Their first album, Short Bus, was released in 1995. The album was commercially successful, and included the hit single "Hey Man, Nice Shot". The song was somewhat controversial, as it was seen as capitalizing on the public suicide of Budd Dwyer. Kurt Cobain's suicide was widely rumored to have inspired the song, but the band refuted this. In need of a live band to tour the album, Patrick and Liesegang recruited Geno Lenardo on guitar, Frank Cavanagh on bass, and Matt Walker on drums. They would all later be featured in the video for the album's second single, "Dose".
Between Filter's first and second albums, the band became known for their soundtrack contributions, The first of these tracks, "Thanks Bro", landed on the Songs In The Key Of X: Music From And Inspired By The X-Files album. In 1996, Filter recorded and filmed the video for the song "Jurassitol", for The Crow: City of Angels soundtrack. They also released the home video Phenomenology in 1996, which showcased some of the band's live performances and music videos, as well as an interview with Patrick and Liesegang filmed in New Mexico.
Liesegang left in 1997 shortly after recording the Filter/The Crystal Method collaboration "(Can't You) Trip Like I Do" for the Spawn movie soundtrack, due to creative differences with Patrick. In 1998, for the X-Files film soundtrack, Patrick decided to keep the Filter name and recorded a cover of Harry Nilsson's "One".
Patrick continued with 1999's Title of Record with returning members Lenardo and Cavanagh, as well as Steve Gillis on drums, filling in the gap left by Walker after he left to work with The Smashing Pumpkins. Title of Record moved away from industrial rock somewhat, and resulted in the band's biggest hit, the mellow ballad "Take a Picture", along with other lesser-heard singles "Welcome to the Fold" and "The Best Things". The song "Take a Picture" is about a dispute on an aircraft, when Richard Patrick drunkenly stripped down to his boxers, alarming the other passengers.
The song "Captain Bligh" (after Vice-Admiral William Bligh of the HMS Bounty) was written by Patrick after leaving Nine Inch Nails and was about Trent Reznor's notoriously anti-social habits. "Miss Blue" is said to have been about Smashing Pumpkins bassist D'arcy Wretzky. She can be heard on the songs "Cancer", and "Take A Picture".
2002 saw the release of The Amalgamut, featuring the singles "Where Do We Go from Here?" and "American Cliché". "The Only Way (Is the Wrong Way)" was also featured in the first wave of Hummer2 commercials that year and in the 2003 movie Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. Alan Bailey was recruited for live guitar when they set off to tour the album; however, the tour ended abruptly in a matter of weeks when Richard Patrick voluntarily checked himself into rehab. He has since tattooed his date of sobriety, September 28, 2002, on his forearm.
Richard Patrick was part of the supergroup The Damning Well, which has only released one track on the Underworld movie soundtrack in 2003, despite an entire album's worth of recording. While nothing has directly surfaced, it is rumored that some of the material from these sessions have been an influence or has been reworked in Filter's 2008 release Anthems for the Damned and Black Light Burn's first album Cruel Melody, due to the fact that Wes Borland was the guitarist of both The Damning Well and Black Light Burns.
Army of Anyone, a second supergroup side-project with drummer Ray Luzier and Stone Temple Pilots members Robert and Dean DeLeo, released its debut album on November 14, 2006. Low album sales, coupled with Richard Patrick's desire to do more work with Filter, led the band's break-up around mid-2007.
As Army of Anyone wound down, Patrick began working on material for a new Filter album, to eventually be titled Anthems for the Damned. Released to the public in May 2008, it was more serious in tone than some expected and expressed more of his mixed emotions regarding the state of the world and the state of his life.
On March 7, 2008, it was announced that Frank Cavanagh had reunited with Filter and would play as a live member at the Operation MySpace concert in Kuwait. It was confirmed at Operation MySpace that he would not be joining Filter on the full tour as he would be shipping off to Iraq in April. The only song played live during the March 10 performance by Cavanagh, now a Sergeant and Paralegal in the U.S. Army Reserve, was the band's first mainstream hit, "Hey, Man, Nice Shot".
Patrick also announced a remix album to Anthems For the Damned on November 4, titled Remixes For the Damned. Remixes For the Damned was released on November 21, 2008 in the U.S. and Canada, and internationally on December 1, 2008. The lead-off single was "I Keep Flowers Around".
A greatest hits album entitled The Very Best Things (1995-2008) was released March 31, 2009. It featured tracks from all four previous studio albums and various movie soundtrack contributions, but no new content. There are 14 tracks total, with some tracks being radio edits.
Filter started work working on a fifth album shortly after the release of the remix and greatest hits albums, with Bob Marlette as a producer. The album, said Richard Patrick, would be a lot heavier than Anthems for the Damned and was to have a song written for The Amalgamut on it. He also stated he would be moving away from the political lyrical content present in Anthems for the Damned.
When asked about the direction of his upcoming music style in an interview with Suicide Girls on September 13, 2008, Patrick said, "Actually the stuff I’m writing right now for a record that I’m going to release sometime next year is actually way more heavy industrial, more electronic. There’s probably not going to be that many live drums on it." It's important to note that he originally saw this album releasing in 2009, while it has now obviously slipped into 2010.
