Volbeat was formed in 2001 after frontman Michael Poulsen split up his former band, Dominus. Volbeat plays a fusion of heavy metal and rockabilly. They are inspired by the rock n' roll legends Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. No other Danish heavy rock band Volbeat has been able to get to position 18 at the Danish Top 100 for CD sales in over 10 years. This milestone was reached after their concert at the Roskilde Festival 2006.
Critics have generally been positive towards The Strength / The Sound / The Songs. The German hard rock magazine RockHard gave it 10/10 in a review.
Volbeat is also praised for its live performances. Their concert at Roskilde Festival 2006 received a 6/6 stars review in the Danish newspaper BT.
In week 8 of 2007, the record Rock The Rebel / Metal The Devil debuted as #1 in the Danish Top 40 for CD-sales and at the same time The Strength / The Sound / The Songs re-entered the chart at #21. Recently, the album achieved gold status for sales in Denmark.
Volbeat opened the Roskilde Festival in 2007. Volbeat also supported Metallica together with Mnemic at their concert on Denmark July 13 of that year.
More recently, Volbeat was announced to do a seven-date European spring tour and to support legendary speed metal act Megadeth in Finland and in their home town, Copenhagen. They have also already announced a few festival appearances for the summer 2008.
Volbeat has a large range of influences, which can be clearly heard in their music. On their official MySpace site Volbeat lists their influences in their own recognizable way:
"Everything from Elvis Presley to Napalm Death .. hail: Johnny Cash, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Ramones, Social Distortion, Motörhead, Black Sabbath, Dio, Megadeth, Metallica, Manic Street Preachers, Iron Maiden and bla bla bla bla..."
Volbeat's lyrics usually revolve around love, failed love or the power of a twisted mind. They thereby distance themselves from stereotypical heavy metal lyrics, although many of their most popular songs have very dark or sincere themes and plots.
Their first single was the cover version of Dusty Springfield's evergreen "I Only Wanna Be With You". The song doesn't differ much from the original with regard to the lyrics, but the accompanying music video is quite typical of Volbeat. In it, the band is seen with a classic microphone on top of a city roof.
Another popular feature of the band's lyrics are the returning "series" of songs. This is best represented with the songs "Danny & Lucy (11 pm)" and "Fire Song" from The Strength/The Sound/The Songs followed by "Mr. & Mrs. Ness" on Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil. The story is about the two desperate lovers, Danny and Lucy, who are killed in a car crash after Lucy runs away from her family.
"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Ness, I'm so sorry to bring you this - We believe we found your girl in an old burning car way up the hill"
In the successor, "Mr. & Mrs. Ness", Lucy's mother commits suicide and the father is suspected for the murder:
"The old man is crying and he's lying - The blood on his hands' from his wife yeah"
The story is followed further by "Mary Ann's Place" from Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood, and was concluded with "You Will Know" off 2016's Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie.
Lineup
Michael Poulsen - Vocals, guitar (ex-Dominus)
Rob Caggiano - Guitar (ex-Anthrax)
Kaspar Boye Larsen - Bass
Jon Larsen - Drums
Former members:
Teddy Vang - Guitar
Franz Gottschalk - Guitar
Thomas Bredahl - Guitar
Anders Kjølholm - Bass
Official homepage : www.volbeat.dk
Rebound
Volbeat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My coach never gave me a chance he’s always blowing his whistle at me
Put me in your game and I promise not to shoot a three I’ll stick with twos
I don’t wanna make a steal unless you make a pass I’ll never personal foul you
Did you have to give your boyfriend all my letters
I didn’t know he was six foot eight
He shoved me inside a locker and I ended up on the rebound
One, two, three, four
It’s a shame that you don’t know me 'cause I never made it past the third string, no no
My coach never gave me a chance he’s always blowing his whistle at me
Put me in your game and I promise not to shoot a three I’ll stick with twos
I don’t wanna make a steal unless you make a pass I’ll never personal foul you
Did you have to give your boyfriend all my letters
I didn’t know he was six foot eight
He shoved me inside a locker and I ended up on the rebound
I called time out it was too late
I called time out it was too late
I called time out it was too late
"Rebound" by Volbeat is a song that depicts a failed attempt at love. The singer of the song feels like he has never been given a fair shot at love, comparing his experience to being stuck on the third string on his basketball team. He asks for the opportunity to be a part of the game, promising to stick to what he knows and not overreach. He even promises not to steal the ball unless it is a fair pass. However, the singer's efforts have been in vain. He then goes on to address his former love interest, asking why she gave all his letters to her new boyfriend, a man who was apparently quite large and ended up physically abusing the singer by shoving him in a locker. The singer calls out for a time-out, to which his pleas go unanswered.
The song speaks to the universal pain of feeling overlooked and not given a fair chance, be it in love or any other aspect of life. The basketball analogy shows how the singer feels like he is always benched while watching others thrive in the game of life. The lyrics also show how the singer's love for this girl was genuine, as evidenced by the letters he wrote to her, even though it was not reciprocated. The line about the new boyfriend being six feet eight inches tall shows how he was physically unable to defend himself against his abuser. The repeated line of calling for a time-out conveys his wanting to hit pause on this detrimental situation, but it was too late.
Line by Line Meaning
It’s a shame that you don’t know me 'cause I never made it past the third string
I am disappointed that you don't know me well enough as I was never selected as part of the starting lineup, only ever making it to the third string.
My coach never gave me a chance he’s always blowing his whistle at me
My coach was always hard on me, calling me out during training and hardly giving me a chance to showcase what I can do.
Put me in your game and I promise not to shoot a three I’ll stick with twos
Give me the opportunity to play with you, but I won't go too far with my skills, and will stick within my comfort zone.
I don’t wanna make a steal unless you make a pass I’ll never personal foul you
I do not intend to take the ball unless you choose to give it to me, and I will not commit any fouls against you.
Did you have to give your boyfriend all my letters
I wonder why you felt the need to give your boyfriend the letters I wrote to you...
I didn’t know he was six foot eight
...especially since I didn't realize he was that tall.
He shoved me inside a locker and I ended up on the rebound
Unfortunately, your boyfriend physically hurt me by shoving me into a locker and I had to recover from the trauma.
I called time out it was too late
I tried to stop the negative situation from happening by calling a time out, however, it was already too late and the damage was already done.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: RAY CARLISLE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind