Song: "Across The Universe"
Artist: Seether
Album: "Itunes Originals"
Year: 2008
"Across The Universe" is, of course, a song that was made famous by legendary band The Beatles. It originally appeared on The Beatles classic 1970 album "Let It Be". For my song of the week, I chose Seether's cover version of the song which appeared on the 2008 "Itunes Originals" recording. This recording was exclusive to Itunes and featured interviews with the band, six tracks from their albums, as well as 7 newly recorded songs, one of them being "Across The Universe". The song itself, written by John Lennon, appears to be about the beauty of life, the realness of sorrow, the happiness in joy, the comfort of love and the impact of thought. Basically, it celebrates humanity and the vocalist is at a certain peace with himself, his feelings and his spirituality. Seether formed as a band back in 1999, hailing from South Africa. Originally they were called Saron Gas and they released one album, "Fragile", under that name in 2000. By 2002, the group officially became Seether and they released "Disclaimer". This album featured the singles "Fine Again", "Driven Under" and "Gasoline". In 2004, the band remixed and re-recorded some of the tracks on "Disclaimer" as well as adding eight new tracks and packaged it as "Disclaimer II". One of the newly recorded tracks was "Broken" which featured Amy Lee of Evanescence on vocals. That track would go on to be one of Seether's biggest hit songs. 2005 saw the band release "Karma And Effect". This album would peak at #8 on the Billboard 200 charts and be certified gold in the United States and Canada. The album featured the singles "The Gift", "Truth" and "Remedy", the latter being the band's very first #1 hit. In 2006 Seether recorded an acoustic performance at Grape Street in Philadelphia and packaged it as a cd/dvd called "One Cold Night". During that performance the band covered "Immortality" by Pearl Jam. 2007 saw the band release "Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces". This album sold 57,000 copies in it's first week of sales, reaching #9 on the Billboard 200 charts. Singles from the album included "Fake It" and "Rise Above This", a song that was written by guitarist/vocalist Shaun Morgan as a tribute to his brother who had recently committed suicide. In 2009, Seether released a cover version of cheesy 80's band Wham's "Careless Whisper". In 2011, the band released "Holding Onto Strings Better Left To Fray". This album was produced by legendary and long time Pearl Jam producer, Brendan O'Brien. Thanks in part to the lead single "Country Song", this album peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 charts, making it the highest charting album of Seether's career. In 2013, Seether released the compilation "Seether: 2002-2013". This album featured the band's greatest hits along with some demos and three new songs, one of which was a cover of Veruca Salt's "Seether", the song which the band is named for. 2014 saw the band release "Isolate And Medicate". The first single of their new album is "Words As Weapons". Currently, Seether is touring in support of "Isolate And Medicate". The band has been one of the more successful rock bands to come out. Their style is post-grunge, melodic, radio friendly rock much like many of the band's they've shared a stage with including Finger Eleven, Staind, Three Days Grace and 3 Doors Down. You can hear direct influences in their music to 90's grunge bands such as Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains but they have said that along with those bands, they are also inspired by bands like Nine Inch Nails and the Deftones. If you're a fan of straightforward, mainstream rock, then Seether should be a band that is at the top of your list.
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