Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Song Spotlight: The Promise Ring's "Red and Blue Jeans"



            Because I am a pretentious jerk, I've always defined myself as someone who is drawn to songs steeped in intelligent writing. Of course, I thoroughly enjoy simplicity of a thrashing punk riff or a straightforward blues, but the tunes with lyrics that are wrapped in layers of metaphor or that spin unique and vivid images tend to take precedence in my shuffles. However, if a song manages to take the basic pieces and push them to their limits, squeezing every drop of emotion and meaning from each note or word, I cannot but help playing them incessantly, listening until I am sick and then still again. These songs prove that significance doesn't require anything complex or even thorough, and the most recent such tune to overcome my senses is "Red and Blue Jeans" by The Promise Ring.
            From the first time it appeared on my Pandora playlist, my ears were instantly glued to the speakers, and my obsession with "Red and Blue Jeans" has only grown since. With nary a second of drum fill, the whole band launches into the song’s tender, almost self-conscious main riff. Davey von Bohlen quietly croons his single line of lyrics over gentle chords, while Jason Gnewikow’s accented lead knits itself into a counterpoint for the vocals. Scott Beschta's intricate bassline ushers the band out of the first section and into a spacious prelude to the song's apex, a loud and thrashing reprise of the main theme. From there the song essentially repeats one more time, except that instead of rehashing or mimicking his initial verse, von Bohlen eschews language entirely, favoring punctual, nonlexical vocals which lead "Red and Blue Jeans" into its driving instrumental coda.


            "Red and Blue Jeans" rings in my ears as amazing, sonorous, and complete, but it is perhaps one of the most structurally unadorned songs ever written. The Promise Ring utilizes only a few chords and fourteen total words to assemble "Red and Blue Jeans," yet every second feels like a sprawling odyssey of energy and emotion, part of which stems from their expert application of dynamics. From open to close, the band maintains their essential musical theme defined by the interlocking guitar work of von Bohlen and Gnewikow, creating variation by alternating the feel and attack of the theme between a stroll, a saunter, and a sprint. Similarly, von Bohlen's decision to sing lyrics at the beginning and wordless vocalization towards the end pushes to the forefront the melody rather than the message, diffusing the spotlight among the entire band instead of focusing it on the vocal.
            The Promise Ring uses some very basic principles of music and songwriting in their composition of "Red and Blue Jeans," assembling a modest but poignant foundation in which the listener can cultivate meaning and significance. The band makes its choices in line with an austere aesthetic, following a "less is more" ethic and applying it like adepts. Rather than writing another verse or repeating the opening and only line, von Bohlen slips into his humble "doo doo"s, leaving his sentiment only as defined as the first line allows. In the same vein, the band chooses to rely on dynamics alone for complexity, but never once draws out a riff or progression too long at one energy level, always giving their theme room to breathe and evolve without making it redundant.

 
            Despite the plain ambiguity of the lyrics and the subjective feel of the instrumentation, "Red and Blue Jeans" is a song laden with emotion, but the straightforward and plain presentation provides a ton of room for the listener to interpret and evoke that emotion. Davey von Bohlen's simple statement of "Nothing feels good like you in red and blue jeans and your white and night things" is simultaneously broad and inclusive; PunkNews remarks the lyric can be read "as sensual, longing, romantic, desperate; it can be all these things because of what it implies,” based upon how the listener connects with it.[1] On one side, von Bohlen's statement of "nothing feels good like you" can be seen as a celebration, a declaration so definitive that no other words can improve it and thus leaving him simply speechless in the second half of the song. Conversely, his lyric can be viewed as mournful longing, a realization that "nothing feels good" without the presence of his lover, and that her absence inevitably leaves him wanting more from his life.[2]
            For all its space and simplicity, "Red and Blue Jeans" is loaded with a quiet significance that is as malleable as the listener needs it to be, and therein lies its brilliance. With this song, The Promise Ring takes the idea of repetition and molds it into a tune that is both intricate and inviting. Because of its sparing shape, there is no limit to the connections and connotations that "Red and Blue Jeans" can carry, and effectively, no barrier between song and listener. "Red and Blue Jeans" is truly unlike any song I've ever heard, and I don't doubt that I will be uncovering new meanings and moods within these two-and-a-half minutes for years to come.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Aulbum Autopsy: Black Sabbath's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath


Disclaimer: The following piece is a super-in-depth look at one of my favorite records, and as such, it is riddled with personal opinions and praise for said record. This cannot be helped.

