Ahead of the Lions

Ahead of the Lions is an album by rock band Living Things, released on October 4, 2005. The first single is the song "Bom Bom Bom" was featured in a Cingular commercial promoting an iTunes-compatible phone.

Ahead of the Lions
Studio album by
Living Things
ReleasedOctober 4, 2005
GenreAlternative Rock, Glam Rock, Garage rock
Length42:30
LabelJive Records
ProducerLiving Things and Lij Shaw
Living Things chronology
Resight Your Rights
(2004)		 Ahead of the Lions
(2005)		 Habeas Corpus
(2009)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic72/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
IGN7.6/10[3]
Pitchfork Media5.8/10[4]
PopMatters[5]
Robert ChristgauA−[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
Stylus MagazineB+[8]

Living Things is a band of brothers (Lillian, Eve and Bosh Berlin). Born and raised in the socially conservative suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, they have been playing together since they were kids performing early versions of the tracks that would eventually be recorded for the Ahead of the Lions album. The album was recorded by the Steve Albini (Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Pixies) and produced by Living Things and Lij Shaw in the Berlin Family Basement in their hometown of St. Louis in February 2005. Living Things are distinguished, in part, by their lyrics, written by Lillian, the band's chief provocatuer.

Reception

As noted by Robert Christgau in the Village Voice, "Lillian Berlin is Johnny Rotten with politics. His art would be nothing without his rage; he is possessed by the need to get his point across that he grabs his brothers' music by the throat and makes it bellow his tune. But his rage wouldn't be much without his analyst,which however simplistic-and it is, though at this perilous moment no more so than apolitical cynicism or liberal equivocation-gives shape, purpose, and a referent outside his tortured psyche to feelings that emanate from who knows where." (May 10, 2005)[6]

The following is a sampling from other professional reviews of the album:

  • "One of the most ferocious straight -ahead rock album since "Nevermind" -Brian Rafferty, Spin April 2005[9]
  • "Living Things are a band of fighters determined to make us all feel like winners" 4 stars review David Fricke Rolling Stone Magazine Oct 2005
  • "...what rock'n roll should be sounding like" Barry Nicolson, NME
  • "...an agitprop opus that attacks the apathy, paranoia, and mood-altered gazes of George Bush-era America"- Stephen Mooallem, Interview Magazine
  • "It's been a long time since rock music felt remotely dangerous. But along come Living Things-three brothers from St.Louis who mash out an archaic collision of power chords and screaming vocals that feel like a bottle breaking your head. With the simplicity of the Ramones and the fury of Nirvana, Living Things would blast of adenoidal angst if it were not for their politics" -Dimitri Ehrlich, Interview Magazine
  • "...songs that pair AC/DC's aggression with Fugazi's humanistic fervor"- Jenny Williams Spin
  • "They are the hardest new rock band around"- Chuck Eddy Village Voice

Track listing
  1. "Bombs Below" – 3:00
  2. "I Owe" – 3:00
  3. "Bom Bom Bom" – 3:06
  4. "New Year" – 3:39
  5. "God Made Hate" – 4:20
  6. "End Gospel" – 3:25
  7. "No New Jesus" – 3:47
  8. "March in Daylight" – 3:36
  9. "Keep It 'Til You Fold" – 4:10
  10. "Monsters of Man" – 2:09
  11. "On All Fours" – 3:50
  12. "I Wish the Best for You" – 4:21

Personnel
  • Lillian Berlin, Guitar and Vocals
  • Cory Becker, Guitar
  • Eve Berlin, Bass Guitar
  • Bosh Berlin, Drums

References
  1. "Ahead Of The Lions by Living Things". Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  2. Spano, C. (2011). "Ahead of the Lions - Living Things | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  3. Carle, Chris (2005-11-04). "Living Things- Ahead of the Lions". IGN. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  4. Bowers, William (2006-03-06). "Living Things: Ahead of the Lions Album Review". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  5. Lundy, Zeth (2005-11-02). "Living Things: Ahead of the Lions". PopMatters. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  6. Christgau, R. (2011). "Robert Christgau: CG: living things". robertchristgau.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  7. Fricke, David (2005-10-27). "Ahead Of The Lions Review". Rolling Stone.
  8. Love, Josh (2005-11-30). "Ahead of the Lions Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 2008-04-21.
  9. LLC, SPIN Media (April 2005). "Rebels Without Applause". Spin. SPIN Media LLC. p. 94.
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