on two dates of the Plea for Peace/Take Action Tour, in addition to an appearance on Last Call with Carson Daly. Reception Original reviews Bleed American was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. Several reviewers discussed the album's emo stylings. While noting that those who dislike "emo or 'poppier' music" would dislike the album, Aubin Paul of Punknews.org said that "the punker-than-thou kids should stick with Static Prevails, but a catalog as impressive a J.E.W.'s can be appreciated by anyone without preconceptions." Rolling Stone reviewer Barry Walters added to this, stating that it "sports the tender turbulence that insular emo kids have been enjoying in private for years," with the album appealing to fans of Creed and Blink-182 as well as new wave music. The staff at Entertainment Weekly observed the album as a "fine balancing act" of "emo-edged" tracks and "wallop-packed rockers", though Joe Warminsky III of The Morning Call disregarded the emo elements, describing it instead as a genuine rock record. Multiple reviewers, including those at Allmusic, Drowned in Sound, and USA Today, praised the songwriting quality and guitarwork; these included remarks on "catchy melodies", "bouncy rhythms" and "a tacklebox of hooks". NME writer Imran Ahmed said it was a "veritable pop-buzzsaw, rammed to its back teeth with infectious melodies and teen TV sentiment". Paul stated that unlike the band's prior albums, the second half of Bleed American was "quite strong, and really fleshes out the musical ideas from the record". Greenwald said in comparison to Clarity, which "goes inward in search of salvation," Bleed American was "outgoing, boisterous, confident". Blender, on the other hand, was less pleased as the album's mainstream potential was "undercut by guitars, which are neither as gleefully blaring as Weezer's nor as cleanly melodic as the Knack's." Other reviewers were mixed on the album's mature stance. Steve Hochman of the Los Angeles Times commented that listeners "graduating from teen tastes could well turn to this album as a first step to adulthood", while Robert Christgau of The Village Voice stated "if this band can't be maturity's answer to 'N Sync, it can be patriotism's answer to Travis." Aaron Scott of Slant Magazine believed the maturity the band showed through the album was capable of attracting a wide-ranging audience. Pitchfork Ryan Schreiber gave a much more negative and sarcastic review of the album, concluding, "So do the best you can, listen to