            Who would be so audacious, so utterly cocky, to claim they know the very first song they’ve ever heard? Me, that’s who. Maybe not definitively, but I have a very very good idea. All during my childhood, my father took great pleasure in the task of waking me for school by spouting whatever nonsense was rattling around in his head. Most of the time his non sequiturs were lyrics from songs he loved, and no well seemed deeper than his log of Black Sabbath tunes. I cannot impart even an estimation of how many mornings I was torn from sleep by my father’s exclamation of “You see life through distorted eyes / You know you have to learn!”[1]
            Those opening lines to “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” have always been my dad’s standard for his ridiculous wake-up calls, and odds are they were the first song lyrics ever sung to me, though my association with them doesn’t end there. The parent record of that song, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, has been in heavy rotation in my household for as long as I can remember. Whether from my parents’ ancient monolith of a stereo or from my father’s own mouth, I have been listening to this record for my entire existence, and its tunes are threaded deep within my heart. It is as much a part of me as my own hands, and after two decades, I think it’s about time I dissected it to see just how deep those threads run. 
            I am through and through a lover of rock, and I think it’s safe to say that the maelstrom of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath helped induct me into the world of grizzly distortion and booming basslines. Tony Iommi’s Gibson SG, perpetually tuned down to D♭, is the epitome of metal guitars, his power chords and melodies roaring beneath overlapping solos. Terry “Geezer” Butler’s bass tone teeters on the edge of overdrive, his lines wandering into blues territory before stomping back against the ridiculous rhythms laid down by Bill Ward, who hits his drums so hard you can actually hear his mics clipping.  On top of all of this, Ozzy Osbourne wails, his crisp, dynamic vocals soaring through the heights in “Killing Yourself to Live” and bordering an infuriated scream in “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.” The sound that this quartet has cultivated has become both iconic and inspirational to thousands of acts, marking the way for generations of metalheads through the chilling, gloomy territory that Black Sabbath calls home, and for me, the darkness is nowhere stronger than on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
            There’s no shortage of metal intensity on this record, but Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is far more dynamic in sound and shape than previous Black Sabbath records, and actually marks the beginning of the band’s journey into musical experimentation. Amidst the chaotic, crushing rock, the band has interspersed countless other instruments and textures. Acoustic guitars take prominent positions in the composition of “Looking for Today” and the title track, while synthesizers add depth and excitement to virtually every tune on the record, even taking center stage in “Who Are You” And Black Sabbath takes it even further, pulling out a harpsichord for “Fluff” and a flute for “Looking for Today,” going so far as to summon a full string section for “Spiral Architect.” In fact, the distinct lack of either bagpipes or sitar is due only to the fact that Tony Iommi had not yet learned either instrument to his satisfaction while recording. [2]
            Although only eight songs long, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is a powerhouse record, a landmark for the Black Sabbath and the myriad acts that followed in their footsteps, not to mention for myself. It is loaded with musical moments and face-melting lines that have resonated within me for as long as I’ve been alive. Upon listening to it straight through with my father recently (something he hadn’t done in decades), I feel that it is finally time to give this monster its due.  


