''Soul Searching Sun'' is the third album released by

Life of Agony Life of Agony is an American alternative metal band from Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 1989 by singer Mina Caputo (then known as Keith Caputo), bassist Alan Robert and guitarist Joey Z. The band has released six studio albums to date, most ...

in 1997 through

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is an American record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock bands. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. History The label was launched in 1980 in t ...

. The album was co-produced and co-mixed by Life of Agony and

Phil Nicolo The Butcher Bros. is an American music production team made up of brothers Phil and Joe Nicolo, originally based out of Philadelphia in the mid-to-late '80s. Together and individually, the brothers have produced albums for a wide variety of ban ...

of the Butcher Brothers at Studio 4 Recording in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. This was the band's only recording with new drummer Dan Richardson and featured what was another stylistic change for the band, incorporating psychedelic elements into their sound and featured their first true ballad in "My Mind Is Dangerous". Upon release in North America, the album was issued with three

hidden track In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as t ...

s: "River Runs Red" (Re-Zamped) which was a re-recording of one of the band's most enduring songs from their debut album of the same name, "Let's Pretend (Trippin')" which was a psychedelic styled remake of a song off of their second album ''

Ugly Ugly may refer to: * Ugliness, a property of a person or thing that is unpleasant to look at, listen to or contemplate Music Albums * ''Ugly'' (Life of Agony album), 1995 * ''Ugly'' (Screaming Females album), 2012 Songs * "Ugly" (Bubb ...

'', and "Weeds (Unplugged)" which was an alternate, acoustic version of the album's first single. These bonus tracks were not listed on the packaging or in the album's liner notes. Shortly after the initial release of the album, Roadrunner Records released a

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

reissue of the album in Europe, which included the first two bonus tracks from the North American limited edition along with "Tangerine (Re-Zep)", a

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 ...

cover song, which featured, fellow NYC band, Anthrax's Charile Benante on 6-string acoustic guitar and 12-string acoustic guitar. All four of these bonus tracks were recorded separately from the proper album, in June of 1997 at

Andy Kravitz Andy Kravitz is an American drummer and percussionist, audio engineer, record producer, and songwriter. He has been nominated for 14 Grammy Awards, winning several. He lives near Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California. Early life Andy Kravitz wa ...

's "The Amazing Barn" in Conshohocken, with Kravitz co-producing and co-mixing. A fifth track, another re-recording entitled "How It Would Be '97", was also recorded at these sessions and was released as a b-side on the "Weeds" slimline CD single. Shortly after the album's release, lead singer

Mina Caputo Mina Caputo (born Keith Caputo; December 4, 1973) is an American singer best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of New York City alternative metal band Life of Agony. Caputo came out as transgender in 2011 and transitioned to fem ...

would leave the band to launch a solo career, citing her heart no longer being into the music. Life Of Agony recruited former

Ugly Kid Joe Ugly Kid Joe is an American hard rock band from Isla Vista, California, formed in 1989. The band's name spoofs the glam metal band Pretty Boy Floyd's name. To date, Ugly Kid Joe have released five full-length albums, two compilation albums and ...

singer

Whitfield Crane William Whitfield Crane IV (born January 19, 1968) is an American singer and founding member and lead vocalist of the rock band Ugly Kid Joe, which was formed in 1989. He has also worked in music outside his band, from performing guest vocals on ...

to step in to fulfill touring obligations in support of "Soul Searching Sun". However the band disbanded shortly thereafter. Life Of Agony's original lineup would reunite for the first time in 2003 to perform two sold out shows at NYC's Irving Plaza. Several tracks from "Soul Searching Sun" including "My Mind Is Dangerous" were performed at these shows.''Weeds"'' (single). Life of Agony.

. 1997. RR PROMO 291. ''Soul Searching Sun'', catalog number RR.8816-5, barcode 016861881658 ''Soul Searching Sun'', catalog number RR.8816-2, barcode 016861881627

Track listing

Personnel

Life of Agony *

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

*Dan Richardson -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Alan Robert Alan Robert (born 1971) is an American musician and comic book creator, known as the bassist for the alternative metal band Life of Agony, his work on his graphic novels ''Wire Hangers'', '' Crawl to Me'' and ''Killogy'', as well as his horror-t ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

*Joey Z. -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Additional musicians *

Charlie Benante Charles Lee Benante (born November 27, 1962) is an American musician best known as the drummer for thrash metal band Anthrax, and crossover thrash band Stormtroopers of Death. Alongside rhythm guitarist and band leader Scott Ian, Benante has co ...

- 6 and 12 string acoustic guitar *Philip Nowlan -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(on "My Mind is Dangerous") Technical personnel *

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

*Phil Nicolo and

Life Of Agony Life of Agony is an American alternative metal band from Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 1989 by singer Mina Caputo (then known as Keith Caputo), bassist Alan Robert and guitarist Joey Z. The band has released six studio albums to date, most ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

and mixing *

- additional production *Dirk Grobelny, Ian Cross, Philip Nowlan, Andy Kravitz -

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

*Mike "Bones" Malak, Brian Lloyd - assistant engineers *Brian James, Chris Gately, Jeremy Birnbaum - technical support *George Marino - mastering *

Dave McKean David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpt ...

- art illustrations and design *Kristen Callahan - band

Photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

References

Life of Agony albums 1997 albums Roadrunner Records albums Albums with cover art by Dave McKean {{1990s-alt-rock-album-stub