Dallas Green - Alexisonfire/City and Colour

[Mattrick]

Dallas Green is one of the best musicians on the planet, especially when you consider how drastically different his band Alexisonfire was, and his solo work as City (Dallas) and Colour (Green) is.

Alexisonfire was a hardcore rock band that combined viscious screaming, melodic vocals, creative composition and both biting and beautiful lyrics. So if you don't like screaming in music but love great composition, you may like Alexisonfire, if you don't like screaming whatsoever you'll hate Alexisonfire and like screaming and great composition you'll probably love them.

City and Colour is more like folk music that has a more modern or rock edge to certain songs, but a majority of it is Dallas and his acoustic guitar and his unmatched voice. While I don't know Bob Dylan super well I think City and Colour is the closest modern equivalent of what Dylan did.

Here I'll put my favourites from each of the albums of both Alexisonfire and City and Colour and some words about how playing two very veried music caused him so problems.

Alexisonfire - Self-titled debut 2003


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiJcZ2YHgTM
(Little Girls Pointing and Laughing)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9jdZvAPBT0
(Pulmonary Archery has some fantastic guitar)


With the success of their debut album and them appearing now on Much Music (like Canada's MTV) many of their hardcore fans accused them off selling out not just because of the exposure, but their much more varied and softer sounds.

Alexisonfire - Watch Out! 2004


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpsBkvVxrbQ
(Happiness By The Kilowatt shows of Green's voice and lyrical talents as well as just how talented of musicians they all were)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMLfOfG7iJY
(Their first released single for the album - Accidents)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4wpisq0Ikc
(It Was Fear Of Myself shows the balance between Dallas's voice, Wade's screaming, just how simply beautiful their music can be)


The following year, Dallas's first solo album as City and Colour dropped and while his first single Save Your Scissors was a huge success, it left the Alexisonfire fanbase wanting his blood, as they'd already felt their music had gotten soften and now they feared this was the way Alexisonfire would go.

City and Colour - Sometimes 2005


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK1-3hsqOWE
(I invite someone to tell me Save Your Scissors isn't simply fantastic)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPCua1j7Uz8
(Sam Malone, yes, named after the Cheers character)


With the Alexisonfire fanbase at an uproar they wanted to please their fans while also advancing their sound and it produced their greatest album top to bottom from just about any aspect and they were successful in winning back their fans of the first album.


Alexisonfire - Crisis 2006


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3LiYg__Sso
(Drunk Lovers, Sinners and Saints was Alexisonfires message to their original fans, and to those that never came back, that says this: [you just have to respect a band that can say 'fuck you, we make the music we want to make' and not just say it, but make it the first track of their next album])

Alright!
This is from our hearts.
Sincerity over simple chords.
We made some mistakes
We made some mistakes
But it's a long time coming when you're giving it everything.

Alright!
This is from our hearts
And it's been right from the start
There's fire in my guts you just can't put out
Alright!
This is from our hearts (From our hearts)
And there is always going to be a part
Of this crowd who don't understand

Oh, and I feel the same
I won't ever change
Not a jaded hair upon my head

Are you pretending? (That you care)
Are you even listening?
Are you pretending? (That you understand)
Are you even?

Suits to the left
Squares to the right
Cause my heart - my heart is full
And we ride to fight.

We ride to fight.

Are you pretending? (That you care)
Are you even listening?
Are you pretending? (That you understand)
Are you even listening?
Are you pretending?
Are you, are you?
Are you even listening?

Are you pretending that your heart's in the right place?

Are you pretending?
Are you even listening?
Are you pretending?
Are you even?

There's no need to waste my time
Spending your life jumping from sinking ship to sinking ship
Well I think I'd rather drown
I know I'd rather drown

Oh, and I feel the same
I won't ever change
Not a jaded hair upon my head

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9GJJ-0zeBs
(This Could Be Anywhere In The World might their most complete song...it just creates a feeling and, considering that it's about a city that is dying and full of broken people, it provides me ample inspiration for my current novel)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgcFWdCB8Xk
(Boiled Frogs is their best song, and tells the story of a mundane pointless life of working in an office and the sadness and madness of it: "Poor little Tin Man, still swinging his axe even though his joints are clogged with rust."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9ehbkfyonc
(Rough Hands is the most emotional of their songs: "She says I swear too much. She says a lot of things. Well I'd swear every other word if I could, for her I'd make an attempt. Sometimes love isn't about how much someone suits you, but how much you're willing to change to suit them")


With the massive success of Crisis, Dallas Green was able to spend some time working on his on music without impugnity and released an all accoustic record.


City and Colour - Bring Me Your Love 2008


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy_7gNnbFUQ
(The Girl - A beautiful song that is really two songs in one, the first half slow, the second half upbeat while singing the same lyrics in different ways, stressing different notes and words)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rU7WPVcLmQ
(Sleeping Sickness - Still one of Dalla's best songs)



- Will finish this up tomorrow. And I have no idea why my video links don't appear anymore...

[fearless-freak]

a lot of artists don't really come into their own until they go solo