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''Funeral for Yesterday'' is the fourth
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by Canadian heavy metal band
Kittie Kittie is a Canadian heavy metal music, heavy metal band from London, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 by guitarist Fallon Bowman and drummer Mercedes Lander, with guitarist and vocalist Morgan Lander and bassist Tanya Candler joining the ...
, released on February 20, 2007. It was the only album released through the band's own record label, X of Infamy Records, and
Merovingian Music Merovingian Music also abbreviated as MRV or MRV Music, is a non-genre specific record label in Red Bank, New Jersey. The label was founded by Jack Ponti who is also CEO of the company. Shortly after, independent label owners Gregory Edgerton and ...
(MRV). The album was produced by
Jack Ponti Giacomo Pontoriero (February 16, 1958 – October 7, 2024), known as Jack Ponti, was an American musician, songwriter, record producer, manager, label executive, and consultant. Career Ponti was an American musician, songwriter, record producer ...
, and was recorded at RetroMedia Sound Studios in
Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York metro ...
, between July and August 2006. Loosely themed around the band's demise and rebirth following a period of turmoil, the album saw Kittie transition towards a more melodic and accessible sound while retaining some of their heavier sensibilities, and was also noted for its greater focus on clean singing than on the band's previous releases. It was the first Kittie album with guitarist Tara McLeod, and only with bassist
Trish Doan Trisha Jaimee Doan (; May 9, 1985 – February 11, 2017) was a Korean-Canadian musician, photographer and television producer, best known for her tenure as the bass guitarist for the Canadian heavy metal band Kittie. Early life and career ( ...
. ''Funeral for Yesterday'' received generally favourable reviews from critics, who highlighted the band's newfound chemistry and growth, though its focus on clean singing drew mixed reactions. The album debuted at number 101 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling just under 9,000 copies in its first week. Its
lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...
and title track, "
Funeral For Yesterday ''Funeral for Yesterday'' is the fourth studio album by Canadian heavy metal music, heavy metal band Kittie, released on February 20, 2007. It was the only album released through the band's own record label, X of Infamy Records, and Merovingian M ...
", became Kittie's biggest radio hit up to that point, reaching number 40 on the ''
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 advertis ...
''
Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...
chart. Kittie toured extensively in support of the album, touring North America, South America and Europe between February 2007 and November 2008.


