Music: A to Z 11.06.09: T is for…

Posted by Chris Crowing on 11.06.2009

...Tool, Travis and Trivium



I'm taking it a little easier this week before we dive headlong for the final stretch...



Little Boots

Almost purely to offer some variety to what comes below, this song has been a guilty pleasure of mine for a while...





* Please note, all 'Best...' designations are merely this writers opinion, and stand as a recommendation for new fans, rather than an attempt to make a definitive statement. I'll likely change my mind by next week anyway.

Tool

What: Progressive Alternative Rock/Metal Legends
From: Los Angeles, California
In the Beginning: Formed gradually between 1988 and 1990, Tool quickly gained record company attention after a few gigs (must be nice to start your career in LA) leading to first official release Opiate in 1992.
Best Album*: Aenima (1996), Lateralus (2001)
Best Song*: "Sober", "Stinkfist", "Schism", "Parabola"
Recently...: Most recent record 10'000 Days was released in 2006, and following the tyour for that record, Tool went on hiatus in early 2008. However, the band embarked on a summer tour this year, and work is apparently beginning on a new record.

I came to Tool comparatively late in life, although they have been a name at the edge of my awareness since the late 90s. I'll fully admit that I discovered A Perfect Circle before I discovered Tool and it took Lateralus being figured on my cousin's ‘list of albums to buy' and Maynard James Keenan's appearance on the Deftones stunning "Passenger" to pique my interest enough to take a look.

While I was (of course) immediately impressed by the musicality and sheer depth of Tool's arrangements and the haunting quality of Maynard's voice, but given that I was but a callow youth, their music did not draw me in fully. My idea of deep and progressive music at the time pretty much went up to the level of the Deftones – I simply wasn't ready for the level of attention, or surrender that greatness of this magnitude requires of you.

However, I would hear at least one Tool song with great regularity in the rock clubs, and through sheer force of attrition it became a real favourite…



In the end, it was the influence of my good friend, and proggy-music mentor #2 Mr Kite who compelled me to look deeper into Tool's canon. Given my increased years, experience and willingness to give a band a few listens, and my raised appreciation for bands who take a little ‘getting into', the practise of throwing Lateralus or Aenima on in the background when I was getting some serious reading done paid off massively.

The layered arrangements and irregular breaks, combined with an awesome grasp of flow often had Tool dragging my attention away from the Iain M. Banks novel (or similar) which I had settled down to. This has long been an acid test for music of real, if not immediate quality, where I find myself disregarding the book I'm trying to get into and sitting letting the music lift me away…



I find that I can't enthuse about individual Tool songs, as I've almost never listened to them in a ‘picking singles out to make a playlist' kind of way, with the exception of the two songs I've picked out above ("Stinkfist" and "Schism" blow me away in a better-than-awesome kind of way) but rather I can say that their albums fill a niche in my collection somewhere between the intelligent alternative rock of the Deftones, A Perfect Circle, Faith No More or Mastodon and the purely progressive bands who's music can be described as sound-scapes, without a hint of pretension, such as Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Sigur Ros, Russian Circles and many more.

Friends who have seen them enthuse about their singular live shows, declaring them to be epic performance art pieces, an audio-visual feast for the eyes. From what I've seen on youtube, such praise is well placed. Next time they come through Glasgow, I will most certainly be there…



Travis

What: Indie Superstars turned Survivors
From: Glasgow, Scotland
In the Beginning: Formed in 1991, the band played extensively around Scotland before relocating to London and immeidately getting signed, leading to their debut record.
Best Album*: Good Feeling (1997), the Man Who (1999)
Best Song*: "Hapy", "Turn", "Blue Flashing Light", "Side"
Recently...: ode to J Smith released in September 2008. There is currently no word of an upcoming Travis record.

Along with the Stereophonics, Travis were one of those bands who survived my cull of most things indie around my musical awakening in the late 90s, if only because their songs were fun, easy to learn, easy to play and popular at parties.

The upward curve of their career matches nicely with the expansion of Scotland's own T in the Park festival, playing the ‘unsigned talent' T-Break stage in the festival's first year, and gradually moving up the bill to headline the second stage the year The Man Who made them national stars, and closing the entire festival on the main stage a year later once their apotheosis was assured.

Their beginnings were more humble, and through years of solid touring, their debut record Good Feeling managed to permeate the national consciousness, and while I was never particularly aware of the band I did know their big songs, "Happy", "Tied to the ‘90s", "Good Feeling" and "All I Wanna Do Is Rock."



A confluence of their best song writing and the wheels of the industry machine aligning behind them made their next record The Man Who easily one of the biggest selling records in Britain during 1999-2000. The album was full of anthemic, affecting singles such as "Writing to Reach You", "Driftwood" and most successfully "Why Does It Always Rain on Me" (as covered by the Foo Fighters at their awesome Barrowlands show in September 1999, my first big gig when I moved to Glasgow) and "Turn."



