Thirteen minutes of previously unseen footage of Led Zeppelin playing live has emerged online. The film was shot at the 2000-capacity Falkoner Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark, in July 1979, at the second of two warm-up shows prior to the band’s final UK shows at Knebworth the following month.
The 8mm film was originally shot by Led Zeppelin fan Lennart Ström, who revealed the existence of the footage last summer. Since then, Ström’s footage has been scanned by US company Reel Revival Film and colour-corrected by The Pink Floyd Research Group, before being matched with an audio recording from the show.
“We brought the Super 8 camera to test a new film that would work indoors,” Ström tells LedZepNews. “It was no problem getting the camera in, it was quite small and I think I had it in my trousers on my back. Filming wasn’t that often done in those days. They looked more for audio equipment.”
The footage, which Ström kept in a drawer for over 40 years, includes sections of Song Remains The Same, Black Dog, Nobody’s Fault But Mine, Over The Hills And Far Away, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I’ve Been Loving You, No Quarter, Hot Dog, Rain Song, White Summer, Kashmir, Trampled Underfoot, Sick Again, Achilles Last Stand, In The Evening, Stairway To Heaven and Whole Lotta Love, as well as a clip of Jimmy Page’s guitar solo.
The footage appears in the wake of the well-received official band biopic, Becoming Led Zeppelin, which includes film of Jimmy Page & Co. performing at the Bath Festival in 1970. That footage had never been seen until it was unearthed in a British university film archive in 2017.
Led Zeppelin – Live in Copenhagen, Denmark (July 24th, 1979) – Super 8 film (NEW FOOTAGE) – YouTube
Kiss may have played their final show, but the commerce continues, and fans with seriously deep pockets may be keen to avail themselves of the band’s latest offering, a 5″ edition of the 1974 single Stutter made from 24-karat gold.
The single, which is available to buy now for a trifling $50,000, is limited to just five made-to-order copies worldwide, and is “specially remastered for gold metal playback from 96kHz 24-bit stereo analogue transfers and playable on any manual record player.”
The sales blurb continues: “The A-side also includes a special rim engraving with each record’s unique edition number engraved in gold and an exquisite KISS logo made of Swarovski crystals.
“A highly premium 12-inch x 12-inch x 4-3/8-inch luxurious coffee table display case is wrapped in imitation leather with gold foil details throughout and crowned off with a gold-plated Kiss logo showcased in Swarovski crystals. Containing two drawers, one housing the record in a protective sapphire crystal glass capsule, and the other containing a book signed by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
“Accessories include the gold-detailed pen used to sign each book, a laser-engraved metal certificate of authenticity, a premium cork record mat, and a microfiber cleaning cloth. B-side engraving honours the original Casablanca Records 7-inch single label with a proof quality finish.”
We’ll take two.
In other Kiss news. Paul Stanley has revealed how much he misses playing live. Speaking on the first episode of the Stories To Tell with Richard Marx podcast, Stanley says, “The last tour was just a chance to really take in how valuable and how much this meant to me. But I couldn’t keep doing it any more than Michael Jordan could.
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“I’ve always been more than a musician or performer. I’ve been an athlete, and you realise that you can only do that so long. I’ve been blessed to do it into my seventies, which if you told me that 50 years ago, I’d say you’re out of your mind. So, yeah, I miss it, but I don’t crave it.”
The Kinks were yesterday’s men as the 70s dawned, written off as 60s relics. Their only significant hit since 1967, Days, hardly arrested a calamitous, lift-shaft fall which hit bottom with a humiliating 1968 tour of working men’s clubs, bizarrely undertaken as they finished their wistful LP classic The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, which bombed. Convinced their archaic label Pye only wanted Kinks singles in the age of Sgt. Pepper, Ray Davies decided he’d had it with 45s.
And yet when the first undeniable, clanging chords of Lola rang out on its release 50 years ago, it was clear The Kinks had come storming back. Not only that, but Davies’s sly tale of a transvestite affair offered a template for the imminent, androgynous glam era. For one last time in 1970, the band who had revolutionised pop six years before with You Really Got Me’s proto-punk roar had seized back their crown.
October 1969 had already seen a vital shift in fortunes, when The Kinks started their first US tour since 1965, ending a ruinous, mysterious ban. Drinking in the family’s London local that Christmas, Ray’s dad Fred was moved to offer some advice. “My dad put his pint down and said, ‘If you’re going to tour so much you need one thing – a world hit, son,” Ray recalled. “Write another world hit.”
Lola’s origins were, though, more casual. The most addictive two-syllable chorus since Hey Jude began as a nursery rhyme for Ray’s baby daughter Victoria, meant to amuse her while he was in the States.
“The first phrase was simply something for [Victoria] to sing along to – la-la, la-lah,” he told Radio 4. “I added the transvestite stuff later.”
The Kinks’ lead guitarist, Ray’s brother Dave, was in a bad way at this point, his mind quietly ripping itself apart after an acid and angel dust freak-out in the US. Still, he recalled conjuring yet another classic riff while strumming peacefully in Ray’s back garden, gifting his brother Lola’s musical core, to his later regret. In Ray’s memory, the whole thing was his.
Lola’s lyrics recount a provincial male virgin’s night out in “old Soho”, where a gorgeous woman’s spine-cracking dance-floor power and “dark brown” voice hint she’s not what she seems.
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Ray has said this was based on real events, mentioning his dance with a beautiful “woman” when The Kinks played an all-nighter at Bridlington’s Spa Royal Hall on May 8, 1965, and Kinks manager Robert Wace’s similar hoodwinking in Paris that April.
As Ray told it to me, it all happened one night. “It was a real experience in a club,” he said. “I was asked to dance by somebody who was a fabulous looking woman. I said, ‘No thank you.’ And she went in a cab with my manager straight afterwards. It’s based on personal experience. But not every word.”
Living up to their name’s 60s connotations, The Kinks had explored gay themes before. See My Friends’ abandonment of a girl for friends “across the river” was “about homosexuality”, Ray told journalist Maureen Cleave, while Dave took makeup tips from model girlfriends and had a male affair. Drag queens the Cockettes became loyal 70s fans in the States, where Ray befriended Warhol and trannie “Superstar” Candy Darling. But Lola was more Danny La Rue, drawing on London’s cross-dressing underground.
