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Featuring interviews with Jim Adkins (Jimmy Eat World), Chris Conley (Saves the Day), Bob Nanna (Braid) and many more…
Author, podcaster, and music industry veteran Tom Mullen has announced a September 7, 2020 release date for Anthology of Emo Volume 2, the highly anticipated follow-up to 2017’s acclaimed Anthology of Emo Volume 1, which sold out in less than a year and garnered praise and coverage from the likes of Vice/Noisey, The New York Times, Brooklyn Vegan, Kerrang, UPROXX, Billboard, SiriusXM, Alternative Press and many more.
Volume 1 To Get 2nd Printing after a Sold Out First Run in 2017
Volume 1 will also be re-released in early September, the title’s first reprint in 3 years. The books are now available to pre-order separately or as a specially-priced bundle with a limited poster here.
“If there was a course called Emo 101, this book would be on the required reading list.”-Alternative Press on Anthology of Emo Volume 1.
Anthology of Emo Volume 2 continues what the first volume started, with interviews from heavyweights in the music genre including Jim Adkins (Jimmy Eat World), Chris Conley (Saves the Day), Bob Nanna (Braid), authors and scene veterans Trevor Kelley and Leslie Simon, and the final interview of emo scene legend, Jon Bunch (Sense Field) prior to his untimely death in 2017. The book includes rare photographs and printed ephemera, an introduction by Tom Mullen, and a forward by writer and author Luke O’Neil (Welcome to Hell World). Pre-order here.
Featuring Interviews With:
Interviewees featured in Anthology of Emo Vol. 2 | Click to Enlarge
About Anthology of Emo Volume 2
In 2017, after 100+ interviews with artists and those involved with the emo and hardcore scene for the critically acclaimed Washed Up Emo Podcast, Tom Mullen, on the 10th anniversary of WashedUpEmo.com, introduced Anthology of Emo. The book, selling out in less than a year, compiled the best stories from the podcast and features rare and unseen photos and ephemera. The follow-up, Volume 2, picks up where the previous book left off and features interviews, quotes, and more from key figures and veterans of the scene.
For a word that’s often misunderstood, the Anthology of Emo series is an informative companion and faithful guide to the genre of emo. Tom Mullen is a music industry executive and veteran podcaster. He’s spent time at Atlantic, Equal Vision, Vagrant, TVT, EMI and Sony, where he was a 2016 Clio and Cannes Lions winner for his work with Bob Dylan.
In 2007, he founded WashedUpEmo.com, a destination for the entire history of emo. The site and podcast has been featured in The New Yorker, AV Club, Pitchfork, The New York Times, Paste, Billboard, Spin, Village Voice, Stereogum, Chicago Reader, Noisey, and Brooklyn Vegan. In 2011, it expanded to a podcast and DJ night in NYC. In 2014, he launched IsThisBandEmo.com, a site helping the world understand which bands are emo or not with a smile and a wink.
A proud native of Vermont, he lives in Los Angeles and spends his free time documenting and archiving the emo genre for future generations. A now popular outlet, audio, proved fruitful almost instantly in 2011. The Washed Up Emo Podcast started after Tom realized a noticeable void of podcasts from the genre. Utilizing music industry connections and his background as a college radio DJ, it quickly snowballed with critical acclaim after a few episodes and now has over 1 million plays and continues to be the definitive podcast for the emo genre.
The never-ending mountain of guests over the almost decade of episodes have included Jawbreaker, The Promise Ring, Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Piebald, The Get Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World, Mineral, and American Football. Now, after 170+ episodes, the Washed Up Emo Podcast still has one goal. To represent and document the entire history of emo for all fans of the genre.
Ska punk luminaries Less Than Jake will be launching their third creative installment ofLost At Home Sessions. Volume Three“The Sit Around” goes on sale today at 12pm EST over at Bandcamp.
