VERTICAL HORIZON DISCOGRAPHY & VIDEOS

1.There and Back Again (1992); 2.Running on Ice (1995); 3.Everything You Want (1999); 4.Go (2003); 5.Burning the Days (2009)








There and Back Again
Released 1992, Length 40:13, Label RCA Records

1.Trying to Find Purpose 3:16
2.Children's Lullaby 5:20

3.Footprints in the Snow 3:29

4.Love's Light 3:37

5.The Mountain Song 2:51

6.Prayer for an Innocent Man 3:34

7.Lines Upon Your Face 5:28

8.Willingly 4:46

9.On the Sea 4:47

10.Liberty 3:05

There and Back Again was the first album by Vertical Horizon, released independently in 1992, and later re-released in 1999 by RCA Records. At the time, the band consisted solely of Matthew Scannell and Keith Kane, who together did all the writing, singing, and producing for the album, as well as playing all instruments used (mostly acoustic guitar, with little percussion and bass).

Running on Ice

Released 1995, Length 62:34, Label RCA/ Aware Records/ Rhythmic Records 

1.Heart in Hand 4:36

2.Wash Away 4:30

3.Fragments 3:47

4.Famous 3:03

5.The Man Who Would Be Santa 4:43

6.Angel Without Wings 4:19

7.Answer Me 5:31

8.Life in the City 4:13

9.Japan 5:24

10.Call it Even 3:40

11.Sunrays and Saturdays 3:33

12.Candyman 4:16

13.Falling Down 4:12

14.Goodnight My Friend...Reprise 6:33

Running on Ice was the second album by Vertical Horizon, released independently in 1995, and later re-released by RCA. It was produced by John Alagia (John Mayer, Dave Matthews), Doug Derryberry and Matt Scannell. Though Vertical Horizon was technically still a duo and acoustic based. Running On Ice featured many guest musicians (most notably Carter Beauford of the Dave Matthews Band on drums), giving the album more of a full band sound. Derryberry also contributed keyboards and vocals.


Everything You Want
Released June 15, 1999, Length 45:45, Label RCA

1.We Are 4:01
2.You're a God 3:38

3.Everything You Want 4:17

4.Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning) 4:30

5.You Say 3:58

6.Finding Me 4:32

7.Miracle 4:22

8.Send It Up 3:42

9.Give You Back 4:22

10.All of You 3:04

11.Shackled 5:19

Everything You Want is the third album by Vertical Horizon, and the first major label effort with RCA Records. It was released in 1999. The first four tracks of the album were all released as singles. "Everything You Want" became one of the most played singles of 2000, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. "You're a God" was also very popular, if not quite as much as "Everything You Want". These two singles had popular music videos made for them; the video for "You're a God" featured actress Tiffani-Amber Thiessen. The album also served as the debut of bassist Sean Hurley in the band. Previous albums had a reasonably close balance of songwriting and singing duties between Matt Scannell and Keith Kane, but Everything You Want featured Scannell writing and handling lead vocals on ten of the eleven tracks.

"Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)" was covered by country singer Gary Allan on his 2005 album Tough All Over, from which his version was also released as a single. "Finding Me" was featured on the fifth Season opener of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. "Give You Back" was featuring in the first episode of Alias, "Truth Be Told".

Go

Released September 23, 2003, Length 45:07, Label RCA Records/ Hybrid Recordings

1.When You Cry 3:31

2.I'm Still Here 3:54

3.Forever 4:28

4.Sunshine 3:19

5.Goodbye Again 4:44

6.Echo 4:06

7.It's Over 3:47

8.One of You 3:34

9.Won't Go Away 3:52

10.Inside 5:20

11.Underwater 4:32

Go was the fourth album by Rock Band Vertical Horizon, released in 2003 by RCA Records. It was originally scheduled to be released in 2002, but management changes at RCA led to a year delay. The first single off the album was "I'm Still Here", which had been added to the album during the delay period. All songs are sung and written by Matthew Scannell, in contrast to previous Vertical Horizon albums, where at least one song was written and sung by Keith. 

Background

The album's title reflects upon the "just go for it" mentality the group had during the recording sessions. 16 songs were originally recorded for the album. Go debuted at number 61 on the Billboard 200. On June 28, 2005, Hybrid Recordings (a label under RCA Records parent BMG) re-released Go as Go 2.0. The album features new cover artwork and a bonus track, "Better When You're Not There". The track list was also rearranged slightly, noted in the track listing below.

After the re-release, "Forever" and "When You Cry" were released as singles in 2005 and 2006 respectively; both charted in the Billboard Adult Top 40 charts ("Forever" at #18 and "When You Cry" at #35) and "Forever" also made the top 20 of the Billboard Hot AC chart, peaking at #17. "I'm Still Here" charted at #17 on the Adult Top 40 after its release when the original album came out in 2003.