Kinks drummer Mick Avory believes Carnaby Street PR Michael McGrath was key. “Being called The Kinks did attract these sorts of people,” he told me. “He used to have this place in Earls Court, and he used to invite me to all these drag queen acts, and transsexual pubs. They were like secret clubs. And that’s where Ray got the idea for Lola. When he was invited too, he wrote it while I was getting drunk.”
April and May 1970 saw painstaking stabs at Lola on new 16-track equipment at London’s Morgan Studios.
“It wasn’t just the song,” Ray told Radio 4. “It was the musical design. It wasn’t a power-chord song like You Really Got Me. It was a power-chord beginning. It needed a special acoustic guitar sound…sonorous, growling, with an attack to it. There’s a macho swing to it, a stride, for all its questionable content.”
He trawled Soho’s instrument shops for a Martin guitar like that of his folk-blues hero Big Bill Broonzy, combining it with a 1938 Dobro resonator guitar to get the sound he wanted. “I tracked the Martin three times, slightly out of tune, so it resonates,” Ray elaborated. “Then I got the Dobro out.”
That clanging announcement of an intro quickly slips into the acoustic strum of a modern London folk song, as our naive narrator, new in town, wonders why his glamorous new acquaintance “walk like a woman and talk like a man”. The final verse sees him back at her place, shoving Lola away and making to leave when the facts become plain, only to drop to his knees in relief. After all “girls will be boys and boys will be girls…I know what I am and I’m glad a man, and so is Lola.”
Ray and Dave’s voices alternate between raucous and gentle, matching the music’s thrust and guile, balancing a very funny story of acceptance, told casually by natural outsiders. Keyboardist John “Baptist” Gosling joined The Kinks during the sessions, adding piano. The epic coda also expands into ringing, metallic guitar effects, completing a simply undeniable single.
The lyric’s mention of “champagne that tastes just like Coca-Cola” (letting on that we’re in a clip-joint) famously offended the ad-phobic BBC with its reference to a commercial product when a version was recorded for Dave Lee Travis’s Radio 1 show, requiring Ray to interrupt a May US tour to splice in “cherry-cola” for this and Top Of the Tops, later doing so on the UK single (Coke stayed in the States).
This only briefly delayed Lola’s global triumph, hitting No 2 in the UK and 9 in the US. The concept album which followed, Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneyground. Part One, then dissected the process of having a hit as, fortunes restored, Ray lost interest in more.
Later that year, David Bowie wore a dress on The Man Who Sold The World’s UK sleeve. Soon, he and T. Rex (whose new glam style was itself eerily predicted on a 1969 Kinks B-side, King Kong) were making sexual ambiguity common pop currency.
Derek and the Dominos’ Layla (1971), coda and all, is surely also indebted. Once again, those serial innovators The Kinks had got there first, in a way which half a century hasn’t dated. Instead, our attitudes have caught up.
“I always liked Lola,” Mick Avory told me. “I liked the subject. It’s not like anything else. I liked it for that. We’d always take a different path.”
Nick Hasted writes about film, music, books and comics for Classic Rock, The Independent, Uncut, Jazzwise and The Arts Desk. He has published three books: The Dark Story of Eminem (2002), You Really Got Me: The Story of The Kinks (2011), and Jack White: How He Built An Empire From The Blues (2016).
Rick Buckler, famous as the drummer with mod revivalists The Jam, has died at the age of 69. The news was confirmed in a statement by his agent, a month after Buckler was obliged to cancel a run of spoken word engagements due to “ongoing health issues.”
The statement read: “Rick Buckler, best known as the legendary drummer of The Jam, passed away peacefully on Monday evening in Woking after a short illness with family by his side.
“Rick was a loving husband, father and grandfather and was a devoted friend to many, who will be greatly missed. His family have asked for privacy and respect during this time.
“Formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, the powerhouse three-piece comprised of singer, guitarist Paul Weller and drummer Rick Buckler and later bassist Bruce Foxton. The Jam had 18 consecutive UK Top 40 singles from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1982, including four number 1 hits.
“Rick was also successful with other avenues following The Jam which included furniture design and restoration, writing a number of books and keeping a strong relationship with his fans through his Q and A’s.”
Buckler was born in Woking in 1955, and formed The Jam, who quickly developed a reputation as an electrifying live act, with Weller and Foxton while still at school.
“There is no place to hide, and we learned that quite early on,” he told writer Malcolm Wyatt in 2018. “I think we were struggling to be a four-piece, so really felt we had to work hard, and that alone justified what the band were about.
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“I think that’s why we were so powerful on stage – the fact that everybody’s pulling their weight and filling all those gaps with interesting things. We were big fans of cutting out the rubbish. If we thought it was getting boring or irrelevant, we’d drop it straight away – cut straight to the chase.”
After Weller broke up the band at the height of their success, Buckler formed Time UK and embarked on a short-lived career in production before leaving the music business. He returned in 2005 with a new band, The Gift – named after the final album by The Jam – before hooking up with Foxton again in From The Jam.
After four years, Buckler left From The Jam, unhappy at their reliance on The Jam’s catalogue and reluctance to write new material, and apparently annoyed by Foxton’s decision to work with Weller again.
“I’m shocked and saddened by Rick’s passing,” posted Weller in the wake of the news of Buckler’s death. “I’m thinking back to us all rehearsing in my bedroom in Stanley Road, Woking. To all the pubs and clubs we played at as kids, to eventually making a record. What a journey! We went far beyond our dreams and what we made stands the test of time. My deepest sympathy to all family and friends.”
“I was shocked and devastated to hear the very sad news today,” wrote Foxton. “Rick was a good guy and a great drummer whose innovative drum patterns helped shape our songs. I’m glad we had the chance to work together as much as we did. My thoughts are with Leslie and his family at this very difficult time.”
The Jam – Down In The Tube Station At Midnight – YouTube
Fresh off their first Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination, Phish has announced a sprawling summer 2025 tour that will keep them on the road throughout June and July.
The summer trek begins on June 20 in Manchester, New Hampshire, where Phish will play three consecutive nights. They’ll play several more two- and three-night stands in Texas, Colorado, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York and more. The jam band titans have also traded their usual Labor Day stint at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado, for a July 4 weekend at Folsom Field in Boulder.
Phish also recently announced an April West Coast tour that includes three nights at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl. In conjunction with those performances, the band will donate $300,000 to support relief and rebuilding efforts for communities affected by the Southern California wildfires through their own nonprofit organization, the WaterWheel Foundation.
