Billy Talent first came together during a high school talent contest, in their home town of Streetsville, Ontario, Canada, in 1993. At the time, they were members of several different bands that played that night but the four decided to forge their own path: Benjamin Kowalewicz (vocals), Ian D’Sa (guitar), Jon Gallant (bass), and Aaron Solowoniuk (drums). Originally called Pezz (adding an extra ‘z’ to the name of the Austrian peppermint sweet?) and having already released an album called ‘Watoosh!’ (in 1999), the group were forced to change their moniker after a US band with the same name took legal action.
The fictional guitar player ‘Billy Talent’ in ‘Hard Core Logo’
The band re-named themselves ‘Billy Talent’, after the fictional guitar player in ‘Hard Core Logo’, one of their favourite films – A ‘mockumentary’ from 1996, adapted by Noel Baker from the novel of the same name by author Michael Turner, about “A group of washed-up Canadian punk rockers” who “get back together for a road trip in memory of a dear friend who was supposedly shot, or so rumors imply. As they travel, they ignore the underlying psychological darkness within each other.” The once-popular punk band in the film, Hard Core Logo, comprises lead singer Joe Dick (Hugh Dillon), fame-tempted guitarist Billy Tallent (Callum Keith Rennie), schizophrenic bass player John Oxenberger (John Pyper-Ferguson), and drummer Pipefitter (Bernie Coulson).
The band’s sound was developed on the first two Billy Talent albums, both of which have a punky, new wave-influenced sound, with choppy guitar riffs, some screaming from Kowalewicz, ‘shouty’ backing vocals from D’Sa and harmonic backing vocals from Gallant. Tracks like ‘Try Honesty’ and ‘River Below’ (from ‘Billy Talent’ 2003), ‘Devil In A Midnight Mass’ and ‘Fallen Leaves’ (from ‘Billy Talent II’ 2006) illustrate this progression and could be considered part of the ‘Emo’ (emotional rock), movement. Billy Talent were also interested in exploring the darker side of life in their lyrics: According to ‘The Encyclopedia of Popular Music’ by Colin Larkin, ‘Standing In The Rain’ explores the memories of a heroin addicted prostitute and ‘How It Goes’ is told from the perspective of someone living with Multiple Sclerosis.
Their third album, cunningly titled ‘Billy Talent III’, stepped up a gear and is definitely a full-blown hard rock classic. The band engaged top producer Brendan O’Brien, who had worked with such giants as Bruce Springsteen (‘Devils And Dust’ and ‘The Rising’), Rage Against The Machine (‘Evil Empire’ and ‘The Battle Of Los Angeles’) and Neil Young (‘Mirror Ball’). Billy Talent III was recorded in no less than three locations: Henson Recording Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern Tracks/Silent Recording, Atlanta, Georgia, USA and The Orange Lounge Studios, Toronto , Ontario, Canada. It was mixed by Brendan O’Brien in his home town of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The album had no fewer than four release dates – July 10, 2009 in Europe, July 13 in the United Kingdom, July 14 in Canada, and September 22 in the USA. It got to number one and won awards in their Canadian homeland but, unfortunately, wasn’t as successful as it should have been in the USA and elsewhere.
Opening track ‘Devil On My Shoulder’ starts with a lively guitar riff before the drums and bass thunder in…Ben Kowalewicz sets the lyrical tone for the album:
”As I get closer my dreams get farther
I climb the ladder, but you kick it over
Thirsty for water, you gave me vinegar
When I drink your medicine, it just makes me sicker.”
Plenty of animosity there and the pre-chorus lines add to it:
”I dug a hole so deep, I’m gonna drown in my mistakes
Can’t ever sell my soul, cause it ain’t worth shit to take.”
All sense of self worth seems to be gone as Kowalewicz rocks the chorus with D’Sa providing ‘call and response’ backing vocals:
”I’ve got the devil on my shoulder…over and over
And I just can’t sink any lower…lower and lower”
The song is a full-on assault with the band giving their all and O’Brien’s brilliant production making the most of their exciting live dynamic, but the lyrics scream desperation:
”I beg for mercy, from my infernal friend
The one that drives nails, into my coffin.”
’We Sold Our Soul For Rock’n’Roll’? Indeed!
Having had that initial onslaught, the listener is left a little overwhelmed…Guitar and vocals introduce ‘Rusted From The Rain’, one of five singles taken from the album, with more downbeat sentiment:
”I stumble through the wreckage, rusted from the rain
There’s nothing left to salvage, no one left to blame
Among the broken mirrors, I don’t look the same
I’m rusted from the rain, I’m rusted from the rain.”
Ba-ba-bam-bam, Ba-ba-bam-bam, Ba-ba-bam-bam-bam! The full force of the band then some space for Ben’s double-tracked vocals as the chords ring out…Kowalewicz sees himself as the unfortunate metallic from ‘The Wizard Of Oz’:
”Dissect me til my blood runs down into the drain
My bitter heart is pumping oil into my veins
I’m nothing but a tin man, don’t feel any pain…”
It’s easy to appreciate why this song was an MTV video favourite and a popular single that struck a chord with the disillusioned in both youth and older audiences – as bands like Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins had done, it fuses catchy melodies and arrangements with driving rock riffs and downbeat, hangdog lyrics:
”You hung me like a picture, now I’m just a frame
I used to be your lapdog, now I’m just a stray”
More self-deprecation:
”And if I’m the king of cowards, you’re the queen of pain.”
