- Oct 19, 2017

9 Split Album Series That NEED to Happen

Seeing a band live is always a great experience. It's really awesome when they put a cover song in their set. It shows diversity in that band, and it shows where they draw their influence from while also connecting with the audience. I love when it's another song or by another band that I really like.

BYO Records used to put out this insanely rad split album series where 2 bands would cover each other's songs and they would divide the album straight down the middle.

Releases

Year: Title & Feature

1999: BYO Split Series Volume I Leatherface and Hot Water Music

1999: BYO Split Series Volume II Swingin' Utters and Youth Brigade

2002: BYO Split Series Volume III NOFX and Rancid

2002: BYO Split Series Volume IV The Bouncing Souls and Anti-Flag

2004: BYO Split Series Volume V Alkaline Trio and One Man Army

The last one was made in 2004. They were bad ass, NOFX covering Olympia WA by Rancid, One Man Army covering Radio by Alkaline Trio, it's just awesome to hear rad bands cover other rad bands.

Every once in a while you'll catch a glimpse of that, like at the APMA's when bands like All Time Low or Neck Deep do these bad ass power medley's of pop-punk classics.

I was actually at this APMA Awards and got to see ATL perform that medley live. Looking back it got me thinking "what would some more dream split albums be?"

Knuckle Puck | Neck Deep

I know...I'm not fucking around with this list. The Welsh chaps of Neck Deep (Hopeless Records) and the Chicago boys of Knuckle Puck (Rise Records) would be one hell of an interesting pair to swap their songs.

While I originally had thought "fuck Knuckle Puck would be best bet with The Story So Far or Real Friends" due to the more emo meets pop-punk sound, Knuckle Puck lacks the ample amount of slow groove songs that the other two bands possess making it the perfect band to mesh with Neck Deep.

Even songs like Conduit by Knuckle Puck (which is a slower one so fuck you) would be a bad ass faster rendition by Neck Deep, kind of how they did with December Again.

Top Wants

Knuckle Puck Covering "Can't Kick Up The Roots"

Neck Deep Covering "Pretense"

The Used | My Chemical Romance

It's no new news that The Used and My Chemical Romance are old friends. It is old news that My Chemical Romance keeps dick teasing everyone on a reunion so fuck you Gerard.

-I mean just look at the two bands covering David Bowie and Queen's Under Pressure.

There is everything there for a PERFECT crossover split album:

1. The range: Bert and Gerard both have a crazy range and can belt out some crazy ass notes.

2. The scream: They can both yell.

3. That something: I know I can't put my finger on it either. But it's something about both of their bands that is that dreary, emo, romantic that would be a creepy, crazy crossover.

Top Wants:

The Used Covering Helena

My Chemical Romance Covering The Taste of Ink

SPOILER/ Super DE-RAIL

Both bands are really good friends with another band known as Taking Back Sunday who IS NOT on this list. (I know fuck me right.)

Another awesome want would be if BOTH The Used and My Chemical Romance did a split compilation album and covered nothing but TBS songs. #justsayin

MxPx | Goldfinger

Now this might seem a little unorthodox but just hear me out. MxPx has that fast punk rock Seattle soul and Goldfinger are a straight up LA punk/ska band. Through the years both bands have matured and grown but have both stayed fast, hard hitting punk bands at heart.

I feel like both of these bands are under appreciated especially for all that they've accomplished. and it's what they're "only known for" is the worst part.

When you ask people what they know of Goldfinger they say "Superman", "99 Red Balloons" or "Tony Hawk". and when you say MxPx people say "Chick Magnet" or "Punk Rawk Show". Which is an awesome accomplishment in itself, being known for something is great, but there's evolvement, something passed that point, not just typecast as "that guy from that movie" or "that guy that does that one song."

MxPx is probably one of my favorite bands of all time, and Panic is one of my top 10 favorite albums of all time. I was a late MxPx bloomer so to speak and Panic was the album that got me into the band.

Goldfinger I never really got into, until like EVERY OTHER KID who played THPS (Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater) I heard Superman. But then I dug deeper, I couldn’t outsource, didn’t have record shops around and I stumbled into an FYE, found them and looked for the same album Superman was on “The Hang-Ups”. “Holy shit that came out in 97’? I was like 10.”

Now let’s compare the two bands. These two would be phenomenal to do a split record. They’re both fast, poppy, upbeat, both John and Mike got that raspy nasal to their voice, and neither band has been shy to covers in the past.

MxPx has not just 1 song, not 1 album but 2 full length albums dedicated to just cover songs.

Goldfinger has a slew of covers of their own like The Cure’s Just Like Heaven, The Kids Are Alright by The Who and of course 99 Red Balloons by Nena.

And let’s not forget Goldfinger’s 2017 newest album “The Knife” featuring none other than MxPx bassist Mike Herrera on bass guitar and back up vocals, it just makes sense.

Top Wants.