Richard Patrick has stated on the Filter website that he has been recording songs for movies recently. Filter covered the song "Happy Together" by The Turtles for the soundtrack to the movie The Stepfather (2009). The song features ambient sound with alternative metal.
Filter also contributed a new song "Fades Like a Photograph" for the soundtrack of the movie 2012 (2009). The song has a similar lyrical mood to "Take a Picture" and saw Patrick reuniting with former Filter co-conspirator, Brian Liesegang, who co-produced the track.
Through the end of 2009 and into 2010, Filter released a series of fourteen studio updates chronicling the progress made on the album. Each update touched on a certain part of the album process, such as "recording guitar parts" or "mixing the album". The last studio updates confirmed that the album recording had been completed. In their last studio video update, Richard Patrick showcased two clips from final mixed songs on iTunes that listed track listing and track lengths. While the video was legitimate, it was not the actual final track list, it was only a collection of new Filter songs on a playlist.
The album has been recorded, mixed and mastered, and band is currently signed with the label Rocket Science Ventures. Filter released a new single, "The Inevitable Relapse", as their first single on May 26th. The song is available on the band's official website as a free digital download. The Trouble with Angels will be released in August 17, 2010, with touring starting in the summer. The second track on the album, titled "Drug Boy," was released on the band's website on August 3rd.
Surprise
Filter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've gone blind from the sight of the sun
A heart full of truth 'cause I paid my dues
A head full of noise and something to lose
But she
Talks me down from the edge
And she
[Chorus]
Surprise, surprise for you
No lies, just eyes for you
Teach me all that you know
So that I will bask in your glow
A light shoots out with a beam so bright
Your angels dance for your delight
You've got nothing at all but you hold on tight
It's a dangerous world but you live life right
And she
Is the world to me
And she
Is the world to me
[Chorus]
And she
Is the world to me
And she
Is the world to me
Yeeeeeah Woooooh
[Chorus]
The lyrics of Filter's song 'Surprise' beautifully capture someone's journey from the darkness of the night into the light of the new day, where they meet a special person who becomes their world. The opening lines suggest that the singer has been running all night long and the sunrise is coming as a surprise. The bright light and the morning are jarring to the singer who has gone blind from the sight of the sun. However, despite the noise in his head and something to lose, the singer has a heart full of truth as he has paid his dues. It is at this point that he meets a person who talks him down from the edge and from the ledge. This person is the world to him, and he can bask in their glow, and all they have to offer.
The chorus of 'Surprise' has a message of honesty to someone special with no lies, just eyes for them. The singer is willing to learn everything that person knows, suggesting that they have a lot to offer. Furthermore, the line "teach me all that you know so that I will bask in your glow" indicates how determined the singer is to grow by learning new things from the person who is the world to them.
In conclusion, 'Surprise' is a song about transition and the significance of someone special who can talk one down from a dark space. The song holds a message of hope and emphasizes the importance of honesty in relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
Dark sunrise from the night on the run
The start of a new day feels dark and gloomy, like running away from something in fear
I've gone blind from the sight of the sun
The brightness of the sun is overwhelming, blinding the singer's vision
A heart full of truth 'cause I paid my dues
The singer has gone through tough experiences but has stayed true to their values
A head full of noise and something to lose
The artist is filled with worries and concerns that they may lose something important
But she
Talks me down from the edge
And she
Talks me down from the ledge
The artist relies on someone to help them in their difficult times and that person talks them out of any drastic actions they may take
Surprise, surprise for you
No lies, just eyes for you
Teach me all that you know
So that I will bask in your glow
The singer is expressing a positive surprise for someone and they want to learn everything this person knows in order to be in their presence and feel enlightened
A light shoots out with a beam so bright
Your angels dance for your delight
You've got nothing at all but you hold on tight
It's a dangerous world but you live life right
The person being referred to is surrounded by positivity and has nothing materialistic but they persevere through life's challenges by living virtuously
And she
Is the world to me
And she
Is the world to me
The person talked about in the song is incredibly important to the artist and is their whole world
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Bob Marlette, Jonathan Edward Radtke, Richard Michael Patrick
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@edbausman6100
love filter, this band may be the most underrated ever. Patrick has a great voice and is powerful
@nmacog
theyre great shame not live though ....
@martyclayton6296
Filter is awesome and they are good live too
@delirium11
Indeed, his voice and their sound are very atmospheric!
@robertluck1325
And... He's a cool dude !!!
@davidpemberton5561
@@robertluck1325 You've clearly never met him
@jeffreylower9469
I love a band that can put out hard shit and soft shit. Always been a fan of Filter's angst and their lighter songs.
@crotalusatrox7931
Filter Rules. Taking me to another place and time.
@ThatmetalmanAu
Beautiful song and equally beautiful video. Filter step outside the box often; this is why I keep coming back to them. Huge respect for Richard Patrick. Saw Filter live in Sydney just a few nights ago (Feb 2014) and they played this song. Fabulous!
@balancepoint71
God what a beautiful song and video. I missed this one 10 yrs. ago. ❤ Glad I found it