“The Sit Around” Cover Art
“I was ‘sitting around’ watching the news one day,” describes saxophonist and vocalist JR Wasilewski. “I thought about how me and my group of friends used to joke when we were kids working summer jobs, how awesome it would be to just be able to sit around all day and do nothing besides play video games and go to the beach without a care in the world. But when presented with that situation, everybody quickly realized how incredibly impossible it seemed to actually just sit around.”
The lyrics for “The Sit Around” were written by Wasilewski and it’s also the very first song that he sings the lead. “We’d been punting around the idea of me singing leads on a song for years,” Wasilewski explains. “To be frank, I always said no thanks. I felt (and still feel) Less Than Jake is most identifiable by those two voices (Chris and Roger). Adding a third voice beyond just a background vocal, to me, seems to mud up the waters. I like to sing, I just never saw myself as a lead vocalist.
“We talked about it for this song and I said I’d entertain the idea of a lead vocal, mostly because this Lost At Home project is allowing us to test the waters creatively. It’s not a proper album, just songs composed during a strange time in history. I figured if there was ever a time for me to sing, why not now?”
Those who purchase the song at the current price will automatically be entered to win a prize pack (pictured above) that includes an old and rare glow-in-the-dark bobblehead and some out of print vinyl. Contest entries close on July 24th.
Proceeds Benefit Bread of the Mighty
A portion of the proceeds will benefit Bread of the Mighty Food Bank, a North Florida-based food bank that has been serving the community for over 32 years. They collect, sort, store and distribute donated food and basic essentials to over 190 non-profit agency partners such as food pantries, churches, homeless shelters and other organizations who then distribute food in their communities to directly feed the hungry. For every dollar donated, they can provide up to ten meals.
Continuing to play over 150 dates a year while also writing and recording new material has kept the band fresh in a time when “ska” has become something of a four letter word. The list of acts they have supported is staggering (Bon Jovi, Linkin Park, Snoop Dogg), while the list of bands that have supported them makes even the most hardened music industry veteran do a double take (Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Yellowcard). All the while the band has held firm to its punk rock roots and have managed to live through many musical trends simply by just being Less Than Jake.
With well over 300 releases on various labels under their belt, most would think their legacy is already in tact, but the status quo has never interested Less Than Jake. They continue to write and perform new material and have no thoughts of letting up. With the energy and exuberance of a band half its age and the determination of savvy veterans, there is seemingly no end point to this enduring and entertaining band.
LOS ANGELES – Failure have released a newly recorded cover of the Depeche Mode classic, “Enjoy The Silence”. Listen here:
“We originally recorded a cover of ‘Enjoy The Silence’ for the 1998 Depeche Mode tribute, For The Masses,” says Ken Andrews. “That album has all but disappeared, no longer in print and not available via streaming platforms but we as a band are proud of our take on that song and had wanted to re-record it for some time. With the blessing of both Martin Gore and Depeche Mode, we re-addressed our version and came up with this new version for 2020.”
The digital single arrives at a time when Failure had been slated to perform a series of live residencies in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. Those dates have since been cancelled due to COVID-19.
FAILURE 1992-1996 Preorder Available
FAILURE 1992–1996 Cover Art
The band is taking pre-orders here for FAILURE 1992-1996, a four-piece vinyl box set featuring the three ‘90s-era albums. With the original masters finally being unearthed, Comfort, Magnified, and Fantastic Planet have been meticulously restored, remixed, and remastered by Ken Andrews to a new level of sonic fidelity that eclipses all previous iterations of the band’s early work.
“Almost everything people have heard from these albums has been sourced from 16bit digital files made in the ‘90s, which was state of the art at the time,” explains Andrews. “But when we found out we were getting our hands on the original analog master tapes, and with all the confusion and lack of quality control on several of the previous iterations, we set out to create the definitive versions of Comfort, Magnified and Fantastic Planet. Everything has been sourced directly from first generation multitrack and stereo master tapes. This is us finally getting to present our early work the way we’ve always wanted to.”
In addition to all the originally released songs from the three albums, the band has discovered several unreleased songs which have also been restored and will be included in the box set.
