War Is the Answer

War Is the Answer was announced as Five Finger Death Punch's second studio album in May 2009. The album was produced by Kevin Churko, who had previously produced Ozzy Osbourne's Black Rain, and mixed by Randy Staub, who had previously worked with Metallica, Nickelback, and Stone Sour.{{cite web|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/five-finger-death-punch-guitarist-discusses-upcoming-album/|title=Five Finger Death Punch Guitarist Discusses Upcoming Album|website=Blabbermouth.net|publisher=Roadrunner Records|access-date=July 18, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710011618/http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/five-finger-death-punch-guitarist-discusses-upcoming-album/|archive-date=July 10, 2015|url-status=live}} Guitarist Zoltan Bathory, commenting on the style of the album, stated "we've continued the journey we started on the first album, so there's a healthy balance of melody and aggression, and as always we concentrated on writing strong metal songs in the traditional sense."

Bathory said to Metal Hammer about the album title:

"It's a phrase we've had up our sleeve for some time, and I've been talking about it a lot in interviews. In fact, somebody just said to me: 'If war is the answer, then what is the question?', and I guess the answer to that is 'life'! Basically, you're fighting against something or other right from the start – fighting for survival with pretty much everything against you, and there are occasions when the only really appropriate response is to punch someone in the mouth! It's a pretty involved subject once you really start to think about it, and this record covers it all – the deeper meaning and of course the more shallow one too!"{{cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=16964|title=War Is The Answer Songfacts|website=Songfacts|access-date=October 5, 2010}}

Six singles were released from the album: "Hard to See", "Walk Away", "Dying Breed", "No One Gets Left Behind", "Bad Company", and "Far from Home". "Hard to See" began receiving radio play on July 13, 2009. The song was noted for having "undeniable melodies". According to Bathory, the song is about people being attached to opinions based on limited amounts of information.{{cite web|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/five-finger-death-punch-new-single-available-for-streaming/|title=Five Finger Death Punch: New Single Available For Streaming|website=Blabbermouth.net|publisher=Roadrunner Records|date=July 10, 2009|access-date=July 18, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406233058/http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/five-finger-death-punch-new-single-available-for-streaming/|archive-date=April 6, 2015|url-status=live}} It is also a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

The second single, "Walk Away", was released on November 2, 2009, and appeared in Tap Tap Revenge 3 as one of their weekly free tracks and also was used as the theme song for TNA's 2010 PPV Lockdown. The next two singles, "Dying Breed", released on November 16, 2009,{{cite web|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/five-finger-death-punch-to-release-dying-breed-digital-single/|title=Five Finger Death Punch To Release 'Dying Breed' Digital Single|website=Blabbermouth.net|publisher=Roadrunner Records|date=November 2, 2009|access-date=July 18, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416040312/http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/five-finger-death-punch-to-release-dying-breed-digital-single/|archive-date=April 16, 2015|url-status=live}} and "No One Gets Left Behind", released on March 8, 2010,{{cite web|url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=135011|title=Five Finger Death Punch To Release New Single; New Mic Stand Unveiled|website=Blabbermouth.net|publisher=Roadrunner Records|date=February 12, 2010|access-date=April 18, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324130337/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=135011|archive-date=March 24, 2010|url-status=dead}} were both released exclusively in the UK.

The band released their cover of Bad Company's song "Bad Company" as the fifth single on May 17, 2010. "Far from Home" was released as the sixth single on September 16, 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.aolradioblog.com/2010/09/14/five-finger-death-punch-far-from-home/|first=Sara D.|last=Anderson|title=Five Finger Death Punch, 'Far from Home' -- New Song|website=AOL|date=September 14, 2010|access-date=October 4, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100915191754/http://www.aolradioblog.com/2010/09/14/five-finger-death-punch-far-from-home/|archive-date=September 15, 2010|url-status=usurped}} "Far from Home" was also featured as the incidental music over the closing scenes of the TV drama show Criminal Minds episode "What Happens at Home".

