Appeal To Reason - Writing and Recording

Writing and Recording

In May 2007, it was reported that Rise Against was planning to return to the studio after touring in support of their previous album, The Sufferer & the Witness, to begin work on their next album. The band headlined a North American tour supporting The Sufferer & the Witness throughout July and August 2007, instead of attending that year's Warped Tour. When asked in July about the band's plans for a new album, guitarist Zach Blair told ThePunkSite.com that Rise Against would "start writing and recording the record" after touring and would be "writing for a few months" before returning to the studio. He also predicted a summer 2008 release date for the album. In an interview with bassist Joe Principe in August 2007, he stated recording would likely begin around early 2008, although he said "everything could change", but that was "the plan right now". The band continued to tour throughout the rest of 2007, playing several shows in the Taste of Chaos tour and supporting its headliner, The Used.

On January 7, 2008, Rise Against announced on their website that they had begun writing and demoing for their next album. When asked in May what the status of the album was, frontman Tim McIlrath told the Los Angeles modern rock radio station, KROQ, that the band was in the middle of the recording process. He also stated that the album would be recorded at the Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado and produced by Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore, who had produced The Sufferer & the Witness. Also in May 2008, Rise Against posted a blog on their website, stating that they were back in the studio working on the album. It explained that they had "spent many weeks in Chicago throughout the end of winter writing new songs" in their "rehearsal space". Asked later about the writing and recording process, McIlrath said, "We kind of blocked a month off over the winter and said, 'Let's all get together, get the rehearsal space, and start putting some ideas together,' which is what we did. And then, we also blocked off a week or two at the Blasting Room after we arrived in Fort Collins to just kind of jam stuff out, get some new ideas going."

In a June 2008 interview, Luisa Mateus of Gigwise.com asked McIlrath about the new album. He stated that it was "mostly finished" but that a name and release date were still undetermined. The only hint given on the musical style of the album was Mateus' statement that the band said that they were "happy keeping their sound organic". On July 14, 2008, it was reported on Punknews.org that the album would be titled Appeal to Reason. The name is taken from a leftist newspaper from 1897.