“These new versions have all the magic from the originals, but now, instead of looking through a hazy pane of glass, the window has been completely opened and you can hear all the elements in their full glory,” explains drummer Kellii Scott.
“Listening to the b-sides and outtakes from that first year of being a band takes me right back to playing the tiny stage at Jabberjaw in Los Angeles,” adds bassist/guitarist Greg Edwards. “It’s always surprising to me how much of the expansiveness and atmosphere of the later records exist in embryonic form on those earliest stripped-down recordings.”
“Stuck On You” was recently remastered both visually and sonically, and can be viewed here:
VELVET is the fourth studio album by singer Adam Lambert. He had intended to promote the September 2019 release in 2020, starting with a five date residency in Las Vegas, followed by a European tour. The postponement of these performances resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Praising Lambert’s work on VELVET, Variety’s A.D. Amorosi wrote, “Perhaps tired of being Queen’s plus one, or smoothing over his rougher vocal edges, the 38-year-old out singer goes for something less glamorously amorously entertaining and more grimily soulful and sleekly funky than we’re used to hearing from him…” “…Adam Lambert has made “Velvet” a testament to finding his way, personally and professionally, in what is his most accomplished solo work to date.“
KID DAD’s new track “Limbo” is a song that deals with feeling unsafe, hassled, or even abused. As vocalist and guitarist Marius Vieth says, it’s about being “caught between uncertainty and fear, searching for something real to hold on to, in search of hope.”
The band has chosen to convey this in a music video that tells the story of a child trying to escape domestic violence. Part of what initiated this concept was the fact that, due to Covid-19 and the regulations put in place to battle the pandemic, there has been a surge in cases of domestic violence worldwide. Being trapped at home, a place that should be a haven of safety, can turn into a living hell for far too many people with the detection rate for young victims being shockingly low.
Band Announces ‘SAFE In A Box’ Campaign to Raise Awareness Around Child Abuse / Domestic Violence
Says the band: “We address feelings of isolation and entrapment on our debut album ‘In A Box’ and feel obliged to call attention to this situation. We want to raise awareness of the prevalence of domestic violence cases worldwide and encourage people to donate to SOS-Kinderdorf & NSPCC in order to support the work they are doing in preventing such violence and supporting victims.”
Kid Dad has set up a website with information, donation links and merch items with 100% of the proceeds to be donated, here: www.kid-dad.com/safeinabox.
"After a lot of research and brainstorming on how we can actually help, we decided to produce some small merch articles of which 100% of the proceeds will be donated to SOS Kinderdörfer and NSPCC. In addition to this we will pay 100% of the producing and shipping costs so every single cent you pay will find its way to the organizations.We know we can’t change the world with this, but even if a single child will be helped, then this whole campaign will be worth it!If you have the means we deeply encourage you to make a donation directly to the organizations:
Help us to make a change here: www.kid-dad.com/shop. Please notice that all the donation items are marked with a little house!Thank you so much,Marius, Max, Michael & Joshua
Debut Full-Length In A Box To Be Released August 21
In A Box Cover Art
“Limbo” was written on a trip Marius took to London in collaboration with Welsh singer-songwriter Sarah Howells (Bryde). In A Box was fueled by these songwriting trips to England, as well as to China and Switzerland, and much time spent in Berlin. Regarding the experience of recording the album over a prolonged period of time, Marius says “I really enjoyed working with so many different setups. You absorb everything when you’re young – I want to take advantage of that.“
In A Box will be released 21 August via Long Branch Records. KID DAD hail from Paderborn in Germany and have played shows across the continent with the likes of Taking Back Sunday, Marmozets and Fatherson.
Just two days after sharing the Tommie Sunshine & MureKian Remix of his track “Overs”, The Guidance – properly known as Stefan Pruett – was found to have passed away peacefully overnight. Pruett was open about his lifelong heart condition — his pacemaker, his three open-heart surgeries, and one closed-heart surgery. He was formerly the lead vocalist of Phoenix electro pop group Peachcake, which was founded by him and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist John O’Keefe, who was most identifiable as the keytar player.
