Album songs：
Album Intro：
The rock and roll that takes on Tyler Read's name comes in gigantic, guitar drenched doses and has been simmering in the backyard of five Louisiana natives for the last three years. On their debut album Only Rock and Roll Can Save Us, in stores April 17, the band's sound boils over into eleven tracks of fast paced rock spiked with soaring back up vocals, frantic guitar solos and contagious melodies. Songs like rambunctious opener 'The Killer' and the explosive 'Intentions' with its two-ton guitar chords beg the question: what did it take to make Tyler Read?
As it turns out, before the band officially formed in the summer of 2003, its members were mostly split between two different Louisiana acts. Jordan Johnson was playing in a group called Agent Yellow while Brent Skinner and Chris McPeters belonged to an outfit known as Rivers Indiana. Tyler Read was created when these two bands collided, but the music started out at only half strength. Jordan's brother Josh signed on and the duo hit it off with Skinner, but they missed out on the opportunity to play with McPeters. As the boys developed their sound and solidified their artistic ambitions, members traded instruments, Josh assumed the role of lead vocalist, and Chris Rimmer was brought in on the bass. Finally, old friends became new band mates as McPeters resurfaced and contributed his guitar playing to the line-up.
With all the missing pieces put together and plugged in, Tyler Read made quick work of their anonymity and in a matter of months attracted attention from fans across the country as well as numerous record labels. The band narrowly missed an opportunity to be signed in early 2005, and came away from the experience not shaken, but stirred into action, going on to perform 130 shows before the New Year, all the while honing their craft. Sharpened musicianship, an evolving stage presence, and a batch of brand new songs launched Tyler Read into 2006, strengthening their performances opening for Fall Out Boy and The Working Title in front of a thousand fans, and finally leading them to Los Angeles, where they signed with Immortal Records.
When the rough mix of their new album showed up four months later, intense interest in songs like the dark, danceable 'Michael Jackson' and the title track with its Jekyll and Hyde transformation from verse to chorus begged a different question: what does it take to feed Tyler Read? An interview was scheduled for lunch time, and in between bites of Kentucky Fried Chicken, the band revisited their recent past and told the story of recording Only Rock and Roll Can Save Us.
Tracking was set to begin in July, and Tyler Read's increasingly Herculean touring habits served to bolster the band's confidence in their material and their moxie. However, one variable still remained, namely Michael 'Elvis' Baskette, the record's slated producer. The band had only a week of pre-production in Louisiana to get to know Baskette before getting started on the album, but fortunately, as Josh puts it, 'He was family by the end of the first day.' Soon afterwards they reconvened at a studio in Virginia Beach, where Baskette's instant chemistry with the members of Tyler Read resulted in a no-holds barred approach to every single song the band brought with them.
'Every idea we had, no matter how outrageous, Elvis made us record it,' Jordan explained. 'Everything we heard in our heads we got to hear on tape too.'
Cultivation of Tyler Read's bombast resulted in songs like 'All You Need is Love, But...', relentless rock shuffling between chugging guitar lines and ska beats, and 'Private School Girls', anchored by its spacey opening riff and choir-belted hook. The musical dialogue between producer and performer continued to evolve as, in response to 'A Litmus Test', which McPeters remembers as the band's 'most ambitious' tune. Baskette declared 'I'm not afraid of that song.' Josh's vocals were double-tracked and distorted, Brent encased the verse in keyboards, and out came the record's most atmospheric and dynamic track.
Excitement over the nearly finished product served as a spectacular source of momentum, and as the sessions in Virginia Beach rushed towards their conclusion, Tyler Read was faced with the task of attaching a title to their LP. In the months leading up to their six week stint with Baskette, McPeters spent days listening to Queen records, Jordan surrounded himself in Dave Grohl's drumming, Josh focused on Mick Jagger's growling vocal style, and the whole band, in the midst of culling their influences, began to consider these older acts as distant cousins of the current rock scene.
'It seems to us that these days rock is the underdog,' Josh said, 'Most other genres are flourishing and there's a lot of pressure to mix and match sounds.' Out of the band's concern over rock's dilution and reconstitution came the decision to name the album after their half-anthem half-head banger Only Rock and Roll Can Save Us. 'There's plenty we wanted to say with the album,' Josh continued, 'but the one thing we wanted to do was get rock and roll back on top.'
The band's retelling ended here, and they quickly finished up their lunch to get back to what they've been doing since they finished the album, previewing the new songs all over the country, headlining back in Louisiana and touring alongside such bands as June, Sullivan, and Showbread. Before they walked out the door, they explained what kind of audience they expected.
'I think `all ages show' is a pretty appropriate term,' Brent said, 'We see dads bring their daughters and dig us just the same.'
With their plan for resurrecting rock and roll focused into a full length album, Tyler Read's ready to take their blend of staggering guitar licks, adventurous songwriting and earth-shaking vocals to as many people as possible. Their ambitions beg the final question: what will it take to break Tyler Read? Only Rock and Roll Can Save Us speaks for itself.
1. The Killer
2. Intentions
3. Michael Jackson
4. Only Rock & Roll Can Save Us Now
5. All You Need Is Love, But
6. A Litmus Test
7. Baby's Got A Temper
8. Fire Away
9. Private School Girls
10. Get Ready
11. Heaven
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