I have wanted to do this for a very, very long time now. The trouble with doing a Where to Start With... is choosing a band or artist that's suitable. You want to pick a subject with enough albums, but you also want one that's varied enough in their work to provide levels of recommendation.
Lots of people come to me for music recommendations and this is as good a method as any to distribute my opinions. People who ask me for new bands to listen to can come here, check these kinds of posts, and go about their business.
I was going to choose an artist extremely dear to my heart, but I figured I'd save that for a specific day in February. So, welcome to my very first post of this kind. I hope you enjoy it, I suppose.
The band I've chosen are still relatively unsung, they probably always will be. They're also one of the best.
Cave In
Cave In, for all intents and purposes, are an alternative rock band with metal influences, some might say alternative metal. I don't do the whole anally labelling of genres thing. Only a few tags were, are and will ever be needed, so deal with it.
Their music ranges from soaring and intricate rock melodies, packed with sharp and glistening tunefulness, to metal straight from the bowels of Boston's harder music scenes. Sometimes Cave In mix the two, sometimes they couldn't be more separate, but either way they do what they do amazingly well. Additionally, Stephen Brodsky is one of the most imaginative lyricists I have read (One of the few lyricists I ever pay attention to) and Cave In are one of the few bands who've never had a shit song title, haha. Seriously, they're all good.
In these posts I will be recommending albums in the following catagories:
- The Avoidable.
- The Wildcard.
- The Good.
- The Best of the Rest.
- The Essential.
Do I amaze you?
Anyway, now I've given you the low-down on their sound and stuff, let's get to what you wanna hear.
Creative Eclipses by Cave In.
The Avoidable.
This is actually an EP, not an album, but nevertheless I feel it deserves this spot. It's not bad, by any means. The issue I have is that you shouldn't check it out unless you are already acquainted with Cave In. It contains five songs, only one of which is really any good and that's the opener, Luminance (When I say it's good, I mean it's amazing). Luminance is a spacey, explosive epic, it's a precursor to what Cave In would become, but the rest is just a cover and some filler songs. Fine, if you want to have heard everything by Cave In, but not an area or investment for new fans. It IS important, though, as this CD is the release that saw Cave In hint to something much greater which I will touch on later.
Tides of Tomorrow by Cave In.
The Wildcard.
A wildcard in the sense that it had many fans, but a few detractors, Tides of Tomorrow is yet ANOTHER EP that bridges a gap between albums. Just prior to signing their first major label deal, this is what Cave In produced as a stop-gap between their life as independent champions and a life as proposed mainstream breakthrough artists.
It very much focuses on Cave In's style at the time of its release. Coming out in 2002, this was the second of their efforts that truly heralded their adventures into more varied music.
It has a fair amount of potential, containing such strong tracks as Come into Your Own and The Callus, whilst also boasting the unforgettably powerful rock gem that is Dark Driving. Whether or not you'll like this is totally up in the air, hence calling it the wildcard. If you're not a fan of Cave In's more melodic style, this won't work for you. If you are, you'll probably like it...but you still may not. As good as some of these tracks are, it feels...sterile. It feels ever so slightly edged onto the side of melodic anonymity as opposed to melody that stands out from the crowd. I suppose whether or not you like it depends on whether or not you like this specific set of songs; that's what it'll most likely come down to.
It's worth checking out if you're fond of their work, and while it's not an impossible jumping-on point, it's not necessarily the best one.
Perfect Pitch Black by Cave In.
The Good.
Released in 2005, Perfect Pitch Black was a fairly awaited release due to the album that preceeded it (More or that NEXT).
Eyebrows were raised when it was stated that they had compiled this album through new-old-songs. Songs that had existed for a while and had been played live at shows, but never truly released. Cave In reworked them for this release and, back on their old label, they presented it as a combination of their past metal work and their more current progressive style.
That's quite literally what it is, and in a very good way. It isn't just an album full of melodic song/heavy song/melodic song structure, it actually incorporates both into many of the tracks. The World Is in Your Way is a perfect semi-opener, combining the bombastic rock immensity of Cave In's best progressive style with scorchingly excellent heavy guitar parts and accented heavy vocals by bassist Caleb Scofield (Taking over from lead vocalist Stephen Brodsky, who opted to protect his voice).
Down the Drain is a thoughtfully meditative number containing some muffled and distorted guitar strumming and well timed drum patterns. Trepanning is an all out hard rock stomper with decidedly heavy vocals, again, courtesy of the monstrous Caleb Scofield.
