This week I decided to look at Vertical Horizon’s 1999 album, Everything You Want. You may not know many Vertical Horizon songs but if you’re a true millennial then I guarantee you will recognize the single that shares the name with the album. Vertical Horizon is the epitome of a 90’s alternative rock band which is why they fit perfectly into this week’s theme of a genre analysis. My goal for this week is that we can talk about the music and the roots of the genre and hopefully gain a better appreciation for this album.
Everything You Want was the band’s first actual major record label album. Vertical Horizon actually started out as the duo of Matt Scannell and Keith Kane who started the duo in college at Georgetown. They started out with a couple indie albums before getting a record deal to produce bigger albums. Alternative rock, in general, is a result of underground indie bands becoming more popular and bringing this genre with them into the spotlight. Being just a duo at first, their original album, There and Back Again, had a very strong acoustic presence which evolved in their more recent albums to include other instruments and band members while still keeping that simple yet strong guitar sound. That semi-simplistic rock sound with a strong acoustic (and really just guitar in general) focus is very representative of most alternative rock bands.
The four singles released from this album are “We Are,” “Everything You Want,” “You’re a God,” and “Best I Ever Had.” Each of these singles did pretty well on the charts and when you listen to them it’s not difficult to see why. “We Are” is definitely one of their more straightforward rock songs that deviates a little bit from their normal alternative sound. Content wise it is similar to the rest of their songs but it definitely has a harsher guitar sound. “Everything You Want” is the classic Vertical Horizon song that everyone knows or can at least hum along to. “Everything You Want,” “You’re a God,” and “Best I Ever Had” are all relatively similar in that they all have that very distinct acoustic sound. “Best I Ever Had” is on of the softer songs on the album; it basically revolves around the acoustic guitar with a hint of keyboard. The whole song is kind of at the same tempo in that it never really reaches a climax; but that doesn’t take away from the song at all because it sticks to its soothing melody and focuses on lyrical content.
From a lyrical perspective this album fits in with the rest of the alternative rock genre. Each song is an individual story but there is a common theme that weaves through each of them. This album heavily revolves around love, relationships, breakups, and all that other mushy stuff. However, it's not one of those albums that you would make fun of your friend for if you walked into his room and found him listening to the album alone. A lot of alternative music seems to deal with similar topics. Most alternative bands are mostly male so it makes sense that they often times sing about a girlfriend or a girl from some former relationship. In my last post I was talking about the Goo Goo Dolls' album, Dizzy Up The Girl which is another classic alt rock album. When listening to the Goo Goo Dolls' album you will hear a lot of similarities in lyrical content. Also much like the Goo Goo Dolls, Vertical Horizon has a sort of soft rock sound in their vocal delivery.
Alternative music came up as a reaction to the mainstream rock from the late 80's. The alternative bands of the 90's reacted by essentially creating their own new genre. This new genre still had its roots in rock and roll music as well as the other music from these band members' childhoods. Earlier I said that Vertical Horizon originally started out as the duo at Georgetown University; well during their time in college they often just played small gigs at local bars and stuff like that. Because they were just starting out they didn't have that many songs of their own to play so they usually played a lot of Simon and Garfunkel covers. That is one of their main influences and how the band came to get its simplistic, heavily guitar centered sound. This sound is especially present in "Give You Back" and "Shackled." However, you can still hear the rock roots in these songs when you get to the choruses which are much more elevated and energized as opposed to the more laid back verses.
Vertical Horizon is one of the bands that perfectly encapsulates all of the aspects of the alternative rock genre as a whole. From a lyrical, instrumental, appearance, and stylistic standpoint, they exemplify all of the best qualities of alt rock. Everything You Want is the ideal album to discuss when talking about alternative music as an entire genre. Even though most people may have only hear one or two songs off this album I would strongly recommend listening through the whole thing because there really aren't any weak links. I obviously have a few favorites on the album that I am partial towards, but other than that each song is just as strong as the last.
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