NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  Earthsuit formed in 1995 when Adam LaClave and Paul Meany started attending the same church in New Orleans. The two led worship at the church, forming a band that would eventually play at the Cornerstone Festival and sign to Sparrow Records . The band expertly mixed funk, jazz, reggae, and blues with rock and hip-hop. Their debut album, Kaleidoscope Superior , released June 20, 2000, was a moderate success in Christian Rock, but beyond the somewhat lackluster commercial success, the band was what some of the biggest names in Christian Rock were listening to from Martin Smith of Delirious? to Kevin Max of dc Talk to Rebecca St. James, for whom the band wrote a song on her 2000 album, Transform . LORD, HIT ME ONE TIME, INFILTRATE THE MIND. Earthsuit’s sound was a bit eccentric to be commercially viable in the Christian market. Influenced by The Police and The Beastie Boys and adding various New Orleans flavors, half of the album sounded like a jazz version of...

  Linkin Park ’s Hybrid Theory was a musical philosophy the band has followed throughout their career. Hip-hop, hard rock, nu-metal, Alternative, folk, and electronic— all found their way onto Linkin Park albums. A band known for their cross-genre collaborations and for scoring Top 40 Pop hits, Linkin Park has always aimed to be music-forward. In 2017, the band released their most polarizing album, One More Light . The album more than any of the band’s previous efforts integrated current-sounding pop, a genre that Linkin Park had avoided even when their rock songs became pop hits. Critics and listeners didn’t know what to think of the latest from the band that defined the new millennium in rock music. It was a collection of songs that seemed lyrically honest but musically dishonest like much of the pop music of the late ‘10s.   I DON’T LIKE MY MIND RIGHT NOW. Starting the album cycle for One More Light was “ Heavy ,” the lead single, released in February 2017. Working wi...

In 2007, it seemed like Mutemath would become a big Alternative Rock band with their breakthrough single “ Typical .” With former members of the Christian Rock band Earthsuit , Mutemath had taken technical, jazz-influenced electronic music to late-night TV, on tour with The Fray and Matchbox Twenty , and to Alternative radio. The band’s self-titled album didn’t spawn any other charting singles, but their next move seemed like it would make them bigger. In 2008, Mutemath released “ Spotlight ” on the Twilight soundtrack . The song was even featured in the film in the scene when Edward Cullen ( Robert Pattinson ) and Bella Swan ( Kristen Stewart ) are first seen together as a couple. The soundtrack boasted a strong collection of Alternative Rock songs by Muse , Linkin Park , and Paramore --overshadowing Mutemath’s contribution. Furthermore, inclusion in the soundtrack wasn’t particularly helpful as the vampire novel series and its film adaptations were polarizing with some young vie...

  There were a few big rock stories that I’ve failed to cover in the last month or so. Oasis needs money, so brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher put aside their differences to do a world tour. Dave Grohl has been canceled for fathering a child outside of his marriage putting the Foo Fighters on indefinite hiatus following the backlash, and Jane’s Addiction will go on hiatus after lead singer Perry Farrell punched guitarist Dave Navarro in the middle of a song on stage. Linkin Park announced a new lead singer, a new album, and a world tour, and the reactions are divided. Seven years after the suicide of lead singer Chester Bennington , Linkin Park live-streamed an announcement that they had chosen Emily Armstrong , of the band Dead Sara as their new lead singer. The band’s defacto leader Mike Shinoda told BBC1 One : “ This is intended to be a new chapter of Linkin Park.” The band hoped to celebrate the band’s hits and move forward in a new direction. THIS IS WHAT YOU ASKED F...