Studio Album · No. 2
Thank You, Happy Birthday Songwriting Credits by Cage the Elephant
Produced by Jay Joyce · Engineered by Jay Joyce, Jason Hall
Holds writing credit on 12 of 12 tracks
Authorship Breakdown 12 / 12 documented
Scored across the 12 tracks with documented writers, by whether Cage the Elephant carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 12 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
Every track on this album that carries a confirmed individual credit - 'Shake Me Down,' 'Around My Head,' 'Aberdeen,' and 'Always Something' - lists all five members who recorded it: Matt Shultz, Brad Shultz, Lincoln Parish, Daniel Tichenor, and Jared Champion, matching Discogs' blanket credit of 'Cage the Elephant' for composing and writing the whole release. Matt Shultz sang lead and fronted the band's public identity as chief lyricist, and Brad Shultz has spoken about steering the record's sound alongside producer Jay Joyce, but the sources checked do not document a formal lyrics/music split between the brothers on this record - the writing credit here is collective across the full lineup rather than split into a Matt-lyrics/Brad-music pairing.
Thank You, Happy Birthday is the second studio album by Cage the Elephant, released January 11, 2011 on DSP/Jive Records. Recorded at Tragedy Studios in Nashville with producer Jay Joyce, who also helmed the band's debut, it pushes past that record's garage-blues stomp into denser, noisier textures influenced by shoegaze and post-hardcore. The album debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 on first-week sales of over 39,000 copies, the band's highest chart placement to that point, and was later certified Gold by the RIAA. It produced four singles - 'Shake Me Down,' 'Around My Head,' 'Aberdeen,' and 'Always Something' - with 'Shake Me Down' becoming the band's first number one on the Billboard Rock/Alternative Songs chart and going Platinum. Lyrically the record circles around resisting compromise and the pressure to sell out, themes stated most directly on 'Sell Yourself' and 'Shake Me Down.'