The Big Dirty is the fourth studio album by American metalcore band Every Time I Die. It was released on September 4, 2007 on Ferret Records. Background At the end of their set at Dirtfest on August 19, 2006, Every Time I Die announced that bassist Chris Byrnes would be leaving the band. Buckley said Byrnes departure was due to money, "He really couldn't afford it on our touring schedule and salary". He was replaced by former the Chariot member Keller Harbin. Following an October and November tour with Atreyu, the band started writing their next album, with aim of releasing it the following summer. On February 14, 2007, vocalist Keith Buckley mentioned that the band have been holed up in a basement in North Tonawanda, New York composing "what will easily prove to be the best record ETID has crafted since Gutter Phenomenon." Recording and composition In early March 2007, the band went to California to record The Big Dirty with producer Steve Evetts for a period of two months. Despite the band announcing that, in regards to a bass player, fans should "expect some help on the recording from a good friend of ours", guitarists Jordan Buckley and Andy Williams perform bass on the album. The title is a reference to the 2006 film Trailer Park Boys: The Movie, in which the criminal protagonists plot to pull off "The Big Dirty," a grand heist, before retiring from their lives of crime. The band said the album was "Chock-a-block with riffs that only 4 months of a Buffalo, New York winter could spawn, this new record will undoubtedly satisfy [long-time fans.] ... The Big Dirty is the CD you would compile if asked to make a mix of the BEST Every Time I Die songs you haven't heard yet. ... If this ain't your favorite heavy release of the year, I'll eat my damn hat." According to Buckley, the album's lyrical content revolve around "coming to terms with the fact that [prior to the album] I needed to calm down in life." He mentioned that people around him were starting to settle down and have families and he "didn’t like that. It’s about coming to terms with the fact I didn’t need to stop living.” According to a press release, the lyrics to "Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Battery" were based on the Federico Fellini film 8½ (1963).