Alternative Metal

Scuzz Sundays: Evanescence – “Going Under”

October 11, 2020 — Leave a comment

In 2020, I wonder if there’s any new life yet to be bought to this act. It’s Scuzz Sunday!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Fallen” (Released on 3rd March, 2003) (via Wind-Up/Epic Records)

You know what time of the week it is! Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’ve arrived to type up about your daily track on the blog, as it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! This week’s installment of our Scuzz Sundays, our weekly look back at a late-90’s to mid-00’s classic of the Emo-Rock or Pop-Punk ilk, comes from one of the most commercially popular bands of the era, particularly in the territories of Europe, in the Amy Lee female-fronted Gothic Metal group, Evanescence. The band were formed in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. The band’s first major studio album, “Fallen”, followed a string of independent album releases. It was released in 2003, and it has sold over 17 million copies worldwide (That’s probably thanks to their killer record, “Bring Me To Life”, which is still one of their best-known singles), along with winning Evanescence two Grammy Awards, out of five nominations overall. Although the group have dealt with a few line-up changes and the odd hiatus or two, they are still currently active, and make a killing in territories like Finland and Sweden due to their European “Nu-Metal” style. “Going Under” was a single from “Fallen”, and it reached #8 in the UK Singles Chart. It also reached the top ten of the Billboard US Alternative Chart, and also the top ten of Brazil, Italy and New Zealand as well. Let’s take a listen to it below.

In an interview with MTV News, Amy Lee explained: “The lyrics are about coming out of a bad relationship, and when you’re at the end of the rope, when you’re at the point where you realize something has to change… It’s a very strong song”, and Lee matches these lyrics about “drowning” to the bad arms of a toxic partner with an undeniably hook-driven, Pop sensibility, despite the heavy guitar chords and the soft hip-hop inspired backing beats. Lee takes on a very self-reflective, first-person stance vocally, as she chants: “Drowning in you/I’m falling forever/I’ve got to break through/I’m going under” above an amplified layer of grinding bass guitar riffs and heavy sets of reverberated drum beats, and you’ll find harsh guitar licks in the verses, instead of any twinkling piano melodies. The lyrics play quite heavy on the intensity of love, and the consumption that falling in love can bring to your mental health, as Lee pleads “Blurring and stirring the truth and the lies/So I don’t know what’s real and what’s not” in the verse, before an interlude of echoed synth rhythms signal for a quick post-bridge, before we get a guitar solo which feels very celebratory and anthemic. It mostly feels like everything has been turned up to eleven in volume instrumentally, and for me, well… It actually works really damn well. Lee manages to push quite a well-layered vocal performance throughout the track, and at a time where her male co-horts would often get main production credits when she was doing a lot of the work herself is something worth praising. The anthemic feel of the lead vocals and the guitars together are pretty cheesy, and it gained comparisons to Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit at the time, but again, it manages to feel rather anthemic and enjoyable, instead of cliche or cringeworthy. It’s just Pop, but with heavy chords, and the hooks luckily have the impact needed to flesh it out adequately. To be honest with you, I may usually pick quite a Crap song to cover for the Scuzz Sundays feature because it’s just a bit of fun, so it’s a welcome change of pace to find something that has a bit of value here and I can see why “Going Under” was such a big hit. Good stuff.

  • Pictured: Amy Lee (Lead Vocals/Keyboard), Troy McLawhorn (Lead Guitar), Jen Majura (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals), Tim McCord (Bass Guitar) and Will Hunt (Drums) (2020) (Photo by Paul Brown)

Thank you for reading your new Scuzz Sundays post! As per usual, we’ll be back to our usual business again tomorrow, with yet another daily track. I’ll be kicking off the new week with an in-depth look at a recent-ish track that I sadly didn’t get around to covering nearer to it’s release. It comes from just a small band from Portland, Oregon in the United States who like to explore “dreamy landscapes” and “hazy memories” through the means of Shoegaze, Alternative Folk and Dream-Rock. Their latest work explores “the unease of modern band life” and “themes of nostalgia and hope” through the ethereal chimes of the band’s vocalist Sarah Nienabar in a packaged-up psychedelic production. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Scuzz Sundays: Papa Roach – “Last Resort”

July 26, 2020 — Leave a comment

If your kids are growing older, Butlins may just be your Last Resort! It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: Papa Roach performing “Last Resort” at the Reading & Leeds Music Festival (2014) (Photo via BBC Music)

