At the Drive-In - Influential/Famous/Gone

Thanks to Christopher Diers for allowing us to repost his MySpace blog entry about At The Drive In on our site. Reasons why I did it: uh...have you even read it yet?
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The other day I was having a state-of-the-union type discussion about music with a very old friend of mine and through all of the usual babble about this band and that band, your top ten favorite whatever, which group killed that genre, etc we finally got to the one subject that most everyone who enjoys music loves (and to a certain degree, dreads) talking about: Albums and bands who have had a personal impact on your life. While I've always thought that it's a bit of a silly subject (I've never felt that hearing a really good album or going to an amazing show is necessarily "life-changing", unless of course you start a band as a direct result), my answer has always been simple enough. For the last 6 years the only two albums I have listened to on a (somewhat) weekly basis have been Refused's Shape of Punk to Come and At the Drive-In's Relationship of Command. I already did a blog about Refused and for whatever reason I hadn't even thought about doing one for At the Drive-In until I heard myself answer that question out loud.

Cosmonaut - Live at Big Day Out

The Relationship Of Command was actually given to me in my math class in 11th grade by this rich goth girl who sat in front of me. She purchased the album under the pretense that the group was similar to System of a Down and was ultimately disappointed with it. I traded her for a spare copy of Slayer's South of Heaven. Like many records I acquired under what now seem to be strange circumstances, I didn't quite know what to make of it. At the time I had sort of regressed into 80's hardcore, but every aspect of The Relationship of Command captivated me.

Rolodex Propaganda - Live on Later... with Jools Holland

Almost every band I was into for the next two years after absorbing this record somehow audibly referenced At the Drive-In in some shape or form. Even today, 6 years after the fact, a great deal of the newer groups I find myself drawn to were obviously just as impacted by the sheer force and emotion they commanded.

Rolling Stone.com Video Interview

As good as they were on record, nothing can touch the live show. I wish I had been able to see them before they were gone. Thats part of the reason that the band retains such greatness--the fact that they were here and in the public eye for such a short time before they disappeared--probably for good. Much like Refused, the chances of catching these guys on a reunion tour anytime soon seems very unlikely especially when you consider the success of The Mars Volta and the mediocrity of Sparta.

Rascuache (Live)