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Harder Than It Looks
A photo of the band dressed as a chef, gardner, construction worker, and office worker respectively, sitting on a stone bench. The band's name appears on a concrete wall and the album title is on a sidewalk's edge, both are colored white.
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 6, 2022
StudioVan Howes Studios
GenrePop punk[1]
Length34:35
LabelSelf-released
ProducerPierre Bouvier, Zakk Cervini, Brian Howes, Jason "JVP" Poederooyen
Simple Plan chronology
Taking One for the Team
(2016)
Harder Than It Looks
(2022)
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Singles from Harder Than It Looks
  1. "The Antidote"
    Released: November 5, 2021
  2. "Ruin My Life"
    Released: February 18, 2022
  3. "Congratulations"
    Released: March 15, 2022
  4. "Wake Me Up (When This Nightmare's Over)"
    Released: April 8, 2022
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Kerrang!4/5[2]

Harder Than It Looks is the sixth studio album by Canadian rock band Simple Plan, released on May 6, 2022.[1] It is their first record in six years since Taking One for the Team (2016), and the first one without bassist David Deserosiers after his sexual misconduct allegations.[3]

Background and production[]

The band stated that the album will be a return to their pop-punk roots.[1][4] This is the band's first album to be released since the departure of longtime bassist David Desrosiers after his sexual misconduct allegations, although the band hinted in 2018 at his involvement within the recording process via Instagram.[5] Since then, singer Pierre Bouvier took over on bass.

Track listing[]

Harder Than It Looks track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Wake Me Up (When This Nightmare's Over)"3:36
2."Ruin My Life" (featuring Deryck Whibley)3:19
3."The Antidote"3:16
4."Million Pictures of You"3:26
5."Anxiety"3:30
6."Congratulations"3:17
7."Iconic"3:06
8."Best Day of My Life"3:27
9."Slow Motion"4:00
10."Two"3:38
Total length:34:35

Personnel[]

Credits adapted from the album's booklet.[6]

Simple Plan

  • Pierre Bouvier – lead vocals, bass, additional programming, keyboards
  • Chuck Comeau – drums
  • Sebastien Lefebvre – rhythm guitars, backing vocals
  • Jeff Stinco – lead guitars

Additional musicians

  • David Desrosiers – bass, backing vocals
  • Deryck Whibley - guest vocals (track 2)

Production

  • Zakk Cervini – mixing
  • Chris Lord-Alge – mixing (track 10)
  • Jason "JVP" Van Poederooyen – mixing (track 6)
  • Ted Jensen – mastering

Design

  • Chapman Baehler – album photography
  • Simple Plan – art direction and concept
  • Fred Jérôme – art direction and concept, layout design

Charts[]

Chart performance for Harder Than It Looks
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[7] 67
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8] 59
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[9] 84
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] 82
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[11] 60
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] 36
UK Digital Albums (OCC)[13] 32
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[14] 44
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[15] 25
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[16] 90

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Carter, Emily. "Simple Plan announce new album, Harder Than It Looks". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  2. Richardson, Jake (May 3, 2022). "Album review: Simple Plan – Harder Than It Looks". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on June 5, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  3. "Simple Plan recaptures spirit of its youth on Harder Than It Looks". montrealgazette. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  4. "Simple Plan announces 'Harder Than it Looks'". The Music Universe. March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  5. https://www.instagram.com/simpleplan/p/Boxa4rHhEln/?hl=en
  6. Harder Than It Looks (booklet). Simple Plan. 2022. SP220204.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 16 May 2022". The ARIA Report. No. 1680. Australian Recording Industry Association. May 16, 2022. p. 6.
  8. "Austriancharts.at – Simple Plan – Harder Than It Looks" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  9. "Simple Plan Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  10. "Offiziellecharts.de – Simple Plan – Harder Than It Looks" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  11. "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2022/05/11 公開". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  12. "Swisscharts.com – Simple Plan – Harder Than It Looks". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  13. "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  14. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  15. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  16. "Simple Plan Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved May 17, 2022.



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