It’s that time of the week again! Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about this week’s edition of Scuzz Sundays on the blog, where we revisit an old pop-punk or emo-rock classic from the late-1990’s until the mid-2000’s to see if it can still hold up to modern quality! This time around, Papa Roach’s “Last Resort” is on the chopping block. The chances are very likely that you’ve heard this one before, even if you don’t recognize it by its name. The track came from the band’s second studio LP, “Infest”, which was released in April 2000 by DreamWorks (Yes, it’s the same company that made ‘Shrek’). “Last Resort” was the lead single from the record, a track that was a top-ten chart hit in many countries, including Germany, Portugal and, of course, the UK. The album itself was a mega-hit for the Californian band, as it has sold over seven million copies worldwide (at the time of writing), and it earned the band a Grammy nomination for “Best New Artist”. The track was prominently used on the 2000 film “Ready To Rumble” and it’s marketing materials, and Papa Roach notably went on to record the theme song for WWE’s Monday Night Raw programming. That’s mostly how come I’ve known about them. Let’s take a trip to the group’s “Last Resort” below.

A commercial hit that showed off the band’s hip-hop influences and pushed their pioneering Rap-Metal style to the confines of the mainstream rock audiences, Papa Roach’s “Last Resort” was played on major radio stations all over the world, and it was placed on heavy rotation on TV music video channels. Jacoby Shaddix proclaims: “Cut my life into pieces/This is my last resort” over the top of a heavy, energetic lead guitar riff and a scratchy bass guitar riff that evokes Progressive Rock sounds. The chorus explodes, with a punchy drum section and a raw, mastered sense of percussive guitar work, as Shaddix chants: “Losing my sight, Losing my mind/I wish somebody would tell me I’m fine”, seeking self-assurance and comfort in a time of need, layered above the brash, loud instrumentation. The verses lower the upbeat tempo slightly, whilst the lyrics feel very prominent and substantial. Shaddix raps: “I never realized I was spread too thin, ‘Til I was too late and I was empty within” and “Searching to find a love upon a higher level, finding nothing but questions and devils” as a fiery aggression surfaces up to the main melodies, waiting for the chorus to swell up during the chorus. I can’t really say that it’s my thing personally since I’ve never been a part of the hardcore punk world which the track was aiming towards, but there’s a pop melodicism that makes the beats feel catchy and radio-friendly enough for me to see why it had an impact. Personally, I find the sound to be a little bit too cliche’ and the lyrics to feel a tad derivative to really captivate me, but the rap-inflicted verses are quite good fun and the guitar/drum riffs are solid. I probably wouldn’t choose to listen intently to this – but it really is a proper Scuzz Sunday track!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Infest” (Released on April 25th, 2000) (via DreamWorks/NPG Studios)

Thank you very much for reading this post! Tomorrow, I’m planning to kick off the new week in style with an in-depth review of some brand new music from an indie electro-pop 6-piece formed in Brighton, England who conjoin indie rock and garage rock with a mixture of Bollywood backing tracks, double Dutch chants and distorted guitar rhythms, combined with more elements that were heavily influenced by old-school hip-hop. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Scuzz Sundays: The Offspring – “The Kids Aren’t Alright”

January 12, 2020 — 1 Comment

Grab your popcorn and buckle up your seat belts, it’s time for another Scuzz Sunday!

  • Pictured: Dexter Holland (Lead Vocals), Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Todd Morse (Bass Guitar) and Pete Parada (Drums/Percussion) (2012)

As always, Jacob Braybrooke here! Of course, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 24 hours, it is Sunday! This means it’s the day of the week on the blog where I take a trip down memory lane and revisit a cheesy emo rock/punk throwback tune from the 90’s/mid-00’s, which takes me back to THAT phase of my life, with a track which would typically be seen on the Scuzz TV music video channel. It’s a bit of a safe choice this week, but it’s still nonetheless worth covering. The Offspring are a Hard Rock band from California who had several hits in the era, such as “Pretty Fly For A White Guy”, “Original Prankster” and “Why Don’t You Get A Job?”, with the former track reaching the #1 spot on mainstream singles charts around the world, including my native UK Singles Chart. The band were a big part of the mainstream pop-punk rock movement in the late 90’s, along with fellow Californian bands such as Green Day, Rancid, Bad Religion and Pennywise (Hiya, Georgie)! The band have gone on to sell over 40 million copies worldwide, as of 2015. Today’s track in question is “The Kids Aren’t Alright” – a single from their fifth major LP, “Americana”, released in 1998. The track was a major commercial success, as it reached #11 on the UK Singles Chart.

