Spawn (Again): A Tribute to Silverchair

The album was created with blessing of Silverchair's team to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of their album Freak Show.[2] All the artists featured on the album are Australian bands signed onto UNFD.

Former frontman and songwriter of Silverchair, Daniel Johns gave his support for the album saying:

"At first I didn’t know what to think of this album concept, I guess it never really dawned on me that a Silverchair tribute album would ever be a thing, it’s funny though, sitting down and listening to the tracks I felt a strange reconnection with these songs, most of them I wrote when I was a teenager. I appreciate the time these bands have taken to record these new versions of the tunes."[3]

The lead single "Anthem for the Year 2000" performed by Northlane, was released on 11 October 2017.[4] The second single, "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" performed by Hands Like Houses, was released on 26 October.[5] The third single, "Without You" performed by Tonight Alive, was released on 8 November.[6] The fourth single, "Tomorrow" performed by The Amity Affliction, was released on 13 November.[7]

A music video for the In Hearts Wake rendition of "Freak" was released on 4 December.[8]

Due to the myriad of different bands present on the album most songs have had their genre described separately. The cover of "Freak" by In Hearts Wake was criticised for sounding like a "forgettable metalcore number." "Anthem for the Year 2000" by Northlane was reviewed as embracing their usual progressive metal sound. Hands Like Houses' rendition of "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" was described as being post-hardcore. The genre of the title track by Ocean Grove is described as nu-metal. Tonight Alive vocalist Jenna McDougall's deliverance of "Without You" was reviewed as: "[giving] [sic] the track a familiar, uplifting pop-rock shine." "Straight Lines" by Columbus was said to be a "pop-punk banger".[9][10]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Already Heard	2.5/5[10]
Hallowed	[11]
KillYourStereo	60/100[12]
Loud	45%[13]
Newcastle Herald	[14]
Wall of Sound	6.5/10[9]

The album received mixed reviews. Alex Sievers from KillYourStereo criticised it harshly saying: "overall, ‘Spawn (Again)…’ is still not that great. For just like how a couple great songs don’t make an album instantly great, a couple great covers doesn’t automatically make a whole covers album great."[12] Wall of Sound in a more positive review said: "I reckon [Silverchair] will be stoked to hear new age renditions of their classics, but in the same breath, there’s maybe two or three versions that didn’t need to make the final cut."[9] Brian Griffin from Loud noted the only highlights of the album being the covers of "Tomorrow", "Israel's Son", "Cemetery", "Anthem for the Year 2000", and "Straight Lines", calling everything else "either terrible (Tonight Alive, In Hearts Wake) or barely good."[13] In a negative review, the Newcastle Herald called "Some of the worst offenders [sic] the big-name acts. Amity Affliction’s Tomorrow is horrendously auto-tuned and In Hearts Wake’s cover of Freak is a whiny industrial rock mess."[14] Sêan Reid of Already Heard in a mixed review said: "While there are a handful of highlights, ‘Spawn Again’ is no different than most tribute records."[10] Daniel Källmalm from Hallowed drew praise to Northlane's cover of "Anthem for the Year 2000" calling it: "the most memorable track of the whole thing."[11]

In a mixed review by Luke Nuttall from The Soundboard said: "The fact that there’s quality from The Amity Affliction and In Hearts Wake here is a borderline miracle, and for a compilation that will undoubtedly prove to be something of a novelty in the future, there’s enough to get into here without being disappointed."[15] Mandy Stefanakis from Loud Mouth in a positive review said: "It works very nicely and with a little luck will unite some listeners who found themselves a little muddled during their Silverchair journey."[16]

All tracks are written by Daniel Johns, except where noted. All tracks composed by Silverchair.