for both today and in 2011."^[17]

Track listing

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer
• ^{^[c]} signifies lyric and original music credits

Sample credits

• "Like Father, Like Son (Papa's Song)" contains elements of "The Lottery Song", written by Harry Nilsson.
• "Blinded By the Sun" contains elements of "Sunglasses at Night", written by Corey Hart.
• "Cookie Jar" contains elements of "Buy U a Drank", written by T-Pain.

Personnel

Charts

References

Citations

Sources

External links

• The Quilt at Metacritic