A ticket request period for Phish’s summer tour is currently underway on their website and runs through Feb. 24. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Feb. 28. You can see their full list of 2025 tour dates below.
Phish Spring and Summer 2025 Tour Dates April 18 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena 19 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena 20 – Portland, OR – Moda Center 22 – San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium 23 – San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium 25 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl 26 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl 27 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl June 20 – Manchester, NH – SNHU Arena 21 – Manchester, NH – SNHU Arena 22 – Manchester, NH – SNHU Arena 24 – Pittsburgh, PA – Petersen Events Center 27 – Austin, TX – Moody Center 28 – Austin, TX – Moody Center July 3 – Boulder, CO – Folsom Field 4 – Boulder, CO – Folsom Field 5 – Boulder, CO – Folsom Field 9 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center 11 – North Charleston, SC – North Charleston Coliseum 12 – North Charleston, SC – North Charleston Coliseum 13 – North Charleston, SC – North Charleston Coliseum 15 – Philadelphia, PA – TD Pavilion at the Mann 16 – Philadelphia, PA – TD Pavilion at the Mann 18 – Chicago, IL – United Center 19 – Chicago, IL – United Center 20 – Chicago, IL – United Center 22 – Forest Hills, NY – Forest Hills Stadium 23 – Forest Hills, NY – Forest Hills Stadium 25 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Broadview Stage at SPAC 26 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Broadview Stage at SPAC 27 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Broadview Stage at SPAC
Rick Buckler, drummer for acclaimed English new wave band the Jam, has died at the age of 69.
The musician’s passing was confirmed by his former bandmates who took to social media to share their memories.
“I’m shocked and saddened by Rick’s passing,” the Jam’s frontman, Paul Weller, wrote on X. “I’m thinking back to us all rehearsing in my bedroom in Stanley Road, Woking. To all the pubs and clubs we played at as kids, to eventually making a record. What a journey! We went far beyond our dreams and what we made stands the test of time. My deepest sympathy to all family and friends.”
“Rick was a good guy and a great drummer whose innovative drum patterns helped shape our songs,” bassist Bruce Foxton shared in his own message. “I’m glad we had the chance to work together as much as we did. My thoughts are with Leslie and his family at this very difficult time.”
While a cause of death has not yet been released, Buckler recently canceled a string of spoken word tour dates due to “ongoing health issues.”
Who Was Rick Buckler?
Born in Woking, England in 1955, Buckler met Weller and Foxton while all three were attending Sheerwater Secondary School. The aspiring musicians formed the Jam and initially started out covering American rock groups before finding a style all their own.
In 1977, the Jam’s debut single, “In This City,” became a Top 40 hit in the U.K. So began an impressive string for the band, which churned out 18 consecutive U.K. Top 40 singles during their five year existence. This short yet prolific period included four U.K. No. 1 hits – “Going Underground” (1980), “Start!” (1980), “Town Called Malice” (1982) and “Beat Surrender” – and six full-length studio albums.
Though they enjoyed major success in the U.K. and other parts of the world, U.S. popularity eluded the band. The Jam’s biggest American hit was 1982’s “A Town Called Malice,” which peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
Watch the Jam’s Music Video for ‘A Town Called Malice’
In October of ‘82, Weller announced his plan to disband the Jam. The trio played their final concert together on Dec. 11 that year.
Following the Jam’s breakup, Buckler formed a new band called Time UK. The group released three singles over a couple of years, but soon disbanded. Buckler ran his own recording studio for a while, and later turned away from the music industry entirely, instead becoming a carpenter.
In 2005, the drummer returned to performing with a new band called the Gift. Named after the Jam’s final album, the group performed material from throughout the Jam’s catalogue. In 2007, Foxton joined and the Gift was renamed From the Jam. The band toured together for four years, but broke up in 2009.
Buckler’s late career highlights included overseeing several Jam-related projects. In 2015 he published his autobiography, That’s Entertainment: My Life in the Jam.
John Lydon is furious that his former band, the Sex Pistols, has decided to tour without him.
“When I first heard that the Sex Pistols were touring this year without me it pissed me off,” the singer known as Johnny Rotten declared in a recent interview with The I Paper. “It annoyed me. I just thought, ‘They’re absolutely going to kill all that was good with the Pistols by eliminating the point and the purpose of it all.’”
Singer Frank Carter is fronting the reunited Sex Pistols, who have a run of dates lined up for 2025, including major festivals and a few gigs opening for Guns N’ Roses. In Lydon’s view, the band’s other classic members – Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock – launched the tour as a cash grab.
“They’re trying to trivialize the whole show to get away with karaoke but in the long term I think you’ll see who has the value and who doesn’t,” the rocker declared. “I’ve never sold my soul to make a dollar. It’s the Catholic in me – that guilt I don’t want to trip.”
‘I Wrote the F—ing Songs’
In a separate interview with Classic Album Review, Lydon again decried the validity of Sex Pistols touring without him.
“I wrote the fucking songs, didn’t I? I gave them the image. I was the frontman,” Lydon declared. “I am the voice, what made the whole world sing. And now you’re going out, as they did the year before with Billy Idol. It’s just karaoke, really.”
The latter remark was a reference to Generation Sex, a project featuring members of the Sex Pistols and Idol’s old band, Generation X. The short-lived supergroup performed 14 shows in 2023 with set lists made up of material from both bands.
Punk Rock’s 40 Best Albums
From the Ramones to Green Day, this is musical aggression at its finest.
“Patient Number 9” was recorded by Ozzy Osbourne for his thirteenth studio album of the same name, which was released on September 9, 2022. The song, featuring Jeff Beck on lead guitar, was recorded at multiple locations, including Platinum Underground in Arizona and Tone Hall in the UK, with production handled by Andrew Watt. Osbourne’s lineup for the track included Chad Smith on drums, Robert Trujillo on bass, and keyboardist Michael “Elvis” Baskette, contributing to its dense and layered sonic landscape. The song, released as the album’s lead single on June 24, 2022, set the tone for an album that explored mortality, mental illness, and the torment of isolation, all wrapped in Osbourne’s signature brand of heavy metal.
