Bleed American

Bleed American is the fourth studio album by American rock band Jimmy Eat World, released on July 24, 2001, by DreamWorks Records. Originally released as Bleed American, it was re-released as Jimmy Eat World following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., which took place seven weeks after its initial release. The Jimmy Eat World title stayed until 2008 upon its re-release with its original title returned.

Following a lack of recognition for their third studio album Clarity (1999) from Capitol Records, the band departed from the label in late 1999. Aside from working odd jobs, the band toured to raise money for their next album. It was recorded with Mark Trombino and the band as producers in Los Angeles in October and November 2000 at the Cherokee and Harddrive studios. The musical style was more direct and accessible than its predecessor, with simpler chord structures.

"Bleed American" was released to radio on June 5, 2001 as the album's lead single, coinciding with tours of Australia and Japan (the latter supporting Eastern Youth). After appearing on the East Coast dates of the Warped Tour, the band supported Blink-182 and Weezer. "The Middle" was released as a single on November 19, 2001. The band went on a headlining European tour in early 2002, followed by a Japanese tour, leading up to a two-month support slot for Blink-182 and Green Day on their Pop Disaster Tour. "Sweetness" was released as the third single on June 3, 2002. The band supported Incubus in Australia, before embarking on headlining tours of the UK and the US. "A Praise Chorus" was released as a promotional single during 2002.

Each single from Bleed American managed to enter the top twenty of at least one US chart. The most successful was "The Middle", which reached the number-one spot on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number five on the Billboard Hot 100. In March 2002, Bleed American was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and was certified platinum that August after its sales reached over one million copies. As of September 2016, the album has sold over 1.6 million copies. Bleed American appeared on several publications' best-of-the-year album lists, by the likes of Addicted to Noise, CMJ, and Kerrang!, among others, as well as all-time lists by publications such as Consequence of Sound, NME, and Spin.