Saliva: Bringing Heavy Metal Back To The Mainstream

When I first heard Click Click Boom in a film trailer I knew this was a band I was going to like. Once I figured out who they were and grabbed Every Six Seconds the album got major play in my listening rotation. Finally the Millennium had a metal band that could put the grittiest riffs together with glam rock sensibilities in a way that made their retro sound as cool as anything in the genre all the while using the current trend of hip-hop and nu-metal to near perfection. The band scored major modern rock hits with their major label debut putting metal back on the popular map. This is kind of where heavy metal got to be reborn once again thankfully this time the genre has taken over on a level never achieved before. The seventies are about as close to this current run of dominance in length and penetration to the mainstream.

Even though bands like Marylin Manson and Nine Inch Nails made huge inroads neither were true metal bands. MM being the closest to the metal genre but still had a huge foot in the Gothic world of music and not achieving the success on mainstream radio as Saliva. NIN were just an alternative act with industrial effects added to their sound for effect. Saliva was different and on the same level as their co-horts Creed, Godsmack, Disturbed and Nickelback in how they followed the heavy metal formula that was created by the greats of the genre like Dio, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest and Def Leppard.

As the band has continued to grow and evolve the rap-rock has been filtered out for the most part and been replaced with more deep southern rock influences. The band came ripping out of the gates with their follow-up to Every Six Seconds called Back Into Your System in 2002 an album which saw the band dig in even deeper with more hits singles and successful tours. The album went to #19 on the Billboard album chart which is massive for a band from the metal community. Their #1 modern rock single "Always" was a huge reason for the excellent showing on the charts. The album kicks off with the grinding masterpiece "Superstar II" that instantly shows what your in for and you better hold on tight.

Back Into Your System was also used in parts of WWE promotion for their PPV shows and other promotional videos. The band at this point were a rock monster heading for world domination. 2002 and 2003 were big years for Saliva who not only kept their momentum on an upward swing. Three years apart sees Saliva release what I believe to be their average album Survival Of The Sickest which is the band achieving their vision of what the band's true sound was supposed to be. The street wise aggression was just powerful enough yet still had all the melodic touches to keep the more pop oriented fans who jumped on the bandwagon happy. There is a bit of filler material but the band rocks their asses off on this album.

More WWE connections saw the band on the Wreckless Intent album performing the theme song for WWE Superstar Batista. Even though Batista had great presence alone the song was a major highlight and centerpiece of his entrance. The song will forever live on WWE TV because of the use with the superstar and their video montages that play from time to time.

The band departed ways with Chris D'abaldo after some silly ego garbage and his in-ability to accept that Josey Scott was the main event when it came to most things. His replacement Jonathan Montoya recorded the album and did a good job. All the fans of the band were in for a treat when Saliva returned with their best album to date Blood Stained Love Story. The album kicked off with the ostentatious classic "Ladies & Gentlemen" that would also see them hit #2 on the mainstream rock charts. The song is also the PS3 commercial song which never seems to get old when those stupid commercials are repeated over and over during a TV show. The bands second single "Broken Sunday" also found much success hitting #8 on the same chart giving the album enough momentum to help the band tour successfully and bring the music to the masses.

Blood Stained Love Story includes what has become my all-time favorite Saliva song "Is It You". I don't know why it was never released as a single but would have been a gargantuan hit for them. If you are unfamiliar with the song do your ears a favour and listen to this glittering tune. By the time Cinco Diablo arrived in 2008 I've been a fan for a long time and I wasn't sure what I was looking forward to from the band. What I got was a much more southern rock album than I expected and the band cut their best homage to ZZ Top & Motley Crue called "Southern Girls" never as dirty or pedestrian as the Crue but much more kicking than ZZ Top.

From the albums opening cut "Family Reunion" you can tell this band has taken it to the next level in terms of growth and evolution within the life of a band. When the stark and chilling "Best Of Me" plays through it has a great chorus and is one of the bands most effective moments when it comes to emoting a feeling. The band has become multi-dimensional eleven years into their career to a point that no matter what comes together from their recording sessions you know its going to be good. Josey's voice has never been better than on "Forever & A Day" one of the most mainstream songs they have ever recorded. His delivery is so clean and flawless that you would almost not believe its him singing. Easily one of the best power ballads that has come out in last twenty years and I say that without malice.

"Hunt You Down" was named the official theme song to another WWE event called No Way Out in 2009 again giving the band another shot in the arm. The band also saw their song "How Could You" do very well at all media outlets. Saliva's label released a hits package called Moving Forward In Reverse: Greatest Hits which included new material in the form of "Time To Shine" a pulverizing melodic rocker that the band sound current and powerful as any fan would expect.

The band are now going to enter this new decade with a new album called Skin Deep that I can't wait to hear for obvious reasons. This band is set now with a career spanning fourteen years with five major label releases and one independent one. They have done nothing but be great and rock our asses off for the entire time. With their last single release of "Badass" from the soundtrack to Saw 3D being as good as it was then the new single "Nothing" all I can tell you is this album could make all their previous albums pale by comparison. "Nothing" is a killer power ballad and do not miss out getting the single when it becomes available for download on Amazon or I-Tunes.