Song Of The Week: 11/25/18

Song: "Wax And Wane"

Artist: Deftones

Album: "B-Sides & Rarities"

Year: 2005

Place Of Origin: Sacramento, California

Years Active: 1988 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Wax And Wane" appears to be a song about being tempted by the devil or, by things that can be harmful to you. Sometimes you give in and fall victim to these things. Other times you resist the temptations. I believe that's where the whole "wax and wane" comes to play within the song. "Wax And Wane" was written and originally recorded by Scotland's Cocteau Twins and appeared on that band's 1982 debut album "Garlands". The version I chose for my song of the week is a cover by the Deftones, which appears on their 2005 "B-Sides & Rarities" compilation.

DEFTONES DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1995 - Adrenaline (Maverick Records)
1997 - Around The Fur (Maverick Records)
2000 - White Pony (Maverick Records)
2003 - Deftones (Maverick Records)
2005 - B-Sides & Rarities (Maverick Records)
2006 - Saturday Night Wrist (Maverick Records)
2010 - Diamond Eyes (Reprise Records)
2011 - Covers (Reprise Records)
2012 - Koi No Yokan (Reprise Records)
2016 - Gore (Reprise Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF DEFTONES:

The Deftones formed as a band as far back as 1988 when all the guys were in high school. After years of making demos, playing shows locally and working hard to get their name out there, they were finally rewarded and signed to Maverick Records. In 1995, the band released it's debut album, "Adrenaline". This album was basically recorded live in the studio. It definitely set the tone right out of the gate that the Deftones were a band that meant business. This album achieved platinum status by 2008. The follow up album, "Around The Fur", started to see a band that was more comfortable and experimental in the studio. This album peaked at #29 on the Billboard 200 charts, thanks in part to the hit singles "My Own Summer" and "Be Quiet And Drive", and would also achieve platinum status. 2000 saw the band drop it's most successful album, the also certified platinum "White Pony". This album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 charts, selling over 1.3 million units in the U.S. alone. The band also won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for the song "Elite". Success continued for the Deftones with album number four, "Deftones". Debuting at #2 on the Billboard 200, this album would also spend nine weeks in Billboard's Top 100. Though the 2006 album, "Saturday Night Wrist", would debut at #10 on the Billboard 200, record sales would eventually fall well below the band's previous albums. This could be due to the changing atmosphere in which music was getting out to the masses. More and more people were getting their music through free streams or other avenues over the internet so record sales in general began diminishing at this point for most bands, including the Deftones. Tensions were also creeping to the surface between band members at this time because of personal issues and musical directions. The band was, however, working on an album slated to be called "Eros" but in 2008, bassist Chi Cheng got into a serious car accident which basically left him in a minimally conscious state. The band had to push forward with new bassist, Sergio Vega, due to Cheng's condition. At this point, the band left Maverick and joined the Reprise label. Not a far leap as both Maverick and Reprise are subsidiaries of Warner Bros. 2010 saw the release of "Diamond Eyes", featuring the singles "Rocket Skates" and "Diamond Eyes", the latter doing well on rock radio. In 2012, the band released their seventh full length studio album, "Koi No Yokan". Some four months after the release of that album, Chi Cheng passed away from cardiac arrest. Vocalist Chino Moreno has stated that the never released album "Eros", the last album Cheng played on with the Deftones, will most definitely see the light at some point in the future. On the one year anniversary of Cheng's passing, Deftones released the song "Smile" which was recorded during the "Eros" sessions. The band's most recent release was 2016's "Gore" which featured the singles "Prayers/Triangles" and "Phantom Bride", the latter of which features a guitar solo from Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains. Word is that the band is currently working on new music which could see the light of day in 2019. Deftones can be labeled many things. Some call them nu-metal. Some call them post-grunge or post-hardcore. Some even call them art rock or experimental rock. They have often been called "the Radiohead of metal" because of their experimental nature when it comes to their music. I know this, there were a lot of bands that tried carrying the torch from the Seattle grunge bands in the mid to late 90's and most of them failed and were really nothing more than watered down carbon copies of those Seattle bands. The Deftones were not one of those carbon copies. This band could stand on their own and had no problem standing side by side along the likes of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. For some reason, popular rock music started being won over by bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit and I always thought to myself, are these people stupid?!! Are they not listening to the Deftones?!! The Deftones should have been one of those bands that carried that rock torch into the 2000's and steamrolled. Don't get me wrong, they were successful, especially those first four albums, but they never seemed to get the credit I always believed they should have as one of the best rock bands on the planet. That being said, if you dig bands like Taproot, A Perfect Circle, Chevelle, Drowning Pool or Alice In Chains, then you would most likely enjoy the Deftones. Sick band!!

