A Monster Monster is on the loose.
The Almost’s second album for Tooth & Nail/Virgin Records began taking shape just as soon as the band came off the road after touring for their 2007 debut, Southern Weather, including a stint on that summer’s Warped tour.
That album, which debuted at 39 on Billboard’s Top 200, earned them a Top 10 single at Alternative radio, and a spot on MTV’s Discover & Download, was essentially the work of a single individual—Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie, who wrote all the songs, played all the instruments and then recruited a band to play them live, starting with fellow Floridian Jay Vilardi, a veteran of several well-known area bands like Metal Blade’s Phoenix Mourning and Orlando-based Hand to Hand.
“My job was to teach everyone the songs,” explains Vilardi, who describes himself as the band’s musical director. The addition of Philadelphia-based guitarist Dusty Redman, himself a veteran of Tooth & Nail bands like Beloved and Dead Poetic and Salt Lake City bassist Alex Aponte rounded out the line-up.
The now thoroughly road-tested band was intent to make their latest a completely collaborative effort, melding their talents into a whole that was more than the sum of its individual parts. The process began with Vilardi, Redmon and Aponte e-mailing files back and forth to Gillespie, who was busy penning lyrics and coming up with musical ideas of his own while touring with Underoath, before all four of them got together in the studio to jam and work out the arrangements.
It was a system that resulted in a powerfully cohesive album that melds their diverse songwriting skills, from the thudding, Raw Power-like stomp of the title track and “Young Again,” to the stark acoustic blues and closing psychedelic jam of “Monster,” the techno-rock laced with tribal drums of “Books & Books” and the melodic Coldplay/U2/Kings of Leon arena-rock anthem, “Hands.”
“It turned out to be a really good process because we wound up with a tremendous amount of material we can use,” says Vilardi.
“We jammed on these tracks for hours before we actually laid anything down,” nods Gillespie. “This now feels like a real band. Everyone gave up a piece of his own agenda for the good of the final result. And that’s how you end up with something special. It was a relief for me because it took a lot of the weight off my shoulders. They supplied the bricks and we built the house together.”
The guys also enlisted the help of steel guitarists Chris Scruggs (grandson of bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs) and John Davis (Superdrag vocalist/guitarist) while in the studio. Both Scruggs and Davis helped they guys broaden their musical pallets on a few tracks like “West” and “Hand Grenade.”
“It was whatever each of us could do for the song,” agrees Redmon. “There were no ego issues, no one screaming, ‘I’m Eddie Van Halen!’”
Gillespie says the songs are about the dark side of the human condition, battling your demons to come out the other side, starting with the album’s title.
“I’m giving in to you,” he roars in “Lonely Wheel,” though in “No I Don’t,” which segues from an acoustic beginning to an anthemic rock chorus, he admits, “I’m learning how to wait.” The hard-hitting “Young Again” and the country-flavored “Hand Grenade” (“Oh to be young/It sounds like so much fun”) are both about lost innocence, while “Souls on Ten,” with its piano flourish and urgent intensity, has a Springsteen feel and the grungy garage-rock of “Summer Summer” offers an elegiac nod to vintage Neil Young with Crazy Horse.
“It didn’t start out as a concept album, but by accident, I think it became one,” says Aaron. “It’s about the ‘monster’ that lives inside of all of us, which we have to fight to get rid of. It’s a battle you live with every day. In the end, when that stops, the question remains, can you now live your life? Can you get all of who you are, can you find a place that makes you happy?”
That catharsis comes across loud and clear in the final song on the album, dubbed “Monster,” which starts with Gillespie alone, accompanied by a single dobro. “Learning how to see/In this weird change of space/I’m learning to believe in this life… I feel you helping me.” The song builds until, about two-thirds of the way through, the rest of The Almost come in, embarking on a spontaneous acid-soaked jam, recorded live, that provides the ultimate release.
“Everybody needs that,” says Gillespie. “For some people, it’s drinking, others run, some throw baseballs. I play music. That’s what I do. That gets rid of the garbage in my life.”
“It’s about how terrible we can be at times,” says Vilardi. “It’s hard to be a person today who stands for something. It doesn’t make you better… sometimes it even makes you worse.”
