Tag Archives: back

#948: Sum 41 – Nothing on My Back

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Here’s another fill of early-2000s pop-punk for ya. ‘Nothing on My Back’ is the first real track on Sum 41’s 2001 debut, All Killer No Filler. The combination of this track and the jokey faux-heavy metal speech ‘Introduction to Destruction’ delivered by drummer Steve Jocz properly introduced listeners to the band’s world. That is of course if they had gone blindly into it and somehow not heard ‘Fat Lip’ being played everywhere before the album’s release date.

And it kicks off with a riff in 7/4 time. I’ve always thought that was an interesting move. I didn’t get to listening to the album in full until about 2010, when I thought about downloading other LPs that weren’t in my own personal collection of CDs. Standard pop-punk it might be, but that opening riff at least differentiated a bit from other bands I knew like Blink-182 or Green Day. Can’t think off the top of my head of any of their songs which mess around with timing a bit.
The riff ends, going into this tom-tom heavy breakdown, before transitioning into the first verse in which the song’s theme is sort of established: Feeling low and sad when there’s nothing to really be sad about. It becomes a lot clearer in the choruses. With nothing on the narrator’s back, there’s still something out there that brings them down. I’ve always appreciated how the second verse took on a completely different melody from the first. Usually you’d just repeat the first verse melody, very sure that’s how it goes most of the time. Just another small thing that’s got my attention over time.

I think the big highlight of the whole track is the instrumental breakdown that occurs after the second chorus is over. Steve Jocz pounds on the tom-toms accompanied by Cone McCaslin’s bass, the guitars join in, forcing out these strident chords and ringing harmonics alongside every heavy thrash of the cymbals. And it’s not until Deryck Whibley starts singing again that you realise that the song’s key has changed entirely and gone up a few notches. It changes right when the breakdown begins, but it’s so subtle that it doesn’t come off as those typical cheesy key changes. With Whibley now singing the chorus with a more intense delivery, the whole musical aspect brings a thrilling conclusion to what’s been a fantastic opening to the album so far. Just when you think the guitars will fade out, they fade in again and abruptly end to give way to following track ‘Never Wake Up’ – a hyper sub-minute song that I’ve written about before. Judging by the album’s first three songs, its title wasn’t something to laugh off.

#903: Fleetwood Mac – Never Going Back Again

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I’ve had Rumours in my library since about 2013. Until about last year, maybe even earlier this year, I always thought of ‘Never Going Back Again’ as that nice little acoustic ditty near the start of the album that didn’t amount to much. Just kept the flow of the album moving, you know? But that all changed when I came across a video of Lindsey Buckingham performing the track live at the University of Southern California. I’ll embed the video below, it’s a stunning take. Honestly, I probably prefer that version of the song over what appears on the album. It’s the same song all in all. But through it, I gained a new appreciation.

Like the other Buckingham-penned numbers on Rumours, it’s most likely about Stevie Nicks in some way. But really, the main message Buckingham’s putting out there is he’s been put into these uncomfortable situations in relationships. Been messed around, tossed aside, all those cliché things. He’s been let down and dumped two times (probably more, but that’s how the song goes), and he’s determined not to be put into that position again. Not for a while at least. All this is sung to some very delicate and intricate finger-picking from Buckingham. It’s a style of playing that, judging from the video below, looks very difficult to master. There are plenty of comments online that state the pain and cramps they’ve suffered just trying to get the guitar work right.

In the video below, Buckingham plays the track at a slower tempo and a lower key. Looking at other live takes, that seems to be the way he does it when he’s on the road. Like I said earlier, I may even prefer it that way. It lets the notes ring out for a little longer. But even in the video below, he’s hunched over the guitar fretboard and I want to say is probably concentrating on not trying to mess it up. So I think it’s a testament to his playing that he just does goes through it like it’s nothing on the album. Although I would take a guess that it took a ton of practice.

#573: GZA – I Gotcha Back

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For the majority of my second year in university I was on a real high for the Wu-Tang Clan. I listened to 36 Chambers for I think the second time ever in my life – if you haven’t heard it whilst reading this you probably should because it’s one of the best hip-hop releases of all time, get on it now – appreciated it for what it was, listened to ‘Method Man’ a bunch of times, watched its music video and then proceeded to fall down a rabbit hole that had appeared in the ground.

