For the most part these songs were conceived of between 1987 and 1990 by 3 friends from the southwest side of Chicago. This release of 2012 is the first time these songs ever appear on a compact disc. This collection was recorded by the band, The Given during the span of time they were active in the Chicago music scene mainly 1988 to 1990. The founding band members of The Given are: Bob Boyle - drums, percussion, and backing vocals, Gene Tenuta - guitars and keyboards, Bobby Rex - vocals, guitars, piano, bass & keyboards. Take a listen for yourself and see how well these songs hold up. Although the band had many influences in the alternative rock and pop categories you'll find these songs and the band's sound is uniquely their own. Although The Given rarely perform together anymore, these songs are still performed regularly by each member during his respective live band project. For example these 7 songs are staples of Bobby Rex Group's live music set night after night when original music is allowed at the particular venue (as opposed to only playing cover songs). Punching In and Punching Out was the first song Gene Tenuta and Bobby Rex wrote together in late Spring 1987 after Rex's previous bands The Men of Leisure and spin-off Uncle Pants and His Jetson Slacks disintegrated. Though Gene and Rex grew up only a few blocks from each other and are only one year apart in age, their musical influences overlapped only slightly. There was always the love and appreciation of songwriters like Lennon and McCartney and Elvis Costello, but no mutual influence is greater represented in this song than that of Bruce Springsteen. Even with that comparison though, this song has a sound all its own. No Springsteen song ever had a rippin' guitar solo like the one found here. The sentiment of Punchin' In and Out is depicted as a mid-westerner's work mantra as he tries to rise above the mundane, even if only through the confines of his own mind. It should be noted that this version was recorded in the summer of 1993 with Bobby Rex on vocals, piano, and acoustic guitar, Gene Tenuta on electric guitars, Mike Hermanson on bass, "Tina Lee" Arrigo on backup vocal, and an unknown drummer. Many Colors penned in the summer of 1987 incorporated contributions by all 3 of The Given band members Bob Boyle, Gene Tenuta, and Bobby Rex. This version was recorded in 1988. It's hard to miss some of the band's musical influences which at the time were R.E.M., Echo and the Bunnymen, and early U2. Lyrically it was written as a farewell to a friend, a lover who would be staying away at a rainy, wind-swept college indefinitely while the singer was left to ponder his angst, his very future, a changed person, and return to his old hometown. Bobby Rex is on vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, and piano, Gene Tenuta is on guitars, and Bob Byle is on drums. Vivid Shadows was recorded in 1997 when The Given had ideas of putting together new material for a possible album realease and tour which never materialized. The song title had been kicking around since 1989 as had the short chorus Rex had created, but the progression was reworked considerably by Gene. Musical influences of David Gilmour abound as Gene tips his hat to the master of the thick-walled, highly sustained minor melody. Bobby Rex was inspired by early Deepak Chopra writings in his lyrical content and channels a bit of Bono and David Bowie while remaining true to his own voice. Paul Allodi was supposed to play bass on this track, but was late for the session so Bobby Rex performed vocals, acoustic guiar, and bass guitar. Gene Tenuta performed guitars and Bob Boyle provided some stellar drum work. Jon Johnson played keyboards masterfully on this track. The original analog tape of this song is long gone. It's a shame because there was much more keyboard burried under the mix. Throw It Down was written by the Given in late 1988. This version is from the Spring of 1990. As with all the tracks on this cd, the recording studio was Hair Bear in Alsip, IL and the engineer was Jeff Islinger. Influences here were INXS, The Cure, and a little progressive rock along with the band's old favorites R.E.M., and U2. Bobby Rex is on vocals, guitar, bass, and keyboards, Gene is on guitars, and Boyle is on drums. Living Enough was mostly written in Rex's basement rehearsal studio in early 1988. The songwriting of Gene's minor chord verses and Rex's major chord coruses is depicted here. Some musical influences around this time were Robyn Hitchcock, Marshall Crenshaw, and the Violent Femmes along with the other artists already mentioned. Owls of the Night was a song Rex & Boyle had put together as early as the fall of 1986. Rex & Boyle had collaborated on over a dozen songs around that time. Some songs were parodies, some were Country, while others much more Punk; however, this recording with the Given circa 1988 is the only example of their songwriting to survive. Gene is on keyboards & guitars for this one while Rex is on acoustic guitar, bass, and vocals, and Boyle is on drums and background vocals. Fillin' Station rounds out this album as it was recorded in the same session as Vivid Shadows in 1997. Bobby Rex is on acoustic guitar and vocals, Gene is on guitars, and Bob Boyle is on drums. Other players involved in this session were Paul Allodi on bass guitar and backup vocals, Tom Malec on saxophones, and Jon Johnson on keyboards. This song written and arranged by Bobby Rex alone is more of a singer / songwriter tune similar to Punchin' In and Out with an influence by Van Morrison. If The Given were really to be pigeon holed into specific genres of music, they'd be known for Alternative Rock and Heartland Rock. Fillin' Station falls more into the Heartland Rock catagory. The Given performed at venues such as The Cubby Bear, Orphans, PJ Flaherty's, Connolly's, Batteries Not Included, Thunderbirds, Penguins, and other clubs in Chicago from 1988 through 1990. The Given had a temporary new member in 1989 with the addition of Jim Haviland. Jim was a young electrical engineer and artist from Cleveland, OH who joined the band as lead singer and rhythm guitarist during most of 1989. There were 9 or 10 other songs written and performed by The Given during this time. Songs such as Pacific Gardens, Shallow Relationship, Kick It In Now, and Baboons Mate to name a few are very rare indeed and could not be found for this pressing. Jim was an engineer at Universal Studios in Chicago and his connections had the Given recording demos in the B studio on a number of occasions just before the closing of that studio for good. Universal had been around for a number of years and was profitable in its hey day, but Chicago did not have enough work for this high-rent district top-notch, but maybe out of date monster of a studio. Jingle work was beginning to be done in smaller settings by one person operations with the break throughs in midi, sampling, and digital tape. Jim left the band and moved to Seatle in 1990 and worked with Pearl Jam and Stone Gossard as a recording engineer, collaborator, and studio manager. The Given had an edgy side without being hard rock which was right in line with what Alternative Rock was all about in 1988 and their energetic live shows and full song catalog depicted this. Each of the 3 original band members from The Given perform and record in the Chicago area to this day albeit with different respective projects. Download a song or two today and help support the cause so that more new music can be created and shared!