Scuzz Sundays: Slipknot – “Duality”

October 3, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Corey Taylor (Lead Vocals), Mick Thomson (Lead Guitar), Shawn Crahan (Percussion/Art Director/Photographer), Craig Jones (Keyboard), Jim Root (Bass Guitar), Chris Fehn (Backing Vocals), Paul Gray (Backing Vocals), Joey Jordison (Drums/Mixing) & Sid Wilson (Turntables) (2019) (via PR)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for us to listen to some quite un-church like music before we head to church for ‘Scuzz Sundays’, the part of the week where we revisit some of the ghosts of Pop-Punk and Nu-Metal’s past. This is Spooky Season – after all. One band from the late-90’s to mid-00’s who fits that bill is Slipknot, the Iowa-based Alternative Metal band fronted by Corey Taylor, who once appeared on an episode of BBC Two’s ‘QI’ on UK television and seemed like a likeable guy all-around, to be fair. Slipknot still seem to be immensely popular, scoring a UK number one album with ‘We Are Not Your Kind’ as recently as 2019. One of the most interesting albums to come from the crossover stars is ‘Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses’, a record that deals with “the healing process” of the band’s themes of decay and decapitation from the previous record. To meet these ends, Slipknot changed their style very discreetly by incorporating more traditional, melodic song structures as well as brooding guitar solo’s and a splattering of acoustic instrumentals. The album was a large success, despite the band’s initial unproductive struggles over the record, where Taylor was found drinking heavily to comfort some very personal issues. The record was praised by AllMusic for its “dedication to making it a Slipknot album” and Kerrang’s readers rated it as 31st in a poll of ‘The 50 Best Albums Of The 21st Century” taken in 2009. One of the best-received singles was ‘Duality’, which peaked at #5 on the US Rock Chart and Slipknot’s record label, Roadrunner Records, listed the music video for the single as the best one in their history in 2010. Refresh your mind below.

Slipknot have now found pretty staggering crossover success with combined sales of reportedly up to 30 million records globally, but these metrics didn’t always seem to be within their mask-wearing grasp. Until ‘Vol 3: The Subliminal Verses’ was issued in 2004, Slipknot’s future seemed bleak. Taylor’s battles with alcoholism worsened over the years, and the other members of Slipknot decided to work on a few side projects – like Stone Sour, Murderdolls and To My Surprise – but the band eventually decided to enlist Rick Rubin as the producer of their album and cracked down to work in the studio together, before releasing ‘Duality’ as the comeback single. ‘Duality’ felt like a volatile soft-reboot for Slipknot at the time, giving them a harsher edge and a more catchy sound, while appreciating the raw style of their prior work. The guitar riffs are sharp and disjointed enough without feeling clunky, and the Spoken Word style of the verses is quite intriguing since it gives refrains like “I have screamed until my veins collapsed/I’ve waited as my time’s elapsed” and “Tell me the reality is better than the dream/But I found out the hard way, nothing is what it seems” a vibe of toxicity and a feel of cinematic dark poetry that does stick out a little more compared to their contemporary peers of the era. Taylor uses a grumbling, dark croaking vocal delivery to complement the down-tuned, screeching guitar riffs and emphasize the horror atmosphere of the percussion. I think that it is easy to find their costumes and masks to take things a little too far for some audiences, but I don’t mind that aspect of their live performances and general visuals too much since it shows me they can simply be bothered to create a compelling visual companion piece to the art they create, and that is enough for me. On the whole, while I can’t say that I’ve ever really cared for Slipknot by a great amount, I really enjoyed my time with ‘Duality’, and not really in a ‘guilty pleasure’ way that plagues some releases. I felt there was plenty of genuinely well-crafted material here. The chorus was sharp and filled with some very punchy hooks that feel melodic enough, but fits the terrifying and gory imagery of Slipknot overall. There’s a couple of well-written lyrics here that match poetry with pain, and the extra layers of tension are paced decently, with the more subdued vocal style of the verses being counteracted with a more patented style later on with some solid guitar work that creates a surge of tense rhythms for the chorus. A spiked thumbs up!