However the album is wall-to-wall quality and there is not a bad song to be found with "the Fear", "As You Are" "Luv", "Slide Show" and the closing, 'hidden' track "Blue Flashing Light" all still key parts of my laid-back indie playlists to this day, as well as being regularly played on my acoustic guitar.

When Travis headlined T in the Park in 2000 (the third and last time I attended the festival) it was an uplifting and mass-participation experience as the conquering national heroes returned to their adoring public. Of course, it bucketed down (it IS Scotland after all), but when "Why Does It Always Rain On Me" was part of the set at an outdoor festival (similarly to how it started raining when Garbage played "Only Happy When It Rains two years previously...) it absolutely HAD to.

Between that, the emotive 'shadows on the screen; rendition of "Slide Show", the mass sing-along to "Turn" and the in-defiance-of-the-elements, mass-bounce along to "Happy" it remains one of my most treasured live music memories... I'm on the hill, to the left of the mixing tower...



Their next album the Invisible Band was not so good, and while the lead singles "Sing" and "Side" were pretty good, the rest of the album came off as a second-rate rehash of the Man Who formula.



12 Memories was perhaps more interesting musically, being a bit darker and lead single "Re-Offender" is again a decent indie tune, but the band continued to lose the charm and emotional insight which had made the Man Who so good on the following albums the Boy With No Name and Ode to J Smith.

It seems to me that like many bands, Travis had some decent tunes to start with (Good Feeling) then grew as people and musicians (the Man Who & the Invisible Band) before running out of things to talk about once they were successful and married, occasionally trying to change their sound without any real impetus to 'fuck shit up' and unsure of how to recapture the fire that once made them vital.

That might sound a little harsh, but it seems this is the destined curve of any band who makes it big all of a sudden, that if they come out the other side contended, then there is nothing left but half-hearted philosophy and political reference to take the place of the once pure-hearted emotion.

Make no mistake, their clutch of great songs are TRULY heart-warmingly awesome. Not the most technically demanding, nothing like extreme, but there is NOTHING wrong with simple songs, played and sung with true emotion.

Given my below comments on Shinedown some people might wonder how I can say something like that, but Travis are a different kettle of fish to the cookie-cutter alt.rock bands and modern indie which pollutes our charts.

They are easy listening, yes - but their good songs have insight, emotion and charm - and that makes all the difference.

Trivium

What: New School Metal Wannabes
From: Altamonte Springs, Florida
In the Beginning: Formed from high school, their first recorded demo attracted the attention of German label Lifeforce, and the band recorded their debut album, whcih was then also picked up by Roadrunner Records.
Best Album*: Ascendancy (2005)
Best Song*: "Pull Harder on the Strings of your Martyr", "A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation", "Like Light to Flies", "Shogun"
Recently...: Shogun released in 2008, and the band have toured extensively. There is no word of a new Trivium release at this time.

Note: I'll be using the contrived term 'mainstream metal' a fair bit in this section, if only because much of which I laud Trivium for was previously and more impressively displayed in the metal underground, the point I am making is that they were one of the bands who brought it back into the shiny lights.

Like just about everybody, the first time I heard Trivium, I rolled my eyes up into the back of my head, Undertaker-style and groaned aloud - 'oh dear, the emo bands are trying to go metal...'

However due to the persistence of one of my friends, I gave their breakthrough album Ascendancy a fair listen and ended up really liking it, at least from a musical point of view. Heafy's lyrics have ever been quite juvenile, draped in dubious metaphor and his singing, well... 'Hetfield karaoke' doesn't even cover it...

The moment they went from just another new act with dubiously emo styling to genuine contenders (in the UK at least) came during the incredible success of their set well down the bill at Download in 2005. You just can't deny this...



New bands with only a few weeks radio/video airplay just don't normally get that kind of response in such a slot, and for all that Roadrunner were pushing Trivium as their act of the year, the response was exponentially more than you could reasonably expect from all but the most high-budget ubiquitous pop promotion, which still remains far outwith Roadrunner's purse strings and prerogative.

While I initially dismissed the band as 'emo-metal' a listen to the full length of Ascendancy makes that argument obsolete, and I STILL think it is one of the best NEW 'mainstream metal' records I have heard in a great many years.

From the piano-led instrumental opener into the ferocious bit of "Rain", swiftly followed by the awe-inspiring riffage and expansive solos of "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr", "Drowned & Torn Asunder" "A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation" and "Like Light to Flies" the record was a joy to my ears after years of watching metal become increasingly dominated by the hardcore approach.

