Benjamin Burnley Appreciation Thread
This dude, after seeing him about 3 weeks ago, has burrowed into my heart and soul. I recently purchased all 3 of Breaking Benjamin's albums and JT can attest to their quality. I know alot of the pretentious music lovers here (you now who you are) will call them novices or what have you but these guys are really good.
A text message from a chick who had heard them in my car when JT and I went to Destin inquiring about their identity is what led me to make this thread.
From wikipedia...
[QUOTE] The band never travels outside of the U.S. and Canada due to Ben Burnley's fear of flying (though he said he would love to play outside the States and will go as far as a boat will take him). [/QUOTE]
How could you not love this dude?!?!?!
One of my faves, a beautiful song entitled 'Rain'
[I]Take a photograph,
It'll be the last,
Not a dollar or a crowd could ever keep me here,
I don't have a past
I just have a chance,
Not a family or honest plea remains to say,
Rain rain go away,
Come again another day,
All the world is waiting for the sun.
Is it you I want,
Or just the notion
Of a heart to wrap around so I can find my way around
Safe to say from here,
You're getting closer now,
We are never sad cause we are not allowed to be
Rain rain go away,
Come again another day,
All the world is waiting for the sun.
Rain rain go away,
Come again another day,
All the world is waiting for the sun.
To lie here under you,
Is all that I could ever do,
To lie here under you is all,
To lie here under you is all that i could ever do,
To lie here under you is all,
Rain rain go away,
Come again another day,
All the world is waiting for the sun.[/I]
And the video for the acoustic performance...
[youtube]pPzQMhnXD38[/youtube]
An acoustic performance of "So Cold" from a few years back...
[youtube]NjUZRIEWTH8[/youtube]
A couple of their splendid videos...
[B]Breathe[/B]
[youtube]qQ3qJmgktS0[/youtube]
[B]Diary of Jane[/B]
[youtube]iTafQnXY5vY[/youtube]
[url]http://www.myspace.com/breakingbenjamin[/url]
I highly suggest giving them a listen. Thanks!!
We've had this discussion. I thoroghly enjoyed it. I wish I could find our posts from way back.
Thanks for your sympathy reply Phil.
[SIZE=1](give Phobia another couple of spins)[/SIZE]
My speakers arent working right now but i'm going to listen to them.
To be continued...
I didn't realize I knew who they were until I played the "so cold" video, then I remembered that I don't really like them. But I listened to "until the end" on their myspace. I like that song, he has a great voice.
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
Play the "Rain" video.
Cleanup afterwards.
I'll follow you, you follow me.
thanks for sharing.blackhawk tactical pants.
— Spambot
"I could have done worse!" exultantly cried the murderer Lebret, sentenced at Rouen to hard labor for life. — Félix Fénéon
That song 'Rain', i heard it on the radio one night and i waited until it was done to find out who it was and of course the fuckers never told me. Thanks for solving that mystery. Breathe too. i guess i've been a fan without even realizing it. Cool shit.
Can't not love em.
Check out this beautiful acoustic randition of 'Diary of Jane', which rivals the original ....
[youtube]c7vYBAThNeI[/youtube]
How about this acoustic version of 'Sooner or Later' (which pales in comparison to the original, pay no attention to the video. watch with your ears)?
[youtube]Nc5a7NtdLsY[/youtube]
A much better acoustic version of 'So Cold'...
[youtube]i-ZZNslJpus[/youtube]
I guess my point is when a band has the balls to play their songs acoustic, it shows how confident they are in the quality of them.
Damn... somehow I missed out on the acoustic version of So Cold... I love their acoustic shit so much more... Damn damn damn...
I love your heart.
holy fuckin' shit! When did you make my quote your sig??? I feel like a celebrity-by-association now!
You should.
It was my priviledge.
Ther's that discussion I was talking about from a few months back. After rereading it, I still disagree. "Saturate" was a great album, but I think it was a little gritty. He hadn't quite found his style. I never knew that "Polyamorous" was their first single off of the album, as I never heard it on the radio, and I knew little of the band at the time. It's definitely one of my favorites.