Lyrically, “Patient Number 9” dives deep into the terror of being trapped in one’s own mind, using the metaphor of a psychiatric institution to frame the experience of insanity. The opening lines immediately immerse the listener in an unsettling reality: “Every hallway’s painted white as the light / That will guide you to your help.” This stark imagery creates a suffocating, clinical atmosphere where the protagonist wrestles with internal demons. The repeated references to taking pills, spitting them out, and hearing voices screaming reflect the struggle of someone who has lost autonomy, manipulated by forces beyond their control. The chorus, “When they call your name, better run and hide / Tell you you’re insane, you believe their lies,” encapsulates the song’s central theme—losing one’s grip on reality under the weight of external manipulation. Osbourne’s vocal delivery, combined with Jeff Beck’s hauntingly intricate guitar work, amplifies the paranoia and desperation that permeate the lyrics.
The song’s music video reinforces its psychological horror elements with nightmarish visuals of distorted faces, eerie animation, and a fractured sense of identity. The imagery of padded walls, shadowy figures, and Osbourne himself trapped in a surreal world enhances the song’s themes of imprisonment and madness. Sonically, “Patient Number 9” blends classic heavy metal with a progressive edge, echoing Osbourne’s earlier works while incorporating modern production techniques. Compared to other songs in this article, it stands out for its direct portrayal of institutionalization, making it one of the most vivid explorations of insanity on the list. While other tracks may approach the theme metaphorically or abstractly, Osbourne places the listener directly inside the mind of someone spiraling out of control.
As a lead single, “Patient Number 9” was well received, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Hard Rock Songs chart and earning a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2023. It marked a significant moment in Osbourne’s late-career resurgence, proving that his ability to channel darkness into compelling music remained as potent as ever. With its intense instrumentation, lyrical depth, and haunting atmosphere, “Patient Number 9” serves as a defining modern entry in Osbourne’s catalog and a powerful contribution to this list of songs about insanity.
“Madness” was recorded by Elton John for his twelfth studio album, A Single Man, which was released on October 16, 1978. The album marked a transitional period in John’s career, as it was his first studio project without longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin, instead featuring lyrics by Gary Osborne. The track was recorded at The Mill in Cookham, England, with production handled by Clive Franks and Elton John. The musicians on the recording included Elton John on piano and vocals, Tim Renwick and Steve Holley on guitars, Clive Franks on bass, and Ray Cooper on percussion. While A Single Man produced hit singles such as “Part-Time Love” and “Song for Guy,” “Madness” remained an album track, yet its ominous tone and unsettling imagery made it one of the record’s most thematically intense compositions.
Lyrically, “Madness” explores the destructive consequences of violence and terrorism, presenting insanity as an inescapable force that drives people to commit unspeakable acts. The song’s opening lines—”The fuse is set and checked once more / Then left beside a back street door”—immediately paint a grim picture of a planned explosion, placing the listener in the middle of an unfolding tragedy. As the verses progress, the lyrics depict the chaos and devastation that follows, with “a child scream[ing] out in fear” and “the smell of death hang[ing] in the air.” The recurring refrain of “Madness” reinforces the senseless nature of the destruction, framing it not as an individual affliction but as a societal plague. Unlike other songs on this list that approach insanity from a personal, internalized perspective, “Madness” examines it as a collective phenomenon, a force that engulfs entire communities in cycles of hate and violence.
Musically, “Madness” carries a brooding, ominous quality that complements its dark subject matter. The instrumentation remains restrained, allowing John’s vocals to carry the weight of the song’s despair. The composition lacks the soaring melodies or grand arrangements often associated with his work from the 1970s, opting instead for a more stripped-down, almost cinematic approach. This choice enhances the tension, mirroring the cold detachment of the lyrics. The song’s structure builds on repetition, with the word “Madness” becoming a mantra that reinforces the inevitability of destruction. In comparison to other songs in this article, “Madness” stands out for its depiction of societal insanity rather than individual psychological torment, making it a harrowing addition to this exploration of the theme.
Though not released as a single, “Madness” remains a chilling and overlooked entry in Elton John’s catalog. Its bleak portrayal of chaos and destruction, combined with its haunting repetition, captures a unique perspective on the theme of insanity, framing it as something far larger than one person’s descent into madness. While A Single Man leaned toward more introspective and melodic compositions, this track serves as a stark reminder of how easily civilization can unravel when driven by unchecked rage and violence.
“Insanity” was recorded by Oingo Boingo for their final studio album, Boingo, which was released on October 18, 1994. This album marked a significant departure from the band’s earlier sound, as frontman Danny Elfman moved away from the ska and new wave influences that had defined Oingo Boingo in the 1980s, embracing a darker, more orchestral approach. Recorded at Ocean Way Recording and The Complex in Los Angeles, the album was produced by Elfman and Steve Bartek, with band members including John Avila on bass, Warren Fitzgerald on guitar, and Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez on drums. “Insanity” was released as the album’s lead single and encapsulated the band’s shift toward grander, more theatrical compositions, reinforcing themes of paranoia, societal decay, and the overwhelming influence of media and religion.
Lyrically, “Insanity” is a scathing critique of societal manipulation and mass delusion, using religious imagery, media influence, and psychological horror to paint a picture of a world spiraling out of control. The lyrics, “Let’s imitate reality / Let’s strive for mediocrity,” mock a culture that rewards conformity while suppressing individuality. Elfman delivers a manic vocal performance, alternating between sinister whispers and explosive, almost sermon-like outbursts, as he embodies different voices of authority—televangelists, politicians, and moral crusaders—who preach righteousness while embodying hypocrisy. Lines such as “The alcoholic bastard waved his finger at me / And his voice was filled with evangelical glee” expose the contradictions of those in power, drawing a direct parallel between insanity and blind obedience. Unlike other songs on this list that explore personal madness, “Insanity” broadens its scope to depict an entire civilization consumed by ideological extremes and mass hysteria.
Musically, “Insanity” is one of the most elaborate and dramatic compositions in Oingo Boingo’s catalog. It features bombastic orchestral flourishes, industrial rhythms, and a relentless intensity that mirrors the song’s lyrical descent into chaos. The song builds tension through unsettling crescendos and abrupt shifts in tempo, creating a sense of unpredictability that keeps the listener on edge. Elfman’s background in film scoring is evident in the cinematic scope of the arrangement, with sections that feel as if they belong in a horror film rather than a rock album. Compared to other tracks in this article, “Insanity” stands out for its theatricality, using grandiose musical elements to heighten the sense of derangement and societal collapse.
