Tonic Week: The Top Ten Tonic Songs

Having held the position as my favorite band for more than a decade, picking apart Tonic's career to rank their songs is a task of great difficulty. I have so many memories entwined with their songs, and nary a single one of them is easily expendable. Tonic is remarkable for the consistency of their work, which is the greatest gift for a fan such as myself, but a curse when it comes to the task of assessing the relative merits of each work. I have my favorites, of course, but they change often, depending on my frame of mind. There are several songs I feel incredibly guilty about leaving off this list, but there can only be room for ten.

1. “If You Could Only See”: The quintessential Tonic song, and for good reason. “If You Could Only See” is a bite-sized encapsulation of everything Tonic is. It has the balance of acoustic guitars with hard rock, the intelligent additions of sonic color, and the melodies that seem to pour effortlessly from them. It may not be a particularly adventurous composition, but it's as close to the perfect rock single as can be written. No matter how many times I hear it, it's as great as the first time.

2. “Mountain”: “Mountain” has a different feeling than any other Tonic song, which makes it special. It builds slowly, and when the fire explodes, the song carries an undercurrent of anger that works well against the strong melody. Some of the band's best guitar moments are found in the song, and it feels more epic than anything else they ever wrote. There's something about the way Emerson snarls the line “I'm gonna burn calling her name,” that is viscerally satisfying.

3. “You Wanted More”: Tonic isn't known as a riff band, but “You Wanted More” boasts one of those great rock riffs, the kind so simple you wonder how no one had thought of it before. That would be enough to make it noteworthy, but the song constructed atop that riff is one of Tonic's most melodic, boasting a sugary melody in the chorus, a lyrical guitar solo, and fantastic harmonies. Pop and rock may never have mixed quite as effectively as on this song.

4. “Soldier's Daughter”: Another entry from “Lemon Parade”, this song is Tonic's most affecting ballad. The clean electric guitars break up in a way acoustics don't, giving the song a melancholy aura that plays off the mood beautifully. As the song transitions into the bridge, and picks up steam, Emerson cranks out some striking melodies, while avoiding the pop flourishes that would come on later records. “Soldier's Daughter” is a pure rock ballad, and one that is an expert piece of songwriting.

5. “Sugar”: Tonic is equally adept at playing pop music as rock, and “Sugar” is their best pure pop song. Raising the key a whole step gives the melody extra polish, while the guitar solo is an exercise in minimalist beauty. The song is so catchy you don't even notice that the structure is not that of a typical pop song, which is the kind of twist that can only be achieved through sheer skill.

6. “Take Me As I Am”: Tonic doesn't always show off their rock side, but when they do, they're a great rock band. “Take Me As I Am” is Tonic at their rocking best, with another of those simple riffs that get stuck in your head, married with a soaring chorus that makes me wonder why all rock bands can't write songs like this. One of Tonic's most uplifting songs, it's also one of their best.

7. “Count On Me”: Another example of Tonic's ability to mix pop and rock, “Count On Me” is a slightly more pop-oriented take on “If You Could Only See”. On the surface, it's another wonderfully melodic pop song, but the little riff that pops up in the chorus is deceivingly heavy, and amplifies the emotional weight of the song. And when Emerson hits those falsetto notes in the bridge, it takes the song to an entirely different level.

8. “Future Says Run”: Tonic subverts pop music by doing things that are outside the box, which “Future Says Run” is an example of. Played in an odd tuning, that nature gives the song on off-kilter rhythm that doesn't sound like anything else they have ever done, and like nothing else that you're likely to hear from a pop band. What amazes me is that they're able to utilize these tricks without drawing attention to what they're doing, blending them into the songs as though it was completely normal.

9. “Roses”: Tonic songs often have beautiful harmonies, and nowhere is that more evident than on “Roses”. The chorus of the song is entirely made up of their three-part harmonies, which are a gorgeous juxtaposition to the driving, two-note riff. Songs like this should be simple to write, but they are exceedingly difficult. Tonic writes them so easily that its a thing of wonder.

10. “Bigger Than Both”: Tonic's comeback album may have leaned a bit too heavily towards pop, but when they flexed their rock muscles, they were still there. “Bigger Than Both” is another one of those songs that manages to take roaring guitars, and combine it with beautiful melodies in a way that bands simply don't do anymore. It was a throwback to their own best work, and one that lived up to any expectations I had.

