...No Sun Today

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Template:Infobox album ...No Sun Today is the second and final album by Grey Daze.

Background

Around early 1995, Jonathan Krause had left the band. It was his personal decision based on a combination of factors varied from his relationship with the band and his own personal priorities. After that happened, the band found Mace Beyers to replace Jonathan on bass. Very shortly after that, Jason decided to leave the band as well and Bobby Benish joined Grey Daze, completing an entirely different incarnation of the band.

On April 20, 1996, Grey Daze took part on the Earth Day '96 Festival which Michael Schenker Group headlined. Chester Bennington would later get an offer from Michael Schenker to go to Japan, which he didn't take.[1]

The album cover for ...No Sun Today features Kerry Rose's daughter Jessica Rose.[2] Artwork (layouts and graphics) for the album was done by Jason Barnes, even though he wasn't in the band by the time it was released.

Writing and Recording

In February 1996, the band asked David Knauer (the same producer that worked on their debut album Wake Me) to produce and record their 2nd album, so he started pre-production for it on February 18th. He brought them into his studio again and recorded the band playing live, just like he did before recording Wake Me to see what they had in store for the album, but this time on multitrack.

From David: "Soon after, they got noticed by a record label and there was talk of them getting signed. We continued to work on the songs and prepare for the studio. We all got very happy when they signed the deal with Real Records. Then out of the blue one day I was asked by Grey Daze's manager to come see him. Him had a release and a check for me and said that they were going to record the record with the label's producer and engineer and we would not be working together any longer. I was quite hurt by it all, as I put a lot into them up till this point. So they went in and did the record with Andy Barrett and Glen Parrish. As you know it never came out. Later that year they came back to me and asked me to redo the album. At first I was not very motivated to do it but, because it was going to give me a chance to work with the band again, I moved forward from where we left off. This time instead of doing it at my studio, I was going to do it at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Phoenix. It is a well known recording school with many nice studios. I taught there part time and my good friend Mike Jones is the Director of Education. We were going to do the record together. Since the first work we did together in Feb 96, the band had recorded the other album with Andy Barret and had written new songs, I wanted to hear all the new stuff so we did another pre-production session on 12/3/1996. Mike and I went into the studio at the school and recorded the band live to DAT again. Then just before we started the recording of No Sun Today, on 12/13/96 I was in a bad car accident. I spent the next couple months in Los Angeles and Mike went on to do the record."

He also added: "[...]Normally we would never do a full album for a band at CRAS, just a song or two for a class, but since I worked there for so long and Mike was director of education, we were working on the album there as a favor to the band in off time to keep costs down since they had no budget and no label to pay for it."

Michael Jones: "I recorded the Grey Daze album, No Sun Today in early 1997. Mixed the record. Mastered it at A&M Records and submitted it to them for consideration.

David had already been working with the band for a few years. By the time I got involved, they were tight and their songs were pretty locked in.[...]

The No Sun record was done at my school. The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences. There were several students assisting on the sessions, but all the engineering and production work was handled by Myself and Ghery Fimbres."

Composition

Three songs from the band's previous album, Wake Me, were reworked for ...No Sun Today: "What's In The Eye", "Sometimes" and "Hole". About the reason behind this, Michael Jones said: "Grey Daze had a great live show. As a result they gigged a lot and believe they reworked and tightened some their songs for No Sun. No unused tracks I can recall."

Several other songs from Wake Me were considered for the album but didn't make it. They were "Believe Me", "Wake Me", "Morei Sky", "Holding You", "Here, Nearby" and "She Shines". There are a few other known songs that didn't make the album: "Commit" (Wake Me outtake), "Ryan's Wisdom", "Old School" and "Super Star".

The Dead By Sunrise song "Morning After" was also conceived around 1996.

On April 15, 2003, during a chat with LPAssociation, Sean Dowdell spoke about "B12": "Chester wrote the lyrics to that when he was 12. it was his first lyrically complete songs. Mace and I were screwing arounf with the music and Chester just came in and started singing the parts, it just fit. The chorus we couldn't find words to put there so Chester just started saying hooray hoorah and we loved it..."

