Food Chain (EP)

Last updated
Food Chain
Food Chain EP Sean Danielsen.jpg
EP by
ReleasedNovember 4, 2014 (2014-11-04)
RecordedBabylon Studios, Van Nuys, California
Genre Alternative rock
Length22:19
Label Independent
Producer Eddie Wohl
Sean Danielsen chronology
Enjoy the Process
(2013)
Food Chain
(2014)
Product of Isolation
(2017)

Food Chain is the second solo extended play album from American recording artist Sean Danielsen, who is also the lead guitarist and lead vocalist of American hard rock ensemble Smile Empty Soul. Published on November 4, 2014, [1] the album was produced by Eddie Wohl, [2] and recorded at Babylon Studios in Van Nuys, California.

Contents

Background

In contrast to Danielsen's previous solo album Enjoy the Process , which featured only the singer along with his acoustic guitar, Food Chain featured a full band. [3] In October 2014, prior to the release of the EP, the singer released "Rescue Me", the second song from the album via Revolver Magazine. [2] The singer stated that he selected the tune, because "it’s a very powerful song that a lot of people can relate to in this day and age", going on to say that "We live in an overly medicated society, and we all have people close to us being affected". [4]

Touring

In October [3] and November 2014, [1] the vocalist toured West Virginia along with the Midwestern and south central United States to promote the EP. [5] Preceded by a free download of "Food Chain", the title track and heaviest song from the EP, Danielsen toured the south central and southeastern United States during January and February 2015. [6] The guitarist also toured the Midwestern, East Coast and East South Central regions of the United States from May until June [7] of 2015, [8] [9] [10] with plans to visit portions of the western and central United States between the ends of July and August 2015. [11]

Critical reception

Sommer Sharon of Screamer Magazine the words to the songs as being "tight as usual", with the album being "cohesive", making for "enjoyable listening beginning to end". Sharon also goes on to say that the album excellently portrays Danielsen's "angst-influenced lyrics" and "signature voice". [12]

Reggie Edwards of The Front Row Report states that the album "opens with a three song knockout" that "will calm you to the point that when the title track kicks in... ...it takes you completely by surprise before going back to the acoustic". Edwards goes on to say that "Broken Bones and Skeletons" is "one of the more emotional tracks Danielsen has written in awhile". He also points out that the record ventures "in a different direction from what he’s done" with his first major label band. [13]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Waves"5:31
2."Rescue Me"4:40
3."Beautiful Things"5:04
4."Food Chain"2:52
5."Broken Bones and Skeletons"4:12
Total length:22:19

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice in Chains</span> American rock band

Alice in Chains is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne Staley. Starr was replaced by Mike Inez in 1993. William DuVall joined the band in 2006 as co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, replacing Staley, who died in 2002. The band took its name from Staley's previous group, the glam metal band Alice N' Chains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fuel (band)</span> American rock band

Fuel is an American rock band formed in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, by guitarist-songwriter Carl Bell in 1989. They are known for their hit songs "Shimmer" from the album Sunburn, "Hemorrhage " and "Bad Day" from the album Something Like Human, as well as "Falls on Me" from the album Natural Selection. The band has numerous top 10 Billboard rock hits, multiple videos in heavy rotation on MTV, numerous live network TV performances in the US, Canada, and Australia, platinum singles in Australia in addition to the US, and numerous songs on film soundtracks such as Scream 3, Daredevil, and Godzilla. The album Sunburn is certified platinum by the RIAA, and the album Something Like Human is certified double-platinum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smile Empty Soul</span> American post-grunge band

Smile Empty Soul is an American rock band, originally from Santa Clarita, California, United States. It was started in 1998 by Sean Danielsen, Ryan Martin (bass), and Derek Gledhill (drums). Following the departure of Gledhill and Martin from the band in 2005 and 2017, respectively, Danielsen remains the only founding member still active as well as the band's primary songwriter, frontman, and leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brett Scallions</span> American singer

Brett Allen Scallions is an American singer. He is best known for being the original lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the alternative rock band Fuel from 1993 to 2006 and then from 2010 to 2020. During that time, the band released four major-label albums including the double platinum Something Like Human. His initial stint with the band ended in February 2006. Scallions has been ranked in the Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists by Hit Parader (#50).