         1.    Sabbath Bloody Sabbath


            Opening with the riff that “saved” Black Sabbath,[3] “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” tears open this record like a raucous cannon. Tony Iommi’s signature tone crams itself down our ears while Ozzy’s vocals attack the naysayers of the band, screaming at the “bastards” who “tell you that you’re on your own” and “fill your head all full of lies.”[4] According to Geezer, the band’s primary lyricist, the song is a “backs-to-the-wall rant” aimed at “the critics, the record business in general…management and everyone who was trying to cash in on us.”[5] The anger inherent in the lyrics feels just as apparent in the composition; every cymbal crash and bass growl drips with ire and disgust.
            Besides its inspirationally dark tone, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” is a model of metal in its composition as well. The tune eschews a verse/chorus alternation in favor of a series of suites, a choice that has since become a staple of the metal genre. After sloshing about in the mosh-worthy intro riffs, the song launches into a disgustingly dark palm-muted section before sliding into a swung outro. While all three parts have their merits, it is this middle section that grips the mind, and which rock legend Slash considers to be one of the heaviest riffs ever written.[6]  The band’s choice to include in the riff both the major and minor 3rds of the scale, coupled with Ozzy’s despairing intonations of lines like “Living just for dying / dying just for you,” have helped to define an entire musical atmosphere, and consistently rattle me to my core with each listen.[7]

        2.    A National Acrobat


            Haunting and spacious, “A National Acrobat” is another Sabbath standard and one of my father’s favorites. According to Iommi, it was Geezer who composed the skulking intro riff[8] that moves like sludge through water. Between distorted chords and Ward’s walloping drum beats, the song wanders into a wah-drenched B-section, over which Ozzy’s vocals drift like distant echoes through an expanse of sound as he waxes philosophical: “Don’t believe the life you have will be the only one / You have to let your body sleep to let your soul live on.”[9]
            “A National Acrobat” is a thoroughly metaphysical piece, the instrumentation a sprawl of thought and feeling which greatly reflects the meaning behind the lyrics. Geezer states that the tune is a musing on “who selects what sperm gets through to the egg,”[10] a fascinating and original idea that dips as much into science as it does religion. While Geezer’s lyrics brilliantly portray this inconceivable idea, it is Ozzy’s vocals that give it life. His delay-heavy harmonies and piercing highs create the impression of multiple beings singing as one, like a legion of never-born souls wondering when they will be chosen to exist. From conception to delivery, "A National Acrobat" is chilling and intricate, exploring some thought-provoking territory into which few minds have ventured.

        3.    Fluff


            Almost entirely Iommi’s doing, "Fluff" is just that—a fluff piece, a space-filler on the record, but at the same time, it’s a chance for a guitarist known for his grueling tone to flaunt some of his more light-hearted influences. Written as a tribute to DJ Alan "Fluff" Freeman,[11] "Fluff" deftly captures a classical feel, layering piano and even a harpsichord over interlocking guitar melodies, drawing the focus to the entire piece rather than a single instrument. Iommi almost entirely avoids using an electric guitar, instead pulling his melodies out from acoustics both 6-string and 12-string, and dropping in mere hints of a reverby electric to further open up the song. Although somewhat uneventful, "Fluff" shows us a side of Black Sabbath most people don’t think exists, and acts as a nice dedication to a man who helped the band find a following in their early days.

         4.    Sabbra Cadabra


            With speedy guitar licks and Ozzy's energetic singing, "Sabbra Cadabra" falls more under the label of rock'n'roll than metal, but Black Sabbath easily manages to conquer this more ear-pleasing style with their own dark flair. In fact, even in its earliest stages it appeared to be a favorite among friends of the band—upon visiting the studio, Led Zeppelin's John Bonham was apparently eager to drum with the band on it, and Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who lays down some heavy synth in the bridge, apparently refused payment with anything but beer and jamming for his contribution.[12] Iommi's dexterous melodies on "Sabbra Cadabra" are respected even today, so much so that Metallica even medleyed it with "A National Acrobat" for their 1998 cover album Garage, Inc., choosing it over a plethora of more celebrated Sabbath tunes.[13]
            There is a lot to love in "Sabbra Cadabra," but the most stand-out performance comes from Geezer's bass. With a tone I can only describe as a roar, Geezer spends half the tune covering rhythm, his low end booming with Ward's kick drum, and the other half strutting, walking smoothly out of the choruses and peppering pentatonic runs underneath the drum fills. It is his bass that pulls the band together and pushes it forward, connecting the melody work of Iommi and Ozzy and gluing it to Ward's hectic rhythm, cementing "Sabbra Cadabra" as a rocking centerpiece on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

