NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  Thomas Wolfe  is most famous for his novel  You Can't Go Home Again   which is a tome that I haven't read. However, I did read his first novel,  Look Homeward, Angel ,  which deals with similar themes. I picked up the book in the middle of a semester from hell and an existential crisis. I found Wolfe's descriptions of Southern life--the people in town and family members, the scenery, and the food--so comforting. The mostly autobiographical novel is nostalgic, but the protagonist, Eugene's academic pursuits push him to see the world outside of the isolated mountain town of Altamont (Asheville). DEFER TOMORROW.  The Juliana Theory  is a band whose influence far exceeds its success. Formed as the side project of  Brett Detar , the guitarist of the Christian metal band  Zao , when he wanted to incorporate the catchiness of radio rock bands like  Third Eye Blind  that the metal band listened to in van on tour, The Juliana Theory became a legendary band in the pop-punk scen

Before their massively successful 1995 studio debut,  Jars of Clay  released a self-produced demo titled  Frail ,  which included several songs that made it to their  eponymous release . Two songs, though, were reworked and found their way onto their less commercially successful sophomore release,  Much Afraid .  Departing from their acoustic folk-rock sound,  Much Afraid  sounds like a 1997 album. It spawned two singles, " Crazy Times ," peaking at #38 on the Modern Rock singles, and " Five Candles " (You Were There), originally written for  Jim Carrey 's  Liar Liar ,  but eventually used in  Michael Keaton 's  Jack Frost .    Much Afraid  is a fine Jars of Clay album. It's more fun to listen to than their debut, varying between folk-rock and modern rock. However, it failed to propel Jars of Clay into the 1997 rock scene. Listeners may not remember them amongst their contemporaries, like  The Goo Goo Dolls ,  Third Eye Blind , and  Matchbox Twenty . Ins

Thomas Wolfe is most famous for his novel  You Can't Go Home Again   which is a tome that I haven't read. However, I did read his first novel,  Look Homeward, Angel ,  which deals with similar themes. I picked up the book in the middle of a semester from hell and an existential crisis. I found Wolfe's descriptions of Southern life--the people in town and family members, the scenery, and the food--so comforting. The mostly autobiographical novel is nostalgic, but the protagonist, Eugene's academic pursuits push him to see the world outside of the isolated mountain town of Altamont (Asheville). DEFER TOMORROW.  The Juliana Theory  is a band whose influence far exceeds its success. Formed as the side project of  Brett Detar , the guitarist of the Christian metal band  Zao , when he wanted to incorporate the catchiness of radio rock bands like  Third Eye Blind  that the metal band listened to in van on tour, The Juliana Theory became a legendary band in the pop-punk scene.

Opening  Third Eye Blind 's  debut record  and becoming the fourth single from the record, " Losing a Whole Year " is quintessential late-'90s rock. The song chronicles the ending of a relationship between the speaker and a "rich girl." When the relationship starts to cool and as the sex stops being so great, the speaker begins to think that the whole relationship was a waste of time. Lead singer  Stephan Jenkins  penned the lyrics after hearing the riff that guitarist  Kevin Cadogan  played.  RICH DADDY LEFT YOU WITH A PARACHUTE.  Stephan Jenkins is one of the most interesting rock stars I've read about. Graduating from the  University of California, Berkeley  with a  Bachelor's Degree in English  and then going on to forming a Shakespeare-inspired rap duo called  Puck and Natty , Jenkins brought a variety of new experiences into the alternative rock scene when his new band Third Eye Blind debuted in 1997. Alternative Rock is a hard to define genre,

The '80s revival has been going on since the mid '00s. The '90s revival has taken longer to catch on. Sure, the songs in my Pseudo '90s hits collection range from early '00s tracks that seem to be just a few years shy of the Third Eye Blind alternative rock sound, but I tried to focus more on tracks in the recent years that are slowly bring back the elements of boy bands and over-produced bubble gum pop; post-grunge chords progressions; and early '90s sax solos. Hope you enjoy this one!  

