Cold's 'Year of the Spider' Erupts - May.28.03
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"Year of the Spider" is Cold's third album and the first to be produced by Howard Benson, who produced P. O. D.'s album "Satellite."
And the band has been through a lot this past year. Friends dying, illness plaguing family members, marriages tested and psychological repression. Instead of collapsing, the band has utilized its life experiences and turned them into songs.
The album starts out with "Remedy," which is about being in a bad situation and having people give you advice. Sometimes the advice is right on, sometimes it's way off. The first line of the song is "I don't love how you love/ I don't feel how you feel." And how many times do people give us bad advice?
For the single "Stupid Girl," the song sounded like a Weezer song to Ward, so much that he decided to call up Rivers Cuomo and have him write some lyrics to the song. Cuomo ended up singing the verses of the song with Ward singing the chorus. The song is an apathetic view of the indifference a guy can have for a girl. "Wanna love you/ wanna bug you/ wanna squeeze you stupid girl" and "I'm a loner/ I'm a loser/ I'm a winner in my mind/ I'm a bad one/ I'm a good one" scream the coldness the writers had in mind.
"The Day Seattle Died" is a powerful tribute song about the deaths of Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley, who both died on April 5. Just don't expect the lyrics to be any more forgiving than some of their fans though.
Ward realizes the importance of the iconic rock stars while singing the angry verses and expresses what many people have felt since Cobain's and Staley's deaths. "The needle became your queen/ The drug had become your enemy/ And music was just a way for you to bleed" echoes and carries you through to the end of the song.
"Wasted Years" takes full advantage of Ward's vocal range. The song is simply about Ward's wasted years spent partying his life away. "Did I drink too much/ Could I disappear/ And there's nothing left but wasted years."
Many fans open their hearts to band members, and one girl stood out in particular. "Sad Happy" is the story about a girl and how her innocence was lost because of rape. Ward compares the song to Aerosmith's "Jamie's Got a Gun" and speaks to the girl through his lyrics. "I'll be strong/ and I will sing/ and I will take your pain away."
"Suffocate" is the anthem of all who feel restricted in a relationship. Ward's lyrics don't beat around the bush either. "I could take every fu@king word she said/ Throw it in her face/ Would she even care/ I'll still remember when she looked at me/ A frown upon her face/ Trying to be sincere." Sierra Swan sings backup vocals and together with Ward, the result is an awesome song.
"Black Sunday" shows the deeper side of Ward for those who still doubt the singer. The song is about his girlfriend's baby that died of S. I. D. S. years ago. He saw how it affected her and wrote a song about it. "Black Sunday still burns you in my thoughts/ I can't see at all/ Did you fly away/ Did the stars burn bright for you/ Guess I could blame it all on God's game."
Bottom line: Cold's three-times-a-charm luck with "Year" fulfills any corrosive metal ache.
�Sara Schwartz, Variety Editor