Metal

Scuzz Sundays: Avenged Sevenfold – ‘Afterlife’

February 20, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Avenged Sevenfold’ (Self-Titled LP) (Released on October 30, 2007) (via Hopeless Records)

Good Morning to you! You’re tuned into the text of Jacob Braybrooke, as we pay a visit (Rather literally, in the case of this track’s title) to one of the ghosts of Pop-Punk past for another weekly iteration of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ on One Track At A Time, the blog where I simply write up about a different piece of music every day! Known for their eclectic Nu-Metal sound and the theatrical imagery of their promotional artwork, one heavy rock band who were hard to miss during the 2000’s and 2010’s was Avenged Sevenfold, a band who were formed in Huntington Beach, California in 1999. Still recording new material regularly today, the band have released seven studio albums of which they have sold over 8 million units worldwide, and they have even created four original tracks for the soundtracks of the ‘Call Of Duty: Black Ops’ series – for any video game lovers out there. They were also ranked as #47 on Loudwire’s list of their Top 50 Metal Bands Of All-Time in 2018. Released in 2007, ‘Afterlife’ was taken from Avenged Sevenfold’s self-titled album – that was actually their fourth studio LP – and it was their last album to feature the solid drummer ‘The Rev’ before he sadly passed away two years later during the production of 2010’s ‘Nightmare’. Give it a spin below.

The album debuted at #4 on the US Billboard 200 Album Chart and it was later included in Kerrang’s list of their “666 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die” as well as winning the Kerrang! award for Best Album in 2008. Meanwhile, the single – ‘Afterlife’ – was released with a music video that was directed by Wayne Isham, who had previously shot videos for Bon Jovi and Judas Priest. You can hear it on the ‘NHL 09’ video game soundtrack and it was voted as the best song of the new album on the band’s homepage upon its release, and so there’s absolutely no pressure for ‘Afterlife’ to hold up to quality and value in the present day, of course. It becomes clear that the lyrics are all about a man who dies at an early time and goes to heaven, but realizes that he has unfinished business to finish on Earth before his soul passes away, and we are essentially getting a soundtrack for that journey. The uptempo guitar riffs open the track immediately, with the lead guitar paving the way for the narrative to shine through ahead of a fantastic guitar solo in the final act of the structure. The lead vocals have a gear-switching flair with some sequences diving between a feeling of innocence and vengeance, and some harsher sequences that contrast the warmer lyrics with a punchy and energetic feeling. The lead-in to the chorus raises the tempo again after a mildly subdued stretch of instrumentation, where the tone of the vocals were a little more somber and pained, with some brief backing vocals and a bridge towards the main guitar solo that lays out the pacing neatly. The solo is 80’s schlock, but it’s done with a technical competence and it works well because of the track’s fast-paced nature. The more theatrical conclusion to the final act introduces some short Violin sections to the track, as the Strings signal the arrival of our protagonist to the gates of heaven and his subsequent departure to the living world as there’s still much for him to do there. It’s great that we follow a narrative of-sorts with the track, and I have to say that I rather enjoyed it. The vocals are a little cheesy at points where we cycle past the questionable accents and it veers slightly towards a 00’s radio rock commercial appeal, but I felt the guitar solo was very enjoyable and it was nice to hear Avenged Sevenfold moving away from their imitations of influences like Iron Maiden and going for a more individual direction with the story in the process. A little on-the-nose, but this was perfectly enjoyable and it has a couple of progressive ideas.

Pictured: M. Shadows (Lead Vocals/Piano/Percussion), Zacky Vengeance (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals), Johnny Christ (Bass Guitar), Synster Gates (Lead Guitar) & Brooks Wackerman (Drums) (2016) (Photo by WikiCommons.org)

That’s all that I’ve got lined up for you with today’s edition of ‘Scuzz Sundays’, and I thank you very much for continuing to support the blog every day because it really means a lot to me. Normal service will be resuming again tomorrow as we kick off the new week with some brand new music from a Cheshire-based female indie rock trio who I have actually spoken to in the flesh when they supported The Orielles at The Sugar Mill in Stoke-On-Trent in early 2020. Their debut LP is set to get released in May.