It's a very good effort, but it doesn't show Cave In at their best on either side of the fence. If you want their best metal work, you should be checking out Until Your Heart Stops, not this. This album just shows how well they can do both, but it doesn't show how amazingly they can do one or the other.
Antenna by Cave In.
The Best of the Rest.
Curiously, Cave In don't play much of this album's material live. They simply do not like it, it seems. Whether or not this is because it reminds them of a more unsettling time in the band's history (Their first major label album, and with it, major label politics dealings) or because they just don't like it, is a mystery.
What IS clear is that, to me, it's a testament to their ability as a band. Packed full of outrageously memorable, tuneful and grandiose rock efforts, Antenna is an album that everyone should be checking out if they're into rock music. I actually think it's like their OK Computer; the album that would have had the best mainstream appeal, contained amazing music, but still wasn't their greatest.
Stained Silver is an opener that lets you know a bit of what you can expect with it's loud guitars and accellerated alternative rock riffing. Anchor - made into the band's only true music video to date I believe - is an eternal highlight for me. From the opening riff that extends throughout the song, to the ethereal bridge and back to the tongue-in-cheek lyrics...it's excellent. It's not all stomping rock effort, though. Sea Frost is a nine minute opus that sways back and forth with heavenly blanketed melody and chill, whilst Youth Overrided's odd tempoed rhythms coupled with its astounding chorus provide enough variety for it to keep you interested.
Woodwork, personally, is an underrated masterpiece of a song. That's just me and most fans seem to hate it. Oh well.
If you're gonna check out Cave In, I would say that this is MAYBE the best jumping-on point. A rock masterpiece.
Jupiter by Cave In.
The Essential.
Easily...EASILY one of the absolute best albums of all time, Jupiter is the group's undisputed masterpiece to me. Coming second in 2000's album of the year race to Kid A, barely (Imagine that, BARELY missing out to Kid A), Jupiter is an album that is an exception to the rule.
When a band, famous for being very heavy, turns its eyes toward more melodic leanings, the fans usually tend to scream for justice and beg them not to do it. If it's done for the sake of it, it can indeed be a bad move, and fans usually don't have a clue what'll work anyway. Cave In, however, did NOT have that issue. As soon as their fans heard Jupiter, it was only the staunchest, most idiotic of fans that accused them of anything negative.
From the masterful and geniusly creative ensemble instrumental work of Brodsky, McGrath, Connors and Scofield to the creativity of songwriting that Brodsky provides, everything about this album is as close to perfect as I can imagine. It's a version of perfect, to my ears.
On Jupiter (Title song), the band shows such ambitious and unparalled understanding of rock music that it manages to combine the sound of stadium-filling majesty with cultish, esoteric alternative sensibilities and WORK AMAZINGLY. A chorus unlike anything I'd felt in a long time and imagery beyond most frontmen's ability, these are traits that permeate and soak the entire album.
In the Stream of Commerce will forever rank as one of my favourite songs of all time, showcasing Brodsky's ability to shift from Grohl-esque rock adrenaline to swooping, operatic falsetto. Brain Candle is a song that could cheer up anyone's day with it's 100mph melodic guitar onslaught, and Big Riff has a solo that deserves to be etched in stone in the pantheon of all great guitar solos. As with all great albums, you need a memorable closer, right? New Moon is JUST that, a pounding epic with ferociously passionate vocals and drum work, coupled with echoey guitar blasts (I know, the name reminds me of the franchise we shall not speak of, too. Just try to ignore it).
From songs that come at you unashamedly, to songs that are secretly deceiving, Jupiter is a masterpiece in every single aspect that it tries its luck at...minus the luck. On this album Cave In put the music world's posers and shitkickers to shame with one wave of their collective hand. A portrait of a band going dangerously fast, like a raging river. Not in hopes of stopping a final location, but in fear of ever stopping at all.
It's almost depressing, really. People listen to the likes of Lady Gaga and consider her ahead of the curve, creative and innovative. If only people had the presence of mind to listen to the likes of Jupiter. An album 10 years old containing such unfathomable genius that it probably won't be matched or surpassed by most bands for another 10 or 20 years.
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I hope you enjoyed that post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Seriously check these guys out and you won't regret it, I promise.
Cave In released their most recent and phenomenal work last year as the online/vinyl only EP, Planets of Old. You can find it on the U.S. iTunes store and streaming at this location. It's due for CD release this month, so if you feel so inclined, go pick that up. It's amazing, especially Cayman's Tongue. What a song that is.
That's all I have for you guys right now, unfortunately. Again, thank you so much for reading and keep your eyes fixed to this page for my epic Daredevil post, coming on Tuesday!
Until then, peace.
-The Mast
