| Frogstomp | 1995 |
| Freak Show | 1997 |
| Neon Ballroom | 1999 |
| Diorama | 2002 |
Breaking through to the mainstream when Seattle grunge was prominent, the Australian band Silverchair were still in their teens when recording their debut album Frogstomp, and these guys were never a critical favorite from day one, always facing accusations of being faceless Nirvana and Pearl Jam clones. While it's true this band is hardly a posterchild for originality, and too much of their material has a bit too much of a 'middle of the road' quality to it (even when they're at their more ambitious), songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Daniel Johns is at least capable of writing his fare share catchy melodies and riffs, and their music really did get more adventurous and interesting when they fell out of the public eye more and more, drawing upon more influences including Pet Sounds and Jeff Buckley to name a couple, with good enough quality to ensure (in my eyes at least) that the 'Chair really deserve more respect than they actually get.
Eh... there's really not much more of an intro I can write for these guys (who also include bassist Chris Joannou - an indistinctive player who's usually barely noticeable, a quality that way too many bass players in modern rock seem to have - and drummer Ben Gillies - an indistinctive player who at least contributes a bit to the songwriting), but I will say that Daniel has a really interesting sounding vocal tone, and that you should at least hear Diorama before totally writing this band off, to name a couple completely random observations.
--Nick Karn
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Pure Massacre, Tomorrow. LOW POINTS: Cicada, Undecided.
You've probably heard the story (at least if you remember alternative rock in 1995) of three Australian teens who won a songwriting contest and a chance to record their winning song, "Tomorrow", in the studio. That single quickly hit number 1 in their home country and found significant success in the States, and the band then recorded their debut album, Frogstomp, in a week. The album shows promise, especially in its' singles, although the sound isn't too original - it's not so much Nirvana and Pearl Jam as many think, but more along the lines of Soundgarden, Helmet, Tool and Black Sabbath, all of them key influences mentioned by vocalist/guitarist Daniel Johns that can be heard on this record. They do incorporate these influences decently, and several melodies are of good enough quality that this doesn't really deserve the abominable thrashing that it got from some critics at the time, though there's undeniably a lot of generic material and immaturity to be found here.
Still, I can't deny the album starts out really strongly. The opener "Israel's Son" is a good slice of pure bottom-heavy brutality on account of that bassline and sheer violence in the lyrics, building up convincingly to a fast climax that shows us that, hey, Daniel Johns is pretty good at deafening screams! Plus, the aforementioned "Tomorrow" is a textbook example of how to write a solid, memorable quiet-to-loud grunge pop song, with good hooks all around, plus a particularly noteworthy guitar solo, and some weird indecipherable lyrics to go along with that vocal tone. Later on, we get the best of the three singles and my personal favorite, the energetic fist pumping anti-violence anthem "Pure Massacre", which has the most memorable guitar riff on here that you can almost kinda dance to, and it's hard to get the chanting 'pure massacre! pure massacre!' chorus out of your head, simple as it is, but maybe that's why it's so effective!
The rest of the album isn't impressive as those three songs, but there are some other good moments, too. "Suicidal Dream" is a despairing self-explanatory ballad that may have cliched angst lyrics exactly like you'd expect a 15 year old to write (and I swear that guitar line sounds familiar), but for what it is, it works. The instrumental "Madman", meanwhile, is a decent take on fast and energetic Badmotorfinger-era Soundgarden, and "Findaway" is a fun enough pop/punk type of song to close things off on a good note (it's also preceded by studio laughter amongst the band members - hey, they're having fun recording an album!) Of course, the other five songs drag the rating down, as for the most part "Faultline" and "Undecided" are the faceless, generic kind of stuff that no one but grunge fanatics need to hear more than once, "Cicada" tries to be epic but ultimately bores, and the "Sweet Leaf" riff is recycled for not one, but two songs ("Shade", "Leave Me Out"). Still, those singles hold up some 8 years (damn!) after I first heard the album, and correctly point to better things later.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: The Door, No Association. LOW POINTS: Roses.
