Rats (song)

Last updated

"Rats"
Single by Ghost
from the album Prequelle
ReleasedApril 13, 2018 (2018-04-13)
Format
Recorded2017–2018
Genre
Length4:21
Label Loma Vista
Songwriter(s) Tobias Forge
Producer(s) Tom Dalgety
Ghost singles chronology
"Square Hammer"
(2016)		"Rats"
(2018)		"Dance Macabre"
(2018)

"Rats" is a song by Swedish rock band Ghost. It was released as the first single from their fourth album Prequelle . It topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in July 2018. The song was nominated for the Best Rock Song Grammy Award for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.

Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the early 1950s, and developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and later, particularly in the United Kingdom and in the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, a style which drew heavily on the genres of blues, rhythm and blues, and from country music. Rock music also drew strongly on a number of other genres such as electric blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical and other musical styles. Musically, rock has centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass, drums, and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music usually with a 4/4 time signature using a verse–chorus form, but the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political.

Ghost (Swedish band) Swedish heavy metal band

Ghost is a Swedish rock band that was formed in Linköping, Sweden in 2006. In 2010, they released a 3-track demo followed by a 7" vinyl titled "Elizabeth", and later their debut full-length album Opus Eponymous. The Grammis-nominated album was widely praised and significantly increased their popularity. Their second album and major label debut Infestissumam was released in 2013, debuted at number one in Sweden, and won the Grammis Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Album. The band released their third studio album, Meliora, in 2015, to much critical acclaim and high record sales, reaching number one in their home country of Sweden, and number eight in the United States. Its lead single, "Cirice", earned them the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. The band released their fourth studio album, Prequelle, in 2018.

<i>Prequelle</i> 2018 studio album by Ghost

Prequelle is the fourth studio album by Swedish rock band Ghost. It was released on 1 June 2018 and produced by Tom Dalgety. The album's first single, "Rats", was released ahead of the album on 13 April, and as of 28 July, had peaked at number one for seven weeks on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The second single, "Dance Macabre", later topped the same chart for two weeks as well. The album marked the band's strongest selling debut to date, landing at number 3 on the Billboard 200, selling 66,000 copies in its first week, with 61,000 of those being "traditional" album sales.

Contents

Background

The song debuted on April 12, 2018, on SiriusXM, and was officially released the following day. [5] The song is the lead single from Ghost's fourth studio album, Prequelle , ahead of the album's release on June 1. [6] As with prior music with the band, the song was created by Tobias Forge and a group of anonymous band members called "Nameless Ghouls". [7] However, the song was the first to feature Forge's new alter ego stage name, Cardinal Copia, [8] and was performed by a separate set of anonymous band members than prior material, with all prior band members leaving the band in 2017 following a lawsuit with Forge regarding pay. [9] The song's music video was also released on April 13. [6] Journalists noted that the video's style and dancing appeared to be influenced by Michael Jackson's music video for his song "Thriller". [6]

Tobias Forge Swedish musician

Tobias Forge is a Swedish singer, musician and songwriter. He is the leader of the masked rock band Ghost, performing live as their vocalist under the stage names Papa Emeritus and Cardinal Copia. His identity as the Ghost frontman was only confirmed in 2017, following a lawsuit by former members of the band. Prior to finding success in Ghost, Forge was in several other bands including Repugnant and Crashdïet under the name Mary Goore.

A music video is a short film that integrates a song with imagery, and is produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie-in marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie-ins and merchandising can be used for toys or for food or other products. Although the origins of the music video date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they again came into prominence in the 1980s when the channel MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these kinds of videos were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip".

Themes and composition

Forge wrote the track to serve as "a big opening track that just blows people's minds immediately". [10] The song was also written to be performed as a concert opener for large arena shows; he previously wrote "Square Hammer" for that purpose, and was successful with it, but didn't want to feel stuck always playing one particular song as a concert opener, as he perceived is what happened to The Rolling Stones with their song "Start Me Up". [10] Metal Injection described the song as sounding similar to 1980s Ozzy Osbourne, calling it "as heavy metal as you wanted it to be, with killer guitar solos, a badass drum intro, and riffs that sound like they might've been sitting in Ozzy's basement since the 80s." [3] Forge himself confirmed that the song's creation was influenced by hearing Osbourne open up a concert with their song "I Don't Know" off of their 1980 album Blizzard of Ozz in the 1980s. [10]

Square Hammer 2016 single by Ghost

"Square Hammer" is a song by the Swedish rock band Ghost. The track was released as the lead single from the group's second studio EP Popestar. The song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in January 2017, making the band the first Swedish band to top the chart. "Square Hammer" is one of the official theme songs for NXT TakeOver: San Antonio.

The Rolling Stones English rock band

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. The first stable line-up consisted of Brian Jones (multi-instrumentalist), Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman (bass), Charlie Watts (drums), and Ian Stewart (piano). Stewart was removed from the official line-up in 1963 but continued to work with the band as a contracted musician until his death in 1985. Brian Jones was the original leader of the group. The band's primary songwriters, Jagger and Richards, assumed leadership after Andrew Loog Oldham became the group's manager. Jones left the band less than a month before his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor, who remained until 1974. After Taylor left the band, Ronnie Wood took his place in 1975 and continues on guitar in tandem with Richards. Following Wyman's departure in 1993, Darryl Jones was contracted by the band to play bass. Since 1963, the Stones have not had a keyboardist as a member of the band, but have had long working relationships with Jack Nitzsche (1965–1971), Nicky Hopkins (1967–1982), Billy Preston (1971–1981), Ian McLagan (1978–1981), and Chuck Leavell (1982–present).