Tonic Week: Discography

Tonic does not have the most expansive discography, consisting of only four albums over the course of the last twenty years, but they have made four albums that each have their own identity, and work together to showcase the various facets of the band. Nothing about the four albums repeats themselves, and having not flooded the market with an endless string of similar records, diluting their sound, each one is a vivid signpost marking a moment in time. Let's look at Tonic's four efforts:

Lemon Parade (1996)

"Lemon Parade" is Tonic's classic, and for good reason. It contains their biggest hit, it went platinum, and to this day it resonates because it was not the same as the rest of the music rock bands were making to get on the radio. Underneath the dirty sheen of the post-grunge production, "Lemon Parade" is a classic rock record, borrowing more from Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac than anything that was popular at the time. For that reason, it never feels dated, it never feels tied down to that particular moment in the 90s. "Lemon Parade" could have been released in 1976, and it would have sounded exactly the same.

The genius of the record is the way the songs explore diversity, without ever sounding like a hodgepodge of material thrown together for the sake of making a record. Heavy rockers like "Casual Affair" sit next to the mournful melancholy of "Soldier's Daughter", and it makes perfect sense. "Lemon Parade" sees Tonic at their heaviest, their loosest, and their best. From top to bottom, these songs are almost all among Tonic's best, culminating in the massive "Mountain", a song that builds and explodes in a way they never even attempted again. Bands rarely start a career with a fully formed sound, but Tonic did on "Lemon Parade".

Sugar (1999)

After the success that "Lemon Parade" generated, it would have been easy to go into the studio and try to replicate that sound. Instead, Tonic turned their attention elsewhere, and made a kaleidoscope of guitar-pop. The heavier moments were still there, but the songwriting tightened noticeably, taking out the extraneous moments for a leaner attack. Instead of going on a journey with the band, "Sugar" jumped out of the speakers and wore you down with relentless melody. The diversity was still in full effect, with songs running the gamut from deep and heavy rock to soft ballads, but this time you could hear the two sounds beginning to pull away from one another.

"Sugar" is a record of highs. It isn't quite as consistent as "Lemon Parade", but it made up for that with a string of exceptional songs that more than outweighed the change in direction. "Future Says Run", "You Wanted More", Mean To Me", and the title track are legendarily great songs whose only problem is that they shine a bit too brightly. "Queen" and "Top Falls Down" have more than enough grit and swagger to hold their own, but "Sunflower" and "Drag Me Down", while being very good songs, simply aren't on the same level. But that doesn't stop "Sugar" from being Tonic's pop manifesto.

Head On Straight (2002)

For their third outing, Tonic once again shifted directions. If "Sugar" had veered a bit too far down the pop boulevard, "Head On Straight" was an over-correction in the opposite direction. This is Tonic's heaviest record, and its most unrelentingly rock album. From start to finish, Tonic is plugged-in, turned up, and proving that they are a rock band first and foremost. But while "Sugar" was unable to fully bridge the two sides of Tonic's identity, this record didn't even try. We get the token pop song with the sickeningly catchy "Believe Me", but otherwise Tonic rips through a set of songs that barely nods their heads to their pop roots.

That doesn't mean the songs aren't as catchy as ever. "Roses", "Take Me As I Am", and "Count On Me" are all songs with gargantuan hooks that should have been far bigger hits than they were, while the darker material like "Ring Around Her Finger" and "Let Me Go" provided the breathing room we needed after being floored by those perfectly crafted pieces of rock. The only downside to the album is how the heavy focus on being a rock band sapped Tonic of part of their identity. The record has almost no acoustic guitars on it, save for "Irish" (my single least favorite Tonic song), which robs the record of a key component of Tonic sounding like Tonic. It's a record with fantastic songs, but it doesn't quite sound like Tonic.

Tonic (2010)

Which brings us to Tonic's most recent album. It took three records, and a hiatus in between, for Tonic to finally find the right balance of who they are. This record is tightly wound pop/rock in accordance with "Sugar", uses its muscular guitars like "Head On Straight", and throws in more than enough acoustic guitars and pianos to sound like classic Tonic. While an eponymous album so late in a career is usually a sign of creative distress, it works here, because "Tonic" is Tonic finding and honing their voice.

