Sunday, July 25, 2010

Song Of The Week: 7/25/10





Song: "It's All Over Now"

Artist: Social Distortion

Album: "Social Distortion" Japanese Import

Year: 1990



"It's All Over Now" was released as a bonus track on Social Distortion's 1990 self-titled album. It was a Japanese release only. The song is actually a cover song. It was originally written in 1964 by Bobby Womack and made famous in that same year by The Rolling Stones. It would be The Rolling Stones first number one hit in the United States. The song is about a woman who treats her man badly. She runs around town with other men and doesn't take care of him like she used to. In the end, the man turns the tables on her and walks out on the broken relationship. Social Distortion formed as a band back in 1978. A product of the Orange County, California punk movement, Social D. would establish itself as a true original. They blended their hardcore punk roots, with honky tonk country and classic rock rhythm and blues to form a style all their own, sometimes referred to as "cowpunk". Lead guitarist and singer/songwriter Mike Ness is the only constant in the band since guitarist Dennis Danell passed away from a brain aneurysm in 2000. The band had somewhat of a revolving door when it came to bassists and drummers but Ness and Danell were always fixtures. 1990's "Social Distortion" album was really the pinnacle for the band. It produced such classics as "Story Of My Life", "Ball And Chain", "Sick Boy", and the Johnny Cash cover, "Ring Of Fire". The band tends to take long breaks between new albums, sometimes 5 years at a time. Currently, Mike Ness and the boys have been finishing up what would be the band's 7th studio album set to be released in the Fall of 2010

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Song Of The Week: 7/18/10



Song: "Snakecharmer"

Artist: Rage Against The Machine

Album: "Evil Empire"

Year: 1996



With the song "Snakecharmer", Rage Against The Machine seem to be asking someone if they will continue chasing the American Dream even if it means sacrificing their ideals in the pursuit of that dream. The message seems to be don't become a slave to corporate greed and the American economy if it means selling your soul to get it. Back in 1996, "Evil Empire" was a big deal. The grunge movement that was so critical to music in the early 90's began to fade a little bit and songs of internal strife and darkness quickly turned to songs of aggression with focus on political and social issues. Rage Against The Machine was at the forefront of this shift in style. Their fusion of aggressive metal and political hip hop definitely sparked a trend that would flood the music market thoughout the rest of the 90's and early 2000's. Frontman Zack de la Rocha reminded me of Public Enemy's Chuck D. with the content of his lyrics and Tom Morello would prove to be one of the most innovative guitarists to come out in a long time. In 2000, R.A.T.M. would go on a hiatus which would last about 7 years. While de la Rocha kept somewhat of a low profile during this time, Tom Morello and the rest of the band would hook up with Chris Cornell to form supergroup Audioslave. Eventually, Cornell would opt to go solo again and in 2007, Rage would reform to perform live at select festivals. Currently, Rage continues to play some live dates but the band has not committed to return to the studio to record any new material. Morello has said his main focus is his solo project The Nightwatchman but he did not rule out creating new Rage material in the future.