        5.    Killing Yourself to Live


            My father's anthem, "Killing Yourself to Live" is perhaps the best example on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath of the band's brand of catastrophic metal. Iommi's guitar kicks the tune off with a behemoth guitar riff that still stands as one of my favorites, and his rampaging power chords in the chorus immerse the listener in shadows. The gloomy A-section somehow slips into the manic coda, across which Iommi overlays two guitar solos while Ozzy's vocals spiral into absolute madness with the lines: "I don’t know if I'm up or down / Whether black is white or blue is brown / The colors in my life are all different somehow / Little boy blue's a big girl now."
            While Iommi's shredding guitar conquers the instrumentation, it is Geezer's lyrics that truly give the song life. Written whilst in the hospital for alcohol-induced kidney issues, "Killing Yourself to Live" breaks down the pendulous experience of the rockstar life—how the four of them struggled to make a living as musicians, and in receiving their fame, now continually destroy themselves with substances to cope with the pressures and stress of stardom. And with lines like "Just take a look around you, what do you see? / Pain, suffering and misery / It's not the way that the world was meant," this lyrical theme of suffering to survive can easily be expounded into the more general, working-man's anthem that it has become for my father, chronicling the struggle to endure and provide in the modern world.[14]

        6.    Who Are You


            Upon first listen, "Who Are You" feels somewhat like another throwaway tune, with its simplistic arrangement and quiet energy, but after continuous sampling, the significance buried in "Who Are You" arises to the forefront. This tune is one of the first to effectively mix synthesizers into a metal sound, and indeed, the phaser-laden tone of Ozzy's Moog immerses the song in a creepy mood, a soft but heavy counterpoint to Ward’s crashing cymbals and Iommi's melodious piano.[15]
            The spacious sound of the song adds to the metaphysical tone of the entire album, which is furthered by the piece’s lyrical condemnation of authority. Ozzy’s accusatory tone in the lines “You’re just like me, brother / Giving up your trust / And when you have played enough / You’ll just cast our souls / Into the dust,” pulls the high-and-mighty down to his own level, allowing his final query of “Who are you?” to simultaneously ring political and spiritual. Although one of the more placid tunes on the record, both the philosophical writing and ominous instrumentation on “Who Are You” insist that it belongs nowhere else but on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.[16]

        7.    Looking for Today


            The unequivocal star of this song has to be Bill Ward, whose emphatic, animated drumming completely defines the feel of "Looking for Today." With grace and fervor he chugs and slams and thumps his kit, painting a vibrant backdrop over which Iommi and Geezer are able to weave elaborate riffs. Ward's exuberance behind the kit feeds also into the other members' performances, as Ozzy yanks wailing high notes from his core while Geezer's bass bellows in time with the drums.
            Besides the percussion, "Looking for Today" is also home to the most cohesive and thorough lyrical ideas on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Another analysis of the hectic hell that is the music business, "Looking for Today" poignantly preaches a philosophy of enjoying the moments you have, because they fly away all too fast. Geezer delivers this message through a long string of original paradoxes, capturing the fleeting feel of fame with lines like "Sunday's star is Monday's scar / Out of date before you're even seen" and "In demand, but secondhand / It's been heard before you even play." With "Looking for Today," Black Sabbath tears apart any pretense that the rockstar life is easy, instead using their energetic, upbeat rock to urge up-and-coming acts to enjoy the moments they have, because "tomorrow is another dream."[17]