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Scuzz Sundays: Goldfinger – ’99 Red Balloons’

January 23, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Stomping Ground’ (LP) (Released on March 28th, 2000) (via Mojo Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to pay another visit to one of the ghosts of Pop-Punk past with another weekly iteration of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ on the blog, given that it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A fresh set of faces to our trashy feature, Goldfinger are a Ska-Punk band who were formed in Los Angeles, California during sometime in 1994, originally beginning as a contributor to the small movement of third-wave ska that was happening alongside peer acts such as No Doubt and The Toasters around the 1980’s and 1990’s by blending elements of Carribean monto and Calypso with more traditional Rock elements from the US mainstream, but by the time that 2002’s ‘Open Your Eyes’ and 2005’s ‘Disconnection Notice’ were released, the distinct act had shed most of their Dub & Reggae influences in favour of a more conventional pop and rock creative direction. They were mostly famous for their twisted covers of tracks like Joe Jackson’s ‘Is She Really Going Out With Him’, and in 2000, they decided to create a Metal-tinged cover of Nena’s ’99 Luft Balloons’ (Or also known as ’99 Red Balloons’ in terms of the English version, as the German version was actually more successful), a track that everybody and your grandmother knows that was an 80’s Synth-Pop classic written about the aftermath of the Cold War. It was taken from the band’s third studio album – 2000’s ‘Stomping Grounds’ – that was produced by Tim Palmer and John Feldmann and mixed by Tim Palmer. Give it a spin.

Reflecting on Goldfinger’s subject cover of ’99 Red Balloons’ in 2000, the band’s vocalist/guitarist John Feldmann said, “I don’t speak a word of German, but I had this coach that kind of helped me and I listened to it and go, “Wow, I speak German”, in a conversation with RealVideo, later adding, “At the time, I had no clue, but it’s definitely a war time song. It’s funny, ’cause when I was a kid and I heard the Nena version – and even when I heard the 7 Seconds version – it seemed more like a Pop song. I mean, it’s 99 air balloons – they’re talking about the end of World War II and stuff”, when discussing when he grasped the true meaning of the still well-liked original version from 1983. Goldfinger, meanwhile, had eventually set up sync deals for the track to appear in movies like ‘Not Another Teen Movie’ and ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’ among a few other productions. Musically, we take set for land off with a textured guitar riff that lightly ascends to the lyric of “You and I in a little toy shop/Buy a bag of balloons with the money we’ve got” before the bouncy Synth riff of the original is replaced by a lightly distorted guitar riff. The rest of the track leans into your typical Metal tropes, with heavy chords giving the falsely joyous hooks of “99 red balloons floating in the summer sky/Panic bells, it’s red alert” and “The war machine, it’s red alert/Opens up one eager eye” a more kinetic soundscape that feels more visceral in aggression than Nena’s original, yet the upbeat tone of the original version remains intact. It mixes a little bit of Megadeth and The Scorpions into a blender, while paying a faithful homage to Nena’s “You think this was an innocent and happy tune, didn’t you?” card by enhancing the “We know it’s daft but we’re just having a bit of fun” card that Goldfinger play in return. The melodies are still very recognisable when compared to Nena’s original, however, and a key point of the vocals see Feldmann reciting a verse in German. It definitely incorporates a lot of elements from both the English and German version of the classic recording, both lyrically and instrumentally, but there’s just a small hint of Rush in the opening arrangement and the more softly spoken final verse feels euphoric after the pudding-like mix of Black Sabbath and Queensryche during the main bulk of the track. Overall, I had a lot of fun with this and it was better than I expected it to be as it didn’t become uneven or overstay it’s welcome. I have to say that I didn’t hear the Ska roots of the band coming through strongly at all and it really isn’t anything more than just a fun ‘messing about’ style of cover version, but it brings a few new dimensions to the original track and it is technically competent, if not superb. All things considered, it was perfectly enjoyable.

Pictured: Goldfinger performing a live set in Philadelphia, Pensylvania (June 2008) (Photo via thisisbossi/flickr.com)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking out my latest blog post, and I’ll be back tomorrow for an in-depth look at some brand new music from an Irish band who were formed in Galway and released the ‘Waves’ EP last March to critical acclaim. They pin down sweet 80’s and 90’s rock bands like The Cure and The Smashing Pumpkins as their influences, and their music has been played on the daytime A-list of BBC Radio 6 Music. Their next EP – ‘Banshee’ – is set for release in February via Fair Youth Records.