IMHO the ascendancy of Trivium and such bands (such as Avenged Sevenfold, Mastodon etc.) FINALLY drew a line under the minimalistic nu-metal/hardcore aesthetic and brought long songs with expansively indulgent guitars solos back into the mainstream metal pantheon. That is a GOOD THING.



The same thing cannot be said about their next album, the Crusade, where the onus of the song writing took a turn from being influenced by the bite and snarl of the best thrash, death and groove metal bands and started to be more influenced by the more disturbingly poppy aspects of 80's metal, coming across as more in key with Motley Crue or a speeded up Ozzy Osbourne, and NOT in a good way.

Sure there are still riffs and licks aplenty, but the songs lacked the impact of the previous album and IMHO a more overt grab for commercial success has never been made.

I remember writing a very scathing myspace blog about how Trivium had shown promise of being the future of mainstream heavy metal, but had instead turned into the Tampa Bay City Rollers. I still think that is quite funny.

Disturbingly, this is probably the best song on the record...



2008's Shogun was a step back in the right direction, and while the band are still afflicted by Heafy's lumpen use of mythological metaphor in his lyrics (in fairness, metal lyrics do not need to be sensible, intelligible or aesthetically pleasing) the more 'stadium metal' elements have been purged and the songs are more interesting.

I also LOVE the Japanese imnagery on the Shogun sleeve. I've always been a sucker for Rising Sun logos and oriental lettering....

However, while "Down From The Sky" proved to be worryingly catchy (I was singing it for MONTHS... much to the amusement of my band), the first half of the album is decent and the epic "Shogun" is quite spectacular, Trivium have slipped into a pattern of wearing their influences a little too clearly on their sleeve (this time it would be a peculiar mix of Iron Maiden, Yngwie Malmesteen and Dream Theater) and coming across as a little forced, soulless and mechanical.



The problem with Trivium is that while they are technically VERY good and tight as a very-tight-thing live, they don't have any new ideas of their own, their lyrics lack insight, character and charm and they are just a bit... unloveable?

Trivium, since Ascendancy at least are what would happen if the Cylons decided to craft a metal band from second hand, first principles. Technically impressive, yet fundamentally formulaic and derivative, full of bluster and no real emotion or insight. A more accessible, mainstream version of soulless prog-metal titans like Malmesteen or Dream Theater.

Perhaps success came too quickly with their second album for them to truly grow as people and write more interesting, cathartic songs. Perhaps there was never anything more in them than a desire to ape their heroes and be the best metal band they could be (not that there is anything wrong with that) but they always lacked the insight and/or depth of character to be more than that...

It wasn't till long after I had digested Ascendancy that I was given their first record Ember to Inferno as a present. If anything this record only underlines the above conclusions that Trivium are good band, devoid of original ideas, but utterly in love with the craft of heavy metal and want nothing more than to stand tall with their heroes Iron Maiden, Metallica and Carcass. There is nothing wrong with that, and I think this video, for all it's shocking quality makes me like them more..



At the end of the day, Trivium will never be my favourite band, but a dozen or so of their songs consistently live on my various metal playlists (including the one improbably titled 'evilemo') and I'd rather listen to them than so much which is pushed forward as quality metal or alt.rock in these times.

Perhaps they are an indictment of our society and times, where a band can have all the technical talent in the world, but lack to emotion or character to truly become something more. Where did the passion go?



I have to say, the first two comments I received this week struck me dumb with amazement.

First up BR said...Not bad of a list, especially with SOAD on there, but no Staind or Shinedown? Wtf? and was swiftly followed by steve who echoed him with No Shinedown???

I'll admit that Staind were a mildly glaring omission, and while they have never been a great influence on me, I have bought their records, gone to see them and my drummer is a MASSIVE Staind fan, travelling all over the UK to see them. Sorry Steve (my drummer, not commenter #2.)

Staind are a band who have my respect, if not my adoration and they have a clutch of very decent songs, especially "Mudshovel", "Epiphany" and "Right Here." As such, they should have received the similarly cursory kudos that Seether did last week - so here is a video..



On the other hand, Shinedown were NEVER under consideration for inclusion, and I'm kinda staggered that two readers of my column (first time guys?) should think I would write about them, especially at any length.

I'll admit that I hadn't even short listed them, and was momentarily unsure of who they were when I first read my comments - Shinedown have never really mattered in the UK. Of course I knew the name of the band, but I had to dig into youtube and my copious music library for a quick refresher. That done, these are my thoughts on Shinedown.

IMHO, Shinedown are one of that particular breed of bands which masquerades as 'post-grunge' but are in reality just the most lowest common denominator easy listening mainstream 'rock' to be found in the modern market.