Pictured: Slipknot in an official photoshoot for ‘We Are Not Your Kind’ (2019) (Photo via PR/NME.com)

As one of the more popular US heavy metal bands of our time, Slipknot have been worthy of a mention on ‘Scuzz Sundays’ before, albeit over a year and a half ago. Still, if you want more content, you can find out what I thought of ‘Before I Forget’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/02/23/scuzz-sundays-slipknot-before-i-forget/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Vol. 3 The Subliminal Verses’ (LP) (May 2004) (via Roadrunner Records)

That’s all for now! Thank you for your continued support regarding the blog, and I’ll be back tomorrow to kick off another week’s worth of daily music picks. Join me for an in-depth look at a British Columbia-born singer-songwriter who, after working as a restaurant line chef in his teens, turned to a life of music where he played with Jason Corbett in Speed To Kill. He is now known for his bob wig and androgynous make-up.

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New Album Release Friday: Garbage – “No Gods, No Masters”

June 11, 2021 — Leave a comment

‘Taking Out The Trash’ now has a completely different meaning. Time for a new post!

Pictured: Cover Art for “No Gods, No Masters” (LP) (Released on June 11, 2021) (via Infectious Music)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, just like usual, with the lingo for your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s Friday – and this week’s notable new releases include the debut album from Cleopatrick (Canada’s answer to Royal Blood), the 18th LP release in nine years from the endearingly proactive cult Aussie Prog-Rock ensemble King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, a ‘joint’ collaborative album from US rapper KennyHoopla and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, the latest long-player from the Post-Hardcore legends AFI and the new Minnesota musician Rachel Lime is taking things to an intergalactic level on ‘A.U.’, her debut LP offering. June 11th also marks the release date for ‘No Gods, No Masters’, the extensive seventh LP from 90’s Post-Punk pioneers Garbage. Formed out of the ashes of the bands Spooner and Fire Town, Shirley Manson’s band comfortably filled the void which a declining Grunge genre and a murky phase for Metal left for them, becoming highly significant for a female-fronted punk rock outfit of the time, and they have since sold over 17 million albums globally. The follow-up to 2016’s ‘Strange Little Birds’, Garbage’s new album has been pitched by Manson as “a critique of the rise of capitalist short-sightedness, racism, sexism and misogyny across the world”. Let’s sample the titular single below.

Paired with a music video directed by Scott Stuckey, Manson penned ‘No Gods, No Masters’ as her reaction to the Chilean protests against inequality and corruption when she took a trip to Santiago recently, and she was shocked at the sights of graffiti that had been painted over museums and monuments, until one of her guides checked her, asking her why she was more suprised by the damage being made to statues and the environment more than actual people, saying “That was like a slap in the face” in her press release. Built on Synth-infused guitar riffs and electric-soaked drum sequences, Manson chants refrains like “The future is mine, Just the same/No master or gods to obey” and “Nothing lasts and no one stays/The same forever, so accept the change” above the warmly melodic and Pop-oriented backdrop. Lyrics like “Save your prayers for yourself/’Cause they don’t work and they don’t help” touch on religious conflict, and further lyrics like “You want what’s mine/I want what’s yours” call out to those affected by gun violence. The finale, a final repeat of the chorus, comes after a slower bridge that takes us back to the 1990’s Alternative Rock scene, as Manson croons ” You want what’s mine/I want what’s yours” as the instrumentation crawls to a halt, with acidic Synth riffs and a heavy reverb effect. It feels very catchy and hook-led overall, despite touching on a wide variety of topical issues that carry weight, with a moody vocal performance that feels sub-cultural and an energetic guitar delivery which feels buoyant. It’s also very polished, with the rhythms and the candid vocals being mixed smoothly. Impressively, an underlying sense of warmth permeates throughout the track because it feels familiar and nostalgic to hear the group making a similar kind of music to their peak popularity, but the messages that lie underneath this ‘gentle hug from an old friend’ are moving and spoken carefully. I did think it was a little forgettable. However, I could certainly see it gaining airplay somewhere like BBC Radio 2 since it’s fairly light-hearted and recognizably Garbage overall. A visceral and cutting, but accessible and immediate, piece of nostalgic Punk.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Version 2.0” (Released on May 11th, 1998) (via Mushroom Records/Almo)

