'' Food Chain ''is the second solo

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

album from

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recording artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

Sean Danielsen Sean Julian Danielsen (born February 14, 1982) is an American musician and artistic painter, best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist of American rock bands Smile Empty Soul and World Fire Brigade. In addition to creating one studio album ...

, who is also the

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

and lead vocalist of American hard rock ensemble

Smile Empty Soul Smile Empty Soul is an American rock band, originally from Santa Clarita, California, United States. It was started in 1998 by Sean Danielsen (vocals and guitar), Ryan Martin (bass), and Derek Gledhill (drums). Following the departure of Gled ...

. Published on November 4, 2014, the album was produced by

Eddie Wohl Eddie Wohl is an American composer, music producer, and mixing engineer. As an artist, he was signed to Epic, Elektra and Mercury/Island, and had a production deal with Roadrunner Records. Growing up on the East Coast, Wohl was in his first ...

, and recorded at Babylon Studios in Van Nuys,

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Background

In contrast to Danielsen's previous solo album ''

Enjoy the Process ''Enjoy the Process'' is the debut EP from American recording artist Sean Danielsen, the lead vocalist and lead guitarist of American hard rock band Smile Empty Soul. Published on 16 April 2013, the album was produced by Eddie Wohl. Backgrou ...

'', which featured only the singer along with his acoustic guitar,'' Food Chain'' featured a full band. In October 2014, prior to the release of the EP, the singer released "Rescue Me", the second song from the album via

Revolver Magazine ''Revolver'' is a heavy metal music and hard rock magazine, published in North America. It has been in print since 2000, and is about both established acts and up-and-comers in heavy music. In the fall of 2017, ''Revolver'' underwent a brand re ...

. The singer stated that he selected the tune, because "it’s a very powerful song that a lot of people can relate to in this day and age", going on to say that "We live in an overly medicated society, and we all have people close to us being affected".

Touring

In October and November 2014, the vocalist toured

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along with the

Midwestern The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

and south central United States to promote the EP. Preceded by a free download of "Food Chain", the title track and heaviest song from the EP, Danielsen toured the south central and

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

during January and February 2015. The guitarist also toured the Midwestern, East Coast and East South Central regions of the United States from May until June of 2015, with plans to visit portions of the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

central United States The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern and Western as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the U.S. Census' definition of the Midwestern United States plus the western and central portions o ...

between the ends of July and August 2015.

Critical reception

Sommer Sharon of

Screamer Magazine ''Screamer Magazine'', which billed itself "The Loudest Mag on The Planet", was an American rock music magazine. It was created by David F. Castagno in October 1987. The publication started out as a vehicle in which to promote local rock bands i ...

the words to the songs as being "tight as usual", with the album being "cohesive", making for "enjoyable listening beginning to end". Sharon also goes on to say that the album excellently portrays Danielsen's "angst-influenced lyrics" and "signature voice". Reggie Edwards of The Front Row Report states that the album "opens with a three song knockout" that "will calm you to the point that when the title track kicks in... ...it takes you completely by surprise before going back to the acoustic". Edwards goes on to say that "Broken Bones and Skeletons" is "one of the more emotional tracks Danielsen has written in awhile". He also points out that the record ventures "in a different direction from what he’s done" with his first major label band.

Track listing

References

External links

* {{Sean Danielsen 2014 EPs Sean Danielsen EPs Albums produced by Eddie Wohl