| "Show Yourself" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Mastodon | ||||
| from the album Emperor of Sand | ||||
| Released | February 3, 2017 | |||
| Recorded | 2016 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock [1] | |||
| Length | 3:03 | |||
| Label | Reprise | |||
| Producer(s) | ||||
| Mastodon singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Show Yourself" is a single by American progressive metal band Mastodon, off of their studio album Emperor of Sand . It peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in 2017, making it their highest charting song to date. [2]
The guitar riff for the song was first created by band guitarist Bill Kelliher while creating a collection of riffs when on tour in 2016. [3] With most of the band's members alternating vocal duties on the band's song, vocals for "Show Yourself" were handled by drummer Brann Dailor. [3] Dailor was initially hesitant to sing on the track, personally not liking the guitar riff, referring to it as "too easy", though he later changed his mind on it. [3] Dailor reflected on the track's simplicity, stating:
I guess there's a part of me that doesn't want to let people down, and I thought some of our most critical fans would frown on this version of us, so I wanted to sidestep it. But Troy [Sanders] was really into it, so that started to sway me. And when I came up with the vocal pattern, it was really obvious and kinda sounded like Queens of the Stone Age to me. It was like, 'Oh, we're wearing a Queens costume.' And I liked it. And once the album came into focus, it was like, 'We need something like this.' It's like an oasis in a really dense record. [4]
The song was released as the second single from their album Emperor of Sand , on February 3, 2017. [5] The band performed the track live on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on April 3, 2017. [4] [6]
The song comes from the band's seventh studio album, Emperor of Sand, a concept album which explores heavy themes such as humanity's existence and limited mortality through the scenario of a person being diagnosed with cancer and going through chemotherapy. [7] The song lyrically plays into the same concepts, with lines such as "You're not as safe as far as I can tell, and I can tell / Only you can save yourself / Soon this will all be a distant memory / Or could this dream be real at all?" [8] [9] While the band is known for music that is progressive rock and complicated in structure, the song is relatively straightforward, with Rolling Stone describing the track as "relatively stripped-down, melodic and direct. 'Show Yourself' erupts from a straight-ahead riff layered with spasms of wild guitar from Brent Hinds. [7] The song features a guitar solo by Hinds as well. [4] Stereogum noted that, while the band's first single, "Sultan's Curse" contained the atmosphere of their earlier work, "Show Yourself" instead sounded like the "grungy chug-brood more in line with the work that the band has been doing in recent years". [5] Dailor summed up the song as "super-poppy” by Mastodon standards, while still dealing with the same themes of death and sadness". [9]
Contrary to the heavier, serious subject matter tackled by the song and its respective album, the song's music video is more light-hearted and campy in tone. [10] The video features a down-on-his-luck, sad sack version of The Grim Reaper who, feeling pressure from an angry boss and wife at home, is tasked with killing the members of the band. [10] The Reaper then begins his mission, but ends up killing only look-alikes of the band - impaling "Hinds" with a broken guitar neck, locking "Dailor" in a tanning bed, hitting "Sanders" with a copy machine, and throwing a toaster in "Kelliher"'s bath - leading to the Reaper getting "fired". [10] It is only after his firing that the Reaper ends up killing the band. The video ends with him getting his job and wife back, and earning a brand new hearse, for his efforts. [10]
The band's live performance of the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live! was specifically praised by Consequence of Sound, describing the performance as " Mastodon aren’t your typical metal band, and they proved that with their performance on last night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live...Atlanta’s favorite progressive rockers delivered a smashing performance of their Emperor of Sand single "Show Yourself", scoring major points for their accessible brand of insanity" and concluding that "It's performances like this one that could well convince an unfamiliar late night crowd to give metal a solid shot." [11] Loudwire similarly praised Dailor's "crisp, clean delivery" of his vocals and Hinds' wailing guitar solo in the performance. [12]
| Chart (2017) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs ( Billboard ) [13] | 37 |
| US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [2] | 4 |
Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2000. The group is composed of Troy Sanders (bass/vocals), Brent Hinds, Bill Kelliher, and Brann Dailor (drums/vocals). Mastodon has released seven studio albums, as well as a number of other releases. The band's 2002 debut album, Remission, garnered significant critical acclaim for its unique sound. Mastodon's second full-length release, Leviathan, is a concept album based on the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. Three magazines awarded the record Album of the Year in 2004: Revolver, Kerrang! and Terrorizer.
Leviathan is the second album by American heavy metal band Mastodon, released in 2004 on Relapse Records. It is Mastodon's first concept album, loosely based on the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. The songs "Iron Tusk", "Blood and Thunder", "I Am Ahab" and "Seabeast" were released as singles. Three magazines awarded the album Album of the Year in 2004: Revolver, Kerrang! and Terrorizer. In 2009 and 2015 MetalSucks named Leviathan the best metal album of the 21st century.
