Musical/\Revertion Song Of The Day: If Trees Could Scream, What Would They Sound Like?

Screaming Trees. One of the most unknown & underrated bands of the grunge era. Before Nirvana hit it big (before they were a band, even), these guys were already actively building their own sound & dedicated fanbase. "Sweet Oblivion" remains one of the top alternative albums of the 90's for me, and you really should check it out.

Vocalist Mark Lanegan is known for his indescribable baritone voice. As I stated, it cannot be described, so just listen please. One of their more well known tracks, and one of my favorites, here is "Shadow Of The Season." If you enjoy this, you may find the rest of "Sweet Oblivion" to your liking, as well as all of the Screaming Tree's discography.

Musical/\Revertion Song Of The Day: Remember The Prunes

As a tribute to the recently departed Mark Tulin of The Electric Prunes, today's song of the day will be none other than...an Electric Prunes song. Here it is, one of the most underrated bands of the 60's era.

RIP

Musical/\Revertion Song Of The Day: Triple Threat Tuesday!!

Seeing as I have been absent as of late, I am giving three songs today to make up for it. "Idioteque" by Radiohead. "That Golden Rule" by Biffy Clyro. "Another Morning Stoner" by ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead.

No descriptions, just listen & enjoy. :)

Musical/\Revertion Song Of The Day: Late-Night Jitters, And Some Black Eyes

"Swim with me into your blackest eyes." That is a lyric from prog-rock band Porcupine Tree's song, "Blackest Eyes" from their 2002 album, "In Absentia." The release chronicles the life and downfall of a serial killer, from birth to decrepit end. This song opens the story in a very obscure manner, and I'll be damned if it doesn't hook you right in. Starts off with some odd effects before launching into a heavy riff and bombastic drums. For fans back when this album/single dropped, it was a far cry from the Pink Floyd inspired "The Sky Moves Sideways", or the poppy soundscapes of "Stupid Dream" and "Lightbulb Sun."

This also marked the arrival of new drummer, Gavin Harrison, and a much denser, more brutal drumming style altogether. Having largely avoided the metal genre for years, Steven Wilson revitalized his interest in the scene and decided to incorporate it into his own. Combining Opeth with The Beatles & Pink Floyd sans growling vocals is no easy task, but accomplish it he did.

"In Absentia" is the first Porcupine Tree effort to draw on such influences. "Blackest Eyes," "Strip The Soul," and "Wedding Nails" all draw upon metal inspiration, among portions of other tracks.

In short, "Blackest Eyes" is a heavier track with acoustic verses, a catchy chorus and explosive drums.  The lyrics tell of a child being sung a lullaby by his mother, only to grow wild in the future. What sort of "wild", you say? A very demented sort, for sure.

"I got wiring loose inside my head
I got books that I never, ever read
I got secrets in my garden shed
I got a scar where all my urges bled
I got people underneath my bed
I got a place where all my dreams are dead
Swim with me into your blackest eyes."

 All sung in a casual, almost playful tone by Steven Wilson in his Lennon-esque voice, giving way to cascading guitar riffs. Cool song bro. Check it out:

Musical/\Revertion Song Of The Day: We're In This Together NOW

Nine Inch Nails frontman, Trent Reznor, is not to be taken lightly. Especially in his prime, when he had one of the most distinctive and desperate voices in rock culture. 5 years after the release of his hit record, "The Downward Spiral," Reznor finally decorated the year 1999 with his next studio release, "The Fragile." A double disc album based in the fragility of life & how effortlessly it can disintegrate, this record was a very strenuous and difficult listen, much like its predecessor. Yet, it is each & every portion worth it.  The track, "We're In This Together" was released as a European single in the summer of 1999.

Featuring quite possibly Trent Reznor's greatest studio vocal performance, it is a song about struggle and two people facing it, assumed to be a couple ("You're the queen and I'm the king"). This duo hinted at in the lyrics are, essentially, teetering on the edge and trying to hold on to one-another as well as everything as it shatters around them. Up against an insurmountable force, all they seem to have is a nestled hope that things will turn for the better.

And yes, I did just do one of his tracks directly after his former protege, Marilyn Manson. Whoops. Are they still cool?

Musical/\Revertion Song Of The Day: White. Coma, White.

