Theory of a Deadman
08.18.2008
ARE YOU/ DO YOU HAVE A BAD GIRLFRIEND?
GO HERE and take the Theory Bad Girlfriend (Explicit Version) quiz now!
08.01.2008
GET CRABS FROM BSC AND THEORY OF A DEADMAN
Black Stone Cherry, Theory of a Deadman, and Shinedown were treated to a pre-show crab feast when they were in Maryland on July 23. 98Rock's Mickey, Amelia & Spiegel showed all three bands a good time. Check it out.
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07.18.2008
WANNA SEE WHAT A BAD GIRLFRIEND LOOKS LIKE?
07.17.2008
ATTENTION LONG ISLAND/ NY AREA THEORY FANS
Head over to Looney Tunes CDs, in West Babylon, on Monday July 21st at 7PM to meet Theory of a Deadman! As an added bonus, Visit Newsdayinsider.com to enter to be one of the 60 lucky folks to win the following:
- Special seating passes to see the band
- A "Grub and Greet" with the guys
- A copy of Scars & Souvenirs
Check out this ad, it could score you free admission to their acoustic set and $1 off the album:
07.16.2008
THEORY OF A DEADMAN IN GROUP THERAPY
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Theory of a Deadman had a simple but daunting goal for its third album: to make the greatest record possible.
"I always try to remind the guys and myself that there are 20 bands lined up behind us just waiting for a chance to take our place," says frontman Tyler Connolly. "So that means we had to go in there and make a great record." With Scars & Souvenirs, the Vancouver trio has hit its mark.
The balanced 13-track effort is the polished and passionate testament to seven years of hard work, heavy touring and diligent attention to its craft. From the swirling grind of "By the Way" to the nasty snarl of "Crutch" to the soaring melodicism of "Not Meant to Be" and "Wait For Me," Scars & Souvenirs is a broad-reaching endeavor that puts Connolly, guitarist Dave Brenner and bassist Dean Back high in the rock pantheon, achieving creative growth without sacrificing the hard-hitting power that got them here in the first place.
"We really dug hard on this one," Connolly notes. "The longer you're in a band, the more you write songs, the better you get. We've had such a great opportunity to figure out what to do better, how to write a better song and keep building and building. That's exciting for us."
Scars & Souvenirs began taking shape in February of 2007, as Theory was winding down from touring to support its second album, 2005's Gasoline, a slump-defying sophomore outing that launched the hits "No Surprise," "Say Goodbye," "Santa Monica" and "Hello Lonely (Walk Away From This)." The group returned to Grammy-nominated producer Howard Benson, who in turn issued marching orders that set the tone for the project.
"Before we even went into the studio, Howard wanted to gear this record up to sound huge," Connolly recalls about Benson's "all killer, no filler" approach to the record. "He said, ‘You have to go into a record with great songs. You can't make them while you're there. You can't just go in with one or two great songs. You've got to have 10.' So we just kept sending him songs until we had the 10 to 12 great ones, and then he said, 'OK, let's go.'"
Theory actually brought about 17 songs to Los Angeles' Bay 7 studios in August of 2007. Amidst low-key hijinks -- Brenner and Back grew mustaches, Connolly sported a fake one in the name of band unity -- the group and studio drummer Robin Diaz recorded 15 before choosing the 12 that ultimately comprise Scars & Souvenirs, which proved an apt title for the range of emotions Connolly sings about on the album.
"It's the Scars & Souvenirs of your life," he explains. "The songwriting on the record is really about someone's past or and present, their relationships and how they shape everything. It's more metaphorical than physical scars and trophies."
And while Connolly has certainly done his turn as a rock 'n' roll king of pain on Gasoline and 2002's attention-catching debut Theory Of A Deadman, he went into Scars & Souvenirs determined to show he could be more than the "callous bastard" Rolling Stone magazine called him in an early profile.
Here, Connolly explores broad new lyrical terrain, indicative of his growth as a person and as songwriter. "For awhile there, every song was, 'Get the f*&k out! I don't need women! Screw them!' That's kinda how I felt at that point," Connolly says with a self-effacing laugh. "But I've grown as a songwriter, and as a person. I wanted to write some different, nicer songs for a change."
He didn't have to look hard for inspiration. He wrote "Wait For Me," with its acoustic guitar underpinning and rich chorus, for his wife, paying tribute to her fortitude in being home alone while he's on the road. The piano-laden "All or Nothing," meanwhile, chronicles their relationship, which began as a good friendship before blossoming into romance. "It was kind of sick of me writing all these woman-hater songs before," acknowledges Connolly, whose mother left his family when he was in high school, providing rich source material for his earlier work. "People thought I was writing about my wife." While Connolly's lyrics have taken on a kinder, gentler pallor on Scars & Souvenirs, the band continues to keep the knobs cranked to 11.
Connolly also went into Scars & Souvenirs trying to write some songs that were "just for fun," and succeeded with tracks such as "End of Summer," an anthem about the bittersweetness of endings, whether that of a season or a relationship.
But even though the album mines a deeper emotional trough, it charges with the same potent force of its predecessors. When fans eagerly crank up the likes of "So Happy," "Got it Made" and "Bad Girlfriend," they'll end up with a set of blown out speakers, thanks to the firepower that crackles in these rockers, while "Sacrifice" bristles with the kind of primal, super-charged defiance that has long defined the best hard rock.