If you think that someone’s watching you, then you might not want to check out my earlier blog post about Garbage’s ‘I Think I’m Paranoid’ from last year. If you’re a fan of Manson’s misadventures, however, simply be my guest. Catch up on that here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/09/18/todays-track-garbage-i-think-im-paranoid-1998/

Pictured: Cover Art for “I Think I’m Paranoid” (Single) (Released on July 6, 1998) (via Almo Sounds)

That’s all for now – today’s ‘Garbage’ has been collected, after all. ‘Scuzz Sundays’ returns in two days time, as always, but, before we get to that point, I’ve got some more brand new music to share amongst you tomorrow. It marks the big return of a cult London band known for compiling archived clips from old public information films along with their guitars, synths, banjo’s and drums – and even including a vibraslap – to create their wildly inventive music. The band also took part in a special performance for BBC Proms to mark the celebration of Neil Armstrong’s moon landings last year. 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: Marilyn Manson – “The Fight Song”

March 14, 2021 — Leave a comment

Let us take a walk on the wild – or, possibly, more like weird? – side. It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: Marilyn Manson (2017) (Photo Credit: Mauricio Santana/Getty Images/EW.com)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, writing from Stoke-On-Trent once again, and it’s time for our weekly blast from the past, as we re-evaluate one of the Pop-Punk classics from the Emo era around the late-1990’s through to the mid-2000’s, to see whether they can hold up to value among modern quality standards. Juxtaposing the names of golden age film star Marilyn Monroe and cult leader Charles Manson (two very different American cultural icons) for his stage alias and band, Ohio-based rock star Marilyn Manson always came across as more ‘Goth’ than ‘Emo’ to me, with politically charged music that points fingers at the American political systems and gun violence issues. In fact, he used to really freak me out as a child. However, he’s still one of the biggest artists from the era, with a large wave of multi-platinum and gold selling albums coming along with his wave of controversy. I know that Marilyn has been in the news recently, for the wrong reasons, and so I originally delayed this post after planning to do it for the Royal Rumble Sunday, solely because the title of ‘The Fight Song’ really fits the theme for the big multi-man match. So, I’m just going to judge the track purely for it’s quality to avoid sensitive material. ‘The Fight Song’ was released back in 2000 on his fourth studio LP, ‘Holy Wood (In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death)’, which was a Rock-Opera concept album with an Industrial metal style and Glam Rock-influenced production akin to some of Manson’s earlier work. It had it’s share of controversy, no suprise there, but it’s still seen by publications like Kerrang! as some of his best work, who commented in 2010: “[It is] still scathingly relevant [and] a credit to a man who refused to sit and take it, but instead come out swinging.” for a retrospective. Let’s take the brass knuckles of ‘The Fight Song’ below.

Urgh… There’s something about that dude. Unsettling. Most recently, he’s been dabbling his paintbrush in a little bit of Art work, completing an art exhibition in 2017 of 20 paintings which he called ‘Genealogies of Pain’ with the famously off-his-rockers film director, David Lynch, which took place at the Kuntshalle gallery in Vienna. For ‘The Fight Song’ specifically, Manson voices his usual complaints by titling the track as a pun of the ‘fight songs’ that US football teams use as their theme tunes. Therefore, it becomes a post-Columbine statement disparaging the college traditions of the US, and America’s fandom for football being a metaphor for the country’s glorification of violence among the youth, in the case of Manson’s opinions. The track was a decent sized hit in the UK, reaching #24 in the Singles Charts over here. Performed as a direct address to the listener as his audience, Manson voices his grindings with bold lyrics like “Nothing suffocates you more/Than the passing of everyday human events” and “Isolation is the oxygen mask, You make your children breathe in to survive”, with heavy guitar riffs and quick drum signatures selling his feelings of anger and rage. It feels commercially suitable enough, however, with polished production and hooks like “So when we are bad, We’ll scar your minds” and “The death of one is a tragedy, The death of a million is just sadistic” that pop out a little. It’s very outspoken and direct, with a snarling vocal performance that complements the bitter qualities of the songwriting. The electric guitar riffs aren’t likely to change the world, but they keep the pace rolling at a fiery speed. The underlying themes are the use of tragic death as an exploitation for entertainment among the masses, with a couple of high-pitched wails and screams of which your mileage may vary on. Overall, although Manson is likely to always cause a share of controversy and has a very direct way of expressing his opinions that I can’t say I always agree with, I think one of the most important elements of making ‘good music’ has to be a message or expression formed within the fabric of the sound. ‘The Fight Song’ is a success in these regards, but he is just not a dude I’d want to hang out with.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Holy Wood (In The Shape Of The Valley Of Death” (2000) (via Nothing Records)