Like  Further Seems Forever ,  The Juliana Theory  was legendary in the early pop-punk/emo scene. Also like FSF, The Juliana Theory has ties to hardcore. Lead singer  Brett Detar  started as the guitarist for Christian metal pioneers  Zao , however,  as he explains on Theory's episode of Labeled,   the band was perfectly content listening to  Third Eye Blind  on the radio in the van while out on tour. When Theory formed, they signed with  Tooth & Nail Records  but opted not to be marketed to the Christian Rock format. This decision both helped and hurt their career. On the one hand, they toured with other Tooth & Nail artists and performed at Cornerstone, on the other hand, their initial record sales were quite low.  IT IS GETTING BETTER NOW.  Unlike Further Seems Forever, I don't have a deep-seated nostalgia for The Juliana Theory. I heard they were a band name, but I wasn't exposed to their music until college after the band had broken up. While some of their musi

Opening Third Eye Blind 's debut record and becoming the fourth single from the record, " Losing a Whole Year " is quintessential late-'90s rock. The song chronicles the ending of a relationship between the speaker and a "rich girl." When the relationship starts to cool and as the sex stops being so great, the speaker begins to think that the whole relationship was a waste of time. Lead singer Stephan Jenkins penned the lyrics after hearing the riff that guitarist Kevin Cadogan played.  RICH DADDY LEFT YOU WITH A PARACHUTE. Stephan Jenkins is one of the most interesting rock stars I've read about. Graduating from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor's Degree in English and then going on to forming a Shakespeare-inspired rap duo called Puck and Natty , Jenkins brought a variety of new experiences into the alternative rock scene when his new band Third Eye Blind debuted in 1997. Alternative Rock is a hard to define genre, but it

Thomas Wolfe is most famous for his novel  You Can't Go Home Again   which is a tome that I haven't read. However, I did read his first novel,  Look Homeward, Angel ,  which deals with similar themes. I picked up the book in the middle of a semester from hell and an existential crisis. I found Wolfe's descriptions of Southern life--the people in town and family members, the scenery, and the food--so comforting. The mostly autobiographical novel is nostalgic, but the protagonist, Eugene's academic pursuits push him to see the world outside of the isolated mountain town of Altamont (Asheville). DEFER TOMORROW. The Juliana Theory is a band whose influence far exceeds their success. Formed as the side project Brett Detar , the guitarist of the Christian metal band Zao , when he wanted to incorporate the catchiness of radio rock bands like Third Eye Blind that the metal band listened to in van on tour, The Juliana Theory became a legendary band in the pop-punk scene. The J

Fuel 's 1998 hit " Shimmer " propelled the band onto the rock charts. This was the post-grunge, Modern Rock era when rock's sound was cleaner, less gravelly, but still hard. At this time, rock still had crossover pop-chart/ Hot 100 hit-making skills. While Fuel's follow-up record, Something Like Human  would sport two hits that charted higher than "Shimmer," the band's first song is still one of their best-known songs.  ALL THAT SHIMMERS IN THIS WORLD IS SURE TO FADE. I've included a video below about the career of Fuel. When I think of late '90s/early '00s Modern Rock, Fuel is certainly on my shortlist, but I'm not sure that they would make everyone's. I'd list Third Eye Blind , Semisonic , Tonic , Vertical Horizon , and The Goo Goo Dolls along with Fuel, though Fuel aimed to be a harder rock act than these groups. That may be one reason Fuel may be forgotten. Another reason may be that after Something Like Human,  they were

Before their massively successful 1995 studio debut, Jars of Clay released a self-produced demo titled Frail , which included several songs that made it to their eponymous release . Two songs, though, were reworked and found their way onto their less commercially successful sophomore release, Much Afraid . Departing from their acoustic folk-rock sound, Much Afraid  sounds like a 1997 album. It spawned two singles, " Crazy Times ," peaking at #38 on the Modern Rock singles, and " Five Candles " (You Were There), originally written for Jim Carrey 's Liar Liar , but eventually used in Michael Keaton 's Jack Frost.    Much Afraid is a fine Jars of Clay album. It's more fun to listen to than their debut, varying between folk-rock and modern rock. However, it failed to propel Jars of Clay into the 1997 rock scene. Listeners may not remember them amongst their contemporaries, like The Goo Goo Dolls , Third Eye Blind , and Matchbox Twenty . Instead, they are a

  Like Further Seems Forever , The Juliana Theory was legendary in the early pop-punk/emo scene. Also like FSF, The Juliana Theory has ties to hardcore. Lead singer Brett Detar started as the guitarist for Christian metal pioneers Zao , however, as he explains on Theory's episode of Labeled, the band was perfectly content listening to Third Eye Blind on the radio in the van while out on tour. When Theory formed, they signed with Tooth & Nail Records but opted not to be marketed to the Christian Rock format. This decision both helped and hurt their career. On the one hand, they toured with other Tooth & Nail artists and performed at Cornerstone, on the other hand, their initial record sales were quite low. There has been much bad blood between the band and the record label, especially when the label made money on selling their song " We're at the Top of the World" (To the Simple Two) to Disney to be featured in a Disney channel original, Motorcrossed , an