Burning the Days

Released September 22, 2009, Length 51:40, Label Outfall Records

1.All Is Said and Done 4:23
2.The Lucky One 3:54

3.The Middle Ground 4:24

4.I Believe In You 3:23

5.Save Me from Myself 4:17

6.Carrying On 3:36

7.Back to You 3:33

8.Can You Help Me 3:59

9.Afterglow 3:58

10.Here 3:41

11.Welcome to the Bottom 5:47

12.Even Now 6:43

Burning the Days is the fifth album from the band Vertical Horizon, released on September 22, 2009. A song from the album, "All Is Said and Done" has been on the group's MySpace page since November 2008.

Background

Following the multi-platinum success of their 1999 album, Everything You Want, the members of Vertical Horizon were disappointed with what they felt was a lack of support from RCA in promoting their 2003 follow up, Go.Singer/guitarist Matt Scannell felt the group's time with RCA was good, but also felt that the changes made within the label during the time between albums were proving to be bad for the group and asked to be released: "We had some amazing years together [with RCA] and then they were making some changes and we really didn't fit into their scheme." Go failed to gain any real support from RCA, but despite the label's lack of interest in Go Vertical Horizon had difficulty getting released from its contract. The transition was very frustrating to Scannell, "When we were going through our breakup with RCA, we kind of got lost in the shuffle... We were sent to work with Clive Davis and it’s safe to say we were not Clive’s favorite band. [The label] then took their time in letting us go from our deal. It was a torturous time." Despite setbacks, the group and label severed their relationship when RCA merged with Sony Musicin 2004, after which Vertical Horizon signed with Hybrid Recordings, where Go was re-released as Go 2.0 in 2005.

Shortly after the release of Go 2.0, long time drummer Ed Toth announced he was leaving Vertical Horizon to join The Doobie Brothers.

Recording

After an extended hiatus, work began on Burning the Days in 2007. Scannell took a different approach to the record by working at his home studio, and created his own label, Outfall Records, to release Burning the Days on.Though free of any external pressures, Scannell felt the need to be cautious with the recording: "You have the freedom to be a little creative when you're not working against the clock, but at the same time you can be a little too lenient, and spending an awful lot of time."

Scannell also worked with outside musicians while writing and recording Burning the Days, which included drummer Neil Peart from Rush, and singer/songwriter Richard Marx. Peart played drums on three songs: "Even Now", "Save Me from Myself" and "Welcome to the Bottom", and wrote the lyrics to "Even Now". Scannell asked Peart if he would be interested in playing drums on the song, and Peart responded, "No one else can play drums on it — I won’t let anyone else play drums on it. I have to play the drums on it." Marx played piano on "Here" and produced Scannell's vocals on two of the album's songs.

As with Go, long time singer/guitarist Keith Kane is largely absent from Burning the Days, only being credited with performing harmony vocals on the album. Scannell has insisted that Kane's minimal involvement in the recording of the album was not due to any tension between the two, explaining that Kane's limited involvement has been a part of the changing dynamics within the group that's naturally progressed though the years starting with their first album: "[W]ith There and Back Again, the album was purposefully half Keith's songs and half my songs. And what really started happening, quickly as we started progressing as a band, is that my output of songs just started greatly increasing. Keith’s input started slowing down, and I think that is evident with Running on Ice." Over the years Kane has always stated contentment with his role in the band, and Scannell's as frontman.

According to an interview with Matt Scannell for Songfacts, he wrote "All Is Said and Done" about control freaks.

VERTICAL HORIZON ***

Vertical Horizon is an American Alternative rock Band from Washington, D.C. known for the late '90s/early '00s hits "You're a God", "Everything You Want", and "Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)". Their most recent album, Burning the Days, was released in late 2009. "Save Me From Myself” is the first single.

 

History

Vertical Horizon was formed in 1991, by Georgetown University undergrads Matthew Scannell and Keith Kane. Early performances included well-received cover sets (Simon & Garfunkel, etc.) in the campus' Leavey Center food court. After graduation in 1992, the duo relocated to Boston and self-released their debut album There and Back Again. Recorded in Matt's old high school (Deerfield Academy) over a period of a few weeks, Matt and Keith played all the instruments on the album, and split songwriting and lead vocal duties.

Matt and Keith toured as a duo for the next few years, mostly appearing with similar bands such as Jackopierce. Ready to record again, 1995's Running on Ice (produced by John Alagia and Doug Derryberry, along with Scannell) showed significant growth in the duo's songwriting. Though still acoustic based, ROI incorporated other musicians for more of a full band sound. Guests included Derryberry, Jackopierce, and Carter Beauford (of the Dave Matthews Band) on drums. Two songs (Kane's "Wash Away" and Scannell's "The Man Who Would Be Santa") were featured on the 2nd Aware Records Compilation.

