Friday 29 April 2022

Grade

 

Grade are a five-piece hardcore/emo band from Burlington, Ontario that began in 1994 and initially broke up in 2002, before reuniting for shows in 2006, and ha,ve been fully reformed since 2009, though less active than in their formative years. They technically began in 1992 under the name Incision, but after a few line-up changes they finalized as Grade in 1994, with their debut LP coming out a year later. After three more albums, other assorted releases, and some relentless touring, they disbanded in 2002. They reunited in 2009 to record new material, as well as sporadically tour and play shows. 

Sonically, this band is often praised as being pioneers of the hardcore/emo blend that would become more widely popular in the 2000's. They developed a strong following, but never got any widespread recognition, thus why words like "underrated" and "influential" are often thrown their way. Rightly so, I might add. The band had the unique ability to blend metallic riffs of hardcore heavies like Chokehold with the more melodic, cathartic octave-chord crescendos of early emo bands like Evergreen or Sunny Day Real Estate. They were also one of the earliest bands to incorporate both screamed and cleanly sung vocals, a sound that again wouldn't become widespread until the next decade. If you're looking for a place to start with this band, Under The Radar is probably their most popular album, though I've always been partial to the rawer sound of And Such Is Progress. In regards to their discography, everything is below is near-complete, though there are a few minor things missing. Most notably some compilation tracks, as well as the early Afterthought single and Incision split, though all tracks from those two releases do appear elsewhere here. Enjoy!

1. Grade - Cripple
2. Grade - Choda
3. Grade - Impulse
4. Grade - Hairdie
5. Grade - Digga Digga Song
6. Grade - Classified
7. Grade - Melodic Song
8. Grade - Entangled
9. Believe - Pot O' Gold
10. Believe - Drowning
11. Believe - Last Chances
12. Believe - Second Coming
13. Believe - Joel's Song
14. Believe - Escape
15. Believe - Regret

1. Weave
2. Miracle Ear
3. CFNY
4. Bedhead
5. Tearjerk
6. Hive
7. Pocket Rocket
8. And Such Is Progress

1. Chancre
2. Not Heroic
3. Abandon The Need

1. Conceptualizing Theories In Motion
2. Symptoms Of Simplifying The Simplistic
3. The Adaption Of Means
4. Life Gets In The Way Of Living
5. To Illustrate And Design New Parameters
6. The Joy Of Stupidity
7. The Tie That Binds

1. Triumph & Tragedy
2. Stolen Bikes Ride Faster
3. Panama (Van Halen cover)

1. The Inefficiency Of Emotion
2. For The Memory Of Love
3. Seamless
4. The Tension Between Stillness And Motion
5. Victims Of Mathematics
6. A Year In The Past, Forever In The Future
7. The Worst Lies Are Told In Silence
8. Second Chance At First Place
9. Stolen Bikes Ride Faster
10. When Something Goes To Your Head
11. Triumph and Tragedy

1. Cripple
2. Punk Rock Song
3. Impulse
4. Hairdie
5. Digga Digga Song
6. Classified
7. Instrumental Song
8. Entangled
9. Afterthought (Demo)
10. The Tension Between Stillness & Motion (Demo)
11. Triumph & Tragedy (Acoustic)
12. Stolen Bikes Ride Faster
13. Panama (Van Halen cover)
14. A Year In The Past (Radio Version)
15. Seamless (Acoustic Version)

Note: Compilation including songs from the Grade/Believe split, Triumph & Tragedy

1. Termites Hollow
2. Becoming Not Being
3. In The Wake Of Poseidon
4. Bleeding Warm & Newly Dead
5. Overthrowing Creation Itself
6. Little Satisfactions
7. Vertical Transmission
8. Will Bending
9. In Ashes We Lie
10. Sixth Chamber
11. The Empress
12. Twenty Moons
13. Winds Of Hell / The Glorious Dead

1. Bane - Non-Negotiable
2. Bane - Struck Down By Me
3. Grade - These Eyes Are On The Exit
4. Grade - Optical Portions
5. Unrestrained - Immaculate Deception 
6. Unrestained - Anak Krakatau
7. Between Earth And Sky - Skin And Stone 
8. Between Earth And Sky - Flow

1. Collapsed Lungs
2. Unstoppable Force vs. Immovable Object

4 comments:

  1. Another great post, thanks for introducing this band love the gruff vocals

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  2. I used to look at this blog a lot about 10 yrs ago. I just happened to be going through old bookmarks and I can't believe this blog is still going! There's so much good shit on here, I probably found tons of good bands through this blog, thx so much dude

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  3. I love you :) 90´s so best

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  4. Loved this band so much. I believe members were also in Acrid who would fit well to be highlighted by the blog. Love ya

    ReplyDelete