"Anything, Anything" is a cover of a 1985 song by Dramarama. According to Jonathan Krause, both "Anything, Anything" and "Super Star" had been played live with the previous incarnation of the band, meaning he and Jason somehow contributed to those songs. Several Grey Daze members and people who worked with the band have also stated that "Anything, Anything" was the biggest crowd pleaser.

"B12" and "Anything, Anything" received local radio airplay. The two were local hit songs.

"The Down Syndrome" was conceived in early 1996, shortly before the band's first pre-production sessions for their second studio album. At that time, the song was so new it didn't have a name yet, it was just titled "New Song". A version of it with only guitar and vocal was recorded by Chester and Bobby during that session.

The unlisted 13th track on the album is an acoustic version of "The Down Syndrome" which features Sean Dowdell playing piano and Chester Bennington singing. It was recorded in one take with no overdubs. Their engineer's, Mike Jones, voice can be heard saying "We're still rolling".

Re-recording

Sometime in 2002, Bobby Benish was recording new guitar tracks for some songs. Around that time he had a seizure while driving, blacked out and totaled his truck. In the hospital, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. According to Mace Beyers, Warner Bros. wanted to release the guitar tracks in some way and kind of promote it with Linkin Park, and also hold and organize a benefit show for Bobby since he was having trouble paying his medical bills.

A show was scheduled for September 7, 2002 at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix, Arizona with several other bands. On August 28, 2002, Chester was forced to cancel the benefit show because the record label had summoned Linkin Park back to the studio with Don Gilmore to record their next album Meteora. LinkinPark.com stated it was canceled due to unavoidable time constraints of recording the next Linkin Park album. Chester issued a statement saying, "It's very unfortunate that we are having to postpone this concert but our management has pulled everyone back from vacations and various activities in order to meet our recording obligations. However I will continue to help Bobby and his family at this very difficult time."

According to Sean Dowdell, the guitarist for the event was going to be Jason Barnes and there were no rehearsals before the show got cancelled. The benefit show was never rescheduled.

In December 2002, Sean revealed to LPAssociation that he was in the process of finalizing a re-mixed ...No Sun Today with the intent to raise money to support Bobby:

"Grey Daze is re-releasing No Sun Today on Artemis Records if you guys go to their site and ask them about it. I remixed the entire album, It sounds way better and added voacl and guitar tracks to the whole album"

"we are already donating the sales of the No Sun Cd to Bobby"

On April 25, 2003, during a chat with Linkin Park World, Sean Dowdell gave more details about the album:

"we decided to remix No Sun Today, and it sounds great, I remixed the entire CD, It will be released in June by Artemis records, if you visit their website they can answer more questions. I think it is artemis records.com"

"yes, we are in the final stages of o.k.ing the artwork, it is going to happen for sure"

Sean also revealed plans to re-release Wake Me:

"no sun is being re released in a couple of months, if it does well, we will release Wake me"

When asked if Chester was involved in the project, he said:

"no, not really, he just let me know that he liked it when I mixed it"

The re-tracking for the this re-release was done by Michael Beck at his own studio called SoundVision that was co-owned by Sean Dowdell for some period as well. The record was remastered and re-mixed in studio, with instruments being re-recorded and vocal effects being changed. The project was set for a June 2003 release through Artemis Records but was ultimately blocked from public release due to legal problems with Warner Bros. Records. When questioned about the album, Sean said:

"Yes it is finished. Funny thing [is] Chester's label apparently doesn't want the cd out so they are putting a hold on it. It should have been out months ago but his lawyers held everything up. I don't know if they are going to let us put it out."

Danny Goldberg, the head of Artemis Records also made a statement:

"[We] still dont have a deal, you can check [the] Artemisrecords.com site from time to time where it will be announced if we get it done, its out of our control."

Bobby passed away in September 2004.

In 2007 LPAssociation was given by Sean an exclusive license to host the entire record and make them available for download for a limited time period. However, they were only able to obtain 10 of the remastered tracks from Sean because he was eventually stopped from releasing them at the last minute. The songs "Saturation", "Soul Song" and the hidden acoustic version of "The Down Syndrome" were never released.

LPAssociation currently says: "There are no indications that the remaster will ever surface, and for now all that remains of the project are m4a files that were obtained exclusively by LPAssociation from Sean Dowdell; but later removed due to issues surrounding the physical release of the remaster, which today shows no signs of ever being released to the public."