I don't think that "Simple Design" is one of the best written songs. The pre-chorus, for instance:
[I]You must be out of your mind!
This was a simple design!
You fuck it up everytime
How could you leave me behind[/I]
is pretty generic in my opinion, and I know what they are capable of. The chorus isn't much better:
[I]It's alright, it's alright
'cause I know what you want
but you'll just have to wait
If I had it to give
I would give it away
I'm living it up
while I'm falling from grace
There's no way, there's no way that I'm running away[/I]
But this is the highlight of the song. The reason for this? It's the melody. It's all the melody. These guy are genious at the creation of their melodys. Their lyricism respectfully takes a back seat to the the much more powerful melodies. The third line of "Rain" is one of my favorite melodies ever.
[I]Take a photograph
It'll be the last
[B]Not a dollar or a crowd could ever keep me here[/B].[/I]
I think that what has changed over the course of their three albums is that their songwriting has made drastic improvements. I think that his, combined with the inspirational overtune of the album, is what has made it my preferred.
When JT came down, he preferred "Saturate" to "We Are Not Alone" and "Phobia". Somehow I think this has to do with the whoie "I like their old shit better before they became popular. I was the fist dude to ever listen to them. I heard their music before they did" attitude that alot of people around here have.
[QUOTE]Originally Posted by xec8
See, I'm a big fan of Breaking Benjamin. Again, they've become infatuated with the style that brought them mainstream recognition, which caused them to compromise what had given them a cult following in the first place.
You listen to shit like "So Cold," "The Diary of Jane" and "Sooner or Later" and you get a poor impression of Breaking Benjamin, which is a pity because when they want to rock, they're able to. Songs from their first album, like "Medicate," are awsome when played out loud. That album needs to grow on you. It's not instantly enjoyable. Its melodies were far rawer and less defined than on their newest album. In fact, the album feels charmingly naive, which is what gives it most of its appeal.
One of their best tracks, "Simple Design," took a long time to become one of my favourite songs. It just didn't seem memorable at the time, but blasting that shit out loud, no matter how "commercial" it sounds, is thrilling.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Thanks dude. I really didn't want to type all of that out. So you just went in my head and borrowed it. Neat! Skin is one of my favorite BB songs. The acoustic/piano version of Diary is a work of art. It's fuuny though. I think that they've progressed over the years, musically speaking. Saturate was great, then they matured as artists. What you (and so many others) see as conforming to the mainstream kind of music that will get them airplay, I see as growing with experience. The airplay comes because the music is better. The more popular someone gets, the more Culties call them sellouts and think that they should stick with what they started with. That's not always a comedian/band/actors' goal. They want to reinvent themselves, they want to try new things. They grow, they change, they mature. Their music/acts reflect this. 311 started out singing about "Who's got the Herb" and hangin at the beach and tripping on acid. 15 years later and they sing about love songs and the struggles to make relationships work. That doesn't make them sellouts, that makes them 15 years older. Then again, I usually agree with just about every opinion you have so I may be wrong.
I'm pretty sure there's a valid point in there somewhere.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Well, my problem isn't that they've "sold out", because I don't think that's ever a strong argument. I love a few tracks from each of their albums with more or less equal intensity. My problem is that the songs they've been releasing as singles are some of their most flawed. They should have released "Follow" as a single instead of "Sooner or Later." It's so much better, and much poppier, too.
They have matured as artists indeed, but their songs are starting to lose the magic that they used to have. There are exceptions: I love "Topless" on the new album even though it's one of their oldest songs. You listen to old versions of it and you can see how much better they've become. Still there's shit like "Here We Are" and "You Fight Me" that shouldn't have been recorded.[/QUOTE]
I've been a fan since their first album came out. I remember eagerly waiting the second one, then forgetting about it, then suddenly seeing it for sale and being really psyched. The third one I don't like as much.
thanks for sharing.blackhawk tactical pants.
— Spambot
"I could have done worse!" exultantly cried the murderer Lebret, sentenced at Rouen to hard labor for life. — Félix Fénéon