"A lot of bands, they grow older and they get grayer and they just can't do the rock songs anymore," Connolly says. "I don't see that happening to us. Fans are gonna hear our record and hear some softer stuff, but we're a rock band. I think it sounds bigger than the other two (albums) we've done."
Which is, not surprisingly, why Connolly, Brenner and Back are chomping at the bit to take Scars & Souvenirs out on the road. "We really want to take the band farther this time," Connolly says. "We want to get out there to places we have not been before - where a lot of our fans are --Asia, Australia, as well as reaching our fans in North America and Europe. We're just a hard-working band, man. We want to be out there for a couple of years and play these songs to everybody we possibly can."
With an album like Scars & Souvenirs, the fans will be lining up to listen.
Click on an entry to puchase concert tickets to that show
| Date | Venue | Address | Other Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9.8.2008 | The Rock | 2029 Woodlyn Avenue Maplewood,
MN 55144
View Google Map |
All Ages: THEORY OF A DEADMAN headline, BLACK STONE CHERRY and THE PARLOR MOB support. Tickets: $18 Adv/$22 DOS. |
| 9.10.2008 | The Intersection | 133 Grandville SW Grand Rapids,
MI 49503
View Google Map |
16+: THEORY OF A DEADMAN headline, BLACK STONE CHERRY and THE PARLOR MOB support. Tickets: $18 Adv/$20 DOS. |
| 9.11.2008 | Woody's Bar | 1031 Main Street Evansville,
IN 47708
View Google Map |
All Ages: THEORY OF A DEADMAN headline, THE PARLOR MOB support. Tickets: $22.50 Adv/$27 DOS. |
| 9.12.2008 | Edwin J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall | 198 Hill Street Akron,
OH 44325
View Google Map |
All Ages: Seether headline, THEORY OF A DEADMAN and BLACK STONE CHERRY support. Tickets: $20 Students/$25 Public. |
| 9.13.2008 | DeVry Institute | 3300 N Campbell Avenue Chicago,
IL 60618
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All Ages: Q101.1 Block Party feat. Avenged Sevenfold, Mindless Self Indulgence, THEORY OF A DEADMAN, Sick Puppies and Black Tide. Tickets: $45.00 Two Day/$27.50 Adv/$30.00 DOS |
| 9.14.2008 | Waterfront Park | 129 East River Road Louisville,
KY 40202
View Google Map |
All Ages: LRS Fest 10 feat. Bret Michaels, THEORY OF A DEADMAN, Saving Abel and Bobaflex. Tickets: $25.00 Adv/$30.00 DOS |
| 9.16.2008 | Fayetteville Town Center | 15 W Mountain St. Fayetteville,
AR 72701
View Google Map |
All Ages: Seether headline, THEORY OF A DEADMAN and BLACK STONE CHERRY support. Tickets: $28.50 Adv/$30 DOS. |
| 9.17.2008 | Shrine Mosque | 601 St. Louis St. Springfield,
MO 65806
View Google Map |
All Ages: Seether headline, THEORY OF A DEADMAN and BLACK STONE CHERRY support. Tickets: $29.99. |
| 9.19.2008 | Capital Federal Park at Sandstone | 633 North 130th Street Bonner Springs,
KS 66012
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All Ages: Summer Slam feat. Buckcherry, Seether, Avenged Sevenfold, Shinedown, THEORY OF A DEADMAN and Saving Abel. Tickets: $30.00 GA/$39.50 Reserved/$90.00 GA 4-Pack/$19.89 Presale |
| 9.20.2008 | Peoria Sports Complex | 16101 N. 83rd Ave. Peoria,
AZ 85832
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All Ages: KUPD presents Alice in Chains, Deftones, THEORY OF A DEADMAN, 5 Finger Death Punch, Tantric, Ra and more. Tickets: $38.00 |
| 9.22.2008 | Tequilla Jungle | 1718 Avenue East Lubbock,
TX 79401
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All Ages: THEORY OF A DEADMAN headline, BLACK STONE CHERRY and THE PARLOR MOB support. Tickets: $20.50 Adv/$24 DOS. |
| 9.23.2008 | Diamond Ballroom | 8001 S. Eastern Ave. Oklahoma City,
OK 73149
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All Ages: THEORY OF A DEADMAN headline, BLACK STONE CHERRY and THE PARLOR MOB support. Tickets: $19 Adv/$22 DOS. |
| 9.24.2008 | Village Theater | 2915 S University Little Rock,
AR 72204
View Google Map |
All Ages: THEORY OF A DEADMAN headline, THE PARLOR MOB support. Tickets: $17 Adv/$20 DOS. |
| 9.25.2008 | Fire | 209 Commerce Street Jackson,
MS 39201
View Google Map |
18+: THEORY OF A DEADMAN headline, THE PARLOR MOB support. Tickets: $18 Adv/$20 DOS. |
| 9.26.2008 | The Swamp | 1450 Miracle Strip Parkway |
1. ERIC SAID...
If you were a shitty metal band, which would you be?
- Slipknot
- Theory of a Deadman
- Trivium
- Cradle of Filth
- All of the above
(my answer is all of the above)
August 26, 8:58 AM
Eric
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