Broken Lines
| Broken Lines | |
|---|---|
| Studio album by Giraffe Tongue Orchestra | |
|
Publication |
23rd September 2016 |
| Label (s) | Party Smasher Inc. |
|
Title (number) |
10 |
|
running time |
40 min 22 s |
| occupation |
|
|
Giraffe Tongue Orchestra & Steve Evetts |
|
Broken Lines is the first studio album by the US hard rock band Giraffe Tongue Orchestra . The album was released on September 23, 2016 via Party Smasher Inc.
Emergence
The guitarists Ben Weinman ( The Dillinger Escape Plan ) and Brent Hinds ( Mastodon ) had been working together since 2011, writing music and the musicians decided in early 2015 to record an album. Together with bassist Eric Avery ( Jane's Addiction ) and drummer Jon Theodore ( The Mars Volta ), the recording began in early 2015. Avery and Theodore left the band in March 2015, with Theodore no longer having time for Giraffe Tongue Orchestra because of his engagement with the band Queens of the Stone Age . They were replaced by Pete Griffin ( Dethklok ) and Thomas Pridgen (The Mars Volta).
In the beginning the band didn't have a permanent singer. At first the musicians wanted to work with William DuVall ( Alice in Chains ), but he had to cancel due to lack of time. Then Giraffe Tongue Orchestra worked temporarily with the actress Juliette Lewis . The recordings took place in several different stages. Hinds and Weinman sometimes recorded instrumental versions of the songs on the tour bus during a joint tour. Eventually, William DuVall joined the band as the singer and was introduced as a permanent member in February 2016. For the lyrics, DuVall had to throw his previous way of working overboard due to the complex music.
“I liked the challenge. It was sometimes difficult for me to find suitable vocals. Often a strange had clock and the meter are brought to a common denominator. The rules of hard rock don't work there. "
DuVall had the greatest difficulty with the song Blood Moon , to which he found no introduction for a long time. Finally he filled up his car and drove around for an hour to find a suitable text idea. He compared writing the lyrics to writing a film because of the many mood swings within the individual songs. The album was produced by the band and Steve Evetts. As a guest musician, Jon Theodore is the drummer on two songs and Juliette Lewis, who contributed background vocals to the song Back to the Light . For the songs Crucifixion and Bloodmoon were music videos rotated.
background
| Track list | |
|---|---|
|
|
The lyrics on Broken Lines , according to William DuVall, reflect the current political climate in the United States , which is of great concern to him. He refers in particular to the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump , who, according to DuVall, would "leave behind a seed of bad thoughts" even if Trump were to lose the election. Racism would be "back on the agenda" and Trump would put millions of frustrated people behind him.
The music video for the song Crucifixion features many historical images, including those of executions . According to DuVall, the basic message of the video is that people can do bad things to other people if you let them. He continues to refer to social radicalization that can be observed in many countries.
“With my voice I want to say: defend yourself from the beginning, otherwise it won't go well. The past proves it. "
Donald Trump is also assimilated to Adolf Hitler in the video . The inspiration for the song Blood Moon came from William DuVall at a gas station , where he saw a young couple hugging . The basic theme of the album is the hope and the realization that a person sees his own strength, even when the circumstances are overwhelming.
reception
|
Chart positions Explanation of the data |
||||||||||||
| Albums | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
According to Matthias Weckmann from the German magazine Metal Hammer , Giraffe Tongue Orchestra would "leave the competition of the superstar bands far behind". The “stylistic confusion would be the great thing” about the debut, because “the madness has method, but is brought into line by the singer William DuVall with his fabulous singing”. The album offers "listening fun, creative explosions and unconventional songwriting" and was rated six out of seven points by Weckmann. Ronny Bittner praised the "colorful variety of styles". Singer William DuVall could "play all his trump cards here, while with his main band Alice in Chains he often had to back off behind Jerry Cantrell ". Broken Lines would be "a strong album that impressively proves that rock music can still be innovative and relevant today". Bittner awarded 8.5 out of ten points. For Toby Schaper from the German magazine Visions, "Pop and madness are in balance". Singer William DuVall would “keep the instrumental madness in check at all times with comprehensible vocal lines”. The music would “work both as astonishing instrumental teaching pieces and as a refrain-origined alternative rock for large halls”. Schaper rated Broken Lines with eight out of twelve points.
The album entered the Swiss album charts at number 89.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ryan Reed: Meet Alice in Chains, Mastodon Members' Wild Prog-Metal Supergroup. Rolling Stone , accessed October 5, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c d e Martin Ioanidis: Kisses with tongue . In: Visions , issue 283, page 38
- ↑ Lux in tenebris. JCCLM, accessed September 14, 2017 .
- ↑ Giraffe Tongue Orchestra. Hung Medien, accessed December 1, 2016 .
- ^ Matthias Weckmann: Giraffe Tongue Orchestra - Broken Lines . In: Metal Hammer , October 2016, page 85
- ^ Ronny Bittner: Giraffe Tongue Orchestra - Broken Lines . In: Rock Hard , October 2016, page 107
- ↑ Toby Schaper: Giraffe Tongue Orchestra - Broken Lines . In: Visions , issue 283, page 38
Web links
- Broken Lines at Allmusic (English)