Published: August 28, 2008 09:50 am         

MUSIC: From ‘Far Behind’ to looking ahead

Entering songwriting sessons for the new Candlebox CD, singer/guitarist Kevin Martin made no bones about how important this record would be for the band.

The Seattle-based group, which had broken up in 1999 after three albums and a couple of key personnel changes, regrouped two years ago when Rhino Records decided to put together Candlebox greatest hits album.

The initial plan was just to do a tour to promote the CD, but the four original band members, Martin, guitarist Peter Klett, drummer Scott Mercado and bassist Bardi Martin, found their chemistry was so strong, plans for being a full-fledged band again quickly took shape. (The bassist, who recently earned a law degree has now left Candlebox and has been replaced by Adam Kury.)

Martin, though, knew the first post-reunion CD would be key to the future of the group.

“Basically between Pete and myself when it came to writing this record, there were several occasions when I sat down and said this is the most important record we’ve ever made,” Martin said in a recent phone interview. “If we’re going to come back and release something and hope that we have any sort of chance whatsoever to re-establish ourselves as a band it better be the best (bleeping) thing we’ve ever done.”

Such an objective, obviously, can be easier said than achieved. But one thing Martin and his bandmates had going for them was the benefit of hindsight, and an ability to admit that the group didn’t make all the right musical moves when the group was first together.

The first step in the career, though, certainly worked out fine for Candlebox, which formed in Seattle in 1991.

The band’s 1993 self-titled CD, took about a year before it began to connect at radio and with record buyers. But when it took off, things happened fast, as a trio of singles, “You,” “Far Behind” and “Cover Me,” became huge hits and the CD soared past sales of three million copies in the United States alone.

But the band, which was hampered by a non-stop touring schedule and pressure to quickly finish each of its next two albums, saw its success fade and its inner-band relationships get strained to the point that Mercado quit in 1997 and Martin bowed out two years later, prompting Martin and Klett to disband Candlebox altogether.

Along the way, the music suffered, and Martin readily admits the group’s second album “Lucy” (1995) and third CD, “Happy Pills” (1998) were not everything they should have been. Sales of both albums reflected the flaws of the CDs, and neither album came close to the success of the first album.

For “Into The Sun,” Kevin Martin and Klett, the group’s two songwriters, were determined to stay focused on playing to their strengths.

“That meant no (messing) around, trying to be creative and thinking outside the box sort of, (making) music that doesn’t represent Candlebox,” Martin said.

The goal, he said, was to make a CD that combined the best elements of the three earlier Candlebox albums.

“There are elements of every single record in this album, and we were very conscious of that,” Martin said. “What are the core songs? What are the elements that made those records feel good?…What were the best four songs from each record and what made those songs so great? What we always kept coming back to was melody on melody on rhythm. And that’s what we kind of focused on.”

“Into The Sun” may well be seen as Candlebox’s best record yet. The CD features some of the most forceful, yet tuneful, rock the group has committed to CD, as rockers like “Stand,” “How Does It Feel” and “Underneath It All” crackle with energy, while boasting ear-grabbing choruses and guitar hooks. Potent ballads like “Miss You” and “Surrendering” give the album a nice balance.

The band will try to spread the word about “Into The Sun” with extensive touring that has started with a three-month run of dates this summer. The group plans to play a song-packed 90-minute set that includes several tracks from each of the first three albums as well as a generous sampling of songs from “Into The Sun.”

What’s also working in the band’s favor, Martin said, is that the group is better than ever as a live act.

“We actually spend a lot more time with rehearsals and a lot more time getting ready for touring and getting our bodies as well as our instruments tuned up,” he said. “So now I think there’s a stronger consistency with the songs, a stronger consistency with our set list and maybe even a just a bit more energy, which is kind of odd to say based on how we were back in the ‘90s. But I think we found a new vitality in the music that we’re playing, just a new energy and a new excitement, and (a feeling that) it’s kind of nice to be back. So I think that has a lot to do with it.”

Alan Sculley is a St. Louis-based freelance writer.



IF YOU GO

* WHAT: Candlebox

* WHEN: 7 p.m. tonight

* WHERE: Thursday at the Square, Lafayette Square, Buffalo

* MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.buffaloplace.com