Although Boingo was not a commercial success, “Insanity” remains a defining track of the band’s later years, embodying the growing cynicism and experimental ambition that Elfman would later channel into his film scores. The song’s music video, featuring nightmarish visuals and surreal, distorted imagery, reinforced the song’s themes of media-induced madness and manipulation. In the context of this list, “Insanity” presents a unique perspective on madness—not as an individual affliction but as a collective phenomenon, where the real lunacy lies in the institutions and ideologies that dictate reality.
Few bands tackled dark subjects with the same blunt, irreverent humor as The Ramones, and “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment” turned the harrowing reality of psychiatric treatment into a frenzied punk anthem. Recorded for their second studio album, Leave Home, the track was laid down at Sundragon Studios in New York City and produced by Tony Bongiovi and Tommy Ramone. The song featured Joey Ramone on vocals, Johnny Ramone on guitar, Dee Dee Ramone on bass, and Tommy Ramone on drums, delivering a performance that lasted just over a minute and a half but packed in relentless energy and biting satire. Though never released as a single, “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment” became one of the album’s most infamous cuts, reflecting the band’s ability to find absurdity in the bleakest corners of life.
Lyrically, “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment” presents insanity through the warped perspective of a narrator who views electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as a quick fix for his deteriorating mental state. Lines like “Heard about these treatments by a good friend of mine / He was always happy, smile on his face” drip with irony, suggesting an artificially induced happiness that masks deeper suffering. The repetition of “Happy-happy-happy all the time” reinforces the theme of forced conformity, echoing the way institutions often prioritized controlling behavior over true rehabilitation. In contrast to the desperation and fear found in Ozzy Osbourne’s “Patient Number 9,” which portrays the experience of psychiatric confinement from a much darker, more personal lens, The Ramones strip away any emotional depth in favor of punk’s signature detachment. Rather than dwelling on madness as a descent into horror, the song treats it like an absurd joke—one that ends before the listener has time to process its implications.
Musically, “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment” follows The Ramones’ signature formula of three-chord aggression, machine-gun drumming, and unrelenting speed. The breakneck pace reflects the song’s lyrical theme—there’s no room for contemplation, only the rapid-fire delivery of institutionalized insanity. This approach differs drastically from the theatrical, bombastic style of Oingo Boingo’s “Insanity,” which leans into elaborate orchestration and a slow-building tension. While both songs use insanity as a metaphor for societal control, The Ramones strip it to its barest essence, making the listener feel like they’re trapped in the same mechanical cycle as the song’s narrator.
As one of the many high-energy blasts from Leave Home, “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment” did not achieve the same level of recognition as some of The Ramones’ more widely known tracks, but it remains a perfect example of the band’s ability to deliver unsettling subject matter through humor and relentless pacing. While other songs in this list explore insanity with introspection or theatrical horror, The Ramones make it feel like an inescapable joke—one that hits just as hard decades after its release.
Few songs have captured the chaotic, spiraling thoughts of anxiety quite like “Basket Case.” Written by Billie Joe Armstrong about his struggles with panic disorder, the song transformed personal paranoia into a high-energy anthem of self-doubt and existential dread. Recorded for Dookie at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California, in late 1993, the track featured Armstrong on vocals and guitar, Mike Dirnt on bass, and Tré Cool on drums. Rob Cavallo, who produced the album, helped shape its clean yet aggressive sound, which would become a defining characteristic of the pop-punk explosion that followed. Released as the third single from Dookie on August 1, 1994, “Basket Case” propelled Green Day into mainstream consciousness, peaking at No. 1 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart and becoming one of the most recognizable punk songs of the decade.
Lyrically, “Basket Case” immerses the listener in the racing thoughts of someone questioning their own sanity. The opening lines—”Do you have the time to listen to me whine / About nothing and everything all at once?”—immediately establish the narrator’s frantic mental state, oscillating between self-awareness and emotional unraveling. Armstrong’s lyrics reference therapy, medication, and paranoia, with lines like “I think I’m cracking up / Am I just paranoid? Or am I just stoned?” blurring the line between genuine psychological distress and substance-induced confusion. Unlike the satirical take on institutional treatment in The Ramones’ “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment,” “Basket Case” conveys a more personal, internal struggle, making it a rawer and more relatable depiction of insanity.
Musically, the song’s relentless energy mirrors the turmoil in its lyrics. The rapid-fire power chords, shifting dynamics, and Armstrong’s urgent vocal delivery create a sense of nervous momentum, as if the song itself is trying to outrun its own anxiety. Compared to the theatrical horror of Oingo Boingo’s “Insanity,” which leans on elaborate orchestration and grandiosity, “Basket Case” is stripped-down, immediate, and punk-driven, using simplicity to amplify its emotional punch. The song’s enduring popularity, fueled by heavy rotation on MTV and its now-iconic video set in a mental institution, cemented its place as one of the defining songs of the 1990s.
“Basket Case” was instrumental in Green Day’s rise to fame, helping Dookie sell over 10 million copies in the U.S. and win the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1995. Its influence on pop-punk remains undeniable, as countless bands have since attempted to channel the same blend of humor, anxiety, and high-energy catharsis. Within the context of this article, “Basket Case” stands out as one of the most personal and relatable explorations of madness—less about external forces imposing insanity and more about the terrifying realization that one’s own mind may be the enemy.
Talking Heads explored paranoia and mental fragmentation with surgical precision in “Crosseyed and Painless.” Recorded for their fourth studio album, Remain in Light, the track was laid down at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, and Sigma Sound in New York City in 1980. The band collaborated closely with producer Brian Eno, who helped craft the album’s polyrhythmic, Afrobeat-inspired sound. The song featured David Byrne on vocals and guitar, Jerry Harrison on keyboards, Tina Weymouth on bass, and Chris Frantz on drums, alongside guest musicians such as Adrian Belew on guitar and Jon Hassell on trumpet. While “Crosseyed and Painless” was released as the album’s second single in the UK, it did not chart, though it became one of the band’s most acclaimed deep cuts, often performed live and featured in multiple retrospective collections.