That’s all I have for you right now… Run along and have a nice day! I’ll be back at it again tomorrow, however, for an in-depth look at some brand new music from a relatively familiar face from the blog – the second entry from a Disco throwback project from a Los-Angeles based project (I’m still not 100% sure if it’s just a dude or a band, but anyways) who hosts his own podcast with new episodes releasing every Thursday. The track is a cover of a famous 60’s pop hit originally performed by Wayne Fontana. 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: Saliva – “Click Click Boom”

March 7, 2021 — Leave a comment

When we finish the daily jobs – we’ll round them off with a BOOM! It’s Scuzz Sunday…

Pictured: Wayne Swinny (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Paul Crosby (Drums/Percussion), Bobby Amaru (Lead Vocals/Keyboard) and Brad Stewart (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) (2016) (Photo via PR)

Who doesn’t love a good use of Onomatopoeia? Hello, I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for our weekly throwback to the relics of Pop-Punk and Emo-style releases that you may vaguely remember from around the late-1990’s until the mid-2000’s, as we bring these Frankenstein’s monsters back to life and we find out if they can walk the walk to modern standards. Saliva were a Memphis-based US Hard Rock band who are still technically active, although they’ve had several different line-up’s over the years and they haven’t released anything new since 2018. Most famously known for tracks like “Always”, “Ladies and Gentlemen” – and, perhaps most notably, “Click Click Boom” – Saliva have had a few hits troubling the US Mainstream Rock Songs chart and the Alternative Airplay charts before. Saliva released their self-titled debut album through Mark Yoshida’s Rockingchair Records back in 1998, before signing with major label Atlantic Records, who heavily promoted their follow-up records, “Every Six Seconds”, which was released in 2001, and eventually went on to receive a Platinum certification via the RIAA, despite some lukewarm reviews. “Click Click Boom” was also the theme track for then-WWF (WWE)’s No Mercy 2001 PPV. Let’s stream it below.

Although “Click Click Boom” didn’t make much of an impact on the commercial charts, you may recognise the tune because it has somehow been ingrained into popular culture because it’s been featured in so many different film, TV and video game productions. The long list includes ‘Talladega Knights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby’ (2006), ‘The Fast and The Furious’ (2001), ‘UFC 2009 Undisputed’ (2009) and ‘Project Gotham Racing’ (2001), among other entertainment titles. It was also put on the 2001 Clear Channel memorandum, but no lyric edits were actually made. Encyclopedic knowledge aside, “Click Click Boom” is more-or-less still the Nu Metal-by-numbers track you may remember, with vocalist Wayne Swinny singing about his band causing commercial dominance globally. Lines like “I’m on the radio station, Touring the nation, Leaving the scene in devastation” and “I’m coming down with a new style, and you know it’s buck wild” making these meanings abundantly clear, recited over a Rap-Metal delivery. A heavy set of guitar chords boost the instrumentation forwards, with a propelling bass guitar melody and a loud set of drum notes conjuring up a Pop-oriented hook, followed by a slightly lighter bridge of similarly, but slowed, chugging guitar patterns. Themes of childhood are also touched on, with lines like “Just a kid with a pad and a pen, and a big imagination” which is ironic because the track doesn’t have anything that expressive to say, and so it feels rather contradictory. Lyrical gripes aside, the line of “Make it, break it, take it, Until i’m overrated” was enough to elicit a slight chuckle from me. Overall, the track feels like a watered-down Rage Against The Machine, with a croaking vocal delivery somewhat downplaying the otherwise decent delivery. However, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t entertained by it. While this track is pretty crap by all means, I think it has some charm in the fame-lusting themes that isn’t really heard in today’s Nu-Metal standards, and I could picture the track being good fun when it’s performed to a live crowd and a throbbing mosh-pit. So, in conclusion, although the track isn’t amazing by any stretch of the mind, I think it’s fine for what it is if you don’t take it so seriously.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Every Six Seconds” (LP) (Released in July, 2001) (via Island Records)

