Ahead of the Lions is an album by rock band Living Things

Living Things (band)

Living Things are an American indie rock band from St. Louis, Missouri. The band, consist of chief provocateur singer/songwriter/guitarist Lillian Berlin and his two siblings Yves Berlin and Joshua "Bosh" Berlin , . Singer Lillian Berlin lyrics and songwriting has been described as " fiercely...

, released on October 4, 2005. The first single is the song "Bom Bom Bom" was featured in a Cingular commercial promoting an iTunes

ITunes

iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

-compatible phone.

Living Things is a band of brothers (Lillian, Eve and Bosh Berlin). Born and raised in the socially conservative suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, they have been playing together since they were kids performing early versions of the tracks that would eventually be recorded for the Ahead of the Lions album. The album was recorded by the Steve Albini (Nirvana

Nirvana (band)

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

, PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey

Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...

, Pixies) and produced by Living Things in the Berlin Family Basement in their hometown of St. Louis in February 2005. Living Things are distinguished, in part, by their lyrics, written by Lillian, the band's chief provocatuer.

Reception

As noted by Robert Christgau in the Village Voice, "Lillian Berlin is Johnny Rotten with politics. His art would be nothing without his rage; he is possessed by the need to get his point across that he grabs his brothers' music by the throat and makes it bellow his tune. But his rage wouldn't be much without his analyst,which however simplistic-and it is, though at this perilous moment no more so than apolitical cynicism or liberal equivocation-gives shape,purpose, and a referent outside his tortured psyche to feelings that emanate from who knows where." (May 10, 2005)

The following is a sampling from other professional reviews of the album:

• "One of the most ferocious straight -ahead rock album since "Nevermind
  Nevermind
  Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on DGC Records...
  
  " -Brian Rafferty, Spin
  Spin (magazine)
  Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
  
  April 2005
• "Living Things are a band of fighters determined to make us all feel like winners" 4 stars review David Fricke Rolling Stone
  Rolling Stone
  Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
  
  Magazine Oct 2005
• "...what rock'n roll should be sounding like" Barry Nicolson, NME
  NME
  The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
  
  
• "...an agitprop opus that attacks the apathy, paranoia, and mood-altered gazes of George Bush
  George W. Bush
  George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
  
  -era America"- Stephen Mooallem, Interview Magazine
• "It's been a long time since rock music felt remotely dangerous. But along come Living Things-three brothers from St.Louis who mash out an archaic collision of power chords and screaming vocals that feel like a bottle breaking your head. With the simplicty of the Ramones
  Ramones
  The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
  
   and the fury of Nirvana
  Nirvana (band)
  Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
  
  , Living Things would blast of adenoidal angst if it were not for their politics" -Dimitri Ehrlich, Interview Magazine
• "...songs that pair AC/DC
  AC/DC
  AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
  
  's aggression with Fugazi's humanistic fervor"- Jenny Williams Spin
• "They are the hardest new rock band around"- Chuck Eddy Village Voice

Track listing

1. "Bombs Below" – 3:00
2. "I Owe" – 3:00
3. "Bom Bom Bom" – 3:06
4. "New Year" – 3:39
5. "God Made Hate" – 4:20
6. "End Gospel" – 3:25
7. "No New Jesus" – 3:47
8. "March in Daylight" – 3:36
9. "Keep It 'Til You Fold" – 4:10
10. "Monsters of Man" – 2:09
11. "On All Fours" – 3:50
12. "I Wish the Best for You" – 4:21

Personnel

• Lillian Berlin, Guitar and Vocals
• Cory Becker, Guitar
• Eve Berlin
  Eve Berlin
  Yves Berlin is the bassist for St. Louis, Missouri band Living Things. He is the second oldest of the three brothers, being three years younger than Lillian, and two years older than Bosh...
  
  , Bass Guitar
• Bosh Berlin, Drums