Lyrically, “Crosseyed and Painless” is a disorienting descent into paranoia, detachment, and the futility of logic in a chaotic world. The opening verse—”Lost my shape / Trying to act casual / Can’t stop / I might end up in the hospital”—immediately throws the listener into a state of cognitive collapse. Byrne’s fragmented lyrics depict an unraveling mind struggling to grasp objective reality, culminating in the song’s mantra-like repetition of “Facts are simple and facts are straight / Facts are lazy and facts are late.” Unlike the raw, personal anxiety expressed in Green Day’s “Basket Case,” which captures the experience of panic from a first-person perspective, “Crosseyed and Painless” takes a broader approach, examining the dissolution of truth itself. The song mirrors the way madness can manifest as an inability to trust one’s own perception, reducing existence to a meaningless collection of disconnected facts.
Musically, the track is built around a relentless groove, with the influence of Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat evident in the layered percussion, hypnotic bassline, and interlocking guitar rhythms. Byrne’s delivery grows increasingly frantic as the song progresses, matching the lyrical theme of a mind spiraling out of control. Compared to the aggressive, two-minute bursts of punk energy in The Ramones’ “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment,” Talking Heads stretch their exploration of insanity over six and a half minutes, using repetition and sonic tension to simulate an extended psychological breakdown. The track’s frantic energy also contrasts with the calculated theatricality of Oingo Boingo’s “Insanity,” which leans more into performance-driven horror. In “Crosseyed and Painless,” the breakdown isn’t just a theme—it’s embedded into the song’s very structure.
Though Remain in Light was not initially a major commercial success, it became one of Talking Heads’ most celebrated albums, often cited as a groundbreaking fusion of new wave, funk, and world music. “Crosseyed and Painless” remains a critical part of that legacy, embodying the band’s ability to turn existential dread into something danceable. Within the context of this article, the song stands out for its cerebral approach to insanity, framing it not as a moment of emotional collapse but as an intellectual and sensory overload where logic itself ceases to function.
Metallica explored psychological torment and loss of control with relentless force in “Sad but True.” Recorded for Metallica (commonly known as The Black Album), the song was tracked between October 1990 and June 1991 at One on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Produced by Bob Rock alongside the band, the track showcased Metallica’s shift toward a slower, heavier sound that emphasized groove over speed. The lineup featured James Hetfield on vocals and rhythm guitar, Kirk Hammett on lead guitar, Jason Newsted on bass, and Lars Ulrich on drums. Released as the album’s fifth single on February 8, 1993, “Sad but True” became one of Metallica’s signature tracks, demonstrating their ability to convey psychological horror through crushing riffs and menacing lyrics.
Lyrically, “Sad but True” presents an unsettling dialogue between an individual and an oppressive, controlling force. The song’s opening lines—”Hey, I’m your life / I’m the one who takes you there”—immediately introduce a sinister presence that manipulates the narrator’s every move. As the verses progress, this entity asserts dominance, coercing the narrator into submission: “Do my work / Do my dirty work, scapegoat.” The ambiguity of the lyrics leaves room for multiple interpretations, with many listeners reading the song as an exploration of addiction, self-destruction, or an internal battle with one’s darker impulses. Unlike the detached, observational approach of Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless,” which examines insanity through fragmented thoughts, “Sad but True” places the listener inside a personal struggle for control, where the line between victim and perpetrator dissolves.
Musically, the song’s slow, punishing tempo enhances its sense of inescapable doom. The main riff, tuned down a whole step for extra weight, is one of Metallica’s heaviest, creating a suffocating atmosphere that mirrors the lyrics’ themes of manipulation and psychological imprisonment. Compared to the frantic paranoia of Green Day’s “Basket Case,” which portrays anxiety as a fast-paced, spiraling experience, “Sad but True” depicts insanity as a slow, crushing force that erodes free will over time. The song’s relentless groove, combined with Hetfield’s commanding vocal delivery, makes the listener feel trapped in a cycle of submission—unable to resist the force that controls them.
Though Metallica was a stylistic departure from the band’s thrash roots, “Sad but True” became a defining moment in their career, reinforcing their dominance in heavy metal. The song has remained a staple of their live performances, often accompanied by its ominous, stadium-shaking riff that underscores its lasting impact. In the context of this article, “Sad but True” stands out for its depiction of madness as an external force invading the mind, offering a chilling contrast to other songs that frame insanity as an internal collapse.
Pink Floyd composed “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” as a sprawling, nine-part suite that served as both a tribute and a lament for their former bandmate, Syd Barrett. Recorded between January and July 1975 at Abbey Road Studios in London, the song bookended Wish You Were Here, with Parts I-V opening the album and Parts VI-IX concluding it. Produced by the band and engineered by Brian Humphries, the recording featured David Gilmour on vocals and guitar, Roger Waters on bass and vocals, Richard Wright on keyboards, and Nick Mason on drums. The track’s ethereal introduction, featuring Wright’s sustained synthesizer chords and Gilmour’s weeping guitar, set a haunting tone, mirroring the themes of Barrett’s mental decline. Though never released as a single, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” became one of Pink Floyd’s most celebrated compositions, deeply intertwined with the band’s history and Barrett’s tragic descent into madness.
Lyrically, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” portrays insanity through the lens of loss and remembrance. The opening lines—”Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun”—recall Barrett’s early brilliance, only to contrast it with later verses that describe his mental collapse: “Now there’s a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.” The lyrics present Barrett as a “target for faraway laughter” and a “seer of visions,” depicting both his creative genius and his eventual detachment from reality. Unlike the internal panic of Green Day’s “Basket Case” or the external manipulation in Metallica’s “Sad but True,” “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” approaches insanity from a distance, observing it as an irreversible transformation rather than an immediate personal struggle. The imagery of childhood dreams colliding with the pressures of fame suggests that Barrett’s madness was not solely an internal affliction but something exacerbated by the industry and those around him.
Musically, the song’s structure reinforces its themes of disconnection and fading identity. The extended instrumental passages, particularly Gilmour’s melancholic guitar solos, evoke a sense of longing, as if reaching out for someone who has already drifted away. The track’s gradual build from a single sustained note to a full orchestration of guitars, keyboards, and saxophone mimics the slow unraveling of Barrett’s mind. Compared to the frantic, looping paranoia of Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless,” which disorients the listener through jittery rhythms and fragmented thoughts, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” is meditative, allowing its sorrow to unfold over twenty-six minutes. The song doesn’t just describe insanity—it lingers in it, stretching time in a way that makes the listener feel the weight of its subject’s absence.
“Shine On You Crazy Diamond” remains one of the most emotionally powerful explorations of mental decline in rock history. As Wish You Were Here became one of Pink Floyd’s most acclaimed albums, the song’s significance only deepened, forever linking Barrett’s legacy to the band’s mythology. In the context of this article, the track stands apart for its perspective—it is not about the experience of madness itself, but about those left behind, watching someone disappear into it.