TEN DEFTONES SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Digital Bath
2. Minerva
3. 7 Words
4. Tempest
5. Diamond Eyes
6. Change (In The House Of Flies)
7. My Own Summer (Shove It)
8. Prayers/Triagles
9. Hole In The Earth
10. No Ordinary Love (Sade cover)

Song Of The Week: 11/18/18

Song: "The Hanging Garden"

Artist: AFI

Album: "A Fire Inside" EP

Year: 1998

Place Of Origin: Ukiah, California

Years Active: 1991 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

There's a book that came out in 1980 by David Wagoner called "The Hanging Garden". It's about a patch of ground where someone has been making a practice of hanging every sort of animal, from dogs to spiders. After reading the lyrics to "The Hanging Garden", I get the sense that the Wagoner novel may in fact have influenced the lyrics to this song. "The Hanging Garden" was written by Robert Smith and released on his band, The Cure's 1982 album "Pornography". The version of the song I chose for my song of the week is a cover by the band AFI and was released on their 1998 EP "A Fire Inside".

AFI DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1995 - Answer That And Stay Fashionable (Wingnut Records)
1996 - Very Proud Of Ya (Nitro Records)
1997 - Shut Your Mouth And Open Your Eyes (Nitro Records)
1999 - Black Sails In The Sunset (Nitro Records)
2000 - The Art Of Drowning (Nitro Records)
2003 - Sing The Sorrow (DreamWorks Records)
2006 - Decemberunderground (Interscope Records)
2007 - I Heard A Voice - Live From Long Beach Arena (Interscope Records)
2009 - Crash Love (Interscope Records)
2013 - Burials (Republic Records)
2017 - AFI (Concord Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF AFI:

AFI formed as a band when the members were all in high school in 1991, solidified itself when those members moved on to college and by the time their debut full length album, 1995's "Answer That And Stay Fashionable", was released, AFI had already released a slew of 7" vinyl singles. The band spent the rest of the 90's pumping out a full length album nearly every year, all of which were released through Nitro Records which was owned by Offspring frontman Dexter Holland. In 2000, AFI's fifth album, "The Art Of Drowning", proved to be the band's first album to crack the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at #174. At this point, AFI began getting offers from major labels. In 2003, the band signed on with DreamWorks and released "Sing The Sorrow". Enter success!! This album hit #5 on the Billboard 200 charts and remained on the charts for 51 consecutive weeks. The album spawned three hit singles, "Girls Not Grey", "The Leaving Song Pt. II" and "Silver And Cold" and to date has been certified 2X platinum. AFI continued to ride the wave of success with the 2006 release "Decemberunderground". This album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, featured megahits "Miss Murder" and "Love Like Winter" and has also been certified 2X platinum. This would mark the height of success for AFI as a band. Though their next three releases still charted well, 2009's "Crash Love" at #12, 2013's "Burials" at #9 and the band's most recent release, 2017's "AFI" at #5, the record sales would never touch that "Sing The Sorrow"/"Decemberunderground" era of the band. AFI is set to release a brand new EP called "The Missing Man" in December of 2018. AFI is a band that had to work for it's success and really paid it's dues for more than 10 years until their hard work paid off. Perhaps it's for that very reason that they are well respected in punk rock circles. A product of the east bay hardcore scene, AFI's music crossed many different styles which all melded together to form their sound. Parts hardcore, parts horror punk, parts pop punk and parts skate punk, if you could put bands like the Misfits, Green Day and The Cure and mix them in a pot, you may get something that sounds like AFI. Some contemporaries that are similar to AFI in style and sound would be bands like Alkaline Trio, Anti-Flag, Aiden, The Offspring and Rise Against. There's a handful of punk bands that are leaders and a whole lot more bands who fall into the followers category. AFI is definitely a leader and one of the more successful punk acts on the scene.

