NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  In 1986, The Smiths released their provocatively titled album, The Queen Is Dead . The band, led by Steven Morrisey ’s dark, often dryly comedic, lyrics and Johnny Marr ’s jangly guitar parts had been no strangers to controversy. The post-punk band raised in the “ Madchester ” sound of Manchester, England, was defined by Morrisey’s countercultural convictions. Just as The Smiths gained attention, their lead singer Morrissey became a polarizing pop-culture prophet, speaking out against British politics, advocating vegetarianism, condemning corporal punishment, and admonishing stereotypes of sexual identity. The band pushed for a vision of anti-masculine rock and a return to non-synth, guitar-driven rock to counter the rise in popularity of the signature ‘80s sound. TAKE ME OUT TONIGHT. The Smiths broke up in 1987 before their fourth album Strangeways, Here We Come was released. The four members of the band could no longer stand their narcissistic lead singer. Morrissey seems to be

  I'm working on a new system for my blog so that I stop saying the same thing over and over again. I don't always have time to research an album cycle or the artist around the time of the album cycle, but I have written considerably about certain albums and artists. I want to provide links to those posts in album posts, like today's. I haven't written a lot about the tracks on Anberlin 's seminal record Cities , but it still is one of my favorite albums. In the future, this post can be a jumping-off point for other tracks on the record. I could write books on each track and my experiences with them, but today you'll just get a few sentences about each. Enjoy the album as it turns sixteen today. 1. ( Début ). For about a minute and a half, Anberlin introduces us to a dark world in an instrumental composed of city sound effects and noisy guitars. The song reminds me of Jerry Martin 's Sim City 4 soundtrack. (Début) leads into " Godspeed ." 2. "

In early 2012 when  Anberlin  announced that they would be returning with an album produced by  Aaron Sprinkle , longtime fans knew that they were in for a good record. While their prior major label releases had stretched the band and had proven how versatile their sound was, the band had not produced an album that matched the lyrical and musical depth of their fan- favorite,   Cities . 2012's   Vital   took Anberlin to both familiar territory and reinvented their sound.   I CAN FINALLY FORGET A PAST YOU SAY YOU NEVER KNEW.  Vital  is a heavier album than their previous two. But, up to that point, the band did very little with electronic music.   Vital,  however, opened to the electro-heavy " Self-Starter ," complete with an autotune chorus, somewhat reminiscent of   Avenged Sevenfold 's " Lost ." In fact, many of the the tracks incorporated electronic elements. The band admits to consuming a lot of   M83   at that time.  Critics and fans both loved  Vital .

Brace yourself for today's song. On Anberlin 's legendary third record, Cities , listeners are eased into one of Anberlin's fastest guitar-riff heavy tracks with an atmosphere-building track ( Début ). The instrumental track feels like Jerry Martin 's epic Sim City 4   score, using guitars and sampled recordings to paint a dingy, urban landscape. What Anberlin creates with their third record is a portrait of wandering anonymously through bustling but lonely metropolises. In contrast to the "thousand names" lead singer Stephen Christian talks about in " Hello Alone ," the singer talks about the theme of the album as "Man vs. Self," and those introspective lyrics can be heard throughout the record. THEY LIED WHEN THEY SAID THE GOOD DIE YOUNG. But "Godspeed" isn't so much an introverted emo track as it is a hard rock cautionary tale about rock stars who die too young, leaving their fans wrecked by the wasted potential celebritie

  When recording their debut record Blueprints for the Black Market , Anberlin spent time in Seattle writing the lyrics for the album. During their 2020 livestream We Are the Lost Ones , between songs and banter, the band told stories about where they drew inspiration for some of the most beloved tracks on the record. Viewers heard stories about using rhymezone.com to complete “ Cold War Transmissions ,” seeing their producer Aaron Sprinkle play a cover of The Cure ’s “ Lovesong ” at a karaoke night— his arrangement would end up on Blueprints, and a story about an arsonist devastating Seattle at the time of the recording. INNOCENCE DERAILED.  " Glass to the Arson ” is the fifth track on Blueprints for the Black Market. It's certainly not one of Anberlin's most poignant lyrics: it's not a storytelling song and the lyrics never made a deeper connection with me like later Anberlin songs; it's the passion in Stephen Christian 's voice along with the Joseph Mill

Stephen Christian talked about each Anchor & Braille record on the Taco Boys podcast  when he was promoting his most recent project, Tension . He said that each record was made with different musicians, and his debut side project record Felt was made with local musicians in mind from around his hometown in Central Florida. Christian looked to friend and Copeland frontman Aaron Marsh to record the record, Copeland's drummer at the time  Johnathan Bucklew and Gasoline Heart 's Louis DiFabrizio on bass. When Christian debuted his LP, it seemed he had every intention of maintaining this small town sound. But then he moved to Nashville and started associating with other musicians. TEAR OFF YOUR SKIN. The   bonus DVD  release with the   Cities special edition shows the portrait of Stephen Christian as a lyricist, jotting down lines in notebooks as he sips coffee in Seattle. Then, in the studio, he'd drink herbal tea and at night inhale vapor for his falsetto notes on

The fourth track on Blueprints for the Black Market , " Cold War Transmissions ,"  Anberlin   starts to establish themselves as a potentially heavy band. The production on the track sounds reminiscent of the early-'00 sounds of Trapt or Trust Company , when having a hard rock song was the key to Alternative Rock success. Until Cities , Anberlin was on the path to becoming a harder and hard rock band, but with New Surrender and Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place   started to embrace a more ambient sound, with some notable exceptions. However, with the band's planned final album Lowborn and on their upcoming release Silverline on July 29th, Anberlin is back and heavier than ever! SIDE BY SIDE WE FACE EACH OTHER. Stephen Christian has talked about how feedback from Anberlin's fans helped him to become a better lyricist. There is a significant improvement on the band's next record, Never Take Friendship Personal as some of the lyrics on Blueprints for the Bla

There were a number of Christian extreme sports shows that featured harder Christian Rock. These shows might be featured late nights on cable tv or on Christian channels. In 2003,   Anberlin   released their first radio hit to Christian Rock radio, " Change the World (Lost Ones) ." However, around that time " Readyfuels " was included in one of those sports shows. The sport: luge racing. "Readyfuels" was the band's first promoted single by the record label. "Change the World" was sent to Christian radio. But "Readyfuels" wasn't a Christian Rock song, in the traditional sense.  GIRLS AND THE BOYS CHASE DOWN RUNNING HOT TONIGHT. “Readyfuels” is   a song that   mostly  glorifies the carnal nights of youth--a prelude to an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Today’s song would go on to chart on even Air1 , a Contemporary Christian pop radio station. Anberlin's intention was never to be a Christian band, but unlike other Tooth & Nail

Fifteen years ago today on a two-hour break between classes in community college, I went to Walmart on the rare chance that a Tooth & Nail CD would be in stock. Not only was it in stock, but both the standard and deluxe edition of Cities were placed in the main aisle of CDs: the  a section of the Pop/Rock/R&B aisle. I eagerly shelled out the $15.99 for the deluxe edition, which had a darker cover, three bonus tracks, and a 30-minute making of the album DVD . I popped in the CD into my 1991 Toyota Corolla to hear "( Debut )" and by the time I made it out of the parking lot, the album's second track " Godspeed " had me speeding back to school. DIDN'T WANT ANY PROMISES. The truth was, though, that I had already listened to the album, except for the final track, " (*Fin) ," on MySpace a week before the album hit stores. The band had released singles before the album preview. " A Whisper & a Clamor " was played on Christian Roc