Queen took an unusual approach to the theme of insanity with “I’m Going Slightly Mad,” blending surrealist humor with an underlying sense of melancholy. The song was recorded for Innuendo, the band’s fourteenth studio album, at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, and Metropolis Studios in London between early 1990 and November of that year. Produced by the band and David Richards, the track featured Freddie Mercury on lead vocals, Brian May on guitar, John Deacon on bass, and Roger Taylor on drums. Released as the second single from Innuendo on March 4, 1991, “I’m Going Slightly Mad” stood out for its theatrical delivery, marked by Mercury’s deliberately exaggerated vocal performance and the song’s cabaret-like arrangement.
Lyrically, “I’m Going Slightly Mad” presents madness through absurdist wordplay and whimsical imagery, masking a darker subtext beneath its playful exterior. The verses introduce a narrator slipping into insanity with lines like “One thousand and one yellow daffodils begin to dance in front of you” and “I think I’m a banana tree,” using nonsensical statements to illustrate a detachment from reality. As the song progresses, the humor gives way to a deeper sense of unease, reinforced by phrases such as “You’re missing that one final screw” and “Unraveling fast, it’s true.” Compared to the anxious spirals of Green Day’s “Basket Case,” which conveys paranoia and self-doubt with rapid-fire delivery, Queen’s song leans into a more theatrical, detached portrayal of insanity—one where the absurd becomes unsettling.
Musically, the song’s slow, lurching rhythm and atmospheric keyboard layers create an eerie, dreamlike quality. The descending chord progressions contribute to the sensation of gradual mental deterioration, while Mercury’s vocal phrasing adds to the song’s eerie charm. This contrasts with the crushing heaviness of Metallica’s “Sad but True,” which depicts madness as an external force controlling the narrator’s actions. In “I’m Going Slightly Mad,” insanity is presented as something almost self-inflicted—an inevitability that arrives not with terror, but with a resigned smirk.
The song’s music video further emphasized its surrealist qualities, featuring the band dressed in exaggerated, gothic-inspired costumes and engaging in absurd antics. Despite its humor, “I’m Going Slightly Mad” was deeply significant within the context of Innuendo, as it was one of the last songs Mercury recorded before his death later that year. The song’s playful facade took on a bittersweet quality in hindsight, making it one of Queen’s most unique explorations of psychological unraveling. Within this list, it remains one of the most theatrical and darkly comedic representations of insanity, proving that madness can be just as unsettling when delivered with a smile.
Alice Cooper, originally the name of the band before Vincent Furnier adopted it as his stage name, delivered one of rock’s most unsettling depictions of madness with “Ballad of Dwight Fry.” Recorded for Love It to Death, the band’s third studio album, the track was laid down in 1970 at RCA Mid-American Recording in Chicago and produced by Bob Ezrin. The lineup for the recording featured Vincent Furnier (Alice Cooper) on vocals, Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce on guitars, Dennis Dunaway on bass, and Neal Smith on drums. “Ballad of Dwight Fry” was never released as a single, but it became one of the band’s most defining compositions, frequently performed live with theatrical flair, reinforcing its disturbing themes of psychological decay and institutional confinement.
The song’s lyrics unravel the mental breakdown of a man confined to an asylum, blending first-person desperation with horror-inspired imagery. The unsettling opening—featuring a child’s voice asking, “Mommy, where’s daddy? He’s been gone for so long”—immediately frames the protagonist’s absence as something tragic and mysterious. From there, the narrator details his deteriorating state: “Held up in the intensive care ward / Lyin’ on the floor,” conveying a sense of isolation and helplessness. As his condition worsens, he fixates on escaping, chanting, “I wanna get outta here!” in an increasingly frantic tone. Unlike the fast-paced neurosis of Green Day’s “Basket Case,” which uses punk energy to capture the feeling of spiraling anxiety, “Ballad of Dwight Fry” takes a slow-burning approach, portraying madness as a drawn-out descent into delusion and despair. The song’s title references Dwight Frye, a classic horror actor known for playing mentally unstable characters in Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931), further solidifying its connection to themes of insanity.
Musically, the song transitions between eerie acoustic sections and explosive bursts of hard rock, mirroring the protagonist’s unstable mental state. The whispered vocals and creeping instrumentation in the verses create a sense of dread before the song erupts into distorted guitars and raw, unhinged screams. This dynamic shift sets it apart from the crushing heaviness of Metallica’s “Sad but True,” which presents insanity as an external force, whereas “Ballad of Dwight Fry” places the listener inside the mind of someone losing their grip on reality. Compared to the detached, satirical approach of Queen’s “I’m Going Slightly Mad,” Alice Cooper’s song leans into theatrical horror, making the descent into madness feel suffocating and inescapable.
As the closing entry in this article, “Ballad of Dwight Fry” serves as a fitting final statement on the theme of insanity in rock music. Its theatrical storytelling, psychological torment, and macabre delivery encapsulate the raw fear of losing one’s mind, making it one of the most compelling depictions of madness ever recorded. Over five decades later, it remains a haunting fixture in Alice Cooper’s catalog and a chilling example of how music can bring the horrors of insanity to life.
The ultimate song about Insanity that stands all on its own
“They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” – Napoleon XIV
Napoleon XIV delivered one of the most unsettling novelty hits of all time with “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” Released on July 4, 1966, the song was recorded at Associated Recording Studios in New York City and produced by its creator, Jerry Samuels. Using only drums, tambourines, and sound effects, Samuels manipulated tape speed to create the song’s unhinged vocal delivery, amplifying its demented tone. The track quickly climbed the charts, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 in the UK, but its success was short-lived—many radio stations pulled the song after backlash from mental health advocacy groups, who criticized its portrayal of insanity.
Lyrically, “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” presents madness as an escalating monologue, delivered by a narrator who is rapidly unraveling. The song begins with a seemingly standard breakup lament: “Remember when you ran away and I got on my knees and begged you not to leave because I’d go berserk?” From there, the narrator’s grief twists into mania, culminating in the repeated, manic chant of “They’re coming to take me away, ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee!” The lyrics depict a complete mental collapse, where reality and delusion blur, and the protagonist finds himself being institutionalized against his will. Unlike the theatrical horror of Alice Cooper’s “Ballad of Dwight Fry,” which tells the story of an asylum inmate desperately trying to escape, Napoleon XIV’s song unfolds like a slow-motion breakdown, where the protagonist fully embraces his own descent into madness. The repetition, combined with the progressively warped vocal effects, mirrors the disorientation of losing one’s grip on reality.
