Good Afternoon to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to remember another of the ghosts of Pop-Punk’s past that dwindled after the late-90’s to the mid-00’s into a pile of ash for ‘Scuzz Sundays’, not forgetting that it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! In a similar vein to last week’s entry on Hoobastank, Papa Roach have also been covered for the ‘Scuzz Sundays’ feature once before, but it was published over a year ago. ‘Last Resort’ earned a fairly ‘meh’ reception from me, and so it’s time to see if some of their later work can redeem things. Formed in Vacacille, California in 1993 when lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix and drummer Dave Buckner came across each other on the Vacaville High School college football pitch and they bonded over their shared love for music. Known for hits like ‘Last Resort’ and ‘Between Angels and Insects’, as well as Gold-certified albums such as 2002’s ‘Lovehatetragedy’ and the triple platinum-certified LP release ‘Infest’ from two years prior, the Pop-Grunge group are also well-known for composing ‘To Be Loved’, which was originally featured as the theme tune for WWE’s ‘Monday Night Raw’ programme that was used between 2006 and 2009. It was the opening single of 2006’s ‘The Paramour Sessions’, which was titled as a reference to The Paramour Mansion, where the album was recorded. Dedicated to the memory of Shaddix’s step grandfather, who committed suicide that year, following a diagnosis of an unspecified form of terminal cancer, the record is a departure in sound for the band, as it trends into more of a Hard Rock sound instead of Nu-Metal like the group’s previous releases. Let’s revisit the album’s most popular single below.
In it’s late-00’s heyday, ‘To Be Loved’ slowly ascended to the #8 position of the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and #14 in the Modern Rock Tracks charts that have been compiled by Billboard in the US, and it has been memorably used during the theatrical trailer for the 2008 film ‘Never Back Down’, which was directed by Jeff Wadlow (‘Kick-Ass 2’, ‘Bloodshot’) and boasted a star studded cast that included the likes of Amber Heard, Sean Faris and Djimon Honsou. Throughout the track, Shaddix promises he’s “Taking it back to the hardcore level” with some big vocal hooks and some jangly lead guitar riffs, marking a slight tease into the band’s older Rap Metal sound with a light Hip-Hop introduction that goes into something more distorted and alike to an uncontrollable frenzy, with a post-bridge that shouts ‘Screamo’ movement in a not-so subtle nature. Lyrics like “I want domination/I want your submission” and “I’ve gotta roll the dice/Never look back and never think twice” are what you would expect considering it was used for a long-running WWE TV product at one point, and the instrumentation fits the chaotic nature of the vocals with tight Drum riffs and upbeat guitar riffs. There’s some light use of snares, but they are paper thin. This feels water-tight on the whole in terms of sequencing, however, with a fast pace that never really lets up and an enthusiastic vocal performance that blends into the aggressive melodies decently enough. Overall, if you were looking for the pinnacle example of what a ‘Scuzz TV’ song was, this is the one. It is cheesy, an obvious crossover track with Pop elements, and a riotously paced single with some cheap lyrics. While I can’t comment on whether I believe it is Papa Roach’s best work, as I haven’t listened to enough of their own discography to get a full picture of that award, I thought this was fine overall. It is what it is. Disposable, but fun and it got the job done reasonably well.
If you really want to check out some of Papa Roach’s other more well-known past material, allow my prior post pertaining to Papa Roach to be your ‘Last Resort’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/07/26/scuzz-sundays-papa-roach-last-resort/
That’s all for today! Thank you for joining me for ‘Scuzz Sundays’, and I’ll be back tomorrow with another regular blog post in the long lead up to the ‘Countdown To Christmas’ rush! This time, it will come from a New York-based songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist who has released three studio albums and a 7″ single. Digital Trends included 2018’s ‘You, Forever’ in their list of their best albums that year.
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