Sunday, October 31, 2010

Song Of The Week: 10/31/10






Song: "Give It Back"

Artist: Hoobastank

Album: "Hoobastank"

Year: 2001



This song is about a one-sided relationship. One-sided in that the guy has given all of his time, love, devotion and loyalty and the girl has done nothing but be unfaithful to him. He wants her to give back all that he has invested in the relationship but the fact is what's done is done and he will never get back what he put into it. Hoobastank formed in 1994. Though they self released some material, it wasn't until 2001 that the band released an album through a major label. When I think of what style of band Hoobastank is, the first comparisons that come to mind is how similar they are to Incubus. Their self-titled album was a success and definitely put the band on the map, but their major triumph was their follow-up album, 2003's "The Reason". The band's next couple of releases would not live up to "The Reason" both in popularity and record sales. Though the band's popularity has waned over the last few years, they are still very much intact and continue to tour and release new material. Most recently, Hoobastank have released an all acoustic album featuring some of the band's bigger hits in a stripped down form. The album is entitled "Is This The Day" and it was released in 2010. Hoobastank supported the album by performing several acoustic shows all over Japan. Currently, there is no news as to whether the band is heading back to the studio to work on a new album.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Song Of The Week: 10/24/10






Song: "One Last Breath"

Artist: Creed

Album: "Weathered"

Year: 2001



This song is about someone that knows he doesn't have much time left in this world, but he still believes he has so much left to live for. With each last breath, he still wants to atone for his past mistakes and he still yearns to have more time and do more thing with those around him who he really cares for. He will fight to hold on to these things until he breathes his final breath. Creed formed as a band back in 1994 and were at the head of the post-grunge movement. Much like a band such as Bush was criticized for being Nirvana rip-offs, Creed found the same problems with their constant comparisons to Pearl Jam. Though Creed was hugely successful, those comparisons never let them get any respect in the music industry. The connection to Pearl Jam does not end there however. Before the band began recording their third album, "Weathered", bassist Brian Marshall was fired from the band for saying some negative comments about Pearl Jam's songwriting style that the rest of the band members, especially vocalist Scott Stapp, wanted to distance themselves from, especially seeing that Pearl Jam was a huge influence to the band. Lead guitarist Mark Tremonti would handle all the bass duties on the "Weathered" album and the band would soldier on as a trio. In 2004, however, inner conflicts between Stapp and the rest of the band caused Creed to break up. Stapp would go on to release a solo album while the remaining Creed members, including fired bassist Marshall would form a new band called Alter Bridge. After a five year break, Stapp and the rest of the band worked out their differences and reformed Creed, releasing a new album, "Full Circle" and touring the globe in support of it. The Creed reunion will not be the death of Alter Bridge, according to Tremonti. Currently, while Creed is on a little break from touring and recording, Alter Bridge is touring in support of a brand new album. Scott Stapp is also keeping busy doing a solo acoustic tour. Once everyone is done working on their side projects, Creed will get back together and work on some new material for future release.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Song Of The Week: 10/17/10






Song: "Superman"

Artist: Bush

Album: "Golden State"

Year: 2001



To me, "Superman" appears to be a song about the loss of youth and innocence and how, as a kid, solutions to problems are just so much more attainable. For instance, when you were young, you thought people like "Superman" could save the world so there was really nothing to worry about. As you grow older, your innocence becomes corrupted by sin and you begin having to deal with life's realities which cannot be cured by good luck charms and superheros. Life is a constant struggle of reinventing yourself to atone for mistakes that you have made and it's basically up to you to make those changes. "Superman" cannot make things better anymore. Bush is a post-grunge band from England that got it's start back in 1992. On the heels of the Seattle grunge explosion, bands such as Bush tried to jump on the coattails of the Nirvana's and Pearl Jam's of the world. Though they were ridiculed for being copycats of those bands, Bush did find much success in the mid to late 90's, mostly from their debut album "Sixteen Stone" which found lots of radio play and achieved very high record sales. "Superman" is a song from the band's fourth studio album, "Golden State". Though "Golden State" was the band's least successful album, I could make an argument that it is their second best album behind "Sixteen Stone". The album was a return of sorts to that raw, heavy rock sound that made "Sixteen Stone" a great album. After touring in support of "Golden State", the band would break up in 2002 due to the band members going in different directions, musically and in life. Frontman Gavin Rossdale would go on to form the short lived Institute which would only record one album and he also released a solo record that was supposed to be written as a new Bush album, but the other band members, most notably guitarist Nigel Pulsford, wanted no part of a reunion. In 2010, it was announced that Rossdale had reformed Bush. The only other original member in the new version is drummer Robin Goodridge. The band is preparing to have their first album in almost ten years released in 2011. The tentative title is "Everything Always Now".

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Song Of The Week: 10/10/10






Song: "One In Ten"

Artist: Deviates

Album: "Time Is The Distance"

Year: 2001



This song appears to be about trying to deal with the loss of someone close to you. The vocalist is constantly trying to stay in a state of dream where the person's memory feels close and real. Reality, however, is that eventually you are going to wake up and when you do that person is still gone. The Deviates formed as a band in 1994, though they would not release their first album until 2000. Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge was so impressed by the band that he would produce their first album, "My Life". The Deviates dropped their second album "Time Is The Distance" in 2001 and really appeared to be a band that was on the rise. They were a breath of fresh air as a punk band, influenced heavily by punk rock legends Pennywise and Bad Religion, even winding up on the famous Epitaph label along with those bands. As good as "Time Is The Distance" was, the band seemed to just disappear off the face of the Earth. After touring in support of the album, the state of the Deviates was a mystery. As far as I know, they never worked on any new material for a follow-up to "Time Is The Distance" and the band just seemed to fade away. It seems you can't find any information as to why the band broke up or even what the members are doing now on the internet. They have no wikipedia link, no myspace page (other than a fan tribute) and the few band bio's you find (such as on Epitaph's site) are not updated. Therefore, currently there is no new on Deviates. It's safe to assume that a once very promising punk band would leave us with two solid albums and a few rare tracks.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Song Of The Week: 10/3/10






Song: "Altered States"

Artist: Bush

Album: "The Science Of Things"

Year: 1999



To me, "Altered States" appears to be about an internal struggle of various states or frames of mind. At one point you try to be hopeful that you will do the right thing and make it through life yet at the same time the feeling of being stuck in a constant rut of negativity weighs on your mind heavily. It turns out to be quite the struggle just to balance either extreme in your own head. Bush formed as a band back in 1992. Despite the constant comparisons to Nirvana, even called a Nirvana clone at times, Bush would become one of the most successful bands of the 90's. The band's debut album "Sixteen Stone" exploded the band to superstardom. Bush went on to release three more studio albums which all achieved some levels of success but never quite matched the popularity of "Sixteen Stone". In 2002, Bush would break-up due to original guitarist and co-founder, Nigel Pulsford wanting to spend more time with his family. Lead singer and guitarist Gavin Rossdale would form the band Institute in 2004 but after releasing one album, they would too disband. In 2008, Rossdale released his first solo album called "Wanderlust". This album was written by Rossdale to be a new Bush release, but he could not persuade Pulsford to reunite Bush. Currently, Rossdale along with original drummer Robin Goodridge have teamed up with a new guitarist and bassist and have reformed Bush. They plan to release an album in late 2010 early 2011 which is tentatively titled "Everything Always Now".