<i>Smile Empty Soul</i> (album) 2003 album by Smile Empty Soul

Smile Empty Soul is the debut studio album by American rock band Smile Empty Soul. The album was released on May 27, 2003 via Lava Records. Three singles were released from the album: "Bottom of a Bottle", "Silhouettes" and "Nowhere Kids". In March 2005, the album was certified gold with sales in excess of 500,000.

<i>Anxiety</i> (Smile Empty Soul album) 2005 studio album by Smile Empty Soul

Anxiety is the second album by American post-grunge music group Smile Empty Soul. The album was scheduled to be released in the fall of 2005 via Lava Records, but after numerous push-backs due to heavy protest from religious groups the label scrapped the album and Smile Empty Soul departed. Smile Empty Soul then decided to make a number of "illegal burned copies" and sell them on their own at shows in order to give fans the album since Lava wasn't releasing it. The band even encouraged fans to go online and illegally download the album if they were not able to make it to a show to buy a copy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bottom of a Bottle</span> 2003 single by Smile Empty Soul

"Bottom of a Bottle" is the debut single from American rock band Smile Empty Soul's eponymous album. The song was released in 2003 and ranked No. 7 on Alternative Songs.

<i>Hecklers Veto EP</i> 1999 EP by Hecklers Veto (Smile Empty Soul)

The American post-grunge band Smile Empty Soul was previously known as Hecklers Veto. During this time they released an eP titled Smile Empty Soul, copies of which were passed out at local rock shows by the band. One fan recalls receiving one at a local Papa Roach show. Quantities of the EP are very rare and only three copies are known to exist on CD, and one cassette version. The cassette version has completely different tracks from the CD version and was only produced by J. Danielsen, both sides of cassette are the same. The track length for the cassette version is unknown.

<i>Chemicals</i> (Smile Empty Soul album) 2013 studio album by Smile Empty Soul

Chemicals is the sixth full-length album by American post-grunge band Smile Empty Soul. The album was released on October 1, 2013, and "finally [got] a proper European release" said Sean Danielsen. The album is also supposed to have a "half live feel and half studio feel" said Danielsen in an interview. The album cover is designed and painted by Sean, Ryan & Jake. On August 10, 2013 Smile Empty Soul announced their first single, "False Alarm". On October 21, 2013 Smile Empty Soul released a music video for "False Alarm", the video was filmed at the Machine Shop in Flint Michigan during "The Merican Chemicals Tour" & official CD release party for Chemicals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vulfpeck</span> American band

Vulfpeck is an American funk band founded in 2011 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, Woody Goss and Joe Dart. The band has released four extended plays, six studio albums and one live album through their own record label. The band gained recognition in 2014 for releasing Sleepify, a silent album that exposed a loophole in Spotify's royalty distribution and funded an admission-free tour. The band is one of the first to sell out Madison Square Garden without a manager or backing label, and released the recorded performance as a live album in 2019. The band's most recent album, Schvitz, was released in December 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Danielsen</span> American musician and artistic painter

Sean Julian Danielsen (born February 14, 1982) is an American musician and artistic painter, best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist of American rock bands Smile Empty Soul and World Fire Brigade. In addition to creating one studio album and three independent extended play albums, Danielsen has also collaborated on Noise Refinery compilation album Anger Management with former He Is Legend rhythm guitarist Mitchell Ray Marlow.

<i>Enjoy the Process</i> 2013 EP by Sean Danielsen

Enjoy the Process is the debut EP from American recording artist Sean Danielsen, the lead vocalist and lead guitarist of American hard rock band Smile Empty Soul. Published on 16 April 2013, the album was produced by Eddie Wohl.

Eddie Wohl is an American composer, music producer, and mixing engineer.