The song of the day today happens to be my all-time favorite Marilyn Manson song. He may be dark, he may be grotesque, he may be repulsively appealing to some. His music channels (or channeled, rather) such ferocity & obscurity dressed in a satin lining. Dark to the core. Yet, his shining moment proves to be this track. Melancholy, with a softly blanketed guitar loop intro and a bittersweet winter vibe. Gentle, yet the tenacity still lingers. I will not be dissecting this track today. Just listen, put away judgement, and prepare to have a new artist to "like." I have encoded the music video intentionally, because it fits in so well with the song itself. Hailing from the 1998 release "Mechanical Animals," and the closing track of that record, here is..."Coma White."

Musical/\Revertion Song Of The Day: Lucky Number 13 (Too Much Time In The Pumpkin Patch)

Today's song of the day is a song entitled, "Lucky 13" by the alternative rock band, "The Smashing Pumpkins." It is part of a group of bside released for free online to accompany their final (at the time) album in 2000, "Machina II/the friends & enemies of modern music."

The secondary tracks served as an EP to accompany the full album, both of which served as the first record of free-album distribution over the internet. Ripped from limited pressing vinyl, and distributed over the web by dedicated fans, Corgan planned it all out. The label-released "Machina/the machines of god" was polished & produced to perfection, at times perhaps, overproduced. Come part 2, and a final farewell, this outing was raw, fuzzy & far more reminiscent of the older sound fans loved. The track was also released officially by Virgin Records through the 2-disc greatest hits compilation, on the second disc known as "Judas 0."

"Lucky 13" is one of those tracks you wouldn't expect of Corgan, but it will take you by the ears and bash you up against a wall. One of the few heavier tracks of this era, it begins with a brutally precision-locked and battering drum beat, a Jimmy Chamberlin signature. The drumming here is so full that it sounds like an entire room filled with various drummers playing the same beat. A damn monster is the only term I can muster. Billy follows suit, with an undeniably evil-sounding riff. Corgan casually croons, "It's in blood / I suppose / Breaking jars / I'm no good / As the prodigal son."

An explosive yet droning riff develops from the last word of the verse, accompanied by Jimmy's drums. "You are so fucked / It has begun / Revolution crawls / All over YOU."

The song remains very much constant, with the same parts repeating. The true highlight aside from Jimmy's pusling fills is the ring-leaders' subdued, almost vampire-esque vocals. Left & right, barking mysteriously abstract lyrics. Occasionally, his voice catches an angst-filled high, but the most intriguing thing here is his ability to sing a heavier track with such broodfully dark lyrics in such a soft tone. A trait he excels at. Rising climactically, the vocals reach a peak until falling back down to a solemn tone buried in a swirling wind of guitars.

"I'll claim my prize
I don't exist
I am divine,
A ghost with eyes."

Billy Corgan fades out as quietly as he entered the song, leaving an all too obscure closing line. Also check out the live version of this track below from the "If All Goes Wrong" documentary DVD.

 

Musical/\Revertion Song Of The Day: Cancer On A Thursday

It isn't Thursday, but I couldn't resist promoting this song today. While I am not a marginally massive fan of the whole "post-hardcore" genre, this band has a select few songs which are in all actuality, quite good. This band is indeed called "Thursday", and the song I am choosing is entitled "You Were The Cancer" from their previously released record, "Common Existence."

Now, listening to the song, it starts with a beat very reminscient of industrial music, and the vibe is quite gloomy. Almost robotic, you could say. This beat loops & builds for 3 quarters of a minute, until lead-singer Geoff Rickly finally pierces the noise with an unusual array of words:

"Its the sigh of a building falling down
Its the world spinning us around
Its the slip of the surgeon's knife
And the darker crimes of common existence."

Almost instantly, I found myself taken aback that a band of this genre would pen something so inquisitive. Proof you should never judge a band by their genre, or their cover. The song title surely gives the meaning away. Still, had I never heard this before in my life & somebody played it without telling me the title, I would be doing some pondering, "Where is this going?" Moving on.

"Its a missile that's sleeping in the ground."--referring to something that is dormant, very much an acknowledgement of the fact that cancer lies within all of us, slumbering until triggered or awakened.

The industrial dress of this song acts as the backdrop for this track, the guitars & drums the crutches. Truly, the highlight here is beckoned by Geoff Rickly's solemn vocals singing the verses & chorus, and drastic screams threading through the center of the lines, "You were the cancer."

Now, one could easily argue that there is a broader meaning to this, cancer aside. It could be directed at an individual in that person's life, as they are likened to a "cancer" and drain everything away from the protagonist in this album. Surely, it could also be considered a loose interpretation of the world that we reside in.