If you threw the first three albums into a blender, the result would sound much like this record. You have the obvious hits in "Release Me" and "I Want It To Be" that fit the mold of previous Tonic favorites, the tight pop nuggets like "Torn To Pieces" that couldn't be more perfectly addictive, and the changes of pace like "Precious Little Bird" and "Bigger Than Both" that recall some of the looseness from "Lemon Parade". At times the writing is a bit too tight, the songs too constricted by their focus on removing anything that isn't vital, but that leaves an album without an ounce of filler. Tonic was always a great band writing great songs, but with this album they figured out how to write great Tonic songs.

Sadly, though, there hasn't been another album in these following years to serve as evidence that I'm right, or that I'm terribly wrong. Hopefully there will be new Tonic music someday. But for now, these four albums are the cornerstones upon which my favorite band rests.

Tonic Week: "Lemon Parade Revisited" Review

When important albums reach milestone anniversaries, the trend in recent years has been for bands to head out on the road and play the record in its entirety. It's a nice tip of the hat, but it can also be an easy gesture that shows how far the band has drifted away from that moment in time. Tonic's landmark debut album, "Lemon Parade", is now celebrating twenty years since its release, but they are not taking the easy way out. Instead of playing a few special concerts that few fans will be able to attend, and that become predictable once you know what's happening, Tonic went back into the studio to re-imagine "Lemon Parade" into something new. You may not think unplugging the guitars is a drastic change, but the acoustic setting, along with a lifetime of experience with these songs, does make "Lemon Parade Revisited" a completely new experience with an old favorite.

What you get from this approach is a deeper understanding of the nuances in the songwriting. While the original "Lemon Parade" was at times a victim of the fitting gritty production, elements of the songs get lost in the haze. While "Casual Affair" and "Thick" were bursting with the power and energy of the roaring Marshall amps, the same songs here are shown to have sides of themselves we didn't hear before. "Thick", in particular, evolves from the most of-its-time grunge influenced song into an almost Celtic rumination of profound sadness. Without the distortion, the deeper identity becomes clear.

Obviously, the songs that were already doused with acoustic guitars and softer textures are the most similar to their original counterparts. "Mr. Golden Deal" is the least changed on the album, but even it benefits from the extra shot of clarity the new recording entails, as well as Emerson Hart's more matured vocal. The decades of experience singing these songs, and living life, get thrown into these familiar songs, showing them to be malleable to the changing guard of time.

But what is most interesting, and most exciting, about this album is being able to hear Tonic strip down some of their most rocking material. There was pronounced power to the raging of the band when the songs called for their all, but there's something profound to be discovered in the quieter moments. The acoustic guitars make the riff in "Casual Affair" come to life, without the notes blurring into each other. What was once a wall of powerful rock and roll has now revealed the groove that live performances have highlighted for years.

This approach also reveals that "Lemon Parade" was never an album that was dependent on its production to succeed. There are plenty of records that cannot exist in any form other than the one we get to hear, records that don't have anything of substance under the sheen of studio gloss and the immediate punch of heavy guitars. These acoustic versions of the songs show that "Lemon Parade" has always been more of a classic rock record than it has ever gotten credit for. There's an old saying that any good song can be played with just an acoustic guitar and a voice. This record is a testament to that adage.

In fact, there's only one place where the acoustic guitars leave me wanting. "Soldier's Daughter" is one of Tonic's best songs, and this version is still beautiful, but the acoustics just can't quite match the sound of sadness the original clean electrics could. The song is missing that little bit of extra melancholy that made it truly unique.

There is no replacing the original "Lemon Parade", and that's not the point of this record. "Lemon Parade" is a classic, and it's a hallmark in the lives not just of the band members, but for countless of us who have spent the last twenty years considering the album to be a dear friend. "Lemon Parade Revisited" is a sonic memory, a wistful reminiscence of the past. It is audio nostalgia, and while the original will always be the version I find myself reaching for first, "Lemon Parade Revisited" is perfect for a lazy day, relaxing, and thinking about what used to be.

Tonic breathed new life into their classic album, and have redefined how to celebrate a milestone. It's not often you get to hear your favorite songs like it's the first time all over again. Thanks to Tonic, I got that chance.