TEN AFI SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Love Like Winter
2. The Leaving Song Pt. II
3. Totalimmortal
4. Girl's Not Grey
5. Miss Murder
6. The Days Of The Phoenix
7. Medicate
8. 17 Crimes
9. White Offerings
10. Third Season

Song Of The Week: 11/11/18

Song: "Ramble On"

Artist: Kevin Martin

Album: "This Is Rock Anthems"

Year: 2006

Place Of Origin: Elgin, Illinois

Years Active: 1985 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

Who knew that Led Zeppelin were such big "Lord Of The Rings" fans?! The song's lyrics were influenced by the famous J.R.R. Tolkien novel. The vocalist is on a journey to find the girl of his dreams and when he does finally find her in Mordor, the evil Gollum steals here away from him! The version of "Ramble On" I chose for my song of the week is a 2006 cover of the song by Kevin Martin, of Candlebox fame. The original version of "Ramble On" can be found on the classic "Led Zeppelin II" album which was released in 1969.

KEVIN MARTIN DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2003 - The Possibility Of Being (Tympanic Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF KEVIN MARTIN:

While Kevin Martin was born in Illinois, his musical roots began in Seattle, Washington. In 1990, he and drummer Scott Mercado set out to form a band. Add guitarist Peter Klett and bassist Bardi Martin and Candlebox was formed. While not 100% a "grunge" band, Candlebox still managed to catch that wave of the early 90's grunge explosion. Songs like "Far Behind", "Change" and "You" put Candlebox on the map but by 2000, with three albums under their belt, Candlebox was in a bit of a tailspin as a band. When Kevin's contract was terminated, he decided to part ways with the band and form his own band, the Hiwatts. Kevin Martin & The Hiwatts was essentially a Kevin Martin solo project. The band put out one full length studio album, 2003's "The Possibility Of Being", which featured the songs "Enemy", "If We Could" and "Thoughtless Innuendos". When Candlebox released their greatest hits package in 2006, the band convinced Kevin to rejoin and Candlebox set out on a tour to support the album. While Candlebox is still alive and well, releasing music and performing live shows, Kevin Martin has been involved in some other projects as well. In 2008, he provided vocals on the Tantric song "The One", which appeared on the Tantric album "The End Begins". In 2010, Martin formed a band with the guys from Live called The Gracious Few. That band has released one album together. 2011 saw Martin provide vocals on the Century song "Oak God", which can be found on their "Red Giant" album. In 2013, Martin along with Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose and Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society created the single called "The Pride", released under the band moniker The Infinite Staircase. The song turned out to be a surprise rock radio hit. This prompted Martin and The Infinite Staircase guys, minus Wylde, to work on new music under a new name, Le Projet. So far, the band has written three songs together. A lot of times when you hear a singer's voice, right off the bat you know who he is or what band he plays for. When you hear Kevin Martin, you instantly hear Candlebox. Perhaps that makes it hard to do any other projects because his voice is so synonomous with Candlebox. Candlebox was always looked at as the little brother of the grunge bands. They never got the respect of the legends, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains. I can see why. They just weren't as good as those bands. But, they had their moments. "Far Behind" is a great song. Some have said it's a tribute to Martin's friend Andrew Wood, the late singer of Mother Love Bone who died of a drug overdose. I look at Kevin Martin's vocal style to be more in line with Wood than that of Eddie Vedder or Chris Cornell. But he also has some bluesy Robert Plant in him too. The dude's got a pretty damn good voice is all I'm saying! Maybe this new project he's working on, Le Projet, will be something to check out. How would Candlebox, Sevendust and Black Label Society mesh? Well, the song "The Pride" provides a pretty good picture of what this collaboration could be all about, and it could be very sweet!

TEN KEVIN MARTIN SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Enemy
2. The Pride (w/ The Infinite Staircase)
3. Thoughtless Innuendos
4. If We Could
5. Gathering Stones
6. Wax Paper Mache
7. Ramble On (Led Zeppelin cover)
8. Walk Away
9. Tears Of Africa
10. Favorite Stranger

Song Of The Week: 11/4/18

Song: "Ben Zanotto"

Artist: Rancid

Album: "Let Me Go" single

Year: 2000

Place Of Origin: Berkeley, California

Years Active: 1991 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Ben Zanotto" is a song that is dedicated to Lars Frederiksen's best friend growing up, Ben Zanotto. The song talks about how they hung out on a street called Sharmon Palms with all the punk kids and misfits. Ben would die of a drug overdose and his ashes were spread at the spot where he and Lars spent many a night hanging out and drinking. "Ben Zanotto" is a b-side off the single "Let Me Go". The song also appeared on the 2007 compilation album, "B Sides And C Sides".

