Been to Hell
Encyclopedia
"Been to Hell" is a song by American
rap rock
band Hollywood Undead
, the second single from their second full-length album, American Tragedy
, and the first track on that album. It is the band's eighth overall single in their discography. The track was released as a free download on the band's official website on February 5, 2011. It was later released as a single on March 15 and accompanied an official music video the same day. A remix was featured on the band's American Tragedy Redux
remix album.
The first surfacing of the track was on January 11, 2011, when the band officially announced the title of their second album, American Tragedy, and released a short one-minute preview video of the album. The video included an instrumental of Been to Hell, which was untitled at the time. The track was the third song released following the first single, "Hear Me Now", and the promotional single, "Comin' in Hot". The full song was released on the band's official website at midnight on February 5 as a free download to add fans to their mailing list and to promote the album. In addition, an official lyric video was released that showed flashes of Los Angeles and the band's new masks, an elaboration of the album's preview video. The track was removed as a free download a few weeks later before it was released as a single and put on iTunes on March 15, 2011. The music video was co-directed by Jeff Janke and Corey Soria, with a cameo by porn star Peter North.
A remix of the song by KMFDM
titled "Been to Hell... and Back!" was included on the 2011 remix album American Tragedy Redux
.
In the parts that the band isn't performing, clips of various people and places are shown. Places shown around Los Angeles include: La Brea Avenue
, Santa Monica Pier
, The Los Angeles Metro system, Hollywood Boulevard
, and The Los Angeles International Airport. A few unnamed characters are shown as they journey to Los Angeles to gain fame through various professions. One girl (played by pornographic actress Brittany Beth aka BiBi Jones) comes to the city and tries for a model shoot but then is pushed to pose nude and sacrifice her morals to become a model. She is shown later to have become a stripper, then a porn star, and had lost her chance at modeling. The next character is a man (played by the brother of Charlie Scene) who flew to L.A. with a guitar and tries out for several bands but is unsuccessful. He resorts to open mic nights at a club then panhandling on the side of the road. He eventually becomes a roadie. The last character is a brunette girl who comes happily to L.A. and is taken in by the sights. She visits the Hollywood Walk of Fame
and later tries to become an actress. Throughout the video she is seen frustrated at auditions and panick-struck crossing out days in her audition schedule. She also fails and eventually becomes a waitress. Later she finds one of her audition photos stained with coffee in the diner she works at. The video ends with the brunette becoming depressed and jumping off of a skyscraper, committing suicide. The 3 characters stories are mixed together with clips of dilapidated areas and other people like homeless people, symbolizing the failure of the dream of fame, which is the main idea presented in the song's lyrics.
chart on Billboard
and #2 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.
Production
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rap rock
Rap rock
Rap rock is a cross-genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock is often confused with rap metal and rapcore, subgenres that include heavy metal-oriented and hardcore punk-oriented bands, respectively....
band Hollywood Undead
Hollywood Undead
Hollywood Undead is an American rap rock band from Los Angeles, California. They released their debut album, Swan Songs, on September 2, 2008, and their live CD/DVD Desperate Measures, on November 10, 2009. Their second studio album, American Tragedy, was released April 5, 2011...
, the second single from their second full-length album, American Tragedy
American Tragedy (album)
American Tragedy is the second studio album by American rap rock band Hollywood Undead. Production for the album began following the induction of Daniel Murillo into the band in early 2010 and lasted until December...
, and the first track on that album. It is the band's eighth overall single in their discography. The track was released as a free download on the band's official website on February 5, 2011. It was later released as a single on March 15 and accompanied an official music video the same day. A remix was featured on the band's American Tragedy Redux
American Tragedy Redux
American Tragedy Redux is the first remix album by American rap rock band Hollywood Undead, taking songs exclusively off the band's 2011 studio album, American Tragedy, and remixing them. The album was released on November 21, 2011 by A&M/Octone Records...
remix album.
Background
The band had been recording for a second album since early 2010, also in the midst of The United States 2010 Recession. This caused an eventual peak of 14% unemployment in the band's state of California. The recession caused a partial motivation for Been to Hells lyrics of failure and the darker tone. The song is specifically about people who come to Hollywood expecting to achieve greatness and fame, but are unable to accomplish this for reasons of drugs, temptation, and apathy. When speaking about the track's message, J-Dog says it's about "The truth about what really happens to people when they move to LA, to be actors or models or god knows what other delusions people have... failure. It's all too true, but most people aren't there to see it first hand... But we are, so it's our interpretation of it all. And make sure you stick around til the end..."The first surfacing of the track was on January 11, 2011, when the band officially announced the title of their second album, American Tragedy, and released a short one-minute preview video of the album. The video included an instrumental of Been to Hell, which was untitled at the time. The track was the third song released following the first single, "Hear Me Now", and the promotional single, "Comin' in Hot". The full song was released on the band's official website at midnight on February 5 as a free download to add fans to their mailing list and to promote the album. In addition, an official lyric video was released that showed flashes of Los Angeles and the band's new masks, an elaboration of the album's preview video. The track was removed as a free download a few weeks later before it was released as a single and put on iTunes on March 15, 2011. The music video was co-directed by Jeff Janke and Corey Soria, with a cameo by porn star Peter North.