<i>Shapeshifter</i> (Smile Empty Soul EP) 2016 EP by Smile Empty Soul

Shapeshifter is a six-song EP by American alternative rock/post-grunge music group Smile Empty Soul. The EP contains three of the biggest singles from their 2003 self-titled debut album re-recorded — "Bottom of a Bottle", "Silhouettes" and "Nowhere Kids" — as well as three new songs. It also includes a DVD which consists of a music video for "All in My Head", a short documentary-style film from the making of Shapeshifter, and a behind-the-scenes video covering years of touring, studio sessions, music video shoots, and more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dead by Wednesday</span>

Dead by Wednesday is an American heavy metal band from New Haven, Connecticut, formed in 2006. The band's current lineup includes founding members Christian "Opus" Lawrence (drums) and Michael Modeste (bass), along with Dave Sharpe (guitar) and Steve Alvarez (vocals).

<i>Product of Isolation</i> 2017 studio album by Sean Danielsen

Product of Isolation is the first solo studio album by American alternative rock musician Sean Danielsen. It was released independently on January 13, 2017.

<i>Rarities</i> (Smile Empty Soul album) 2017 compilation album by Smile Empty Soul

Rarities is the first compilation album by American alternative rock/post-grunge music group Smile Empty Soul. The album has two different versions; 1 digital copy containing eight songs or one CD edition copy containing 13 songs. The album consists of five songs never before released, a handful of others that were only ever leaked out online, two soundtrack songs, a live acoustic version of an old song, and one re-record.

<i>Mind Control to Steal the Soul</i> 2017 EP by Sean Danielsen

Mind Control to Steal the Soul is the third EP from American musician Sean Danielsen. The album was independently released on 21 July 2017.

<i>Oblivion</i> (Smile Empty Soul album) 2018 studio album by Smile Empty Soul

Oblivion is the seventh full-length album by American post-grunge band Smile Empty Soul. The album was released on May 25, 2018. It is the first and only album with new bassist Mark Young and drummer Victor Ribas. The singles from the album include "Sides" and "Stars", "Stars" is scheduled to have a music video released the same day of the single release. The music video for "Stars" premiered live on Alternative Press's Facebook Live on 4/13/18 as scheduled.

<i>Sheep</i> (EP) 2019 EP by Smile Empty Soul

Sheep is the fourth EP by American post-grunge band Smile Empty Soul. It was announced on Facebook along with the album art teaser on August 24, 2019. During the recording process a couple of studio pictures were teased on Facebook of studio recordings. The band then announced on October 5, 2019, on Facebook the completion of Sheep and the final track listing.

References

  1. 1 2 "Smile Empty Soul singer to play solo concert". Joplin Globe. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "The Stage for Music + Culture – Arena". arena.com. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  3. 1 2 IPD Group. "Sean Danielsen's 'Food Chain' – Food Industry Today". einnews.com. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  4. "Sean Danielsen of Smile Empty Soul Premieres New Song, "Rescue Me"". Revolver Magazine . Archived from the original on March 2, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  5. "Sean Danielsen's 'Food Chain'". Pollstar. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  6. Chris Gonda. "Sean Danielsen - "Food Chain" [Exclusive Free Song Download] «  Audio « PureGrainAudio.com". puregrainaudio.com. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  7. "Sean Danielsen - Mobile Uploads - Facebook". facebook.com. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  8. ""Here's the first round of confirmed dates for my upcoming "spring 2015 solo acoustic tour"!!! I'll still be adding more though"". Facebook . Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  9. "Sean Danielsen (of Smile Empty Soul) & Opus (of Dead By Wednesday) w/ Lost Elysium, Seven Faces, Letterbox, & Avius Me - Facebook". facebook.com. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  10. "Pepper"s Productions Present - Sean Danielsen from Smile Empty Soul - Facebook". facebook.com. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  11. "2015 Summer solo acoustic tour kicks off next week!!!". Facebook . July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  12. "SEAN DANIELSEN - Food Chain - Screamer Magazine". Screamer Magazine. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  13. "Sean Danielsen: Food Chain review". The Front Row Report. Retrieved 23 January 2015.