Goldfinger covering “Tomorrow is Another Day”

MxPx covering “Spokesman”

All Time Low | Mayday Parade

Now it seems to be that this “new pop-punk trend” is cover songs. Well let me tell you, neither of these bands are unfamiliar with this “cover song” thing. See, there’s this compilation album that’s pretty popular that’s been going around for years now known as “Punk Goes _______”. It’s not called Punk Goes UNDERLINE. It’s Punk Goes (Insert Here) as in Pop/Metal/Classic Rock...(wow I over explain sometimes.)

Anyways, ATL and MDP have been on the damn thing practically since its inception covering songs from Rihanna and Jason Derulo.

Both bands seemed to simultaneous spawn at the height of what I dub the "boy band pop-punk era". You had bands like: Boys Like Girls, We The Kings, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Academy Is, Every Avenue, Pierce The Veil and then of course MDP and ATL all stealing the airwaves and hearts of our girlfriends back in the day. That is until scream-o and post hardcore moved in and gave us all the crab walk and the angry golfer. (Look it up).

Oh check this one out. Here's Alex from All Time Low singing Jamie All Over by Mayday Parade with MDP.

Top Wants.

All Time Low covering "Hear The Sound"

Mayday Parade covering "Stella"

Coheed & Cambria | Rush

Don't adjust your acid trip, shit just got that real. That is, if you're familiar with these two mega progressive rock mammoths. To try to understand the importance of why these two bands were chosen among the list of other pop-punk bands you must understand the importance of the two.

First, Canadian prog rockers Rush. Rush is the band that every musician used to make fun of or get made fun of for liking 40 years ago. They were "too technical." Singer/Bassist/Keyboardist Geddy Lee's voice was too high pitched, Alex's guitar solos didn't mesh with Neil Peart's crazy progressive drum fills that were for the era of metal that consisted of heavy thrash and trash style of playing topped with a solo and some lyrics.

Their songs were more like mini rock operas where a song about a car (Red Barchetta) sounded like it was explaining the define meaning of the universe. By any standard of the day were NOT radio friendly due to time restrictions (most songs having to be 3 minutes long and Rush's being at least 5-6), sheer complexity of the songs, and overall taboo that progressive rock was stepping on toes of the pop-rock and metal scene.

What brought the band to the forefront was longevity and fan base. The irony in all of this was the the same things that drew people away also brought on this other demographic of a cult following of this crazy 3 piece band pulling off these crazy rock symphonies who had epic songs, with intricate lyrics, melodic guitar solos, a guy who played the bass guitar and keyboards at the SAME TIME while singing, and a fucking dude who had a drum set who went around his entire body.

Dedication was key with this band, and still is. So much so that they wrote an entire one sided, 1 song album called 2112 and it sold.

Backstory. Coheed and Cambria. Fast forward to New York late 90's. This progressive rock band called Coheed & Cambria comes along and picks up steam fairly quickly from their complex style, singer and lead guitarist Claudio Sanchez wrote songs that were based off of a story he wrote while in France a few years prior. The songs were epic, the lyrics were meaningful, tied into the storyline, drew in characters names, and were all of the first songs for their first album Second Stage Turbine Blade. Fans were hooked and they had a cult following...I see a pattern here.

If you've never heard Coheed & Cambria before. 1 Fuck You. 2. Notice the high pitched voice, and the crazy proggy riffs.

Now I don't know why I'm babysitting the fuck out of you guys, if you're on this page, you've obviously heard of these bands. So imagine the split album.

If there were any two bands that were on this list that I'd wish to do this thus far, these would be it...but we can all dream.

Top Wants.

Rush covering "2113"

Coheed & Cambria covering "Spirit of Radio"

Flogging Molly | Dropkick Murphys

There's not much to say about these two bands...so if you're surprised by these two picks you should just exit this page now...

However for the other 99.99% that have ever been to a giant music festival, involved in "the scene", or at bare minimum blackout drunk on St. Patty's Day then you've had to have stumbled across the Celtic punk bands The Dropkick Murphys from Boston Massachusetts and/or Flogging Molly from LA California.

Celtic punk has been a staple in the punk community, with influences like The Clash, Johnny Clash, combined with bagpipes, fiddles, on top of a fast punk beat and a circle pit, what's better?

Both of the bands have a crazy following with their intense, live shows. Are you going to fuck with a drunk Irishman?

Flogging Molly

Dropkick Murphys

As you can see by exhibit A & B that these two bands would be perfect to do a split compilation.

Top Wants.

Dropkick Murphys covering Drunken Lullabies

Flogging Molly covering The Dirty Glass

Sum 41 | New Found Glory

So much can be said about these two mega pop-punk bands, both have had so many ups and downs since their breakout careers when pop-punk exploded in the 2nd wave of pop-punk in the early 2000's.

First up let's talk about NFG (New Found Glory). The Florida quintet made waves with hits like "My Friend's Over You" and "Hit or Miss" and with their breakthrough album "Sticks and Stones". The band became godfathers of the genre alongside bands like Green Day and Blink-182 and settled as theblueprint to many other bands in what was dubbed the "Drive Thru Records Era." of pop-punk.