When the job is done, don’t forget to add a BOOM at the end, Just for good measure. I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of your Sunday in peace for now, but please feel free to join me again tomorrow as I begin to curate another week’s worth of recommended music listening picks for you. We’re celebrating International Women’s Day with an archive track, released in 2014 to critical acclaim and commercial success, from an influential US songwriter and producer who was included twice in NPR’s list of the “200 Greatest Songs by 21st Century Women” in 2019, and she contributed backing vocals for Swans on their 2014 record, “To Be Kind”. Did you also know that she once dated supermodel and actress Cara Delevinge from 2014 to 2016 too? 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: Coal Chamber – “Loco”

February 7, 2021 — Leave a comment

A bizarre delight, or nothing but a lump of Coal in St. Nick’s sack? It’s Scuzz Sunday…

Pictured: Cover Art for “Coal Chamber” (Self-Titled LP) (Released in 1997) (via Roadrunner Records)

Well, here’s another addition to the Lunacy series. It’s Scuzz Sunday – and that means it’s the time of the week where I – Jacob Braybrooke – dig out an ancient relic from the Emo-Rock and Pop-Punk genres between the late 1990’s to the mid 2000’s, to see if they can hold up to quality and value in the current climate – because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! We’ve been riding up a stream of surprisingly decent old Nu-Metal singles over the past few weeks – and Coal Chamber were another group of that same ilk. Formed by Dez Fafara in Los Angeles, California during 1993, the band have had a very on-and-off creative relationship, with the band active from 1993 – 2003, and reuniting from 2011 to 2016, and disbanding again in 2018. Although I wouldn’t say they became a household name like Korn, Evanescence or Nightwish did – their first album still performed very well. Despite some brutal reviews, their self-titled debut LP – released in 1997 via Roadrunner Records – has been certified as Gold in US sales by the RIAA with figures above 500,000 units sold. It was also numbered at #15 on Kerrang’s list of “The 21 Greatest Nu-Metal Albums Of All-Time”, and each of the singles were compiled onto a Greatest Hits album that was issued in 2004. The co-founders, Fafara and Meegs Rascón, would also find moderate success in side projects. Strangely, Ozzy Osbourne used the music video for “Loco” as a starring vehicle. Take a gander below.

Just to clear a few things up, I can inform you that I’m writing this post just before I got to Church like I do on a Sunday morning and, when you come to think of it, I can’t say this is a very appropriate type of art form to be consuming just before that scenario, but, you know, when there’s a job – it needs doing. The band’s primary influences included The Cure, Metallica and Jane’s Addiction. “Loco” shows a few spades of these ideas – both visually and lyrically – but it’s mostly known for it’s two-note guitar riff. A sweeping and dramatic opening riff leads to the mosh-pit drawing refrain of “Pull” as the bass guitars start to chug along. Lines like “Steamroller rollin’ through my haid said/Attached to Loco, Power up Coal” are delivered in a low-pitch grumble, that sells qualities of rage and darkness. The chorus is relatively basic, with “Mi Loco” being repeated over the top of a brooding and whammy-assisted lead guitar melody. A slight breakdown comes near the two-thirds mark, as a hazing line of washing riffs and a slowed vocal delivery, before the dark riffs settle back into their mid-tempo focus again. The chorus can get a little annoying and it lacks substance, but there’s a doofy and not-so serious feeling to the tune that are charmingly endearing. All of the usual tropes of the Nu-Metal genre are here, with slight rap inflictions being created by the slightly melodic nature of the growling, and some guitar riffs that just chug along at a rhythmic pace, as you would expect. The guitar riffs, while not inherently bad, come across as rather dull and uninteresting to me, however. While Nu-Metal music often thrived on the very slight melodicism to the dark toned instrumentation, they weren’t exactly energetic – and “Loco” sadly didn’t manage to pull any of those moves while doing anything interesting. Although I’ve heard worse, ” Loco” fails because of it’s lack of substance, and much of the track just felt “off” to me – with attempts of humor that don’t spark an effortless feeling. In other words, it’s just trying a little too hard, and it felt too abstract. It’s more of an awareness from a band whose music they knew were only filling a gap in the market.