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Scuzz Sundays: Metallica – “I Disappear”

April 18, 2021 — Leave a comment

The feature disappeared for two weeks – but it’s back in business! It’s Scuzz Sunday…

  • Pictured: James Hetfield (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Kirk Hammett (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Robert Trujillo (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) & Lars Ulrich (Drums) (2020) (Photo by Ross Halfin)

Enter Sandman… That’s me, Jacob Braybrooke, in this case, and it’s time for me to get typing up for the return of Scuzz Sundays from a two-week hiatus, and you can blame Easter and WrestleMania for that, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! I’m beginning to run out of material a little bit for the Scuzz Sunday feature, as we’ve been running this diary for a few months shy of two years now, and I’ve covered a lot of the big bands who were there at the time, but one of the legends of Metal that I haven’t revisited on the blog yet is Metallica, who released ‘I Disappear’ as the soundtrack for the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Mission: Impossible 2’ back in 2000. I don’t really need to write many introductions for Metallica because they’re pretty blindingly obvious, and they have sold over 125 million albums worldwide as of 2018, so everyone and your Mum should know about them by now. It makes them one of the most popular bands of all-time overall, and ‘I Disappear’ was released at a time where their fanbase was a bit polarized and divided because the band had “gone commercial” in the eyes of the fans who started following them since their more early days, where they built an underground following based on experimentation with Hard Rock and Thrash Metal in the 1980’s. While probably not quite as well-known as ‘Enter Sandman’ or ‘Fade To Black’ – ‘I Disappear’ was still a success, despite controversy surrounding the band’s suing of the ‘Napster’ service allowing fans to illegally download it. The music video was memorable as well, with shots of the band performing on top of a mountain being interspersed with Tom Cruise climbing to make it look as though he’s coming to meet Metallica up there. It yields humorous results – and you can check it out below.

‘I Disappear’ briefly touched the UK Singles Chart by landing on the #35 spot in 2000 and the band were joined by Bob Rock to produce the track, which was written by vocalist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and, more intriguingly, the car used in the music video was auctioned on eBay in 2003. Some improvements were made, such as the new Automatic Transmission system, and went for $70,100 with proceeds from the sale being earmarked for music education programs. I don’t know much about these cars, and so I’m sorry if I didn’t get my jargon quite right, but that sale is equivalent to over $97k with current inflation. As for the task at hand, hooks like “Hey, Hey, Hey” and “Here I go into new days” are prominent hooks to drive the melodic bass grooves forward, with the use of delay pedals and ‘Wah Wah’ pedals to accentuate the aggressive melodies forward. The guitar riffs are pretty basic, basically consisting of two chords repeated for a loud effect, and the lyrics are very simple too. The chorus of “Do you bury me when I’m gone, Do you teach me while I’m here” and “Just as soon as I belong, Then it’s time I disappear” screams for a Sing-a-Long, with upbeat drum signatures that are straightforward, but they do the trick and don’t overstay their welcome. The distorted effects on the guitar solo keep things from lacking vibrancy, and the vocals have a borderline country-feel, with a few nods to a Southern Blues sound. I would say the songwriting isn’t much to write home about, and while this is nothing that’s outright bad, it just lacks quite enough variation for me, and the repetition of the guitar riffs gets ran a little thin, but, otherwise, I think that it mostly succeeds, especially for what it’s trying to do. It’s not a masterpiece, but it was just designed to play over the credits of a mainstream Action movie and that’s something that has become sadly rare to see these days. It was clearly never intended to be a 9-minute experimental prog ballad, and for a catchy hard rock/metal track designed to market a big movie, a lot worse could have been done. The solo is straightforward, but perfectly solid and the lyrics are fun, even if they plod on a little bit. Overall, it may have just been an elongated advert in a few ways, but it’s a nice single. Accessible, melodic and easy to like, it’s just some simple commercial metal stuff that’s punchy and not trying to be anything else. Nothing special, but a lot of fun.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Music From and Inspired by Mission Impossible 2” (Released on May 9th, 2000) (via Hollywood Records, Inc.)

