Love in Reverse
Aug 26, 2021 20:58:00 GMT -5
Post by Daytol on Aug 26, 2021 20:58:00 GMT -5
Love in Reverse is definitely a very different band, to say the least. Sadly they were a huge failure too, commercially, yet they're damn good, in my opinion.
I heard of these guys through a major primetime tv report here in the U. S. on a show called Turning Point (don't know if it aired in non-U. S. countries though). Snippets of their music was played, which people were saying they had no idea how to promote them because of their sound. I was going, "oh come ON, I listen to pretty much anything from new age to death metal (and dungeon synth!) and they don't sound all that unusual!". But then after I ordered and received the cd from Tower Records and listened to it, I was like "oh yeah, I see what they mean now"
Once some band in any genre gets popular, after a while you'll hear a lot of clones of them (especially when record companies want some of that money). This is also evident when someone creates a unique sound. One prime example I can think of is The Edge, U2's guitarist, who started off on acoustic guitar and then learned electric later. I think he never took any lessons either, developing a unique sound at the time. Years later, there's probably like 5,000 bands that have used a similar sound. You can hear some of that type of playing with Love in Reverse, along with some punk influences, acoustic guitar, start/stop riffs and Pink Floyd-/psychedelic-type sounds thrown in as well, which is how you'd sum up Love in Reverse...I think. Over 20 years later, I'm still not exactly sure. They could've made it (somewhat better) on independent, college and alternative radio, but how many alt rock stations were around in 1996?
Also on the tv report, they said that, once their debut came out, from coast to coast here in the States, it ended up selling...
..."what, 10,000 copies (I thought to myself before the reporter could finish the sentence)? That's not bad for an underground band with hardly any support, especially with a record label saying there was no way to promote them".
No, it only sold a THOUSAND copies. Ouch.
They ended the report by saying the record company was giving them another try. They also released their I Was Dog ep that year, which, if I remember correctly (hadn't heard it in years) was more of the same (a big mishmash of styles, in other words!), although it might've had more punk influences in it. Their third album I never got, so I can't comment on it, as I ordered it from Tower, but there was some service (I forget the name) where you used it in place of ordering stuff if you didn't have a credit card, just sending money in for your account (somewhat like Paypal). For some reason my order was delayed as I sent in a money order for my account, which I got it back after a while...due to the service physically moving their location, yet not even sending out an e-mail to their users to let us know (good going!). Once I got it back and sent it to the right place it was too late, Tower sold out of the album. I checked out the closing song of "Night the Witch Came Home" weeks ago, having dark lyrics like they sometimes did, and it was a very moddy song. Some of their lyrics were pretty decent indeed, some of them funny, like the closing one on their debut (not counting the hidden track afterwards) of "A Feeding Frenzy" talking about a shark in the sea, and one day you'll see that the shark "is ME".
And, after their gigantic hiatus of many years, they just came out with album #5 on Bandcamp, of course
, with STILL barely any supporters. That's just damn criminal. They deserve so much better. You can still barely find anything about them online nowadays either, unlike underground death metal bands that can rack up tens, if not literally a hundred thousand or more views on their videos, and I'll admit that's not very acceptable music/also mostly underground to most people in general too.
Here you can hear some of the U2-type guitar sound I was talking about. Beware this monstrously cheap-assed video where there can be seizure-inducing moments though.
With this one though, there are tempo changes, along with some clean guitar breaks, then it rocks back out and has some psychedelic notes/ending later, making this one of their tunes that might've made it onto alternative radio (although it would probably have to be shortened a little).
After Love in Reverse failed, they became The Amazing Meet Project, being all acoustic with a major style change, although after listening to a few tunes back then I wasn't very interested. Love in Reverse is way better.
Not that she's any authority in music or anything, but my mom heard the whole cd (although I told her in advance I didn't know what she'd think of it, as we were in the middle of a day and a half long car drive), which she thought they were "very interesting", said she liked it, asked some questions about them and commented about how many la-de-dah bands can get so big whereas someone different and better doesn't end up going anywhere.