Brann Timothy Dailor is an American drummer/singer and member of the Atlanta, Georgia metal band Mastodon, in which he is the drummer and shares vocal duties. Dailor first started playing in a band called Evisceration from 1991 to 1993, when the band broke up. Dailor was also a founding member of mathcore band Lethargy, and the progressive rock/funk metal band Gaylord and played with Today Is the Day.
Remission is the debut album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. It was released on May 28, 2002 through Relapse Records and was re-released on October 21, 2003.
Call of the Mastodon is a compilation of early recordings of the metal band Mastodon. It was released on February 7, 2006, by Relapse Records.
Bill Kelliher is a musician from Atlanta, Georgia, best known as the rhythm guitarist of heavy metal band Mastodon. He is a native of Victor, New York.
Troy Jayson Sanders is an American musician, singer, and songwriter best known as a member of heavy metal band Mastodon, in which he plays bass and sings alongside guitarist Brent Hinds and drummer Brann Dailor. He is also active in Killer Be Killed and Gone Is Gone, as well as being the current touring bassist for Thin Lizzy.
William Brent Hinds is an American musician best known as a member of the Atlanta, Georgia metal band Mastodon, in which he shares guitar duties with Bill Kelliher and vocal duties with Troy Sanders and Brann Dailor.
"Colony of Birchmen" is a single by American heavy metal band Mastodon. It was featured on the group's third album, Blood Mountain. The song features backing vocals from Josh Homme, lead singer of the alternative rock band Queens of the Stone Age and former guitarist of Kyuss.
Crack the Skye is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon, released on March 24, 2009 through Reprise, Sire and Relapse Records. The album debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200, selling 41,000 copies in its first week. In Australia, the album debuted at number 19. It had sold 200,000 copies in the US as of September 2010, making it one of their highest-selling albums to date.
Oblivion is the second single from Crack the Skye by American progressive metal band Mastodon. It is their second-most successful single and song from Crack the Skye, reaching #30 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart; however, it has since been surpassed by "Curl of the Burl," which peaked at #16. It is the opening track on the band's live album Live At The Aragon.
Live at the Aragon is a live CD/DVD by the metal band Mastodon. It was released on March 15, 2011. It was filmed on October 17, 2009 during a Mastodon live show in the historic Aragon Ballroom of Chicago, part of their world tour to support their fourth album, Crack the Skye. It features Crack the Skye at its entirety as well as other Mastodon songs from Remission, Leviathan and Blood Mountain, their first, second and third records respectively. To promote the album the band released the live versions of "Oblivion", "Ghost of Karelia" and "Crack the Skye" on YouTube. The DVD also features the Crack the Skye film, which is the album in video format, in its entirety.
The Hunter is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. Released through Roadrunner Records on September 26, 2011, in the UK and one day later in the US via Reprise Records, The Hunter is their first release with producer Mike Elizondo. In its first week of release in the UK, the album reached number 19 on the UK Albums Chart and position number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart selling over 39,000 copies in the first week. As of December 2011, The Hunter has sold over 75,133 copies in the United States.
"Curl of the Burl" is a single by American heavy metal band Mastodon from their fifth studio album, The Hunter. It was released August 16, 2011, as the second single from the album. The single was the band's most successful song on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart at release peaking at No. 15; it would eventually lose its title to Emperor of Sands "Show Yourself". It was nominated for a 2011 Grammy award in the category Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance.
"High Road" is a single by American heavy metal band Mastodon. The song was released as the debut single from their sixth album, Once More 'Round the Sun. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance, but lost to Tenacious D's cover of Dio's "The Last in Line."
Emperor of Sand is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. The album was released on March 31, 2017 through record label Reprise Records. The album's first single, "Show Yourself", peaked at number 4 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in 2017. The second single, "Steambreather", peaked at number 18 on the same chart. It was ranked on several year-end lists, including at number three on The Independent's "Top 20 Rock & Metal Albums of 2017".
Live at Brixton is the second live album by metal band Mastodon. It was released on April 19, 2014. Although it was originally released as a digital only release, it was later released as a Record Store Day exclusive Vinyl.
Cold Dark Place is an EP by American metal band Mastodon. It was released digitally and on CD on September 22, 2017 via Reprise Records, and a limited-edition ten-inch vinyl followed on October 27. Three of the tracks were recorded during the recording sessions of 2014's Once More 'Round the Sun, while "Toe to Toes" was recorded during the recording sessions of 2017's Emperor of Sand.
"Steambreather" is a song by American heavy metal band Mastodon. It was the second single off of their album Emperor of Sand, the follow-up to first single "Show Yourself". As of October 2017, it had peaked at number 18 on the Billboard US Mainstream Rock Songs chart.
Medium Rarities is a compilation album by American metal band Mastodon. It was released digitally and on limited edition vinyl on September 11, 2020 via Reprise Records. The album is a collection of rare tracks that include covers, instrumental versions of previous songs, and live recordings. Its opening track, a new song titled "Fallen Torches", was released on July 31, 2020.