Silverchair attempt to expand their vision a little here, with more successful results. Unfortunately, like so many middle of the road 'one hit/album wonder' grunge/alternative rock bands, this was also the beginning of their decline into commercial anonymity, but that doesn't make the album less good - a lot of Freak Show may still be typical grunge stuff, but even those have consistently better hooks and riffs than the non-singles on Frogstomp, and there's forays into Eastern music ("Petrol And Chlorine" is particularly moody in an almost uneasy psychedelic way due to its' instrumental textures and the odd way of vocalizing) and experimental touches like backwards basslines (this gives "No Association" a haunting menace in its' introduction that makes the Tool-esque bite and pound of it crush the listener all that much more - definitely one of the more intense songs in the band's catalog) and orchestral embellishments here and there.
The hit singles this time were "Abuse Me", another typical angst anthem lyrically, but there's a fascinating contrast between that somber mood in the verses to the bludgeoning heaviness of the chorus, probably because that chorus is 'throw the sailors oveboard' repeated over and over again as if sailors have anything to do with the rest of the lyrics. And it has a backwards guitar solo too! The other single "Freak" is notable for its' baffling opening lines ('no more maybes / baby's got rabies / sitting on a ball / in the middle of the Andes' - ehh??) and good straight-ahead, catchy energy. But this time around, there's more non-single candidates that would be just as appealing as hits, like the more cheerful melodic pop of my personal fave "The Door" (the most memorable song here with its' neat sitar-imitating guitar riff and 'let the door, let the door swing' chorus) and "Pop Song For Us Rejects", which totally masters contrast again - it's all happy and sunny and uplifting in the verses and all pissed off and heavy in the chorus. Sounds cheesy, but it works!
Further going around the album, "Nobody Came" is reasonably successful at building up to an epic climax with its' desperate buildup, "Lie To Me" is a really concise and almost half-assed punk tune, but an entertaining one, the opening "Slave" is generic but convincing aggro rock, and the acoustic/orchestral "Cemetery" was covered in totally random fashion by Good Charlotte several years later, and it is pretty haunting, even if that repetitive chorus ('I live in a cemetry, need a change, not to imitate, but to irritaaaaaate') gets a little annoying after awhile. Overall, yeah, this stuff doesn't really ever rise that much above good or even standard (plus, there's a couple tunes I don't care much for in the plodding "Roses" and the lyrically misheard "Learn To Hate" - no, he's not singing about masturbation), but at least it's progress, which I'd love to see, say, Puddle Of Mudd actually attempt with results as enjoyable as this.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Spawn Again, Emotion Sickness. LOW POINTS: Satin Sheets.
Okay, the Nirvana comparisons were annoying to the band, I'm sure, but this effort at least has a couple songs that would really do Kurt Cobain proud, "Spawn Again", for instance. I can't help it, but I absolutely love the hell out of this one - I have no freaking clue what Daniel's raving about, but it's got an awesome "No Associaton"-esque riff and pummeling grind, and the way he goes absolutely apeshit particularly in the middle ('DEMOLISH THE MONKEYS, DRINK UP DRINK UP, LOOK DOWN ON JUNKIES, blahblahblahYASDSADSADADFDSAFSF' or whatever the fuck he's saying) is worthy of the best moments of In Utero (if not the best song the band's done to this point). "Dearest Helpless" is also a very respectable and poppy yet sonically harsh emulation of that particular Kurt style, and seeing as he'd been dead for around five years at the time, someone had to take his place, right? It's much better than most of the facelessness of Human Clay, after all.
Enough with the Nirvana talk, though, as Neon Ballroom finds Silverchair in transition between branching out into more mellow, textured territory and the more straightforward moments of the preceding albums (the latter of which are illustrated especially in the aforementioned "Spawn Again", as well as the typical bass-heavy rocker "Steam Will Rise" that closes things, and the rather dull punkster "Satin Sheets"). Heck, the opening "Emotion Sickness" is a downright epic ballad with sweeping strings, guitar lines and piano that flourishes and flows dramatically (especially in the middle section and slow, draining ending) with more maturity and power than probably anything they've done thus far, and that makes its' presence right next to the catchy yet lyrically naive and standard "Anthem For The Year 2000" (again with lyrics that are high-school student worthy) seem uneasy. I like the cool backwards guitar textures in there, though.