Pictured: Dez Fafara (Lead Vocals), Miguel Rascon (Keyboard/Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals), Nadja Peulen (Bass Guitar) and Mike Cox (Drums/Percussion) (2015) (Photo via Dom Lawson/Metal Hammer)

They can’t all be good! Scuzz Sundays is scheduled to be back at roughly the same time, but on the same day, next week. Until then, we’re going to be kicking off another week of new posts tomorrow. The week stars off with relatively fresh Hip-Hop from a British-Gambian producer who gained exposure from BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra and 6Music for his debut album, “Take Me To Coventry”, which got to the Top 40 of the UK Albums Chart. He is known for his use of Afrobeat and Drill elements in his Grime music, and his debut single “Frontline” was the most-played track on 1Xtra in 2020. 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: Twisted Sister – “Heavy Metal Christmas”

December 13, 2020 — Leave a comment

A season as warped as the ever-shifting shape of a Twister ice lolly. It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: Cover Art for “A Twisted Christmas” (LP) (Released on October 17th. 2006) (via Razor & Tie)

Season’s Greetings – or, should I say, in this case, Season’s Beatings – to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for a Festive edition of our weekly Scuzz Sundays feature, where we take a look back at the Pop-Punk and the Emo-Rock classics from Christmas Past, released between the late-1990’s and the mid-2000’s, to see if they can hold up to quality and value in the modern times! Twisted Sister were a US Heavy Metal band who really challenged the gender politics of their era, which saw rise to numerous acts like Judas Priest and AC/DC in gaining some mainstream attention, by often wearing elaborate make-up and gender-blurring costumes that infused a sheen of Glam-Rock into their music, which really set them apart from their contemporaries. It goes without saying that 2006’s “A Twisted Christmas” was the weirdest full-length album in their discography. However, it also proved to be the famous group’s last album, too. Talk about neatly tying a ribbon on top of a lengthy career like a tightly wrapped present, right? The album, distributed by Razor & Tie Entertainment, is a mixture of Metal-themed reworkings of classic Christmas carols and Christmas-themed versions of the band’s classic material. “Heavy Metal Christmas”, the track in question on the blog today, is the 5-piece’s own Metal-themed version of “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”, with obviously modified lyrics. Let’s watch the music video below.

The band produced the full-length album release themselves, and they filmed the studio performance above for GameTap, and the LP record became something of a viral hit, with the band’s metal-themed version of “O Come All Ye Faithful” becoming arguably one of their more well-known releases since the 1990’s. Meanwhile, “Heavy Metal Christmas”, the track in question, looks at the traditional children’s carol through a different set of guitar riffs, and a different polish of make-up, for that measure. Replacing “Partridge In A Pear Tree” with a “Tattoo Of Ozzy”, the track continually builds up it’s vocal layers with a gradual showering of goofy heavy gifts and self-ironic jokes related to the stereotypes of Glam metal and vintage Metal stereotypes, which play out in the same rhythmic fashion as the well-known carol. “Spandex Pants” and “Leather Jackets” are included in the equation, along with “Cans Of Hairspray” and “Silver Crosses” later on. Of course, the instrumentation is quite different to the old Carol – with a loud set of powerful Drum beats, scattered Guitar licks and brief bass guitar replacing the more Choral sound of the original version. The tune of the ancient carol remains however, and it gradually adds new layers of instrumental guitar riffs and joyous backing vocals while the track runs along a fairly lengthy five minute duration. The self-referential lyrics come across as fun and catchy, even if the joke gets a little tired towards the end. There is mostly enough to keep things fresh though, and the actual gifts used in the lyrics don’t feel too forced on, or majorly obvious. Overall, this is Christmas – through a different amp.

