Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	95%
Alternative Press
American Songwriter
Blare
Drowned in Sound	7/10
IGN	9.5/10
Rock Sound	9/10
Rolling Stone
Spin	7/10
Sputnikmusic	3.5/5
Paste Magazine	6.4/10

Simple Math is the third studio album from Atlanta-based indie rock band Manchester Orchestra. It was released on May 10, 2011 through independent label Favorite Gentlemen Recordings, itself distributed by Sony Music Entertainment. The album was recorded with Dan Hannon who also produced the band's first album, and co-produced their second.

Andy Hull, the band's lyricist and vocalist, has said that Simple Math is a concept album, telling a story from his own perspective; "It's a story about a 23-year old who questions everything from marriage to love to religion to sex. Sometimes even for myself, it’s difficult to decipher which one I’m actually talking to. Everything I’ve written in the past has been about those things. This album is the most realized form of my questioning." A week prior to its official release, the entire album was available for streaming on their official website.

Led by the title track and single "Simple Math", the album was a success for the band, obtaining praise from music critics and debuting at a career-high number twenty one on the Billboard 200 and number eight on the Billboard Rock Albums chart with opening week sales of 18,000 units.

All tracks written by Andy Hull .

Simple Math was a moderate commercial success for the band. Opening week sales reached 18,000 units according to Nielsen SoundScan which debuted the album at number eight on the Billboard Rock Albums chart and number twenty one on the main Billboard 200. The album also entered the Billboard Alternative Albums chart at number five as well as the Billboard Tastemaker Albums chart at number nine. The Tastemaker chart is not decided by record sales, but compiled by ranking new albums based on "an influential panel of indie stores and small regional chains." Overall, this marked an improvement compared to its predecessor Mean Everything to Nothing (2009), which reached number thirty seven on the main Billboard chart and number eleven on the Rock Albums chart. In Canada, the album reached a peak of number fourteen on the Alternative Albums chart and also number seventy eight on the main Top 100 Albums Chart.

...
Wikipedia