More touring followed through 1996 as Vertical Horizon became a four piece band, joined by Ed Toth on drums. A live album, Live Stages, was released in early 1997 and featured four new songs and more of an emphasis on electric guitar. By this time, the band was explicit in their intent to find a major record label; band members have said that it was no accident that the first track of Live Stages opens with the sounds of a large cheering audience. Their wishes came true, and the band was signed to Sony BMG Music Entertainment/RCA Records. In 1998, Matt and Keith held auditions for a permanent bassist. Sean Hurley, a student at the Berklee School of Music, impressed all and was officially invited to join Vertical Horizon.

Everything You Want

The band's first effort with RCA was 1999's Everything You Want (with producers Ben Grosse, Mark Endert, and David Bendeth (Paramore, Your Vegas) RCA also re-released the band's back catalog (originally released on Jackopierce's Rhythmic Records) with new packaging. The first single, "We Are", made little impact. The second single, "Everything You Want", skyrocketed to the top of the charts, and became the 34th most played song on the radio in 2000. A third single, "You're a God", also did very well and was released as a live performance on the charity album Live in the X Lounge III. It became the 12th most played song on the radio in 2000. It was also featured in the movie Bruce Almighty. The fourth single, "Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)", received moderate airplay. In 2005, a remake of the song would become a top 10 country hit for Gary Allan. The band, which had been touring constantly since the album was released, continued touring until well into 2001. They then took a break, then came back to the studio to record their follow-up, which they hoped would be released soon enough to take advantage of the huge popularity of Everything You Want. Since 2001, the album is certified double Platinum by the RIAA, having sold 2,000,000 copies in the US.

Go

After some delays, it was announced that the new album, Go, would be released in September 2002. Go was released while RCA was going through a major restructuring and as a result, the album received little support from the label. The album's first single, "I'm Still Here", did moderately well, but when it failed to match the popularity of "Everything You Want", RCA did little to promote the album and as such, no videos were produced and the label didn't back the album's supporting tour. Scannell was upset that RCA didn't support the album, saying "Without the label behind us, it just floundered and sort of withered on the vine, which is just a heartbreaker."

Eventually the band went on a short tour in early 2003, and it was announced that Go (produced by John Shanks) would finally be released a year late, in September 2003. A larger tour started in August, leading up to the release of the album.

In the middle of 2004, the band ended their relationship with RCA. A new deal with Hybrid Recordings was inked in early 2005, with plans to re-release Go in the summer, including an additional song, "Better When You're Not There", which was not present on the original RCA release. The song "Forever" was sent to radio ahead of the release, re-igniting interest for the album and indeed the band at numerous radio stations, and amongst fans old and new alike.

In 2005, long time drummer Ed Toth left the band to join The Doobie Brothers. Since then various drummers began playing with VH included Blair Sinta, Ron LaVella, Craig McIntyre, and Jason Sutter.

Burning the Days

Burning the Days was released on September 22, 2009, and is the group's first release after a five year hiatus. Singer/songwriter Matt Scannell has said that Burning the Days marks a shift in his songwriting, both musically and lyrically. According to Scannell, "There is a lot more variety and quite a few different artistic moods on this record - almost different sonic landscapes... a lot of these songs feel like a faster tempo than anything we’ve ever done before."

Neil Peart of the Canadian rock band Rush plays drums on three songs on the album, "Save Me From Myself", "Welcome to the Bottom", and "Even Now", a song that Peart wrote the lyrics to. Scannell asked Peart if he would be interested in playing drums on the song, and Peart responded, "No one else can play drums on it — I won’t let anyone else play drums on it. I have to play the drums on it."

On June 23, 2008, during a Duo concert in Lincolnshire, Illinois, Scannell debuted a new song called "Save Me From Myself" off the upcoming album. Also, on June 26, 2008, in Downers Grove, Illinois, Vertical Horizon debuted another new song called "All is Said and Done" off the upcoming album. The song was added to the playlist on the band's myspace page on October 20, 2008.

On June 2, 2010, Matt Scannell announced via Facebook that "Keith is not touring with Vertical Horizon. We've been friends for a long time so please join me in supporting his solo and Boys Gone Wild performances." It is unclear whether Keith Kane has left the band permanently or not.

On June 3, Keith Kane confirmed on his official website that he would not be touring with Vertical Horizon "as I shift my focus to my solo career. I am thrilled to currently be writing my first solo album as well as working on collaborations with Brian Fechino and Chardy McEwan, and with my friends from Stroke 9 in our band 'Boys Gone Wild'."

In late June, "The Lucky One" was released to radio as a single.