Forgotten Songs of the '80s: Sons of Freedom

Forgotten Songs of the ‘80s: Sons of Freedom

Of the many alt-rock bands that came out of Canada in the ‘80s, probably the most underrated and forgotten has to be Sons of Freedom. Hailing from Toronto, the band managed to ride a wave of notoriety to small success bolstered by one of the best tracks of the era, “The Criminal.”

Kicking off with a powerful, chugging riff, the band comes in droning, until frontman James Newton begins singing in a hypnotic tenor that you can’t escape. Singing about an ex and how’s he basically following her around, the lyrics are straight to the point and as a result, the song becomes all the more powerfully hypnotic. By the time the solo comes around, everything comes together and the band collides together at once and the begins coming to a kickass end.

Unfortunately, despite the song’s power, the band ended up getting bogged down in label politics. By the time of their next record, 1991’s Gump, they had essentially fallen off the proverbial pop culture map. They ended up disbanding by 1996 and everyone went their separate ways and they’ve essentially been forgotten by everyone which is a damn shame because they were one of the most unique bands to come into their own in the 80s and everyone needs to go and listen to “The Criminal” and enjoy it for what it is.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9xmm8_sons-of-freedom-the-criminal_music

Comments

  1. plarMay 1, 2010 at 8:51 PM

    They were from Vancouver.

    I remember seeing them at Call the Office in London in 87 or 88. They were awesome. A unique sound well before its time.

    Giddyap

    ReplyDelete

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