A remix of the song by KMFDM
KMFDM
KMFDM is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project...
titled "Been to Hell... and Back!" was included on the 2011 remix album American Tragedy Redux
American Tragedy Redux
American Tragedy Redux is the first remix album by American rap rock band Hollywood Undead, taking songs exclusively off the band's 2011 studio album, American Tragedy, and remixing them. The album was released on November 21, 2011 by A&M/Octone Records...
.
Music video
On March 15, an official music video was released on iTunes, but was available for free to people who pre-ordered the album from iTunes. The video was posted on the band's official website three days later on March 18 for viewing. Differing from the official lyrics video for the song, the music video shows clips of Los Angeles and the band performing. The band is shown playing in an underground garage with two podiums holding a drum kit on one and some percussion instruments and a keyboard on the other. Da Kurlzz plays the percussion and keyboards while the band's touring member, Daren Pfeifer, plays the drums in the video without any mask. J-Dog raps the first verse, Johnny 3 Tears raps the second, and Charlie Scene raps the third. The choruses are sung by Danny with Charlie Scene doing background vocals. When the band is performing, a few shots of the member performing has every other member in the background shown to be frozen in motion, even if there is a part for their instrument at the time.In the parts that the band isn't performing, clips of various people and places are shown. Places shown around Los Angeles include: La Brea Avenue
La Brea Avenue
La Brea Avenue is a prominent north/south thoroughfare in Los Angeles. Several museums are located along La Brea, and it is known for having many stores and eateries.-Description:...
, Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica Pier
The Santa Monica Pier is a large double-jointed pier located at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California and is a prominent, 100-year-old landmark.-Pacific Park:...
, The Los Angeles Metro system, Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
, and The Los Angeles International Airport. A few unnamed characters are shown as they journey to Los Angeles to gain fame through various professions. One girl (played by pornographic actress Brittany Beth aka BiBi Jones) comes to the city and tries for a model shoot but then is pushed to pose nude and sacrifice her morals to become a model. She is shown later to have become a stripper, then a porn star, and had lost her chance at modeling. The next character is a man (played by the brother of Charlie Scene) who flew to L.A. with a guitar and tries out for several bands but is unsuccessful. He resorts to open mic nights at a club then panhandling on the side of the road. He eventually becomes a roadie. The last character is a brunette girl who comes happily to L.A. and is taken in by the sights. She visits the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
and later tries to become an actress. Throughout the video she is seen frustrated at auditions and panick-struck crossing out days in her audition schedule. She also fails and eventually becomes a waitress. Later she finds one of her audition photos stained with coffee in the diner she works at. The video ends with the brunette becoming depressed and jumping off of a skyscraper, committing suicide. The 3 characters stories are mixed together with clips of dilapidated areas and other people like homeless people, symbolizing the failure of the dream of fame, which is the main idea presented in the song's lyrics.
Commercial
The single debuted at number thirteen on the Heatseekers SongsTop Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...
chart on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
and #2 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.
Chart performance
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Heatseeker Songs (Billboard) | 13 |
| US Bubbling Under Hot 100 (Billboard) | 2 |
Personnel
Hollywood Undead- Charlie Scene - vocalsRappingRapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
, lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media... - Da Kurlzz – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, screamsScreaming (music)Screaming is a vocal technique that is most popular in subgenres of heavy metal, punk and hard rock, including metalcore, deathcore, post-hardcore, groove metal, black metal, and grindcore...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media... - Danny - clean vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Funny Man – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media... - J-Dog – keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals, screamsScreaming (music)Screaming is a vocal technique that is most popular in subgenres of heavy metal, punk and hard rock, including metalcore, deathcore, post-hardcore, groove metal, black metal, and grindcore...
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, additional productionSound recording and reproductionSound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
, engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including... - Johnny 3 Tears – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Production
- Don Gilmore - executive producer, recording, programming
- Jeff Janke - director
- Corey Soria - director
- Peter North - Pornographic actor