Tonic Week: My "Lemon Parade" Story

I was on the verge of turning thirteen as the summer of 1996 progressed, old enough to have developed an affection for music, but too young to have a fully developed sense of cynicism. My main outlet at the time was still Top-40 radio, which had yet to succumb to the ills that now plague it. Good music was still propagating the charts, and I was more than happy to suck up as much of it as I could. The endless repetition that now seems quaint and absurd was then a blessing, an opportunity to hear my new favorite song regularly, before the idea of being able to access any music ever recorded at any time was barely a thought in someone's mind.

I filled tapes with these songs, trying to dutifully gauge the lengths by estimation, ensuring my mixes would not cut out the best parts of songs, nor would they require ten seconds of an out-of-favor song from remaining in between the favored sons. As I was compiling one of these tapes, I found myself succumbing to the obsessive part of my personality. I had taped a new song, cleanly and perfectly, and without any thought I found myself listening to the screech of the tape rewinding again and again, so I could hear that song even more often than it was on the radio.

That song was the most played song on all of radio for a year, and I still reverted to my tape to hear it more often. That song was "If You Could Only See", and it was my first exposure to a record that would fundamentally change me.

I would not hear "Lemon Parade" in full until a few years later, as "Sugar" was preparing for release. Acquiring music was more difficult in those days, and I did not have a taste for collecting CDs at that point. Having been burned by singles that led me to disappointing albums several times before, I had let the album slip by. I have come to realize that missing out on the album at its release was the best thing that could have happened to me, because even with two years of extra wisdom and musical experience, I wasn't ready to hear what the album had to offer.

My initial listen to "Lemon Parade" was not positive, or at least not as positive as it would later be. Compared to the shimmering pop of "Sugar", the earlier album was a darker, dirtier bit of rock music that clearly formed out of the stew of post-grunge. In my headspace at the time, that kind of music was the last thing I wanted to hear, so "Sugar" seemed to be the clearly better record. But, since I lacked a large collection of albums to fill all my waking moments, I returned to "Lemon Parade", giving it plenty of chances to correct me.

Slowly but surely, I began to see "Lemon Parade" in a different light. Instead of sounding like an album that was riding the last frayed strands of grunge's coattails, I heard a batch of songs that had more in common with classic rock, filtered through the dingy aesthetic of the mid 90s. In that light, despite the fact that I did not have any background with the bands that inspired Tonic, I began to appreciate the album more with each time I spun it. Within a few months, it would grow from being an album I would have tossed aside, to being one of my favorites.

That was true to such an extent that I was convinced to pick up an instrument. I got a guitar so that I could learn how to play some of those songs that I was obsessed with. I did eventually commit some of those riffs and chord progressions to muscle memory, but what happened was more important than that. As I learned Tonic's songs from the notation on the internet, I saw patterns that sparked my own imagination. Tonic, and "Lemon Parade" in particular, inspired me to begin writing my own songs.

In fact, "Lemon Parade" became the blueprint I would use to learn how to write songs. In my mind, that was the album I was always trying to create for myself, and though I have never come close to reaching that height, I do believe that I have managed to write songs that for a few moments live up to that legacy. Along the way, I realized that the music that was innate within me, the music that flowed out without my trying to guide it, was molded from the form of "Lemon Parade". It was unconscious, but through my own creative explorations, I realized that Tonic had early on hit upon the exact formula of music that spoke to my heart.

Over those years, my love for "Lemon Parade" grew, to the point where it was second only to the album that made me love music in the first place. Tonic was my favorite band, and even their disappearance after "Head On Straight" wasn't going to discourage me. With every song I wrote for myself, it became ever clearer how much Tonic had meant to me, how much they still did.

And now, twenty years removed from that initial contact, I find myself looking back and wondering what I would be like if I hadn't heard "If You Could Only See" at just the right time in my life. Without "Lemon Parade", I certainly would not have become a songwriter myself, I more than likely never would have known the feeling that comes from coaxing music out of a guitar, and I may not have ever fallen in love enough with music to become the fan and writer I am today. Simply put, "Lemon Parade" may have changed the entire trajectory of my personality. Even now, twenty years later, I still put on "Lemon Parade" and feel that same rush. I still marvel at how "If You Could Only See" captivates me like few other songs ever have, at the powerful melancholy of "Soldier's Daughter", at the powerful rhythms of "Wicked Soldier". Time has not taken away the spark of youth when it comes to "Lemon Parade". I hear it now as sharply as I ever have, and it means just as much to me.

"Lemon Parade" is my favorite album, and now will likely always be.