In 2012, the Script released their third studio album,
#3. Conceived by the band to appeal to a more
mainstream audience, the album was initially released alongside mixed to negative reviews from
music critics, who described the album as having been rushed and lacking artistic vision, especially in the band's venture into
hip hop influences. Despite the negative reaction from critics, the album was commercially successful, achieving a hot-shot debut on the
Irish Album Charts and peaking at number 2 on the
UK Albums Chart. The band's 2012 single, "
Hall of Fame", became one of the band's most commercially successful singles, peaking at number one on the
Irish and
UK Singles Chart and reaching the top ten on sixteen national
singles charts. The single was also certified Platinum in the United Kingdom by the
British Phonographic Industry, 6× Platinum by
ARIA in Australia, and 2× platinum in the United States by the
RIAA. "Hall of Fame" also appeared on the
Official Charts Company's Top 100 most downloaded tracks of all time in the United Kingdom in April 2014, placing number 89 on the overall list. In April 2015, a special edition version of the album was released in Japan. This featured a bonus disc, containing 6 live-recorded tracks from their show in Tokyo on the NSWS tour. This included 4 back-catalogue songs ("Breakeven", "The Man Who Can't Be Moved", "For The First Time", and "Hall Of Fame") as well as 2 songs from the new album ("Superheroes", and "The Energy Never Dies"). ==Recording==