RANCID DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1993 - Rancid (Epitaph Records)
1994 - Let's Go (Epitaph Records)
1995 - And Out Come The Wolves (Epitaph Records)
1998 - Life Won't Wait (Epitaph Records)
2000 - Rancid (Hellcat Records)
2003 - Indestructible (Warner Bros Records)
2007 - B Sides And C Sides (Hellcat Records)
2009 - Let The Dominoes Fall (Hellcat Records)
2014 - Honor Is All We Know (Hellcat Records)
2017 - Trouble Maker (Hellcat Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF RANCID:

Rancid formed out the ashes of legendary Bay Area punk/ska band Operation Ivy. In the early 90's when Op Ivy was falling apart, guitarist Tim Armstrong and bassist Matt Freeman decided to hook up with Tim's roommate Brett Reed who played drums and formed the band Rancid. After releasing an EP in 1992 through Lookout! Records, Rancid quickly signed a deal with Epitaph Records and released their debut full length, "Rancid", in 1993. After this release, guitarist Lars Frederiksen of the UK Subs would join Rancid as second guitarist and vocalist. The band's second album, 1994's "Let's Go", peaked at #97 on the Billboard 200 charts and scored the band the opening slot on The Offspring's tour. Funny thing happened at this time. The Offspring's album, "Smash", blew up on the charts and a punk revival of sorts was in it's beginning stages. Rancid was primed to hop on that wave with their next release, "And Out Come The Wolves". This album would eventually be certified platinum, selling over a million copies in the U.S. alone! The singles "Ruby Soho", "Timebomb" and "Roots Radical" were being played on rock radio across the nation and bands like Rancid, Offspring, Bad Religion and Green Day were suddenly in major demand. 1998 saw the band drop the album "Life Won't Wait". Though the band would never see the success that "And Out Come The Wolves" would garner, "Life Won't Wait" was critically acclaimed and many call it Rancid's "Sandinista!", the classic punk/reggae album by the legendary punk band, The Clash. In 2000, Rancid dropped their second self-titled album and this one showcased the band's hardcore influences. In 2003, the band worked out a deal with major label Warner Bros. where the album "Indestructible" would be distributed by Warner Bros., Epitaph Records and Tim's own label Hellcat Records, which is a subsidiary of Epitaph. Many consider this album perhaps Rancid's most radio friendly effort. There would be a six year gap from "Indestructible" and the band's next album, 2009's "Let The Dominoes Fall". In those years some Rancid side projects saw the light of day including Tim's band The Transplants, featuring Blink 182's Travis Barker on the drums and Lars' side project Lars Frederiksen & The Bastards. It also marked the departure of long time drummer Brett Reed. Branden Steineckert, formerly of The Used, would take over drumming duties for the band in 2006. "Let The Dominoes Fall" was a solid return to the game for Rancid and definitely showed why Rancid is the main focus of these guys. Those side bands are great, but Rancid is just on another level. But, those side projects commanded some time from those band members so it would be another five years till their next release, 2014's "Honor Is All We Know". Rancid's most recent release would be "Trouble Maker" in 2017. Rancid is a powerhouse of a punk rock band! You can see they are heavily influenced by The Clash, and who wouldn't be? They could switch from hardcore punk, to ska/reggae, to oi! and to melodic punk all within the same album. Rancid offers a huge catalogue of music for listeners, and if that ain't enough to wet your beak, the member's side projects are also off the chain. Lars Frederiksen & The Bastards, Devils Brigade, The Transplants and Old Firm Casuals are all awesome bands in their own right, not to mention the legendary Operation Ivy where Armstrong and Freeman got their start. Rancid just keeps delivering the goods whether it's in the form of studio releases or in their live performances, not to mention the shitload of b-sides, cover songs and other rarities that are out there by the band. Living punk rock legends no doubt!

TEN RANCID SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Last One To Die
2. Fall Back Down
3. Bloodclot
4. Roots Radical
5. Salvation
6. Brad Logan
7. Honor Is All We Know
8. Antennas
9. Hyena
10. Ghost Of A Chance