What Separates Me from You is the fourth studio album by the American rock band A Day to Remember, and their third and final for Victory Records.

The album, which was recorded mainly at The Wade Studios in Ocala, Florida, from May to July 2010, was the first to feature guitarist Kevin Skaff.

The album was produced mostly by Chad Gilbert, with help from Andrew Wade and the band's vocalist, Jeremy McKinnon.

While the band was touring Homesick (2009), a line-up change occurred[1] when guitarist Tom Denney wanted to settle down.

[2] Four Letter Lie guitarist Kevin Skaff was added in his place;[2] Denney, however, was retained to work with the band behind the scenes.

"[8] Westfall also said once the band returned home from touring, they were "going to drop everything and start writing and doing pre-production full time.

[5] Westfall said the band completed the final "few songs when we were back home with Tom (Denney) and Chad (Gilbert).

"[9] McKinnon said What Separates Me from You was "a lot more personal and darker" than Homesick,[4] and that it was "a natural progression of what we were doing" with "the same core" as the band's preceding albums.

[13] However, the band originally had no idea on how the album would turn out: "It was a little bit all over the place, because of me coming in, Tom [Denney] leaving and all this new stuff that was going on", as stated by guitarist Kevin Skaff.

[15] McKinnon said in an interview with USAToday that the opening lyric ("I am fueled by all forms of failure") was "100% directed at everyone who ever doubted our band".

[15] The song came about from an idea by McKinnon that he expanded on guitar in the middle of recording for the album, and wrote most of it in one night.

[15] A rough version was recorded between McKinnon and producer Chad Gilbert before the band had arrived at the studio.

[15] The title for "All Signs Point to Lauderdale" came from an occasion when McKinnon and bassist Joshua Woodard were in a rough neighborhood in West Palm Beach, Florida.

[15] In an interview with PopCrush in 2011, McKinnon said the song was when you get the "feeling like you're stuck in a place that's leading you nowhere" and "standing up for yourself and taking charge of your life.

[15] The song describes "different things you got through being on the road" and "a relationship ending when you're not really around enough to actually take care of it in person.

[18] We'll bring like a speaker, a guitar amp simulator, microphones, he'll [Andrew Wade] just write the drums on the computer, and we'll just demo the songs out like that.

[11] When the pair had all of the song ideas, they worked on them as a full-band,[11] with pre-production being undertaken in, as Skaff commented, "a makeshift studio"[8] by Andrew Wade.

"[19] Between demoing the songs, and their final forms on the album, Woodard said "crazy things were happening – verses became choruses", with Chad Gilbert assisting the band with arrangements and writing.

[23] The album was mixed by David Bendeth and Dan Korneff, and produced by Gilbert with assistance by Wade and McKinnon.

[26] The album's title and cover art were revealed by the band in a live video via Victory Record's official website on September 21.

"[29] Featured on the album cover is the band's ex-guitarist Denney, video director Drew Russ, and producer Gilbert.

[45] A listening party for the album was held at The Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago on November 15 for a small number of fans, which was followed by a Q&A session with the band.

[47] On January 11, 2011, the band made their national television debut[48] while performing the songs "All I Want" and "Better Off This Way" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

[56] The band filmed the music video for "All Signs Point to Lauderdale" in one day in Los Angeles when the group had a day-off from touring;[17] it was released through MTV2 on June 7.

[71] Six of the album's ten tracks are currently available on the Rock Band games: "2nd Sucks", "All I Want", "All Signs Point to Lauderdale", "Better Off This Way", "Sticks & Bricks", and "It's Complicated".

James Christopher Monger of Allmusic said, "[It] is whiney, petulant, immature, hopeless, and thoroughly addicting, as the ten songs contained within the gatefold packaging [...] are as immaculately crafted and engaging as they are blindingly self-absorbed.

"[6] Brendan Manley from Alternative Press wrote, "The vitriolic delivery seems sincere, but even if you don’t buy into all of the personal/emotional factors underpinning Separates (smack-talking the smack-talkers/a recent, devastating breakup/assorted perils of touring), the album simply kills.

"[74] While Dan Rankin of Blare Magazine said the album was "essentially just another fat kid on the already rusty trampoline that is this genre.

[78] Jacob Testa, for Mind Equals Blown, noted that he found himself "wanting to listen to it again and again", saying that the album featured "a lot of creativity and maturation".

[79] Amy Bangs of Rock Sound stated, "while cynics will call a poppier foundation too commercially driven, their (musically) upbeat moments make it clear how creative they’ve been with arrangements and production, making no two verses, choruses or breakdowns sound alike.