Nothing could have prepared me for the first time I was exposed to Peachcake. Considering the line-up, it was likely the May 18, 2005 “Suicide Prevention Show” at now-defuct Tempe, Arizona venue The Clubhouse; this would have made me 18 years old when I was introduced to them. I had ventured out to catch a band named My Darling Murder, after drummer Elias Mallin reached out to me on Myspace and sold me a ticket. MDM was influenced by industrial music — I recall Mallin (formerly of Opiate for the Masses) mentioning Nine Inch Nails in particular while chatting it up with him at The Graffiti Shop off of Mill Ave.
Peachcake was absolutely nothing like MDM whatsoever, and how these two acts were included in the same line-up that night is beyond me (probably the theme of the night), but in some odd way it worked. At this point in my life, I was still developing my identity and beginning to cross from goth into raver culture; you can thank my introduction to the movie Party Monster and the frequent spillover between cultures in the widely spread and yet surprisingly small city of Phoenix.
Peachcake brought mammoth-sized energy and a psychedelic atmosphere into the room from the moment they struck up their instruments. It looked like a party store had exploded all over the stage.
The impressively energetic performer was not an extraordinary vocalist, and it didn’t matter because that’s not what it was about; it was about the experience. He had an unapologetic, inherently confident stage presence — somehow very pure and innocent-feeling despite frequent thrusting and convulsing, sometimes wearing as little as little as pink satin boxer-briefs.
Looking back on all of the exhilarating dance parties, he was giving us permission to let our inner children run free amidst a society constantly pressuring us to conform to a conveniently capitalist idea of what being an “adult” looks like. Pruett had a gift for inspiring even the most timid in the crowd to leave their comfort zones, go nuts and participate in oddball activities.
2.16.2010 Peachcake performing with one of their signature props during “Welcome to the Party to Save the World!” at ASU Art Museum
Combining hippie and punk elements in both sound and lyrics, the artists cultivated a community that demonstrated a tone of universal acceptance and unconditional love while challenging the status quo. Many years later, I learned of The Flaming Lips, who had an unquestionable influence on the church of Peachcake, with a similar ethos.
3.28.2008 Peachcake performing “Hundreds And Hundreds of Thousands” during Tempe Music Festival at Tempe Beach Park
Making a great impact, Peachcake performed at countless interesting venues across the valley, continuously toured, played festivals, performed with noteworthy acts, released their debut full-length What Year Will You Have The World?.., held drum circles in downtown Tempe, and participated in political causes on topics such as demilitarization and opposing anti-immigration.
They cycled through a handful of live band members over the years. O’Keefe departed from the group in 2009, and Pruett continued on with Mike McHale (guitar, synthesizers, percussion, backing vocals), Henri Benard (drums, percussion), and David Jackman (programming, beats, production, soft synths, vocals).
They worked on retooling the band, their sound was refined with the help of producer/engineer Jalipaz Nelson (Audioconfusion), and the 2012 album Unbelievable Souls was released.
2.16.2010 Peachcake opening their show with “Don’t Panic It’s Organic” at the ASU Art Museum
“Everything’s out there, we’re climbing up these walls, Falling down the stairs laced with sweat and tears, It’s time to pick ourselves back up, show the world we’re tough Stop running on an engine of fear. Because something is out there waiting for you to find it, And when you do, it may hit you oh so blindly. Pick yourself back up, show the world you’re tough Stop running on an engine of fear.”
On April 13, 2013, Peachcake performed their final show at Crescent Ballroom. Unfortunately, after this show I never had the opportunity to witness the glory of Pruett and Peachcake again.
He went on to relocate to Los Angeles and start his new “Darkwave Pajama Pop” musical project, The Guidance — its Facebook bio currently reads:
“In an effort to escape the monotony of electro pop, Stefan Pruett moved from Phoenix, Arizona to Los Angeles to begin his solo project ‘The Guidance’. As The Guidance, Stefan wants to craft a reflective approach to making electronic music that he has termed “Future Grunge”. This aural concoction is the convergence of electronic synth sounds, driving beats, and dance elements representing the aesthetic and energy of 90s grunge, but all sequenced digitally instead of live instrumentation.”