        8.    Spiral Architect


            As the album's closer, "Spiral Architect" manages to encapsulate all the lyrical themes of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath while simultaneously presenting the best individual idea on the record. Written by Geezer in one of his more "contemplative" states, this tune explores how both experiences and genetics play a role in "creating an individual," which is perhaps one of the most unique lyrical concepts I've ever encountered.[18] He loads the song with heavy images, implying the many experiences, beautiful and horrifying, that come together to shape the human. His wording is virtually flawless, even down to his diction choices, such as the immediate juxtaposition of a "child of god sitting in the sun" with the image of a weeping father. And just as his speaker sees the culmination of these things and "know[s] that they are good," so too does "Spiral Architect" wrap up the metaphysical journey that is Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.[19]
            “Spiral Architect” certainly has the feel of an introspective "epic," and similar to the lyrics, Black Sabbath spares nothing in the instrumental sound of their concluding salvo. Iommi's meditative guitar intro quickly leads way into an all-out frenzy of hard-rocking guitars and thundering drums, while Ozzy's mourning yet spritely vocal flits in and out of the listener's ears. The energy the band captures in this tune is inspiring and powerful in itself, yet they take it one step further with the addition of a string section,  conducted by a mad and miming Ozzy Osbourne.[20] The addition of an orchestra into Black Sabbath's overdriven metal blends two distinct if not opposing styles of music, shaping "Spiral Architect" into a fitting finale for an ambitious record.


            When dissected from a lyrical perspective, listening to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is like peeking into the personal diary of the band as these four musicians attempt to determine their place and purpose in the world. Both “A National Acrobat” and “Spiral Architect” delve into the notions of what shapes a human into a person from both a physical and psychological sense, giving equal voice to the effects fate and experience have in carving an individual. Similarly, “Looking for Today” and “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” analyze existence from an artistic standpoint, a map of the struggles of maintaining a creative identity in the face of opposition, especially when the very forces that should be pushing you to succeed are in fact trying to stifle you. Finally, "Killing Yourself to Live” self-consciously acknowledges the struggles of coping with the life of a rock star, admitting openly to the self-destructive tendencies that provide such a simple escape.
            With these themes in mind, it becomes apparent that Sabbath Bloody Sabbath must be a very important record for Black Sabbath, having been written at a time when they thought they “were finished as a band.” Between non-stop touring and profuse “drug use and hard partying,”[21] Black Sabbath felt “absolutely, completely exhausted,” resulting in a harrying period of writer’s block that seemed interminable.[22] Simultaneously, mounting tensions between the band and its management as well as brooding resentment among the members themselves further dammed the creative flow and threatened to halt Black Sabbath’s dwindling momentum entirely.[23] It was only until they relocated back to England and began practicing in Clearwell Castle that the ideas began to flow again, and as one spin of this record will tell you, those ideas would leave a huge impact both in the world of metal and on the lives of fans, myself included.
            Because of how heavy the situation was for Black Sabbath as they entered into the studio to record their fifth LP, the resulting music is an honest and truthful reaction to their world at that time. In trying to break the molds of their past endeavors and all the baggage that followed, they innovated with new instruments and composition styles that elevated their sound to levels previously unexplored. In coming face-to-face with the true struggles, internal and external, of being a musician, the lyrics on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath blatantly assess the situations of drug abuse, bad management, and general exhaustion, and attempt to pull a light from the darkness by confronting it openly. As Geezer puts it, “people feel evil things, but nobody ever sings about what’s frightening and evil” even though “the world is a right fucking shambles,”[24] but with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Black Sabbath gives voice and presence to the evil in their lives in a fight to conquer it wholly.
            Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is a record of growth, an attempt for these four musicians to find out what it means to be both an individual person and a member of Black Sabbath. It is a journal of their journey through an important period in their history, and has since impacted the lives of countless fans. It entered my father’s life just as he began high school, and thus was one of the whetstones that sharpened him into the unique man he is today. Similarly, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath has been an integral piece of my soundtrack, a presence as constant in my life as the sun, and almost certainly my stands as introduction into rock music. The pure honesty and wholesome darkness that drips from this disc has followed me through almost all of my life experiences thus far, and continues to shine as one of my strongest draws for inspiration in my creative endeavors. And just as my father passed it onto me, so now I attempt to pass it onto you: give Sabbath Bloody Sabbath a spin, and don’t be surprised if what you take from it far outweighs the half hour you gave.