More influenced by Creed (but lacking the powerful playing of Tremonti, Marshall & Phillips) than any true grunge band like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden or Mudhoney and lacking the passion, song writing, charisma and talent of Pearl Jam they are a great example of the intensely mediocre, massively unit shifting kind of band which seem to persist in gaining massive success while more interesting acts languish in relative mediocrity.

Of course it is pithy to hate on Shinedown in favour of 'worthier' acts like Skindred, Meshuggah, Tool or whoever you prefer, but I'd say they are third rate even within their own genre.

If you like this kind of undemanding anthemic rock, then I'd push you in the direction of the ever awesome Foo Fighters, quickly followed by Black Stone Cherry, Alter Bridge, Seether, Staind or Fuel.

If you want it a little easier, more diluted and frankly weak, I guess I'd place Nickleback, Hinder, Theory of a Deadman and Puddle of Mudd (well, the Come Clean record at least) as being marginally more interesting, fun and generally appealing than Shinedown.

That may come across as a little harsh, but IMHO they have no great technical talent, write mediocre, 'by the numbers' songs full of false emotion and of formulaic construction.

I'd rather listen to Daughtry - at least he can sing, and seems sincere...

On a more positive note, Elliot said Adore is my favourite album of all time.

That's great, and while it weighs in about fourth on my personal preference of Smashing Pumpkins record, I can see the appeal, and it's nice for someone to be willing to state an alternate preference as opposed to the accepted wisdom that the Pumpkins lost it after Mellon Collie.

Adore was a brave move, and remains a beautiful album with some deliciously dark undertones, and it's always good to see a commenter who doesn't subscribe to established alt.rock wisdom i.e. Corgan was a hypocrite for firing Chamberlain, Adore is a weak record, they was just jumping on the growing ambient music bandwagon given the apparent 'death' of alternative rock.

None of these arguments have real credence, and Adore's general merits outweigh the pithy responses of those who wanted Mellon Collie part two...

My esteemed Jedi master Yoda said No Sonic Youth! WTF?.

Hmmn. I don't like, rate or listen to Sonic Youth, that's why. While I'm a BIG grunge fan, and a serious chunk of my music library is dominated by acts which you can define as 'alternative rock' I have a real dislike for that kind of pseudo-intellectual alt rock thing as personified by Sonic Youth and the Pixies.

In truth, this has little to do with the bands themselves (who I just find a bit dull) and more to do with the self-righteous, pseudo-intellectual nature of many of their fans. It seems that declaring a liking for bands like Sonic Youth (or the Pixies, or PJ Harvey or Belle & Sebastian, delete as appropriate) automatically makes a certain kind of person a particularly arrogant authority on all things musical, sociological and political. If you know the type, then you know what I mean - if you disagree, them you are probably one of those people...

Actually, that is a little (OK, a lot) unfair on Sonic Youth, who have done a lot of important work in the development of drone & noise rock, and I guess without them I wouldn't have bands like Boris to listen to. That said, they are a band who NEVER make appearances on my playlists or 'most wanted' lists, and as such don't get included...

...however as a testament to their legacy, here is some awesome drone music from my favourite Japanese crazy people...



...tentative link, oh yes!

Ray Church pops up with this concise comments...

SEVENDUST!

Still, good choices otherwise...

Sorry Ray, but as far as I can recall, Sevendust aere one of those (many) second rate, second generation nu-metal bands who offered little of great original of exceptional worth and ended up all clogging up together and killing the genre through the sheer weight of mediocre acts gaining airplay.

Maybe that's a little unfair, as Sevendust have a clutch of good riffs and alwys managed to soudn a little denser than your average nu-metal act, but still they are just one of the herd and didn't register on my radar for this week...

Lastly, Hdj360 contributed with...Awesome column this week! "S" is the best letter in music in my opinion! As for those bands you mentioned last week, Ive yet to listen to them cuz I've just been running out of $ lately due to bills and household stuff but hopefully sometime in November I can check em out!

T: Taking Back Sunday, The Toadies, Trapt, Taproot, Three Days Grace, Trivium etc.

Ah, my young padawan, you need not spend to experience new music. Almost everything is available for free on youtube, spotify, last.fm or through more nefarious and morally dubious torrent sites. I do not feel bad for espousing these methodologies of taste expansion, as the bands we discover for free, we will then spend many pounds and dollars on a full CD back catalogue not to mention merch and live tickets.

So get on it, and I'll keep my end up and check out Breaking Benjamin.

As for your suggestions, only Trapt and Taproot (and Trivium of course) were in the running - for being some of the more interesting nu-metal acts . Taking Back Sunday annoy me, while the Toadies and Three Days Grace mean nothing to me, sorry...

That's it folks, I'm done and I'll leave you with two videos by bands I completely managed to forget to include for the letter R, much to my eternal discredit and shame.





Seeya next week as we accelerate headlong towards the end of the alphabet...

Slainte,
Chris Crowing

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