When I learned of The Guidance late (thanks, Facebook algorithms) I was thrilled. I planned to see him perform at a show in Phoenix at the Valley Bar in 2016, which ended up being canceled. Pruett’s impressive energy was like a much-needed supplement for a deficient world. I feel that no words can properly convey how meaningful and refreshing the experience of Peachcake’s live performances was. It is wonderful that he continued to perform and uplift fans and strangers until the end.
Despite all of the light in a dark world that Pruett brought to countless individuals, on his Facebook profile mini-bio, he left us with the words, “I haven’t done shit with my life yet.” But beneath all of the layers of weirdness that he wore existed a profound musician with an insightful mind, a quirky sense of humor, and a big heart. I believe that those inspired and supported by Stefan Pruett’s music, performances, words, and deeds will always carry some of his light deep in their souls.
“They put us in little cubes and tell us how to do our jobs, Saying that there’s no more left for revolution. But I’m sorry sir, I’m going to have to stand and disagree , Cause no matter what, you’ll never ever ever ever get to me. I’ll always have my light, my will, my creativity, To shine bright upon you and all the world you see. What would happen if we spent out time creating harmony Instead of all the destructive, lost, calamity?
The clock is ticking away, what are you doing today?”
2.16.2010 Peachcake performing “Stop Acting Like You Know More About The Internet Cafe Than Me” at ASU Art Museum. This starts off as an a capella sing-a-long due to technical difficulties. MAGICAL!
Award-winning Italian vocalist / multi-instrumentalist NeroArgento is sharing with fans the new music video for the full length’s second single “Shed My Skin”, featuring singer/musician Brandon Ashley from The Dark and Caitlin Stokes from Corlyx.
‘Shed My Skin‘ is a more industrial-oriented song, based on heavy and low-tuned guitar riffs, plus huge and catchy layered vocals that give the song a killer radio attitude.
Watch the “Shed My Skin” Music Video
The music video was directed once more by Fabio Brunello (Director, CGI, FX, and editing).
Circles is NeroArgento‘s fifth studio album and it takes a step back to the original “industrial” roots as well as a step forward into a more mature and experimental sound. Known in the crossover scene as a solo artist, and founding member of the industrial metal act The Silverblack, NeroArgento has been involved in over 40 records to date including the Princess Ghibli compilation, a very well known collection in Japan that has sold several thousand copies along with performing multiple times at the New Years World Rock Festival, an event by Yuya Uchida.
NeroArgento’s tracks have also been featured in several official gameplay trailers, displayed on renowned websites as Warcraftmovies and Machinima plus his solo albums were released as special editions in Japan.
Among many collaborations as a producer, musician, and remixer, NeroArgento has worked with artists such as Dead By Sunrise, Vamps, Disarmonia Mundi, Rise To Fall, The Stranded, Massive Ego, Lady Faith alongside remixed songs for fan clubs of KORN, The Prodigy, Gorillaz.
Circles is set to be released via Rockshots Records on September 18th, 2020.
LOS ANGELES — TOOL has issued the following statement regarding their postponed concerts (original dates listed below):
“As so many music lovers have come to realize over the last several weeks, there is no playbook that artists, promoters and venues can pull from in these unprecedented times.
When we played what would be our final show of 2020, March 11 at Portland’s Moda Center, we believed we would be back on the road sometime this Fall. As we worked towards that goal we’ve come to realize that there is absolutely no certainty in re-scheduling dates for this Fall or 2021. State and local ordinances vary widely and no one can predict when high capacity events will safely return.
At the same time that we were working to reschedule this tour, we read your messages. Messages of job losses, illness, emotional and financial pain. We could continue to postpone or reschedule dates for some time into 2021 but ethically, we do not think this is the right course of action. In our opinion, tying up our fans’ money for months, if not a full year, is unfair. With that in mind, we have made the very difficult decision to cancel the tour so we can help support the people who have supported us for years.