Start Me Up song by The Rolling Stones

"Start Me Up" is a song by the Rolling Stones featured on the 1981 album Tattoo You. Released as the album's lead single, it reached number one on Australian Kent Music Report, number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the UK Singles Chart.

Lyrically, the song is about humanity's tendency to rush to judgement and mob mentality. [11] Forge explained

"In many ways, [humanity has] gone back a few steps, because now it's closer to how it was back in the old days when people were standing at the square and all of a sudden, it's like in Monty Python's Life of Brian : 'Stone him! Ra! Ra! Ra!' Public trials are very unsupervised and extremely swift and speak to the most primordial parts of us...It's actually not technically about rodents, it's about something spreading as wildfire and completely destroying things quicker than you know. It was how the plague started in Europe. [11]

Monty Python British surreal comedy group

Monty Python were a British surreal comedy group who created their sketch comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, including touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books, and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Their sketch show has been referred to as "not only one of the more enduring icons of 1970s British popular culture, but also an important moment in the evolution of television comedy".

Wildfire uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area

A wildfire or wildland fire is a fire in an area of combustible vegetation occurring in rural areas. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire can also be classified more specifically as a brush fire, bushfire, desert fire, forest fire, grass fire, hill fire, peat fire, vegetation fire, or veld fire.

Black Death pandemic in Eurasia in the 1300s

The Black Death, also known as the Great Plague, the Black Plague, or the Plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351. The bacterium Yersinia pestis, which results in several forms of plague, is believed to have been the cause. The Black Death was the first major European outbreak of plague, and the second plague pandemic. The plague created a series of religious, social and economic upheavals, which had profound effects on the course of European history.

Reception

Metal Injection praised the song for being "darker" and "heavier" than the material from their prior album Meliora , concluding that "if you've been dying for something like Ghost's debut album Opus Eponymous with a more updated sound, then you're going to absolutely love 'Rats'." [3] Metal Sucks similarly praised it for its catchy guitar riffs. [12]

<i>Meliora</i> (album) 2015 studio album by Ghost

Meliora is the third studio album by Swedish rock band Ghost. The album was produced by Klas Åhlund and released on August 21, 2015. The album was generally well received, placing on several music publications' lists of the best heavy metal albums of the year and winning Best Hard Rock/Metal Album at the 2015 Grammis Awards. Lead single "Cirice" won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. In September 2016, the band released a special edition of the album, called Meliora Redux.

<i>Opus Eponymous</i> 2010 studio album by Ghost

Opus Eponymous is the debut studio album by the Swedish rock band Ghost. It was released on October 18, 2010, on the independent record label Rise Above. It was released in North America on January 18, 2011, and in Japan on April 6, 2011. The album was recorded in the band's hometown and produced by Gene Walker. Opus Eponymous was nominated for a Grammis Award. The Japanese release contains an additional bonus track: a cover of the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun".

Track listing

Digital download

Digital download
No.TitleLength
1."Rats"4:22

7" single

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Rats"4:22
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Rats (Instrumental)"4:22

Awards and nominations

YearCeremonyAwardResult
2019 Grammy Awards (61st) Best Rock Song Nominated

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes. [13]

Charts

Chart (2018)Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders) [14] 28
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [15] 83
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [16] 1

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Ozzy Osbourne English heavy metal vocalist and songwriter

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References

  1. ↑ https://bodega.lomavistarecordings.com/products/ghost-rats-vinyl-7-picture-disc
  2. ↑ Rodriguez, David (April 13, 2018). "Ghost Unveil New Album Details Along With Single "Rats"". It Djents. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Kennelty, Greg. "Listen: GHOST Premiere New Song "Rats!" On The Radio". Metal Injection . Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Ghost puts references to Sepultura in new album cover". April 13, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  5. ↑ Zukowski, Zenae. "Oh "Rats," Ghost's new single leaks online". Metal Insider. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 DiVita, Joe. "Ghost Debut Theatrical 'Rats' Video, Announced New Album". Loudwire . Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  7. ↑ Fanelli, Damian. "host Premiere "Rats" Music Video, Announce New Album, 'Prequelle'". Guitar World . Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  8. ↑ Schatz, Lake. "Ghost announce new album, Prequelle, share "Rats" video: Watch". Consequence of Sound . Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  9. ↑ Hartmann, Graham. "Ghost: Four Former Nameless Ghouls Reveal Identities, Ex-Guitarist Speaks Out on Papa Emeritus Lawsuit". Loudwire . Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 "GHOST Leader Reveals Why He Wrote 'Rats'". Blabbermouth.net . Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  11. 1 2 "Read Biting Lyrics to Ghost's Black Plague-Inspired New Song "Rats"". Revolver . Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  12. ↑ Neilstein, Vince. "Listen to Ghost's New Song "Like Rats" in Full Right Now!". MetalSucks . Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  13. ↑ Prequelle (CD liner notes). Loma Vista Recordings. 2018. LVR00383. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Ghost – Rats" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Ghost – Rats". Singles Top 100. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Ghost Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
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