Pre-American Idol: Axium

That's right people, Cookie was in a band before he did his solo album Analog Heart. (Actually, he's been in a couple of them, but today, I'm only going to talk about one of them...maybe...) He spent somewhere in the range of a decade in a band called Axium with some of his best friends. They actually recorded a few indie albums...and it is good stuff, if you can get your hands on it! You can find two of their albums, Blindsided and The Story Thus Far here to purchase and dowload. There is also another album that they recorded before these two...and while it is a bit harder to locate and purchase, it is possible. Check Ebay. And be prepared to pay a lot.

So, what does Axium sound like? There are definite similarities to David's solo album, likely because 1. he is singing on them both and 2. he wrote them both. With the Axium albums though, there is a definite hint of some influence from Pearl Jam and Creed. Which, to me at least, is not necessarily a bad thing...not at all. I'm a fan of both bands! But I do love that by the time David went on his own to record Analog Heart, he had developed a bit of his own performing style that is distinctive as his own and not that of Eddie Vedder or Scott Stapp.

The lyrics in these Axium albums are surprisingly mature. David was just a teenager and in his early 20's when he wrote these songs...a time when many young songwriters are writing about the girl that just broke up with them, or the stresses of school. David's lyrics reach a bit deeper than that. There are definitely moments of genius.

"I feel so benign not having control of this, but I'm here through your malignancy. Please know that I love you and I miss you anyway. I'm coming to grips with what you deal with everyday. You're always on my mind." AC

"Watch your shadow paint the sky as I follow in my mind, forever falling short, too many thoughts to sort." Pecking Order

"My words, they sing you this song, and I fall from this tightrope that you've walked a thousand times. One step over to step, you're wise beyond your eyes." Balance

"You deviate from what you are. You compensate for each and every scar. You can't control your self-perception in spite of all this misdirection. Why can't you see that everything you're chasing is just nothing but a fallacy." Whipped

"I'll swim in you if you'll drown in me." Incarcerate

"True friends stab you in the front; you've got my throat, and all I know is on the floor, and as I watch my trust in you fall hopeless, I feel faint, and I'm still begging you for more." On the Floor

"Perfection's not guaranteed, 'cause I don't know what I need. Work in progress it seems, this is me." The Finish Line

I haven't yet found a link to the lyrics to Blindsided, but if and when I do, I'll let you know. If you want to read more of the lyrics to the songs on The Story Thus Far, you can find them here. Be sure to buy the albums! You won't regret it.