That’s all for now! We’re globe-trotting tomorrow, however, as we take a deep dive into a recently released anthem by a Swedish Post-Punk and Experimental Jazz band who were formed by several members of different bands in the city of Stockholm in 2015. In 2019, they won IMPALA’s “Album Of The Year” award for their debut full-length album release. 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/

Today’s Track: The Pretty Reckless (feat. Tom Morello) – “And So It Went”

March 6, 2021 — Leave a comment

…But we should never forget that God gave Rock and Roll to you! It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Death By Rock and Roll” (Released on Feb 12th, 2021) (via Fearless Records)

Good Morning to you, my name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s finally time yet again for me to spruce up your mid-weekend with a new daily blog post, since it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It makes me feel quite old to think that Taylor Momsen’s Pop-Punk outfit, The Pretty Reckless, has been going for the better part of just over an entire decade now. Since the masses nodded their head to the tune of “Make Me Wanna Die” from the popular 2010 comic book action-comedy film, “Kick-Ass”, which had starred the likes of Aaron Taylor-Johnston, Chloe Grace Moretz, Nicolas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse – among a few other famous faces – Momsen’s band have managed to achieve streaming figures of over 10 millon now, and so naturally, I’d expect their latest material to head in a more commercial direction. “Death By Rock and Roll” is the title of their fourth studio album and this is also their first LP to be released through their new label, Fearless Records, when it saw the light of day last month. The new album features guest appearances from Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron, as well as the very prolific Violinist Lindsey Stirling, but I’d argue the most notable of which comes from the mega-famous Rage Against The Machine guitarist, Tom Morello, who delivers a charging guitar solo on the last single, “And So It Went”. Let’s check it out right below.

Centred around the key themes of political protests and censorship rights, Momsen describes the songwriting process and the backing band-oriented production of the latest record as a new body of work designed “To celebrate the power of speaking out in order to promote a more just world” in her press notes for this release, and more guests, such as Within Temptation’s Sharon Den Adel, have jumped on-board to establish more of a collaborative enterprise for the track listing to pull from, in order to convey this sense of making difference through togetherness, and challenging social norms with a combined display of unity. Of course, “And So It Went” is a melodically driven Pop-Rock track at most, with Momsen delivering lines like “And so it went, the children lost their minds” and “Begging for forgiveness was such a waste of time” above the typically rousing and quickly building pace of the guitar-oriented instrumentation that builds from the back of an atmospheric, dark synth riff in the opening. The bridge is sharp and sounds bitter, with Momsen crooning: “They said the world does not belong to you, You are not the king, I am not the fool” as the bass guitars chug along and the lyrics build to a stadium sing-along anthem with heavy chords and loud vocals. The track reaches a slow breakdown towards the end of the track, with lines like “With all these eyes upon us, but no one seems to see/That you and me are just the same as God meant it to be” permeating over a lighter keyboard melody. It’s just a temporary interlude, however, as we reach the ever-impressive guitar solo from Tom Morello, before Momsen brings things to a close with the chant-led chorus. It’s a track that goes for a very anthemic feel, and for the most part, I feel that it succeeds. There are enough callbacks to their sound in the past to show a progression of their artistry, and I think both the vocals and the instrumentals work quite well to suit their purpose of giving the track it’s urgency. I have a few nitpicks with it, such as the structure feeling very conventional towards the modern Pop song format and the track remains in the safe establishment of the Pop-Punk wheelhouse for the most part, but there is a nice message behind the track and it gives the fans what they probably came for, if not much else. It does sound rather commercial, but it is still decently inspired. It’s nothing that special, but overall, I think it’s perfectly fine.

  • Pictured: Taylor Momsen (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Ben Phillips (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Mark Damon (Bass Guitar) and Jamie Perkins (Drums/Percussion) (2016) (Photo by Andrew Lipovsky)

Well, that one was a bit of a “Scuzz Sundays” tune – wasn’t it? Of course, you can join me for the real thing tomorrow, as we take a stroll down the memory lane of Emo-Rock and Pop-Punk releases from the late-90’s to the mid-00’s. Our next entry in the series is a track that peaked at #25 on the Alternative Airplay chart and #15 on the Mainstream Rock Charts in the US – coming from a Memphis-based Grunge band whose debut album was released on the Rockingchair Records label, which was newly set up at the time by Mark Yoshida and Ruth Thompson-Bernabe. 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: 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/

Scuzz Sundays: The Bloodhound Gang – “The Ballad Of Chasey Lain”

November 17, 2020 — Leave a comment

Well…Here we are again! It really is a Dog Eat Dog world out there! It’s Scuzz Sunday!

