You Forgot It In People

It was the band's commercial breakthrough. You Forgot It in People features intricate, experimental production techniques and a large number of instruments coinciding with the band's vastly expanded size. Local excitement for the album was so big that initial pressings sold out quickly, causing the need for a 2003 reissue.

You Forgot It in People
Studio album by Broken Social Scene
Released	October 15, 2002
Recorded	December 2001–July 2002
Genre	Indie rock
Length	56:11
Label	Arts & Crafts, Paper Bag
Producer	David Newfeld
Broken Social Scene chronology
Feel Good Lost (2001) You Forgot It in People (2002) Bee Hives (2004)
2003 reissue cover

Music videos were made for "Stars and Sons", "Cause = Time", "Almost Crimes (Radio Kills Remix)", "Lover's Spit", and "I'm Still Your Fag".

The songs that did not make it onto the album were featured in a B-sides compilation entitled Bee Hives, released in 2004.

After releasing Feel Good Lost, Broken Social Scene changed their style from making ambient instrumental songs to full-blown rock songs. As they expanded to an 11 piece collective, Broken Social Scene used a variety of sounds for the album. Reflecting on this, frontman Kevin Drew said "I was scared to see if people were going to embrace the idea of a whole shitload of sounds on one album." You Forgot It in People also progresses to "proper" song style with defined verses and choruses.

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	86/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Eye Weekly
Houston Chronicle
Now	5/5
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Pitchfork	9.2/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Spin	B+
Stylus Magazine	A−

On review aggregate site Metacritic, it earned a normalized score of 86 out of 100, based on 18 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Critics were almost unanimously enthusiastic. Pitchfork's Ryan Schreiber gave the album a 9.2 out of 10 saying "You Forgot It in People explodes with song after song of endlessly re-playable, perfect pop." The songs "Cause = Time" and "Stars and Sons" are listed at No. 145 and No. 275 on Pitchfork Media's Top 500 Songs of the 2000s list, respectively. A Kludge writer called it a "majestic" album, in which the group created a "unique sound of lush instrumentation." A PopMatters review for the album was positive, although criticized the song "I'm Still Your Fag" for its "uncomfortably graphic lyrics". Conversely, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice selected "Almost Crimes (Radio Kills Remix)" as a "choice cut", indicating a "good song on an album that isn't worth your time or money." In 2003, the album won the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year. The album received the following accolades:

By 2005, sales in the United States had exceeded 77,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

In 2018, the album won the Polaris Heritage Prize Audience Award in the 1996-2005 category.

"It's a very balmy and hungover post-rock record," observed Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke. "Really tender."

On the 2003 re-release, track 4 is listed as "Almost Crimes", track 7 as "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" and track 9 as "Late Night Bedroom Rock for the Missionaries".

• Kevin Drew – keyboards, vocals, guitar, feedback, bass, drums, piano
• Brendan Canning − bass, double bass, vocals, organ, acoustic guitar, drum machine, guitar, piano, keyboards
• Andrew Whiteman − guitar, tres, organ, vocals, bass, keyboards, tambourine
• Charles Spearin − guitar, bass, percussion, drum machine, harmonica, effects, acoustic guitar, organ, sampler
• Justin Peroff − drums, percussion, shaker, artwork
• John Crossingham − guitar, feedback, drums, bass
• Evan Cranley − trombone, strings, percussion
• James Shaw − trumpet, guitar, acoustic guitar
• Feist − vocals
• Emily Haines − vocals
• Jessica Moss − violin
• Ohad Benchetrit − flute
• Bill Priddle − guitar
• Brodie West − saxophone
• Susannah Brady − speaking
• David Newfeld − producer, mastering
• Noah Mintz − mastering
• Louise Upperton − artwork design