Then Kowalewicz offers hope of halting the corrosion in the final passage:
”Oh the sun will shine again…”
However, that hope is short-lived, as the band start the harrowing story of ‘Saint Veronika’, prefaced by a clever flowing riff on the lower two guitar strings:
”They found an empty bottle on her window sill
The day her mother lost her sleeping pills
She was sick and tired of being invisible
It’s hard to see in colour when you’re miserable…”
In the song, the whole band are behind Veronika, hoping she won’t “leave this world behind..” – “Saint Veronika, it’s just not your time to die.”
’Tears Into Wine’ has a punk attitude and feel to it, complemented by another killer riff. Ben is angry about a friend’s addiction:
”The gun is loaded when the glass is full
Down the hatch and the trigger’s pulled
Off the wagon and back on to the stool
I know that when I stare into your eyes
I can see through all the years of lies.
Ghosts and demons you never exorcised”
It’s so poetically worded – temptation to return to the demon drink – ‘Off the wagon and back on to the stool’…The singer doesn’t really want his friend to leave but if they do “That’s alright, Well, I’ll just turn these tears into wine.” Ironic, given the alcohol addiction in verse one…or a reference to Jesus’ ability to change water into fermented grape juice?
’White Sparrows’ ends Side A (according to the ‘Guitar Villain’ tabs poster split, but the vinyl issue finishes the first side with ‘Pocketful Of Dreams’), another tale of misery and pain. Kowalewicz mourns the loss of his nearest – ”I wish I was getting old with you” – then reminisces about when “She laughed as we picked out our children’s names”. We find out the story behind the album cover graphics as:
”White sparrows fell from heaven and carried her away
Black arrows cut the strings of my heart
I kneel and pray.”
Could it get any darker? Well…Yes:
”I hold your casket, gently walk you to the grave
Dark clouds eclipse the sun won’t shine again…”
Whew, about half way through the album now and already emotionally drained, but what a rockin’ rollercoaster ride!
Billy Talent – clockwise: Ian D’Sa (guitar), Aaron Solowoniuk (drums), Benjamin Kowalewicz (vocals) and Jon Gallant (bass)
’Pocketful Of Dreams begins the virtual Side B with an anti-materialism plea – ”So throw all your luxuries aside. You can’t take them with you when you die”, followed by ‘The Dead Can’t Testify’, about a witch hunt – The storyteller is marched “down to the centre of town” by a crowd with “pitchforks high in the air”, is hung from the gallows pole (visiting the ghosts of Leadbelly and Led Zeppelin) and ends up “six feet underground…”
’Diamond On A Landmine’ is a song about rejection as Kowalewicz tries to win back a lover who has spurned him, with a dozen roses left on the floor as “she blocked my number from her cell phone”. In contrast, ‘Turn Your Back’ (another single, remixed with Anti-Flag) is an optimistic appeal to humanity not to turn our back on those in need, a somewhat incongruous lyric in amongst the other tales of a much more personal angst perhaps, but musically consistent. The song couldn’t be more idealistic: ”I hope some day…when I’m dead and gone…We learned to right…everything that is wrong.”
The paranoia of ‘Sudden Movements’ is my favourite in the second part of the album, the band locked into a hypnotic groove at a pace dropped from some of the earlier freneticism:
”Well I’m scared of my reflection, is it mine or is it yours?
And I swear I hear them knocking, but there’s no one at the door
Don’t think I’m losing my perspective, cause I know one thing for sure
They’ve been watching, they’ve been listening
Every whisper every word.”
It feels like a siege as the singer emplores “no sudden movements” or “they’ll blow us all away.” He doesn’t even trust who he’s hiding with:
”Terrified by information, who’s the black sheep of the herd?
I am the guardian of angels, and they’ll get what the deserve
So lock your children in the basement, keep a rifle by the door
Don’t be afraid of my intentions
Cause I’m more afraid of yours”
Pure poetry…
’Definition Of Destiny’ is the full stop at the end of the last sentence in the closing chapter of Billy Talent III, but also a question mark lyrically (“the future’s unknown”) and with much world-weary reflection about where we’ve been – “Punch the clock ‘til we’re old”…”When did all our childhood dreams begin to disappear”…but the writer is clear that he/she is no sheep:
”So get off my road
No I won’t be told
Cause I got my own…Definition of destiny.”
It’s a fitting philosophical end to an album brimming with emotion, soul-searching and full-on rock‘n’roll adrenaline!
“Play guitar along with Billy Talent III”!
The ‘Guitar Villain’ edition contains a second disc with mixes of all the songs without the guitar parts and two posters of the guitar tablature, enabling the studious, guitar-picking fans to play along with the band. All the songs are in ‘Drop D Tuning’, favoured by Ian D Sa and a trademark of many ‘modern rock’ songs, including those by the Foo Fighters and Nirvana, having been utilised by ‘classic rock’ luminaries such as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac. Disc two also features demo versions of ‘Tears Into Wine’, ‘White Sparrows’, ‘Pocketful Of Dreams’ and ‘Turn Your Back’.
The band toured extensively in 2009 to support ‘Billy Talent III’ and I was fortunate enough to see them at the much-respected Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow:
Friday 23rd October 2009, Barrowland, Glasgow
support: Canterbury and Cancer Bats
Setlist:
Devil in a Midnight Mass
This Suffering
Line & Sinker
Rusted from the Rain
Saint Veronika
White Sparrows
Surrender
Diamond on a Landmine
River Below
The Dead Can’t Testify
The Ex
Devil on My Shoulder
This Is How It Goes
Turn Your Back
Try Honesty
Encore:
Fallen Leaves
Red Flag
Eddie's Rock Music A-Z 