Although War Is the Answer was originally announced to be released on June 8, 2009, this was put back to October 6, 2009, then brought forward to September 22, 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/five-finger-death-punch-guitarist-interviewed-on-australia-s-the-racket-audio-available/|title=Five Finger Death Punch Guitarist Interviewed On Australia's 'The Racket'; Audio Available|website=Blabbermouth.net|publisher=Roadrunner Records|access-date=July 18, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125193207/http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/five-finger-death-punch-guitarist-interviewed-on-australia-s-the-racket-audio-available/|archive-date=January 25, 2016|url-status=live}} On August 10, 2009, they announced the first leg of their Shock and Raw Tour, which will promote the new album. The second leg was announced on August 17, 2009.

"Bad Company" was originally only played live. One of Jeremy's friends told him Five Finger Death Punch should record "Bad Company" and release it on their next album, War Is the Answer. "Bad Company" was originally going to be a bonus track, but ended up making the standard edition of the album and became one of Five Finger Death Punch's biggest songs.

The two bonus tracks, "Succubus" and "Undone", were originally cut from their first album The Way of the Fist. A demo version of "Succubus" was leaked onto the Internet under the title "Hate Me". The band decided to re-record both songs and include them as bonus tracks on War Is the Answer. According to Jeremy Spencer's book Death Punch'd, Jeremy was drunk while editing "Succubus" and forgot to save the original edit.

"Never Enough" was going to be on War Is the Answer but was then released as a bonus track on both the re-release and "The "Iron Fist" edition" of The Way of the Fist due to the band wanting to release the song before War Is the Answer.

{{track listing

| all_writing = Five Finger Death Punch, except where noted.

| headline = Standard edition

| title1 = Dying Breed

| length1 = 2:56

| title2 = Hard to See

| length2 = 3:28

| title3 = Bulletproof

| length3 = 3:15

| title4 = No One Gets Left Behind

| length4 = 3:23

| title5 = Crossing Over

| length5 = 2:54

| title6 = Burn It Down

| length6 = 3:33

| title7 = Far from Home

| length7 = 3:32

| title8 = Falling in Hate

| length8 = 3:00

| title9 = My Own Hell

| length9 = 3:34

| title10 = Walk Away

| length10 = 3:42

| title11 = Canto 34

| length11 = 4:09

| note11 = instrumental

| title12 = Bad Company

| note12 = Bad Company cover

| length12 = 4:22

| title13 = War Is the Answer

| length13 = 3:18

| total_length = 45:17

}}

{{track listing

| headline = iTunes bonus track

| title14 = Walk Away

| length14 = 3:40

| note14 = live

| total_length = 48:57

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Deluxe edition bonus tracks

| title14 = Succubus

| length14 = 3:09

| title15 = Undone

| length15 = 3:44

| total_length = 55:50

}}

• In the early Spotify version, "Bad Company" was incorrectly "War Is the Answer" and "War Is the Answer" was incorrectly "Bad Company". This was fixed in the recent version.{{cite web|url=https://open.spotify.com/album/6GlsmhwCxNCEmW8v2YVPRN|title=War Is The Answer|date=January 1, 2009|accessdate=May 20, 2023|via=open.spotify.com}}

;Five Finger Death Punch

• Ivan Moody – vocals
• Zoltan Bathory – guitars
• Jason Hook – guitars
• Matt Snell – bass
• Jeremy Spencer – drums
• Darrell Roberts – writing credit on "Bulletproof"

;Production

• Kevin Churko – producer
• Randy Staub – mixing

;Imagery

• Sxv'leithan Essex and Zoltan Bathory – art direction and design
• Alyson Blanchard – live photo
• Nathan Gallagher – military photos

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=2009|certyear=2012|artist=Five Finger Death Punch|title=War Is the Answer|access-date=December 14, 2020}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=album|award=Silver|relyear=2009|certyear=2018|artist=Five Finger Death Punch|title=War Is the Answer|id=15200-4761-2|access-date=December 14, 2020}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|award=Platinum|artist=Five Finger Death Punch|title=War Is The Answer|relyear=2009|certyear=2016|digital=true|access-date=December 14, 2017}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=true}}

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{{Five Finger Death Punch}}

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Category:2009 albums

Category:Albums produced by Kevin Churko

Category:Five Finger Death Punch albums

Category:Spinefarm Records albums