Releases

2023 Reissue/Reprint

In fall 2022, Grey Daze announced that they will be reprinting and reissuing their first two albums Wake Me and No Sun Today via Revolver. The albums were released on vinyl for the first time ever.

The announcement read, "Grey Daze have teamed with Revolver to release three exclusive vinyl variants of each album, all of which contain the original audio, artwork and liner notes. Additionally, both titles will be available for the first time in over a dozen years on CD, specifically, deluxe picture disc CD. But that’s not all: Fans can also load up on Grey Daze gear with throwback T-shirts, 12×12 photo prints and an Ultimate Collection that bundles all of these goodies together into one badass package."[3]

Track Listing

Standard Edition

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1 B12 Chester Bennington 2:30
2 What's In The Eye Chester Bennington, Sean Dowdell 3:50
3 Drag Chester Bennington 3:55
4 Sickness Chester Bennington, Sean Dowdell 2:45
5 In Time Chester Bennington 4:19
6 Just Like Heroin (A Little Down) Chester Bennington, Sean Dowdell 3:24
7 Sometimes Chester Bennington 3:42
8 Hole Chester Bennington 3:43
9 The Down Syndrome Chester Bennington 4:12
10 Anything, Anything John Easdale 3:33
11 Soul Song Chester Bennington 3:25
12 Saturation Chester Bennington 4:43
13 The Down Syndrome (Acoustic) Chester Bennington 5:21

Re-mixed Edition

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1 B12 Chester Bennington 2:33
2 What's In The Eye Chester Bennington, Sean Dowdell 3:53
3 Drag Chester Bennington 3:59
4 Sickness Chester Bennington, Sean Dowdell 2:48
5 In Time Chester Bennington 4:23
6 Just Like Heroin (A Little Down) Chester Bennington, Sean Dowdell 3:28
7 Sometimes Chester Bennington 3:47
8 Hole Chester Bennington 3:46
9 The Down Syndrome Chester Bennington 4:15
10 Anything, Anything John Easdale 3:36
11 Soul Song Chester Bennington ?
12 Saturation Chester Bennington ?
13 Chester Bennington

Personnel

Grey Daze is:

  • Guitar: Bobby Benish
  • Vocals: Chester Bennington
  • Bass: Mace Beyers
  • Drums / Backing vocals: Sean Dowdell

Production

  • This record was recorded and mixed at the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences, Tempe, AZ (602) 858-9400
  • Produced by Michael Jones and Grey Daze
  • Engineered by Michael Jones and Ghery Fimbres
  • Assisted by Kelly "????" Gabler
  • Mastered by Andrew Garver at A&M Mastering Studios, Hollywood, CA

Management

  • Published by Grey Daze Publishing (ASCAP)
  • Management by Rose Management (602) 493-0703
  • Legal representation: Scott Harrington; Manett, Phelps, & Phillips

Artwork

  • All graphics/layouts by Jason Barnes at Bleuchild Graphix (602) 447-4121
  • Photos by Dinah Rose

Music

  • All songs writen by Grey Daze except "Anything, Anything" by Dramarama 1978
  • Lyrics by Bennington / Dowdell

Contact

  • For Grey Daze fan mail please write to us at:
  • GREY DAZE
  • 5139 E. Kathleen
  • Scottsdale, AZ 85254

Live Performance

Songs Played Live

  • B12
  • What's In The Eye
  • Sometimes
  • Hole
  • The Down Syndrome
  • Anything, Anything
  • Saturation

Tours

Reception

Critical Reception

Chart Performance

Awards

Trivia

  • Other bands who covered "Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)" include Buckcherry, Something Corporate, Lucky Boys Confusion, Dirty Uniform, .моесердцесправа., and Beach Slang.
  • Chester Bennington worked for Burger King in 1996.[4]

External Links

References

  1. ↑ When Chester joined Linkin Park/Radio Alice transcript. - Everything Linkin Park - Linkin Park Live, May 31, 2013
  2. ↑ Championship Vinyl: Monday Morning Shuffle, November 27, 2006
  3. ↑ Viral Media Times: Grey Daze Pressing Albums to Vinyl, December 1, 2022
  4. ↑ Mike Shinoda, Linkin Park - Does Rock'n'Roll Kill Brain Cells? - NME, November 25, 2010
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