  • Pictured: Jimmy Pop (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Jared Hasslehoff (Bass Guitar/ Vocals), DJ Q-Ball (Keyboards/Synths/Turntables), Daniel P. Carter (Lead Guitar) & The Yin (Drums) (2015) (WeGow.com)
    Pictured: Jimmy Pop (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Jared Hasslehoff (Bass Guitar/ Vocals), DJ Q-Ball (Keyboards/Synths/Turntables), Daniel P. Carter (Lead Guitar) & The Yin (Drums) (2015) (WeGow.com)

There goes your Sunday! Greetings to you, I am Jacob Braybrooke and it’s time for another weekly installment in our Scuzz Sundays series, where we take a listen back to an Emo-Rock or Pop-Punk relic released between the late-90’s and the mid-00’s, to see if they hold on to value and quality in our current times! We previously covered “The Bad Touch” in our series, and it’s a song that everybody is familiar with (Never Again!). However, generally, the public don’t seem to be very aware of their other material, but the band have actually been quite successful, commercially speaking, with sales of 6 million copies of their albums worldwide, and a particularly decent following in European territories. Today – that changes – as we take a listen to “The Ballad Of Chasey Lain” in retrospect. Much like their biggest hit, this track was released as a single from their debut album, “Hooray For Boobies” (Yeah….Seriously), which was released in 1999. The track was re-released as a single in 2000, with the single’s title alluding to Jimmy Pop (Yes, that is really the alias of the lead vocalist) seeing Chasey Lain, a pornographic film actress, in a clothing shop advertisement. He commented “No” when he was questioned if the infatuation was real…and this was an interview with BBC. This reached #15 in the UK Singles Chart. Let’s listen in below.

Of all places, the track has been frequently used as the bumper music for a lucrative US Texas-situated radio station, KRBE. Along with this, Jimmy Pop has confirmed in his interviews over the years that the core melody for the track was sampled from “Sea Of Sin” by Depeche Mode, of all bands. Writing from the viewpoint of a mock stalker, Pop recites lines like: “I just wanted to ask/Could I eat your a**?” and “You’ve had a lot of d**k Chasey, but you ain’t had mine” over the top of a jangled, heavy guitar riff and a harsh bass guitar riff. You’ve probably noticed – this is just incredibly, undeniably silly music, but I think that it’s important to remember that Bloodhound Gang have always been a Novelty group, and you’re not really supposed to take them seriously as a sub-contemporary piece of music. That doesn’t mean it’s really any good, though. Lines like “Now, show ’em them t***ies” and, in the end, “Would ya f**k me, for blow?” feel tired and ware very thin by the end, although I think the monotone delivery that Pop uses is quite amusing. This is much less Rap-Rock driven than a lot of their other work, with a skewed Punk instrumental giving off a low-fidelity Folk-Blues idiom instead. The lyrics are about the lowest common denominator nonsense you would expect, as a harsh and crude set of lines like “How could I ever eat your a**, when you treat, your biggest fan like that?” and “You’ve had a lotta d**k/I’ve had a lotta time” get repetitive and lose any charm they had, before you gradually get to the end-point of the track when you realise that you’ve just wasted 3 minutes of your life – I’m sorry for wasting yours. It’s a shame that Pop isn’t using enough variation to keep things, at least, mildly catchy here, as the Punk-Folk mismatch of instrumentation is more interesting. For what it’s worth though, it’s crap.

