"96 Quite Bitter Beings" is the debut single by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

CKY CKY may refer to: * CKY (band), American rock band, formerly "Camp Kill Yourself" ** ''CKY'' (video series), named after the band **CKY crew, people involved in the video series and related projects *CKY-DT, a television station in Winnipeg, Manito ...

. Written by the band's lead vocalist and guitarist Deron Miller, it was produced by the band's lead guitarist and backing vocalist

Chad I Ginsburg Chad I Ginsburg (born April 24, 1972), also credited as CiG, is an American musician, singer and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist, producer and current vocalist of West Chester-based band CKY, which he co-founded in 1998. Prio ...

and featured as the opening track on the band's 1999 debut studio album '' Volume 1''. The song was also released as the album's only

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in 1999. Despite not charting, it is considered to be CKY's most famous song and has been featured on a number of external releases.

Background and release

As with the rest of the ''Volume 1'' album, "96 Quite Bitter Beings" was written by CKY frontman Deron Miller, and was reportedly conceived during an afternoon on which he decided not to go to work. Speaking about the song in 2015, Miller noted that it was the last to be written for the album, and that he came up with the riff at drummer

Jess Margera Jesse Margera (born August 28, 1978) is an American musician. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band CKY, which he co-founded in 1997. Prior to CKY, Margera performed in the band Foreign Objects with former CKY vocalist and guitarist ...

's house after their regular rehearsal space had been flooded. Later pressings of ''Volume 1'' co-credited the writing of the song (and the album) to Miller, Margera and guitarist

, although the frontman upholds that this was a merely "cosmetic" measure. "96 Quite Bitter Beings" is the first CKY song in the "Hellview" series, a trilogy which tells "a story about a town that doesn't take kindly to outsiders" and continued with "Escape from Hellview" on 2002's ''

Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild ''Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild'' is the second studio album by American rock band CKY. Recorded between November 2001 and February 2002 at studios in Hawaii, Pennsylvania and California, it was produced by the band's lead guitarist and backing v ...

'' and later " Hellions on Parade" on 2009's ''

Carver City ''Carver City'' is the fourth studio album by American alternative metal band CKY (band), CKY. Recorded mainly at guitarist and producer Chad I Ginsburg's Studio CIG Pennsylvania in New Hope, Pennsylvania, it was released on May 19, 2009 by Roadru ...

''. After its release on ''Volume 1'' and as a

in 1999, the track was included on the two-track

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.

(EP) '' Hellview'' along with the second entry "Escape from Hellview" in 2003. On December 28, 2010, the band released a remastered version of the song as a digital download, backed with live recordings of ''

An Answer Can Be Found ''An Answer Can Be Found'' (stylized as ''an Ånswer can be found'') is the third studio album by American rock band CKY. Recorded at studios in California and New York City, it was produced by guitarist Chad I Ginsburg and released on June 28, 200 ...

'' tracks "Dressed in Decay" and "All Power to Slaves", and ''Volume 1'' track "To All of You". In 2015, it was included on the limited edition vinyl compilation album ''The Best of CKY''.

Reception and legacy

"96 Quite Bitter Beings" has generally been praised by music critics and fans since its original release. In a review of ''Volume 1'' for ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'', Aaron Scott proposed that the track showcases "CKY sounding their best", offering the following the description of the song: "the guitars stomp on your face, the drums alternately ride on the downbeat and hi-hat on the offbeat, while the vocals switch back and forth from matching the intensity of the riff to wooing us to sleep". Similarly,

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 ...

's Bret Love identified the track as one of the highlights of the album, crediting the rotation of the song's music video on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

for the band's early mainstream success. The members of CKY themselves have also described "96 Quite Bitter Beings" as "one of the band's most popular tracks". According to

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

aggregation website setlist.fm, it is the most popular song played at CKY concerts. The track also appeared on the 2001 video game ''

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3'' is a 2001 skateboarding video game and the third installment in the ''Tony Hawk's (series), Tony Hawk's'' series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision under the Activision O2 label in 2001 for th ...

'', with British music magazine ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' describing it as "so intrinsically linked to 1990s skate culture". The "Shopping Carts" stunt skit filmed by CKY, which was aired in the first episode of '' Jackass'', had the song playing at the background. The main guitar riff of the song was sampled by rapper Bazaar Royale on the song "What's It All For?", released in 2003 on the ''Cradle 2 the Grave'' soundtrack. After his departure from CKY in 2011, Miller formed a new band called 96 Bitter Beings. The song was also featured in the soundtrack of the 2021

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

documentary '' Untold: Crimes & Penalties''.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "96 Quite Bitter Beings" was directed by

Bam Margera Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera ( ; born September 28, 1979) is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV reality s ...

, brother of drummer Jess, and released in the week of December 4, 2000. The video was later released, alongside "Disengage the Simulator", on the band's 2003 video album '' Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild: The Video Album''. Writing a review of the album for the website The Movies Made Me Do It, Chad Connolly noted that the video is "pretty low-budget" but nonetheless "visually appealing".

Track listing

Personnel

* Deron Miller – vocals, guitar, bass, production assistance *

– guitar, production, engineering, mixing *

– drums, production assistance *Walt Mecleary – mastering

References

External links

* {{authority control CKY (band) songs 1999 debut singles 1999 songs Songs written by Deron Miller