On “Hands,” the band prove they can create an arena- and radio-ready rock anthem, with its martial beat, chiming keyboards and lush ‘80s new wave fizz.
“It’s like an Achtung Baby vibe,” nods Dusty. “That song came out of nowhere. We demoed it, then got into the studio and started playing it and just got real excited.”
“I like working with a song structure,” says Gillespie. “In Underoath, that’s not what we do. We create moments, which is important, but The Almost is something different.”
“Monster Monster” and “Young Again” demonstrate Jay and Dusty’s love of classic garage punk, like The Stooges and The Velvet Underground
. “We really want to put the middle finger back in rock,” says Vilardi. “We love the attitude of bands like Guns N' Roses.”
And that’s strange, because it turns out that rebellion doesn’t conflict with being on Tooth & Nail, where the support of community is almost as important as the religious implications.
“Music should reflect who you are,” says Aaron. “I believe there’s hope in finding who you are. That’s my conviction. At the same time, I want anybody, no matter their affiliation, to react to the music in the same way. I don’t want people to feel they’re being judged.”
With the addition of drummer Joe Musten (Gillespie played all the drums on the album), The Almost is ready to hit the road and do what they do best, play for their increasing fan base around the country.
“We plan on hitting it as hard as we can,” laughs Vilardi. “We’d like to leave and not come back for two years.”
“We’re just beginning now to establish our identity,” concludes Dusty. “There were a lot of people now who are finding out about Underoath through The Almost.”
Now there’s a transformation for you.
Me And Alone
The Almost Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What's the cost? its me and all my selfless games
I don't have a hope if I'm hoping
The war is staring at me
I don't have a calls if I keep them
Follow it and differently
accepting my shame
I know I never really would
I know I never
I don't have a hope if I'm hoping
The war is staring at me
I don't have a calls if I keep them
Follow it and differently
This is whats left in me
This is whats left in me
I don't have a hope if I'm hoping
The war is staring at me
I don't have a hope if I'm hoping
The war is staring at me
I don't have a calls if I keep them
Follow it and differently
The lyrics to The Almost's song Me and Alone express the feeling of hopelessness and the struggle to come to terms with one's own mistakes and flaws. The opening lines set the tone for the rest of the song with the singer questioning the point of even trying when they feel so deep and alone. The second line hones in on the real issue at hand, which is the "selfless games" they have been playing that have led them to this point. They are forced to confront the cost of these actions and the toll it has taken on them mentally.
The chorus further drives home the point that the singer is at a loss and doesn't have any hope left. They feel like a war is being waged within themselves, and it's staring back at them. This battle is causing them to question their own motivations and whether or not they can trust themselves. The final lines of the chorus suggest that the singer might have to approach things differently if they want to find any sort of peace.
The bridge of the song seems to indicate that the singer has come to a realization about themselves and the truth of their situation. They want to accept their mistakes and their shame, but they are feeling stuck; they don't think they can truly let go of everything that has happened. The repetition of the chorus at the end speaks to the ongoing struggle of trying to find hope when they are waging a war within themselves.
Line by Line Meaning
What's the use? I'm already deep with I can go, used in so alone
What's the point? I'm already stuck in this isolation and it feels like there's no way out.
What's the cost? its me and all my selfless games
What's the price I'm paying for playing these self-destructive games all by myself?
I don't have a hope if I'm hoping
I feel hopeless and defeated if all I can do is hope.
The war is staring at me
I feel like I'm constantly battling with myself and my own inner turmoil.
I don't have a calls if I keep them
I won't have any opportunities if I keep letting them slip away.
Follow it and differently
I need to try and approach things from a different perspective and see where it leads me.
In learning truth, its all coming back to why you knew
In facing the truth, it all comes back to knowing why I made the choices I did.
accepting my shame
I need to acknowledge my mistakes and accept my flaws and shortcomings.
I know I never really would
I know deep down that I wouldn't have acted differently even if I had the chance.
This is whats left in me
This is all that remains of who I used to be.
Writer(s): Alex Aponti, Aaron Gillespie, Dustin Redmon, Joel Vilardi
Contributed by Evelyn R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.