Please know, we want nothing more than to return to the road, to play these songs for you and to celebrate our shared recovery. When the time is right, we will do just that.
In the coming days you will receive an email from the ticketing service you purchased tickets through notifying you of the event cancellation and when to expect your refund.”
Impacted Dates:
March 12 Eugene, OR Matthew Knight Center
March 14 Boise, ID Ford Idaho Center Arena
March 16 Salt Lake City, UT Maverik Center
April 16 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena
April 17 Orlando, FL Amway Center
April 19 Tampa, FL Amalie Arena
April 21 Charlotte, NC Spectrum Center
April 22 Charlottesville, VA John Paul Jones Arena
April 24 Baltimore, MD Royal Farms Arena
April 25 Uniondale, NY Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
April 28 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
April 29 Quebec City, QC Videotron Centre
May 1 Wilkes Barre, PA Mohegan Sun Arena
May 2 Buffalo, NY KeyBank Centre
May 4 Toledo, OH Huntington Center
May 5 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
May 29 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
May 31 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
June 2 Edmonton, AB Rogers Place
June 4 Winnipeg, MB Bell MTS Place
June 6 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
June 7 Sioux Falls, SD Denny Sanford Premier Center
June 9 Madison, WI Kohl Center
June 10 Moline, IL TaxSlayer Center
June 13 St. Louis, MO Enterprise Center
June 16 Wichita, KS INTRUST Bank Arena
June 17 Oklahoma City, OK Chesapeake Energy Center
June 19 Colorado Springs, CO Broadmoor World Arena
Ice Cube’s Everythangs Corrupt was released on December 7, 2018. It was the first album from Ice Cube in 8 years (I Am The West was released in September of 2010 and peaked at #6 on the Billboard Top Rap Albums chart). Since then, he’s released the hit film, Straight Outta Compton, been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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Burning Hot Events will donate any commissions earned through the purchase of Everythings Corrupt on Amazon through our links during the month of June to Rights4Girls — a human rights organization dedicated to ending gender-based violence against young women and girls in the U.S.
Black Lives Matter
“Racism is everywhere in sexual exploitation.
Pornography is rife with racist material that celebrates the degradation of black women and girls. Commercial sex buyers are predominantly white while victims of sex trafficking are disproportionately women and girls of color. Predators prey upon the people society has marginalized, which means minority communities are a prime target. The list goes on.
Addressing sexual exploitation means addressing racism and the systems that allow oppression and marginalization to continue.” — The National Center on Sexual Exploitation
It’s been 45 years since the golden voice of a “kid from Chicago” hit the Top 10 with the song “Lady” and propelled the band Styx into the worldwide spotlight. Now, at age 73, crooner Dennis DeYoung shows no signs of slowing down with the release of his new solo CD entitled 26 East: Volume 1. The songs are refreshingly original and yet instantly familiar while the lyrics are peppered with some very poignant statements about the world today and the roles we each play.
There is some expectation for great songwriting from the man who penned such top 10 hits as “Mr. Roboto”, “Show Me The Way”, “Come Sail Away”, and reached Number 1 with the definitive rock ballad “Babe.” The odds doubled when DeYoung decided to collaborate with another Number 1 songwriter: Jim Peterik, who’s known for chart-topping successes from “Vehicle” (#2 for Ides of March), “Caught Up In You” (#10 for 38 Special), and the rock anthem “Eye of the Tiger,” a number 1 hit for his former band Survivor. Although past success is no guarantee of future results, the DeYoung/Peterik team delivered five solid tracks that are textbook for well crafted songs. “We collaborated from the get go,” said DeYoung, “happily and seamlessly and at this time we have written nine songs together of which five will be on Volume 1. Just two Chicago guys doing what they do best, making music and having a laugh.”