The nine original members of the Clan all had their own individual styles, something that they very much made clear on 36 Chambers and various interviews they carried out for the album’s promotion. To me it was clear that they all shared a mutual respect for GZA. He’s the oldest in the group, he had released his own solo album before they released their debut, the other members seemed to keep quiet whenever he said his bit in interviews. But there was nowhere else where he showed his wisdom more than in his rapping. He has a flair for incredible uses of metaphor, wordplay and smooth flow in his delivery. He also has a thing for science, the constellations and chess which usually appears in his lyrics too.

So where to begin if you want to get what GZA is all about? Probably Liquid Swords, his second studio album released in 1995. It’s a classic, and part of that run from ’93-’96 where whatever the RZA laid his producing hands upon turned to gold. It’s also the album where today’s track ‘I Gotcha Back’ can be heard as the penultimate song on its tracklisting. GZA – with RZA backing him up throughout – details the violent lifestyle of inner city youth in ’90s Brooklyn, from kids dealing drugs to make some dough to those being killed by stray bullets when trying to make their way home. It’s a grimy production with a strong kick drum and descending minor key piano key that is juxtaposed with air-raid siren-like horns throughout GZA’s verse, creating an anxious and intense atmosphere that very much matches its lyrical content. The track is a warning, sounds like one too. Watch out for what and who’s in front of you; one misstep and you’re in a bad situation.

In terms of the structure of Liquid Swords, ‘I Gotcha Back’ is meant to be the true closer. Whilst showcasing GZA at his strongest in one sole verse, the album is bookended by two tracks with GZA and RZA both sharing vocal duties. However the CD version closes out with ‘B.I.B.L.E (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)‘, a track written and performed by Wu-Tang affiliate Killah Priest. That one’s a lot more hopeful in its outlook.

Below is the video for ‘I Gotcha Back’ which contains less explicit lyrics. Didn’t know this version existed until now. Have to say it doesn’t hit as hard.

My iPod #409: The Beatles – Get Back

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A track about two fictional characters who have initial thoughts about themselves which are actually not true, “Get Back” is a solid track grounded by a firm bass which plays one note for the majority of the track and pounding drums. Its sound too is also enhanced by the fancy finger-work on the keyboard provided by Billy Preston, adding a soulful flavour to the steady rock beat.

The first time I actually ever heard the track was when Paul McCartney played it in a concert at the Royal Albert Hall for Children in Need in 2009. I was not there. Was just on the television. But as you may or may not have read already that year was when I suddenly started listening to anything The Beatles had ever created, so what better chance was there than to see one of the main songwriters performing the songs himself?

Judging by the number of people singing along to the words and clapping in unison with complete joy on their face, it looked like “Get Back” had been quite the popular track. But funnily enough, I’d forgotten how the track actually went until I watched the “Let It Be” film a few weeks later. Silly, silly me.

What was meant to be the song to signal The Beatles’ return to their rock and roll roots without the fancy production and lavish instrumentation they had used in the preceding years turned out to be the band’s swansong, the last track on the group’s final album “Let It Be” from 1970. Even if “The End” was meant to be the true last track of the band’s work, I am content with “Get Back” taking its place as that role. It might not be as extravagant as that song, but it does bring a sense of closure in its own way.

My iPod #294: Oasis – Don’t Look Back in Anger

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I don’t even like Oasis that much. I am, however, looking forward to the “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” reissue that should be coming out later this year. “Definitely Maybe” isn’t my thing. I’ve never listened to “Morning Glory” before; I’ve never been a great a fan of Oasis to actually buy it or even download it without paying, but I know that it contains some of Oasis’ best songs and the reissue will probably include the great B-Sides that were recorded during the making of the album. I’m sure it will be worth the wait.

“Don’t Look Back in Anger” is a song from “Morning Glory”. It was released as the album’s fifth single, the band’s first to have Noel Gallagher on lead vocals, and got to number one in the charts.

Nothing much else I can say. Well, there’s nothing much I can be bothered to say. Whatever I would say has most likely been said before. The song’s good. You’ve all heard it before. It’s only like…. one of the biggest anthems out of Britain from the nineties.

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