Pictured: Dee Snider (Lead Vocals), Eddie “Fingers” Ojeda (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Jay Jay French (Rhythm Guitar), Mark Mendoza (Bass Guitar) and AJ Pero (Drums) (in 2006) (via NorthJersey.com)

Thank you for checking out my latest blog post! More Christmas-themed music comes tomorrow in the form of a late-90’s track that was later re-worked in the late-00’s by a classic British pop duo who currently hold the distinction of being the most commercially successful duo in the history of British music. At the BRIT Awards in 2009, in London, they were given the honour of the “Lifetime Achievement Award”. 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: White Zombie – “More Human Than Human”

December 6, 2020 — Leave a comment

In your head, In your head – is gonna be White Zombie… Zombie… It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Astro-Creep: 2000 – Songs Of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head” (Album/LP) (Released in 1995) (via Geffen Records)

Good Evening to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s finally time for me to get typing up about your new entry in our weekly Scuzz Sundays series, where I take you back to the Emo-Rock and Pop-Punk movements of the late 1990’s, up through to the mid-2000’s, with an ancient gem that I’ve dug out from that era of rock, named in tribute to the now-defunct Scuzz TV channel from my childhood years. It’s almost time to cap off 2020 – and this is going to be our last regular installment of the ongoing series until the new year of 2021, because we are getting more festive with the theme from next week onwards. Last, but not least, we have White Zombie – the trailblazing NYC-based Alternative Metal group most famously comprised of the rock goddess Sean Yseult, the lead guitarist Jay Yuenger, the drummer John Tempesta, and – of course – their frontman, Rob Zombie – who has since gone on to direct a wealth of B-movie horror flicks. Although disbanding in 1998, the band were still ranked highly at #56 of VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock” list that was published in 2006. “More Human Than Human” was one of their signature tracks – and it was included on the group’s fourth and, what proved to be, their final album – with the shortened title of “Astro-Creep 2000”, which was released in 1995 by Geffen Records. It landed the 4-piece group their most commercially successful album – reaching #6 on the US Billboard Top 200 albums chart, which was a really successful feat for an Alternative Heavy Metal record at the time. A few interesting facts about the track is that it features a repeated Slide Guitar figure, which is more commonly used in Blues music. Moreover, Zombie sampled the moaning vocal effects in the intro from “Cafe Flesh”, a Post-Apocalyptic pornography movie, of all items. Let’s hear the results of this below.

“More Human Than Human” quickly became White Zombie’s most recognizable single in their storied career, earning the band their second Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance, and being ranked on PopMatters’ list of “The 10 Best Alternative Metal Singles Of The 1990’s” list. The title of the track, as well as the lyrics themselves, also derive from the Phillip K. Dick poem “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep”, as Zombie wanted to infuse more elements of Sci-Fi Horror and Industrial rock themes into the band’s output for the LP. It was the single that tipped Rob Zombie over the edge to the mainstream of American radio, built around the toe-tapping Funk guitar rhythm that evokes qualities of Groove Metal. After the electronic intro with the witty sample, we get into the consistent Sliding guitar riff that forms the melodic basis of the track. Rob Zombie has a distorted vocal style, and he sings; “More Human Than Human” repeatedly over the top of the steady guitar instrumentation, with bass guitar riffs that are chugging along to the delayed pedal effects and the undertones of Post-Grunge. Zombie also proclaims the likes of “I am the Jigsaw man” and “I am the ripper man” above the crushing drum patterns and the Whammy-accentuated guitar work with a snarling vocal delivery that makes it a good fit for every over-the-top action flick that came out in the late-90’s. The vocals are pretty difficult to decipher and there’s not really a great deal of substance to them, but it’s the laidback Funk sensibilities and the Hip Hop-inspired placement of the quick samples that made the track stand out amongst the pack since there’s a decent amount of varied influences going into the composition. This lives up to it’s status as an, albeit cheesy, 90’s classic. It’s great to end our feature on a high this year.