The track, titled as an indirect reference to The Who’s 1966 classic “The Kids Are Alright”, also available as downloadable content for the “Rock Band” video game series, is a surprisingly heavy allusion to the Punk Movement of the late 1960’s. The lyrics are delivered with a sharp-witted, quick pace, as Holland starts off: “When we were young the future was so bright/The old neighborhood was so alive/And every kid on the whole damn street/Was gonna make it big and not be beat”, before he compares these ambitions to a harsh, materialistic reality: “Now the neighborhood’s cracked and torn/The kids are grown up but their lives are worn/How can one little street/Swallow so many lives”, with the chorus reiterating themes of scarred potential: “Still it’s hard/Hard to see/Fragile lives, shattered dreams”. As you would expect, this theme of repressed youth and deprived goals continues throughout the track, at a breakneck pace, with Holland referencing stories of Jamie, Jay and Brandon (Hope they made it out alright in the end), with a clear influence of 60’s/70’s punk bands like The Sex Pistols and The Strokes ringing through. The emo-punk style is obviously dated, but the track does have a certain maturity and forlorn seriousness which makes it stand out from it’s peer’s offerings. The rhythm is fairly catchy, although the overall aesthetic is a little bit too pop-oriented and uptempo to fully stand the test of time, for my liking. Nevertheless, it’s a track which clearly borrows some elements of older examples and it updates these morals for the audience of it’s time. It mostly succeeds in doing so, as the guitar riffs are infectious and fit the criteria well. The bass guitar riffs have a dark Americana quality that works and the lyrics, although straightforward, are timeless. Overall, I think it’s solid-as-a-rock stuff!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Americana” (November 1998)

Thank you for reading this post! Make sure that you check back with the blog tomorrow as I’ll be continuing to try and wash away those January blues with an in-depth look at a new-ish track from a Canadian Electronic Hip-Hop duo who describe their own sound as “Stadium Pow-Wow” and were named as a homage to African-American hip-hop legends A Tribe Called Quest! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Scuzz Sundays: Rage Against The Machine – “Killing In The Name”

December 15, 2019 — Leave a comment

Rage Against The Machine? Put me in front of any computer past 10pm and that’s what the recipe will brew up! Another week, another weekly Scuzz Sunday blog post!

  • Pictured: Zack De La Rocha (Lead Vocals), Tom Morello (Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar), Tim Commerford (Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals) and Brad Wilk (Drums, Percussion) (Photo Credits: Niels Van Iperen/Getty Images) (1996)

Well, it’s no happy-clappy Christmas song, but it still hit #1 on the UK Singles Chart for Christmas in 2009. Yes, that’s right, the track sold 50,000 copies on downloads alone (which was a big thing in those days, believe it or not) in a campaign to stop the X-Factor winner from getting the #1 spot for the fifth year in a row. Joe McElderry with a cover of Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb” was the victim, after a string of christmas #1 hits from Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson and Alexandra Burke. Well, if you want to completely disappear from the world without a trace, the way to do it is by going on The X-Factor and winning it! I do have a soft spot for Leona Lewis though, she has a gorgeous voice! Seasons greetings to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m blogging about “Killing In The Name” by Rage Against The Machine, originally released in November 1992, as a single from the self-titled debut LP from Tom Morello’s old band.

I think it’s more Season’s Beatings to you in this case! This is an Alternative Metal classic that doesn’t let up in much of a sentimental context, making it a great fit for the protest that got it to the #1 spot in Christmas 2009. Chosen as it was a protest track about institutional racism and police brutality in the 1990’s, “Killing In The Name” has remained an early 90’s classic because it has a signature guitar riff and a vocal style of lyricism which is raw and aggressive. There are also 17 profantities of the word “fuck”, although this is a surprisingly easy track to cut into a radio edit. The hard rock power of the track is boosted by the frantically-paced drumming and the bass-driven punk chords which put a stamp on the immediate impact of the politically charged sound. Zack De La Rocha gears up for the explosive chorus “and now you do what they told ya”, before he conjures up a storm of heavy lead guitar chords and fast-paced rock production with the chorus: “Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they’re the chosen whites/You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they’re the chosen whites” and he leads a mosh pit into a live crowd with: ” Yeah! Come on! ” to create an overwhelming sense of protest and emotions of miserable anger. It’s cold and brooding, but I think it still qualifies as a credible piece of art because it’s managed to live on in the years since and the lyrical messages are still relevant in the world we’re living our society within today. Overall, it’s one of, if not, the most unconventional Christmas #1 song of all-time, even though it faces very hard competition from Mr. Blobby and Bob The Builder. Yep, it still bangs!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Rage Against The Machine” (Self-Titled debut LP record) (1992)

Thank you very much for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with an in-depth look at a new track from a US indie singer-songwriter who has recently started her own solo project after being well-known as the lead member of the Philadelphia-born indie rock band, Hop Along! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/