The main problem with this album, though, is that a lot of this material just ain't very substantial or memorable, regardless of the haunting beauty apparent in a lot of the melodies. No matter how hard I try, tunes like "Point Of View" and "Black Tangled Heart" don't make that much of an impression on my senses after they're over, since they forget to provide the great hooks and effective subtleties that are apparent in the best ambitious pop music (or "Emotion Sickness") - heck, with all their nice guitar and orchestral flourishes, they're nowhere near as catchy as even "Tomorrow"! Pretty and atmospheric, yes, but little more other than what's going on at the surface. Consult the next album to hear them doing this kind of stuff without seeming like the reach is exceeding their grasp. Still, it's better than Frogstomp since it's more accomplished and consistent (and when the anthemic side of them is moving, as on single "Ana's Song (Open Fire)", it's a success), but there's still something about this set of songs that leaves me a bit cold, even if it isn't bad, and it certainly has a fair share of keepers.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Across The Night, The Greatest View, After All These Years. LOW POINTS: None, really.
So now the transition is complete - Silverchair have gone from an insecure, derivative grunge band to.... Broadway show music that sounds more like Pet Sounds than Nevermind (and Van Dyke Parks actually does orchestral arrangements on here)? What prescription drugs have they been taking? Well, at least that's the impression you'll get from the opening track "Across The Night" - this is barely even rock music at all in parts, with flowery layerings of strings, horns, bells, piano and a big bombastic sound, and it's actually pulled off really really well (that chorus is gorgeous - if harmonized by the Wilson brothers, it could have turned even more into a transcendently awesome classic), plus that should be out-of-place random piano section the song veers into during the second half even works. Of course, I'm not sure how many old fans have actually heard this song, as the band didn't seem to be at a very high profile at this point (though several reviews I've read of this have been positive), but compare this to the more generic stuff on Frogstomp and you'll be shocked.
After that song, Diorama does become more conventional, but the mark has already been made here, and the material is of good enough quality to call this easily the band's best album to date. By now, though, there's only a couple songs that really remind me of the band's roots, but even "One Way Mule" and "The Lever" are both convincing grinds given an intensity helped out by the really full and powerful production job (sounds almost they're playing in a huge concert hall), and of course, they rock hard, which is a requirement of The School Of Rock. The main focus, though, seems to be on the expansive sound and the beautiful melodies, which is even present in the heavier stuff. Forget the heaviness of the guitar(s) and the awful 'fungus in my milk' line (ewwwww!) - "The Greatest View" is regardless the most powerful anthemic tune they've done, with a great unbeatable pop melody and a cinematic sweep to the whole affair.
Elsewhere, in the beautiful vein, Daniel gets an almost Jeff Buckleyquality to his vocals on "World Upon Your Shoulders" (with the vocal hook and guitar playing sounding like they wouldn't feel too unwelcome on Grace, I think) and it's interesting how "Too Much Of Not Enough" feels like it's going to be unassuming and quiet the whole way through, until you realize it's building up to a tense chorus ('a close look at someone so close..... tooooo much of noot enougghhhh...') "Tuna In The Brine" also goes all show-tuney on us again, with about Daniel's best singing ever - the way his vocal chords go up and down here are something very, very nice indeed, and the piano and string arrangements are particularly top-notch. The closing "After All These Years"? Whoever thought Silverchair of all bands would be writing introspective and poignant tunes like this, with well-written lyrical imagery, more beautiful piano, strings and vocals, and a moving 'after alllll these years, forget about all the troubled tiiiiiimes...' chorus, which is easily one of their most memorable hooks.
That's not to say the album's perfect, of course - one or two songs such as "My Favorite Thing" and "Without You" escape me after they're over (though they fit well into the prettiness of the rest), and apart from the first couple tracks, it's not like there are any great classics. But regardless of that and the style kinda wearing me down (after all, it does get a bit samey after awhile over 50 odd minutes), this is a very good, unfortunately overlooked album that shows our favorite former teenage grunge band and their leader starting to come into their own. Who knows what they're capable of in the future (remember, they're still only in their early-mid 20's, I'm pretty sure), and hopefully they won't be totally devoid of success for the rest of their career, or break up.
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