''Show and Tell'' (also known as ''Show & Tell'') is the American band

Silvertide Silvertide is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History Originally named Vertigo, Silvertide was formed in January 2001 in Northeast Philadelphia. At first, the band was signed by J Records, and they released their first EP ...

's full-length debut album. Produced by Oliver Leiber and mixed by Kevin "Caveman" Shirley, the band released it on September 28, 2004. ''Show and Tell'' features a melodic

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

style deliberately reminiscent of the aggressive work done by groups achieving prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, examples being

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

, and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

. It was distributed by the label

J Records J Records was an American record label owned and operated by Bertelsmann Music Group until it was transferred to Sony Music Entertainment when they acquired all of BMG’s record labels in late 2008. It was distributed through the RCA Music Gro ...

. A commercial success, the album spawned multiple top 20

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, and it's noted for including the band's '

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

': the strident

arena rock Arena rock (also known as AOR, melodic rock, stadium rock, anthem rock, pomp rock, corporate rock and dad rock; ; ) is a style of rock music that originated in the mid-1970s. As hard rock bands and those playing a softer yet strident kind of po ...

track "Ain't Comin' Home". The group created a music video featuring a straight performance of the song, emphasizing frontman Walt Lafty's aggressive style.

Background and inspiration

Members of the band experienced a surprisingly rapid rise to prominence, being signed a major record label when the musicians were still in their teens. They honed their particular sound by touring various

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

s and other establishments in

working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

areas of their native

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania. In terms of guitar work, Silvertide member

Nick Perri Nicholas Perri (born May 15, 1984) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and producer. He is frontman for Philadelphia rock group Nick Perri & The Underground Thieves, as well as founding member of previous groups Silvertide, Mount Holly, an ...

took influence from the strident playing of

Angus Young Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and only remaining original member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, school ...

from the group

. That band also provided direct inspiration for other parts of the sound of ''Show and Tell''. Some tracks call back to the

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...

movement, with the song "California Rain" explicitly mentioning in its

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

the

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly H ...

area of Los Angeles. Record producer Oliver Leiber shares multiple songwriting credits on the release. He had previously produced work by pop and

rock n roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

artists such as

BBMak BBMak are an English band consisting of Mark Barry, Christian Burns and Stephen McNally. Formed in Liverpool in 1996, they sold over three million albums worldwide between 1999 and 2003. The band first achieved success when their single "Back He ...

Boomkat Boomkat is an American electronic and pop duo, with siblings Kellin and Taryn Manning. The group released their debut album '' Boomkatalog.One'' in 2003, and their second album '' A Million Trillion Stars'' in 2009. The first single " The Wreckon ...

The Corrs The Corrs are an Irish family band that combine pop rock with traditional Irish themes within their music. The group consists of the Corr siblings, Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Car ...

The Knack The Knack was an American rock band based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with its first single, "My Sharona", an international number-one hit in 1979. History Founding (1977–1978) Singer Doug Fieger was a native of Oak Park, Michigan, a no ...

, The Troys, and

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...

in the 2000s. He started out as a member of the

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

group

Ta Mara & the Seen Ta Mara and the Seen was an American R&B group based in Minneapolis. They were signed by A&M Records to capitalize on the mid-1980s chart success of the "Minneapolis sound", which included acts such as Prince, Vanity 6, Sheila E., and the Time. ...

in the 1980s.

Reviews and responses

The album was a commercial success, with three

becoming top 20 rock hits on the charts done by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine. Lead single "Ain't Comin' Home", which is also the first track on the album, has become known as Silvertide's '

'. The group additionally created a music video featuring a straight performance of the track. Mixed to positive reviews have come in from various publications such as

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

and

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

. Writing for the latter, music critic Michael Franco particularly praised the work of frontman Walt Lafty, remarking that the singer's "voice is full of nasty blue-eyed soul, strutting and tearing and shuffling at will." He also stated that Lafty's "phrasing also displays a cocksure aplomb mastered by only a few legends" as the vocalist "knows that delivering a lyric is as important as the actual words."

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

, writing for

, argued that the release "doesn't boast hooks on the order" of the band's influences, labeling the album as "unexceptional". However, he stated as well that the group provided some positive variety, with several songs being on the slower side, and stated that Silvertide had the "aggressive" vibe of previous bands "down cold". While giving a mixed review, Unterberger additionally compared the vocals to that of

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

, the frontman of band

. Some retrospective commentary stated that the band seemed to have peaked too early, particularly given the teenage status of multiple band members. After the group's later break-up and reconciliation years later, Lafty and other members stated that they mostly agreed. However, they still felt as if the album captured their aggressive sound.

Track listing

# "Ain't Comin' Home" – 4:04 # "Devil's Daughter" – 3:51 # "S.F.C." – 4:04 # "California Rain" – 3:52 # "Blue Jeans" – 3:09 # "Mary Jayne" – 3:53 # "Heartstrong" – 4:17Note that this track is often alternately labeled as "Heart Strong". # "To See Where I Hide" – 3:54 # "You Want It All" – 3:26 # "Nothing Stays" – 5:00 # "Foxhole J.C." – 5:23 ;B-sides #"Adult Child", #"Beware", #"Dragonfly", #"Things are Gonna Change" #"She Looked Away"

Singles

References

External links