As you can see the band definitely grew and got a whole lot harder from album to album, this was due to being compared to bands like Good Charlotte and Simple Plan at the time according to NFG guitarist Chad Gilbert.

The band maintained the "harder" more mature streak, but took on some flak in 2014 when rhythm guitarist Stephen Klein was charged with multiple felony charges, including lewd acts with a minor, and possession of child pornography.

The band has since trucked on maintaining a 4 piece and hasn’t let that stop them.

I mean just look at their 2014 album Resurrection that was in my opinion one of their hardest yet. It stayed very “NFG” and lacked the 2nd guitarist Stephen Klein.

It was also chalked full of special guests like in this special guest hit list “Ready & Willing Part II” where the band didn't sing one lyric and left it up to a mega pop-punk catalog of vocalists.

Catch all of the features? In case you didn't here ya go

Ryan Key (Yellowcard) Mike Herrera (MXPX) Chris DeMakes (Less Than Jake) Chris Carrabba (Dashboard Confessional) Chris Conley (Saves The Day) Matt Pryor (The Get Up Kids) Brianna Collins (Tigers Jaw) Mark Hoppus (Blink 182) Garrett Dale (Red City Radio) David Wood (Down to Nothing)

Now what about Sum 41? The band blew the fuck up after they rapped their way to our hearts in a in a grocery store with their hit "Fat Lip" around the same time that NFG blew the fuck up.

The Canadian quartet were on the light side of pop-punk as well but also kept it melodic and tough with duel harmonic guitar parts, and fast poppy upbeat songs.

Like New Found Glory, each album progressively got heavier and heavier and you could definitely see where their younger more adolescent influences came from, I mean shit just check out this video of them performing a medly of tunes with Tommy Lee of Motley Crue and Rob Halford of Judas Priest for MTV's 20th birthday.

Speaking of Tommy Lee, he sat in for a few touring gigs on shows with the Sum boys here and there throughout the years and was even credited alongside with punk rock legend Iggy Pop for the help of lead singer Deryck Whibley's sobriety after a long bout with alcoholism. Can you fucking blame the guy...he was married to Arvil Lavigne.

Top Wants.

New Found Glory covering Walking Disaster

Sum 41 covering Failure's Not Flattering

Avenged Sevenfold | Metallica

There's not much to say about this...we all know we want this to happen...So I'm just gong to leave this here...

M.Shadows Thoughts on being compared to Metallica

Avenged Sevenfold have been in the eye ever since their 2005 album City of Evil.

A7X has been cast as the band that can dip its toes in the water with punk and metal bands, both showing up on Warped Tour, Ozzfest and Mayhem Fest bills throughout the years. In the midst of this the band lost their first drummer and songwriter Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan to an accidental overdose of prescription drugs and alcohol. None of this slowed them down, after getting a slew of drummers including for a time Dream Theatre's Mike Portnoy.

Not being any stranger to loss Metallica lost bassist Cliff Burton to a bus accident in September 1986. The band went through a short list of bassist before settling with Rob Trujillo.

Rob Trujillo contract signing.

Top Wants.

Avenged Sevenfold covering (Welcome Home) Sanitarium

Metallica covering Unholy Confessions

blink-182| Green Day

Ever since the fabled "Pop Disaster Tour" in 2002 with blink-182, Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, and Fenix TX fans have been begging for a part 2 of that tour.

Like NOFX and Rancid, the two bands have more differences than similarities, but for two pop-punk giants who have basically the same fan base who wouldn't want to see these two bands collaborate?

Green Day is that band that went through the first wave of the pop-punk explosion, I mean hell, they even played Woodstock...in 1994.

While Green Day has grown to be a more politically driven and symphonic band through out the years with their 2004 rock opera American Idiot, blink-182 progressively grew from a 4 chord punk band to a bubblegum pop-punk band to almost a pop star rock and roll punk band.

blink-182 has through non-bias been my favorite band since I was 15 years old. Anything anybody says about them doesn't phase me. I like their old and new stuff, even with Matt in the band. The band blew up in 1999 with their pop-punk album Enema of the State and songs like "All The Small Things" and "What's My Age Again?" ruled the airwaves and were the blueprint to how "pop-punk" should be or the latter part of the next decade.

That included their follow up album "Take off Your Pants & Jacket" but then things got heavier and more serious in 2003 with their self titled album and then things took a screeching shit halt when the band took an indefinite hiatus all the way until 2008.

When Tom Delonge tried to part ways again in 2015, the rest of the blink guys weren't having it, and decided to call on Alkaline Trio bud Matt Skiba. The chemistry seemed to get stronger, but the songs got dynamically different.

The band quickly wrote a new album in 2016 entitled California, produced by good buddy and Goldfinger member John Feldmann.

Top Wants.

Green Day covering

Reckless Abandon

Pathetic

Carousel

blink-182 covering

Basketcase

Last Night On Earth

Minority