Out of the gate, 26 East begins with “East of Midnight,” a big production of melodic rock with the signature stacked harmonies, soaring synthesizers balanced with crunchy guitars, and that strong voice that keeps classic rock radio stations in business. There’s a hint of “Grand Illusion” here and a nod to “I’m OK”, but it’s definitely not a regurgitation of the past. The song is a reminiscent journey back in time to the humble beginnings of DeYoung’s music career when the nucleus of Styx began with him and the Panozzo twins, Chuck and John. The album’s title “26 East” was the address where DeYoung grew up in Roseland on the far south side of Chicago, and the cover artwork features three locomotives traveling through space, representing the original members leaving Chicago on their journey to the stars.
There are two other guests on this album that add to allure. First is Julian Lennon, whose harmonies seamlessly blend with DeYoung’s on their collaboration “To The Good Old Days.” DeYoung indicated that he hadn’t met Julian before recording this song, but their words seem so sincere as they sing about raising a glass to toast all of the memories of their past together and all the good and bad times that they’ve survived.
The second guest is guitarist/vocalist August Zadra, who may only be mentioned briefly in the liner notes, but presumably contributed significantly to the “band” sound of the record. Zadra is a dynamic force in the Dennis DeYoung live show where he takes on the lead and harmony vocals originally voiced by Tommy Shaw. His work shines on the rocker “Damn That Dream” that talks about the reality of a dream-come-true turning into a charade that leaves you “lost and torn apart.”
DeYoung’s music is diverse and culled from the “boom child” musical inspirations from his youth through to the songs of his modern contemporaries. The track “You My Love” feels like an homage to the love ballads of the 1950’s — so much so that you might believe that it is a cover of a song that might have been earmarked for the Grease soundtrack. Even the vocal styling is on point for this period of music.
From the Styx classic “Suite Madame Blue” to “Turn Off The CNN” from his last solo record, One Hundred Years From Now, DeYoung has never shied from making political points with his lyrics. 26 East boasts a trilogy of politically themed songs that starts with the campy “With All Due Respect.” It’s definitely a fun song about the incompetence of our bi-partisan government, but the chorus sports the childish jabs, “With all due respect, you are an asshole” and “With all due respect, plug up your pie holes” that are hard to take seriously. The following song, “A Kingdom Ablaze,” is a haunting melody with lyrics that foretell an end to our nation if we don’t correct our ways. The music is reminiscent of “Castle Walls” from the Grand Illusion album laced with a subtle shuffle, ominous Gregorian chants, and the foreboding message, “When our greed becomes our need, all will bleed.” “The Promise of This Land” is the third song in the trilogy that comes later in the track list. It is a song of hope, and DeYoung’s theatrical spirit shines as brightly on this song as it did on the wonderful collection of show tunes from his 1994 release, 10 On Broadway. This song is full of references to our founding fathers and the dreams they had for this newly launched nation.
There are certain formulas for writing timeless “hit” songs and DeYoung and Peterik have their own recipes. The standout songs that have potential for chart topping success are “Run For The Roses” and “Unbroken.” Both start softly with the mood of a minor key and then soar to dramatic heights in major keys and layered harmonies spreading a positive message. Each song would be comfortable in any of the past five decades. Though the odds are stacked against DeYoung for chart success in the current climate of much younger artists, you never know when he might catch lightning in the bottle again (like the time “Show Me The Way” was spurred on as an anthem during Desert Storm). Who would have expected his recent rendition of “The Best of Times,” sung at his home during the COVID-19 pandemic, would go viral (no pun intended) and reach over a million views.
Speaking of “The Best of Times,” 26 East wraps up with yet another reprise of the “A.D. 1928”/”A.D. 1958” from the end of the Paradise Theater album. This time it is called “A.D. 2020” and features DeYoung playing an accordion, the instrument that got it all started for him. If you have been a fan of the music of Dennis DeYoung throughout the years, this short bookend to the album will tug at the heart strings as he seems to accept the notion that his music will last long beyond his years. He has shared his soul here in sonic form for you to listen to, relate to, and most importantly, to let it move you.