Pictured: Rob Zombie (Lead Vocals/Producer/Writer), Jay Yuenger (Lead Vocals), Sean Yseult (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) and John Tempesta (Drums) (1995) (Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns)

Thank you for reading my latest blog post! As usual – I’ll be back tomorrow – although it will be a pre-written one since I’m making the travels back to my non-university home for the festive period tomorrow. There are only ever so many hours in a day, after all! I’m going to continue to shout about a certain Kansas-based singer and songwriter who describes herself as a “Girl who makes music in her living room”. 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: Guns ‘N’ Roses – “You Could Be Mine”

November 29, 2020 — Leave a comment

Oh, Sweet Child O’ Mine – it seems that we are in for a true classic! It is Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: Axl Rose (Lead Vocals/Piano), Slash (Lead Guitar/Rhythm Guitar), Duff McKagan (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), Dizzy Reed (Keyboard) and Steven Adler (Drums) (Photo via Getty Images)

It’s that time again! Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it’s time for us to dig out an ancient relic from the Pop-Punk and Emo-Rock movements of the late-1990’s up to the mid-2000’s to see whether they can hold up to value and quality in a contemporary setting, named in tribute to the disabled TV channel known as Scuzz TV. This week’s entry in our ongoing feature series falls a little earlier than our specified window, but it does give me very good memories of seeing those cheesy music videos for theme songs of an Action movie, with imagery of the band playing the single being intersected with a series of short clips taken from the movie. In all honesty, I don’t think I have seen it at all in recent times. They were often pretty random too – I vaguely recall Simon Webbe performing one for 2007’s “Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer”, of all combos. Case in point – 1991 was Guns ‘N’ Roses turn as they created the theme song of “You Could Be Mine” for the game-changing blockbuster, “Terminator II: Judgment Day”. Guns ‘N’ Roses don’t need much of an introduction – and that makes my job a bit easier. Spearheaded by the iconic Vocalist Axl Rose and the legendary Guitarist Slash, the US Hard Rock phenomenon have a long list of accolades including record sales of over 100 million worldwide, a well-deserved place on the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, and international fame, which includes 7 albums to chart in the UK Top 40. Let’s listen to “You Could Be Mine” below.

“You Could Be Mine” was originally released as the theme song for James Cameron’s Sci-Fi epic, “Terminator II: Judgment Day” in June of 1991, before it was later re-released as part of Guns ‘N’ Roses’ “Illusion II” album later on, in September of that year. It was packaged as a physical single release, with “Civil War” as the B-side, and it went on to become a huge commercial gain – with a top five chart position in more than ten countries globally, including the #3 spot on the UK Top 40 Singles Chart. The long story goes that Arnold Schwarzenegger himself even invited the band over to his house for dinner to negotiate the deal for their involvement. “You Could Be Mine” is probably one of the band’s most straightforward offerings, with a one-minute intro of Glam-ish guitar riffs and a steady drum beat leading to lyrics that play off of toxic relationships and on-purpose heartbreak, as Rose chimes: “I’m a cold heart breaker, Fit to burn, and I’ll rip your heart in two” to fit the old-school action themes of it’s associated movie. Rose sustains his high notes for a big, hook-led chorus where he chants: “‘Cause you could be mine/But you’re way out of line” and “You get nothin’ done/I bet you could be mine” as Slash gets to his trademark Jamming, and Steven Adler delivers some fast drumming. The signature solo from Slash is easily the biggest takeaway from this, as he gets to shredding some heavy bass guitar riffs at a chaotic pace, and the part feels beautifally placed as well. The lyrics are standard stuff for Rock & Roll, with nothing that feels too textured or thematically complicated, but it suits the aggressive tone of Rose’s Glam-driven vocal delivery pretty well. It is pretty cheesy and conventional of it’s time as an overall package, but it hasn’t aged badly at all with the expertly crafted guitar solo from Slash and the sense of fun and nostalgia that it evokes when we’re looking at it from a present-day perspective. After all, Guns ‘N’ Roses are a classic – and I cannot dispute that. Overall, I feel this is still a lot of fun.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Use Your Illusion II” (Released on September 17th, 1991) (via Geffen Records)

Thank you for reading my latest blog post! As per usual, please feel free to join me again tomorrow – where we’ll be saying adios to November with an in-depth listen to brand new music from a popular Alternative Rock group who are from my native country of England. They had crossover hits with “Our Velocity”, “Girls Who Play Guitars” and “Books From Boxes” back in 2007, and their first two albums were certified as Gold in sales in the UK. 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/