Apartment 26? Who dat?
So glad you asked! Apartment 26 was a band from England. They existed only briefly from around 2000 to 2004 and released two major label albums. The singer/guitarist was Terrence "Biff" Butler, son of Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler. Anyone who has heard of them probably know them because of their debut, Hallucinating, as that is what got them 'on the map' in late 2000 / early 2001. This post, however, is about their second album, Music For The Massive.
Music For The Massive is an incredibly good album and it is a shame it basically disappeared as soon as it was released.
From Wikipedia: "The album was not heavily promoted, and three months after its release, the band was dropped by Atlantic Records. Apartment 26 then formally announced that they had broken up towards the end of 2004"
My guess is the reason album #2 flopped was because it sounds so completely different than their debut. While Hallucinating was a good early 2000s-type mix of techno beats, hard guitar, and mostly harsh vocals.... Music For The Massive is full of interesting style changes and versatile vocals by Biff Butler.
I was somewhat obsessed with the single "Give Me More" when Music For The Massive was released in late 2003/early 2004, but, at the time, never got into the rest of the album. Since 2004, I would come across something that would remind me of the band and I would revisit Music For The Massive and find another song that I couldn't believe I had missed the last time. This same pattern happened several times until, just this morning, I found myself listening to the album again and appreciating it more than ever. Let's get into it!
Give Me More - Give Me More is one of my favorite songs.. ever. Starts out with some electronic distortion and then... wait... a PIANO RIFF? Yes... correct. And a a great one. A non-traditional rock beat kicks in (almost jazzy, no?) with the vocal... and then... the rich heavy blast of guitar for the chorus at 44 seconds in. After the chorus is a little horn interlude (may be a sample, not sure). So far we have electric, jazz, piano, horns, and metal. But the amazing thing is that it is done in a way where it all melds together into one cohesive song. Imma shut up now and just let you bask in its glow......
88 - Track #2 is called "88". This is nearly tied with Give Me More as my favorite from the album. I guarantee if you listen to this song a couple times you will randomly sing "Iiiiiiiii am runnnning out" to yourself randomly and then have to go pull this song up on Amazon or Spotify. It's got a great groove and the production on this entire album is superb.
Strike - The chorus on this one does this strange odd-time thing with the vocal. I used to consider it a negative and would skip this song... but now... it's my favorite thing about it. This one ramps up toward the end, baby, so.... watch out! *wink*
Stupid World - This kicks off with a great guitar riff then breaks into the super-catchy verse. I love the slide on the bass guitar @ 30 seconds. It's the little things, man! At 1:55 they go into the bridge which is a highlight for me.
5 Day Rental - A chill keyboard riff starts this one. Great soaring vocals on the chorus. The keyboard riff makes several more appearances and I love it every time. The second verse lyrics are way out there, dude. I love 'em.
I'm unafraid of those approaching dogsYeah, fuck them I'm five times their size
Cut off the balls, gauge out the eyes
Turn down the sound and adjust the lighting
I don't have enough to feed you and
Your mouth full of uncertainty
The image that I'm left with
Is both pleasing and confusing
I will put up a fight and I will end up forgetting
To return it to you
Kick To The Head - "I tend to fall apart when I end up in this sit-choo-ay-shee-un". This song has it all. I think there is a dollop of sax in there for you. Most of the song is chill until you realize at around 2:40 he is screaming at you LOL. Then in gently brings you back down to earth.
I had always wished/hoped that the band would reunite or that Biff would put out more music with another band, but had never been able to find any information on where he went or what happened. While researching this post I found this article from 2021 interviewing Biff Butler. He ended up going into film editing. He states pretty clearly that he is content with what he is doing these days and still gets together with one of the band members to make music for fun or for films. Good for him, man! I will keep cherishing Music For The Massive for the creative and unique piece of art that it is and be grateful for its existence.
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