Musically, the song’s sparse instrumentation relies on rhythm and vocal manipulation rather than melody, making it unlike anything else in this article. The song’s structure is intentionally monotonous, reinforcing the theme of obsession and insanity. Compared to the dark humor of Queen’s “I’m Going Slightly Mad,” which masks its bleakness with surreal wordplay, “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” is far more direct, using absurdity as a weapon to unsettle the listener. While Green Day’s “Basket Case” channels its narrator’s anxiety through high-energy punk, Napoleon XIV strips everything down to a hypnotic, percussive chant that leaves the listener trapped inside the mind of the song’s unraveling protagonist.
As a bonus track in this article, “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” belongs in its own category. While other songs on this list explore insanity through introspective lyrics, shifting melodies, or dramatic storytelling, this track embraces madness in its purest form, both sonically and thematically. Its initial chart success and subsequent controversy only reinforced its disturbing nature, making it one of the most infamous novelty songs ever recorded. Over five decades later, it remains an eerie, unforgettable depiction of psychological collapse—one that listeners either find hilarious or completely terrifying.
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Rick Springfield landed his first and only No. 1 single with “Jessie’s Girl” in the summer of 1981. While some artists have said they had no idea they were about to have major success, the Australian singer-songwriter fortunately had a different viewpoint.
“I always thought every song I wrote is going to be a hit,” he shares in a new interview on the UCR Podcast. “You have to think that, otherwise, I won’t finish the song. If I think [something] is album filler, I won’t finish it. Back then, I was certainly writing songs that I would love to hear on the radio.”
He credits his tireless work ethic, even then, as something that contributed in a helpful way to the vision he had for his music. “I love to write and play,” he says. “I would have a commercial element [in the things I was writing], but I thought there were way better songs on Working Class Dog than ‘Jessie’s Girl.'”
Springfield was in the process of going over material for the album that became 1981’s Working Class Dog. It was his manager, Joe Gottfried, who also owned Sound City, the legendary studio where he was recording, that suggested perhaps he should look to work with producer Keith Olsen (Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Fleetwood Mac) on a couple of songs. The pair had a bit of history, as Olsen had done some production work on Springfield’s Beginnings album, which was released in 1972.
The Origins of ‘Jessie’s Girl’
“He listened to all of my demos. I do very thorough demos and back then, I was using cushions for drums,” Springfield recalls now. “I had an old bass that I got for 20 bucks from a pawn shop. It all fit into the Teac four-track [recorder] that was kind of standard for home songwriters. I had 10 songs that I was really happy with. I went to Keith’s house and played them and he listened to them all and picked ‘Jessie’s Girl,’ I go, ‘Why?’ I thought there were much more commercial songs on there. But he was right and you can’t fault that.”
Watch Rick Springfield’s Video For ‘Jessie’s Girl’
The guitarist had written the song near the end of the ’70s and when he eventually recorded it with Olsen, the producer made some changes. “There was a big long solo in the middle of the song on the demo. I’d vamp on A and play a two-minute solo,” he says now. “As Keith was listening to it, he was making a cutting motion. So I learned from him to be very concise in my writing. That’s probably the main thing I learned from him. You know, make it short and sweet and hit the good spots and leave the stuff that people are going to start yawning about out. I’ve tried to follow that all along with my career.”
Springfield will be back on the road this summer, headlining a bill that also includes John Waite, Wang Chung, Paul Young and John Cafferty. The concerts will showcase music from his newest record, Big Hits: Rick Springfield’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, which highlights some of the best material from the albums he’s released in the past 25 years. The collection features several songs that are previously unreleased or hard to find, including a new song, “Lose Myself.”
He also went back and recorded a new version of “Jessie’s Girl” to include on Big Hits and admits that it was an adventure revisiting what he’d done at the beginning of the ’80s on the original version. “The initial guitar sound was a tough one to [replicate],” he shares. “Because it was two amps — two old Marshalls with an Eventide between them. So you’d lower the pitch of one and it created this really unique sound. As soon as you hear the riff on the radio, you recognize that sound. Matching that was pretty tough.”
Listen to Rick Springfield on the ‘UCR Podcast’
Totally ’80s: The Pictures That Take You Back
Take a nostalgic journey through the ’80s with these iconic photos—capturing the fashion, toys, and unforgettable news events that left a lasting impact on a generation. Keep scrolling to relive the moments that defined the decade.
Metal Hammer has teamed with Killswitch Engage for an exclusive bundle, celebrating the release of the metalcore greats’ new album This Consequence.
Only through the Louder webstore, you can get your hands on a variant of the latest issue of Hammer that features Killswitch on the cover. The magazine also comes with a t-shirt you can’t buy anywhere else and has a comprehensive interview with frontman Jesse Leach inside. Buy yours now while stocks last.
Inside, Leach talks openly about growing up in a religious household, the rise of Killswitch, his sudden 2002 exit, and his return to the band 10 years later.
(Image credit: Future)
Getting candid about why he left the band via email, with Howard Jones quickly taking his place, he says: “Back then, I was a very insecure, social anxiety-ridden kid, who didn’t have a total handle on my art. I started to get depressed. My anxiety was crippling me.
“I would hide out before the show, play the set, hide out after, not be sociable, not have fun, and that just started wearing thin on me. I felt very alone, I was having a rough time with my voice and my mental health. I became pretty much suicidal. I had the wherewithal at least to bail and get out of there.”
He goes on to talk about how now balances his mental health with his position singing in a prominent metal band. “You learn how to live with it,” he explains. “You exercise certain techniques and thought patterns, and there’s so many things you can do to sort of live with mental disorders. If I’m going through a bout of depression, I can write some pretty intense stuff.”
The new Hammer also comes with an in-depth review of This Consequence, which comes out on Friday (February 21) and marks Killswitch’s first album since Atonement came out six years ago. Journalist Stephen Hill offers a glowing eight-out-of-10 write-up, saying, “This Consequence sees [Killswitch] roaring back to classic form, possibly even heavier, just as emotionally raw, and still leaders of the metalcore pack.”
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