Sad documentary if you've got the time to check it out. At least Johnny and Marsha Z, the people behind S. O. D. and Metallica, TRIED to make them big
Part 2
I heard of these guys through a major primetime tv report here in the U. S. on a show called Turning Point (don't know if it aired in non-U. S. countries though). Snippets of their music was played, which people were saying they had no idea how to promote them because of their sound. I was going, "oh come ON, I listen to pretty much anything from new age to death metal (and dungeon synth!) and they don't sound all that unusual!". But then after I ordered and received the cd from Tower Records and listened to it, I was like "oh yeah, I see what they mean now"
Once some band in any genre gets popular, after a while you'll hear a lot of clones of them (especially when record companies want some of that money). This is also evident when someone creates a unique sound. One prime example I can think of is The Edge, U2's guitarist, who started off on acoustic guitar and then learned electric later. I think he never took any lessons either, developing a unique sound at the time. Years later, there's probably like 5,000 bands that have used a similar sound. You can hear some of that type of playing with Love in Reverse, along with some punk influences, acoustic guitar, start/stop riffs and Pink Floyd-/psychedelic-type sounds thrown in as well, which is how you'd sum up Love in Reverse...I think. Over 20 years later, I'm still not exactly sure. They could've made it (somewhat better) on independent, college and alternative radio, but how many alt rock stations were around in 1996?
Also on the tv report, they said that, once their debut came out, from coast to coast here in the States, it ended up selling...
..."what, 10,000 copies (I thought to myself before the reporter could finish the sentence)? That's not bad for an underground band with hardly any support, especially with a record label saying there was no way to promote them".
No, it only sold a THOUSAND copies. Ouch.
They ended the report by saying the record company was giving them another try. They also released their I Was Dog ep that year, which, if I remember correctly (hadn't heard it in years) was more of the same (a big mishmash of styles, in other words!), although it might've had more punk influences in it. Their third album I never got, so I can't comment on it, as I ordered it from Tower, but there was some service (I forget the name) where you used it in place of ordering stuff if you didn't have a credit card, just sending money in for your account (somewhat like Paypal). For some reason my order was delayed as I sent in a money order for my account, which I got it back after a while...due to the service physically moving their location, yet not even sending out an e-mail to their users to let us know (good going!). Once I got it back and sent it to the right place it was too late, Tower sold out of the album. I checked out the closing song of "Night the Witch Came Home" weeks ago, having dark lyrics like they sometimes did, and it was a very moddy song. Some of their lyrics were pretty decent indeed, some of them funny, like the closing one on their debut (not counting the hidden track afterwards) of "A Feeding Frenzy" talking about a shark in the sea, and one day you'll see that the shark "is ME".
And, after their gigantic hiatus of many years, they just came out with album #5 on Bandcamp, of course
, with STILL barely any supporters. That's just damn criminal. They deserve so much better. You can still barely find anything about them online nowadays either, unlike underground death metal bands that can rack up tens, if not literally a hundred thousand or more views on their videos, and I'll admit that's not very acceptable music/also mostly underground to most people in general too.Here you can hear some of the U2-type guitar sound I was talking about. Beware this monstrously cheap-assed video where there can be seizure-inducing moments though.
With this one though, there are tempo changes, along with some clean guitar breaks, then it rocks back out and has some psychedelic notes/ending later, making this one of their tunes that might've made it onto alternative radio (although it would probably have to be shortened a little).
After Love in Reverse failed, they became The Amazing Meet Project, being all acoustic with a major style change, although after listening to a few tunes back then I wasn't very interested. Love in Reverse is way better.
Not that she's any authority in music or anything, but my mom heard the whole cd (although I told her in advance I didn't know what she'd think of it, as we were in the middle of a day and a half long car drive), which she thought they were "very interesting", said she liked it, asked some questions about them and commented about how many la-de-dah bands can get so big whereas someone different and better doesn't end up going anywhere.
And you know what? After hearing that cd again, even if they were marketed towards alternative rock, I STILL have never heard another band all these years later that they sound like (although I don't know much about the indie rock scene).
Sad documentary if you've got the time to check it out. At least Johnny and Marsha Z, the people behind S. O. D. and Metallica, TRIED to make them big
Part 2
Figured some on here would like them due to the variety a lot of us listen to, and not just dungeon synth!