Still, one cannot denounce the true inspiration behind the song, which is shown in the lyrics themselves. One of the more literal pieces of the song:

"In your blood there is a sad, sad song
Circulating through your nervous system
It's killing you but it's bringing me along
You were the cancer in my life
You were the cancer all the time
You were the cancer
That's all you'll ever be"

^Once again, focusing on the toll that cancer takes. As soon as it is unleashed, it pulses through the nervous system, through the blood, through the person...eventually overtaking them. They are being overthrown by this monster, and it is dragging with it everyone who cares for that individual, sucking them into the darkness, so to speak.

"It's the comfort in a bathtub full of ice
It's the promise of a peaceful afterlife
Or the string of a violin wound too tight
It's gasping for oxygen
It's a signal that's sent out over the air
At the speed of a thousand unheard prayers
It's the faith in the chemicals
A shot in the dark the size of a particle"

To me, this verse screams louder than the rest. The trust put in doctors, the faith in God that it will all shatter and reside, but to no avail. Especially the line, "Or the string of a violin wound too tight/It's gasping for oxygen." Pushed with treatments and meds and reassurance that things will get better until finally, the toll is too much and you begin to tire and gasp for air.

Why You Should Hear This
-This song is a statement that many are too petrified to make. While many musicians will address the subject of cancer & how we succumb, no song I have heard goes as in-depth as this does. People fear what they cannot fathom, and that is true in this case, as well. The disease strikes one as something to be scared pale about, and to try to understand it is a very emotionally draining task to attempt. It comes at the worst times, it strikes our strongest & our weakest, all the same. It takes what it desires, leaves no traces, only memories and disbelief. A lot of personification was used to link the disease to a human struggle. Even more, it expands on that subject and could even be utilized to describe an unhealthy person or the world at large, whether through a shattered relationship or our defects as a people.

What Thursday did with this song lyrically is admirable. What is cancer like? Listen to the song to find their take. Cancer is a very big issue, and I have met it many times before, not within me, but more as an unwanted acquaintance. This song hits me in ways I cannot describe, and I hope you all will take the time to truly listen to this song...and take away what you will.

Here is "You Were The Cancer":

Musical/\Revertion Song of the Day: Alternative For Scotland

Today I will be starting a song of the day post. Every day, I will link  to a song I feel deserves some recognition, and give some insight on it. Seems right to kick it off with a song by a little-known alternative band from Glasgow, Scotland. They are called 'Aereogramme.'

The guys started off as a slightly heavy take on post-rock, yet very atmospheric & soft at the same time. Fuzzy guitars, crooning to screaming, and lyrics laced with personal reflections. One of the most underrated bands ever, and unfortunately one that saw its demise much too soon. However, fans of the band have found solace in lead singer/guitarist Craig B. & guitarist Iain Cook's newest band, 'The Unwinding Hours.' What do they have to offer? A similar sound, while not all the same. Something fresh, yet unknown.

Rambling off, the first song I will share is called "The Running Man." The Scotland based quartet wrote & recorded it for the darker (and less serene) half of their final record, 'My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go.'

Why You Should Hear This:
-Very personal lyrical content.
-Song has a very derivative "doomsday" vibe, with eclectic & darkened piano undertones opening the track and pulsing throughout.
-Craig B. sings of his childhood, and preconceived ideals. Who so ever pushed these upon him is unclear, but the explosive, pseudo uplifting chorus seems to indicate a sort of light he had hoped for. One which would guide him to make the necessary actions & changes in life, perhaps the 'Lord above.'

"I thought I was open
But I was closed
And I thought I had answers
To show the world
And I thought that the good light
Would guide me home
But no"


It could be seen as his heart being closed, when he thought it was open, maybe even his mind.

In the context of the song, he seems adament on living his life the way it is, as it 'decays'. He lost his chances to bring the good of self and give what he wanted, so he is making do with it and sharing with the world his mistake. Perhaps the song even dealt with the topic of loss...one in the form of a loved one. It would seem to make sense, but seeing as there is not much info on the meaning of his lyrics out there, we must settle for what we take it as. Huzzah for some of the best bands having a lack of background due to being way too unknown.

Enjoy. Remember, if you like this, feel free to click one of the ads on the right, or search Amazon.com to preview & purchase 'My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go', along with the remainder of their remarkable & buried discography.