"Flesh into Gear" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

CKY CKY may refer to: * CKY (band), American rock band, formerly "Camp Kill Yourself" ** ''CKY'' (video series), named after the band **CKY crew, people involved in the video series and related projects *CKY-DT, a television station in Winnipeg, Manito ...

. Written by band members

Deron Miller Deron John Miller is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band CKY, which he co-founded in 1998. Other bands Miller fronts include the progressive metal band Foreign Objec ...

Chad I Ginsburg Chad I Ginsburg (born April 24, 1972), also credited as CiG, is an American musician, singer and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist, producer and current vocalist of West Chester-based band CKY, which he co-founded in 1998. Prio ...

and

Jess Margera Jesse Margera (born August 28, 1978) is an American musician. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band CKY, which he co-founded in 1997. Prior to CKY, Margera performed in the band Foreign Objects with former CKY vocalist and guitarist ...

, and produced by Ginsburg, it is featured on the band's 2002 second studio album ''

Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild ''Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild'' is the second studio album by American rock band CKY. Recorded between November 2001 and February 2002 at studios in Hawaii, Pennsylvania and California, it was produced by the band's lead guitarist and backing v ...

''. The song was released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in 2002, reaching number 38 on the US ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock chart.

Origins and recording

As with the rest of the ''Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild'' album, writing for "Flesh into Gear" was credited to vocalist and guitarist

, guitarist

and drummer

. Prior to its release in 2002, the song was recorded as a

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

under the title "Sinking Fast" and featured on the second ''

'' video, ''

CKY2K The ''CKY'' video series is a series of videos produced by Bam Margera and Brandon DiCamillo and other residents of West Chester, Pennsylvania. "CKY" stands for "Camp Kill Yourself". The series was part of the basis for what eventually became ...

'', released in 2000.

Composition and style

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine described the overall atmosphere of "Flesh into Gear" as "anthemic". However, a review of ''Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild'' on

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

labelled the song as "negative", noting an "upbeat-yet- stoneresque rhythm" at the beginning of the track. ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' magazine related the song to the band's link with skateboarding and stunt videos, describing it as "elbow-scraping rock".

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

writer Nikki Tranter proposed that the lyrics of the song saw singer Miller "relating his band's vision for its future", citing lines such as "A simple sound/A heavy side/Could win the whole world over".

Release and reception

In addition to its original release on the album ''Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild'' in September 2002, "Flesh into Gear" was also featured on the film '' Jackass: The Movie'' in October that year, and included on its

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

. It was released as a single to promote both albums that year, and became the first single release by the band to chart when it reached number 38 on the US ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock chart. In 2015, it was included on the compilation album ''The Best of CKY''. The track has generally been praised by music critics and fans since its original release. ''Billboard'' magazine claimed that it contained "enough unique elements to raise

he band He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

above the competition", while Tranter of PopMatters described it in the same category as "Escape from Hellview" and "Frenetic Amnesic" as a "neat heavy rock tune". Music website

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

ranked "Flesh into Gear" as the 35th-best

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

song of the 21st century, with writer Graham Hartmann claiming that it "barely scratches the surface in regard to the band's accomplishments in both importance and creativity".

Music video

The music video for "Flesh into Gear" was directed by

Bam Margera Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera ( ; born September 28, 1979) is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV reality s ...

, brother of drummer Jess, and released in the week of December 23, 2002. The video was later released, alongside videos for the other nine songs on the album, on the band's 2003 video album '' Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild: The Video Album''. Writing a review of the album for the website ''The Movies Made Me Do It'', Chad Connolly quoted director Margera as noting that the video was filmed on an "extremely low budget", and described it as a performance video interlaced with stunt clips featuring

CKY crew The Camp Kill Yourself crew (referred to as the CKY crew) was a group of friends and relatives centered around television personality and skateboarder Bam Margera, many of whom are from or located in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The cre ...

members

Brandon DiCamillo Brandon DiCamillo (born 1976) is an American former television personality, actor, stunt performer, filmmaker, and musician. He was a founding member of the CKY crew and rose to fame through appearances in the ''CKY'' video series and MTV's '' ...

Rake Yohn Edward Webb (born 1975), known by his stage name Rake Yohn (), is an American television personality and former member of the CKY crew. He was a regular in the ''CKY'' videos and MTV's reality comedy series ''Viva La Bam'' and also had occasion ...

, and Margera.

References

{{CKY (band) CKY (band) songs 2002 singles Island Records singles Songs written by Deron Miller Songs written by Chad I Ginsburg 2002 songs