Music from Shadows Fall's early days can be compared to metal legends such as Metallica, Slayer, and Iron Maiden as their songs relied heavily on the start-stop tempo changes made famous by the aforementioned bands. The band also had a lot of death metal influences at the time. They began touring the New England area and eventually were able to obtain open slots for acclaimed metal bands such as Fear Factory and Cannibal Corpse. In 1997, the band released its first full length album, Somber Eyes to the Sky, on Matt Bachand's own Lifeless Records. This however, would be the only album the band would record with Labonte. He was replaced by current vocalist Brian Fair in 1998.
The band signed with the prominent underground metal record label, Century Media in 1999. Early during the following year, Shadows Fall released Of One Blood. Their sound was a still mixture of thrash, death metal, and hardcore with a little more hard rock influence thrown in due to the entry of the Brian Fair. Shadows Fall released their critically acclaimed album The Art of Balance in the year 2002 after going through another lineup change, this time replacing drummer David Germain with present drummer Jason Bittner.
The band really broke through when it acquired a slot on Ozzfest's second stage in 2003. The band's fanbase grew largely while touring the famed metal festival. As a result of the enlarged fanbase, their next effort, The War Within, released in 2004 broke in at #20 on the Billboard Top 200 and went on to sell over 300,000 copies. The band released a collection on B-sides, covers, and reworked tracks entitled Fallout from the War in 2006.
Shadows Fall, now more than a decade old as a band, signed to Atlantic Records and released their major label debut, Threads of Life, in 2007. The album, an all-out thrasher with beautiful acoustic passages littered here and there, erased any doubts that this band would fall by the way side under major label pressure.
The band released it's sixth full length album, titled Retribution on September 15, 2009 on the the band's own label, Everblack Industries through Warner Bros. The band continues with it's melodic thrash influenced attack here, again utilizing vocals from multiple members and the harmonized leads along with thrashy rhythm guitar work.
Shadows Fall released their seventh full length album, titled Fire From The Sky on May 15, 2012 through Razor & Tie. The Fire From The Sky Songfacts states that though not a concept record, a doomsday theme does link the songs together. The band moved in a bit heavier direction for this album when compared to their most recent work.
The Idiot Box
Shadows Fall Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Imagination cannot survive
Misinformation and compromise
These televised conditioned lies
Heartless purveyors of deceit
Seems clear to me you've never known me
Doubt everything you've never shown me
Images flash by in waves
What to buy and what you'll save
All the products that you never craved
You've become another slave
All the lies that you told
I will not be bought or sold
I won't fit into your mold
I will not be bought or sold
Rise! And break away from the system
Rise! And crush the voices in your head rise!
I want back what you stole from me!
The lyrics to Shadows Fall's song Idiot Box provide commentary on the effects of media and its power over individual thought and imagination. The opening lines depict a society where people are staring forward with vacant eyes, their imaginations unable to survive in the sea of misinformation and compromise that surrounds them. The lyrics suggest that people are being conditioned by the information they are receiving through the television, leading them to believe in a system of belief that is propagated by heartless purveyors of deceit.
The second stanza of the song reveals the true nature of the media's influence. The images that flash by are designed to tell people what to buy and what they'll save, in turn creating a desire for products they never really craved. In a society where people become slaves to the very system that is supposed to serve them, the lyrics suggest that the lies told by media cannot be bought or sold, and the individual refuses to fit into the mold created by it.
The final stanza of the song reveals a call to action for individuals to rise above the lies propagated by media, break out of the system, and crush the voices in their head. The individual demands to take back what was stolen from them, a call to action for people to reclaim their individuality from the system that creates conformity.
Line by Line Meaning
Staring forward with vacant eyes
Looking straight ahead without any thought or emotion
Imagination cannot survive
Creative thinking cannot flourish in this environment
Misinformation and compromise
False information and settling for less
These televised conditioned lies
Lies told on TV to manipulate viewers
Create a system of belief
Establish a mindset among people
Heartless purveyors of deceit
Deceitful people without compassion
Seems clear to me you've never known me
I don't think you understand me
Doubt everything you've never shown me
I'm skeptical of what you tell me without proof
Images flash by in waves
Pictures and commercials come in quickly and frequently
What to buy and what you'll save
What products to purchase and how to save money on them
All the products that you never craved
Things you never wanted or needed, pushed onto you
You've become another slave
You're now controlled by advertising and consumerism
All the lies that you told
The deceptions you've spread
I will not be bought or sold
I refuse to be manipulated or persuaded
I won't fit into your mold
I won't conform to your expectations
Rise! And break away from the system
Stand up and reject the status quo
Rise! And crush the voices in your head rise!
Silence your inner doubts and fears
I want back what you stole from me!
I want to reclaim what was taken from me by the lies and manipulations
Lyrics © THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY
Written by: BRIAN FAIR, JASON BITTNER, JONATHAN DONAIS, MATTHEW BACHAND, PAUL ROMANKO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
gerald jett
My fave song by them🤘🤘
Jody Martin
If you never saw this band live you truly missed out .. one of the best to do it
Wrath Upon Eden
so dang good. these guys are one of our main influences. been in love with them since i heard of one blood for the first time.
Katie Siemek
I love these guys saw them at ozzfest several times. What a blast.
Enoch Light
MAN shadows fall yall need to work on another album it would be such an awesome blessing badass record go shadows fall🤘
James Price
That solo 🤤
Jeffrey Allen
It's hard to believe this song is literally half my life old already.
john vaughn
One of my favorite songs of all time!
Arnold May II
This is what I call Heavy Metal!!
Joseph Rodriguez
Miss these guys!!!! 2001-2005 They were the shit!!!