  • Pictured: "No reason to live but we like it that way" - Bloodhound Gang (2017) (Photo via Reddit.com)
    Pictured: “No reason to live but we like it that way” – Bloodhound Gang (2017) (Photo via Reddit.com)

I’m not sure why you really would, but if you must – You can read up on my thoughts of “The Bad Touch”, of which we already covered as part of our 1st Anniversary Special of our long-running Scuzz Sundays weekly feature on the blog, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/08/23/scuzz-sundays-1st-anniversary-special-the-bloodhound-gang-the-bad-touch/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Hooray For Boobies” (Released on October 4th, 1999) (via Geffen Records)
    Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Hooray For Boobies” (Released on October 4th, 1999) (via Geffen Records)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! As always, I’ll be back at it all again tomorrow, as I hope to aid you through the daily grind again. We’ll be taking an in-depth look at the big return track from a UK hip-hop rapper, songwriter, lyricist and poet who previously appeared on a few episodes of Channel 4’s Celebrity Gogglebox with his mother – Jean Coyle-Larner. 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: Nightwish – “Wish I Had An Angel”

February 2, 2020 — Leave a comment

An angel would be nice, but I wish I had a clear plan for what I’m going to do after I graduate from my university course in summer! It’s time for your Scuzz Sundays post!

  • Pictured: Tarja Turunen (Lead Vocals), Marco Hietela (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar), Tuomas Holopainen (Keyboard/Piano/Synths), Emppu Vuorinen (Lead Guitar) and Jukka Nevalainen (Drums) (2004 Band lineup – taken from the official Nightwish website)

It’s the end of Dry January and another cold working week here in the UK, which also means that it’s time for your weekly emo/rock/punk 90’s or 00’s throwback track as part of the aptly titled Scuzz Sundays theme on the blog. I’m Jacob Braybrooke, as always, taking you back to the simpler times of Scuzz TV as I revisit some of the tracks that I used to listen to during the days of Scuzz TV’s existence. “Wish I Had An Angel”, by the Finnish Symphonic Metal band Nightwish, is this week’s Scuzz Sunday track. It was the second single taken from their fifth studio album, “Once”, released back in September 2004 via the Spinefarm label. The eleventh single for the band, “Wish I Had An Angel” reached #60 on the UK Singles Chart upon it’s original release, becoming the band’s most commercially successful single to date, a title which it still holds to this very day. It gained popularity in the mainstream after it was featured on the soundtrack for the 2005 film, “Alone In The Dark”, loosely based on a video game series which I’m not personally familiar with at all. Let’s revisit the music video below.

Interestingly, the video above is an alternate cut of the official music video, as the original version featured scenes taken from the “Alone In The Dark” film, which were later edited out from the video – reportedly due to the overwhelmingly negative critical response to the film. In any case, it’s still a fantastic video full of all the Gothic coats, black smeared mascara and close-up angles that you could muster. Then-vocalist Tarja Turunen and bassist Marco Hietala provide duelling vocals, extravagantly chiming: “I wish I had your angel for one moment of love/I wish I had your angel tonight” over a frantic line of heavy guitar riffs and a rough pre-orchestra instrumentation. They contemplate the pain of beauty: “Last dance, first kiss/Your touch my bliss/Beauty always comes with dark thoughts”, crooned as an operatic hook by Turnunen, along with Hietela’s sighing: “I wish I had your angel/Your Virgin Mary undone/I’m in love with my lust/Burning angel wings to dust” over a symphonic composition of techno-groove metal. The instrumentation is also very orchestral, with minimal keyboard riffs, as the sound heavily features violin strings and cello arrangements, with a choral vocal hook in the background. The overall result is a progressive dark rock anthem which functions as an operatic ballad, with the male vocals and the female vocals constantly going back and forth to tell the story of taking your lust to a very dark place in your mind and how it’s easy to fall victim to this mentality as a rival. The guitar chords are punchy and the drums sound a little bit processed, which gives off slight vibes of Evanescence, who were enjoying the peak of their popularity within the same era. Overall, the sound may be a little bit Eurovision, perhaps, with a hint of cheese overfest. However, the duet vocal performance is very engaging and the instrumentation is heavy enough to justify the heightened sense of the pacing, format, composition and songwriting. As cold as ice but as solid as a rock!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Once” (June 2004) (Spinefarm Records) (Nuclear Blast Records)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with an in-depth look at the brand new track from an animated British band, led by a former Blur member, who notably won the “Best British Group” award at the BRIT Awards in 2018! 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/