Background

In July 2004, Kittie released its third studio album, ''
Until the End Until the End may refer to: * ''Until the End'' (Kittie album), or the title song * ''Until the End'' (Eleine album) * ''Until the End'' (EP), an EP by coldrain * "Until the End" (Breaking Benjamin song) * "Until the End" (Norah Jones song) * ...
'', through
Artemis Records Artemis Records was a New York–based independent record label, founded in June 1999 by Danny Goldberg with Daniel Glass as president, and closed in April 2006. The label was acquired by E1 Entertainment. As of 2006, Artemis Records was owned b ...
. Artemis offered limited financial support for the band's promotional tours in support of the album, leaving vocalist/guitarist Morgan Lander and drummer Mercedes Lander unable to pay bassist Jennifer Arroyo and guitarist
Lisa Marx Lisa Marx (born August 21, 1981) is an American guitarist and classically trained pianist from California. Career Music In 2002, Marx joined the Seattle hardcore band To See You Broken as guitarist. This underground group was an all-female ...
a
retainer Retainer may refer to: * Retainer (orthodontics), devices for teeth * RFA Retainer (A329), RFA ''Retainer'' (A329), a ship * Retainers in early China, a social group in early China Employment * Retainer agreement, a contract in which an employer p ...
. Both members subsequently left Kittie in February 2005, and the band parted ways with Artemis the following month. Morgan and Mercedes subsequently put Kittie on hiatus whilst they contemplated changing careers, but they ultimately decided to keep pursuing music. Morgan said: "There was a lot of sadness and tears, but there was also a lot of creativity. And we ultimately decided that this is where our hearts lie and we couldn't do anything else." The writing process for ''Funeral for Yesterday'' lasted a total of eighteen months. Work on the album began whilst Kittie was still on hiatus, when Morgan and Mercedes began writing songs together once or twice a week as a form of emotional release. Morgan felt that their songs benefitted from the fact they had no label or deadlines to contend with, which gave them more time to hone in their arrangements. At the end of April 2005, Morgan and Mercedes entered Mole Studios in their hometown of
London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...
, to record five demo tracks. After unsuccessfully attempting to shop their demos to various record labels under the name Sweet Revenge, they decided to seek out a new guitarist and bassist for Kittie. Guitarist Tara McLeod was recruited in August 2005 by Kittie's manager, David Lander, after seeing her perform with her band Sherry in
Strathroy-Caradoc Strathroy-Caradoc is a municipality located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is west of London, Ontario, London. Strathroy-Caradoc is a primarily rural municipality. Industries include turkey and chicken hatching and processing, corn, tobacco ...
, Ontario. Soon after, the band recruited
Trish Doan Trisha Jaimee Doan (; May 9, 1985 – February 11, 2017) was a Korean-Canadian musician, photographer and television producer, best known for her tenure as the bass guitarist for the Canadian heavy metal band Kittie. Early life and career ( ...
, formerly the lead guitarist of Her, as their new bassist. Although all of the lyrics and around half of the music for ''Funeral for Yesterday'' was written before they joined the band, Morgan and Mercedes gave McLeod and Doan the freedom to write whatever they wanted for the album afterwards. McLeod wrote all of the album's guitar solos. Kittie played their debut gig with their new line-up at Call the Office in London, Ontario, on September 29, 2005. In February 2006, the band released a digital-only EP, ''
Never Again "Never again" is a phrase or slogan which is associated with the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides. The slogan was used by liberated prisoners at Buchenwald concentration camp to denounce fascism. It was used by Jewish Defense Le ...
'', through
Rock Ridge Music Rock Ridge Music is an independent record label and artist management company based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 2004, it has signed, managed, and/or promoted artists including Reel Big Fish, Sister Hazel, Rachel Platten, Matthew Perryma ...
as a teaser release for their next album; it featured demos of the songs "Never Again", "This Too Shall Pass", "Breathe" and "Everything That Could Have Been". Kittie embarked on a three-month tour of North America in support of the EP, which allowed the band to play their new songs to audiences and "work out
heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...
kinks". Speaking with ''
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'' (''BW&BK'') is a Canadian heavy metal website and former magazine. Although based in Toronto, Canada, ''BW&BK'' features writers from the US, Germany and the UK, allowing the magazine to represent metal music f ...
'' in 2007, Morgan said: "The more you play a song the more it becomes its own sort of beast. It breathes and changes with every passing show, and you do things a little differently every time." By the end of the tour, she felt that the EP's songs had "a different energy" compared to when they were first recorded. By late June 2006, Kittie had formed their own record label, Kiss of Infamy Records. The band formed the label in partership with producer
Jack Ponti Giacomo Pontoriero (February 16, 1958 – October 7, 2024), known as Jack Ponti, was an American musician, songwriter, record producer, manager, label executive, and consultant. Career Ponti was an American musician, songwriter, record producer ...
, who helped secure its distribution through
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
. Morgan said that Ponti became interested in working with Kittie after a radio promoter and mutual friend of the band gave him a copy of the ''Never Again'' EP. Mercedes said the band's decision to release ''Funeral for Yesterday'' on their own label felt like the "next logical step" after having to pay for tours themselves and managing their own merchandise and clothing line, Poisoned Black. In December 2006, Kittie were forced to change their label's name to "X of Infamy" after the band received a cease-and-desist order from
Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...
, owner of the "
Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
" trademark.


Recording and production

''Funeral for Yesterday'' was recorded at RetroMedia Sound Studios in
Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York metro ...
; its six-week recording span was the longest of any Kittie album. It was the first album Ponti had produced since
Doro Doro may refer to: * Doro (musician), rock singer, former vocalist of the German heavy metal band Warlock ** ''Doro'' (album), a 1990 album by Doro * Dorothea Wierer, Italian biathlete * Doro (company), a Swedish telecommunications company * Doro, ...
's ''
Machine II Machine ''Machine II Machine'' is the fifth studio album by the German female hard rock singer Doro Pesch. The album was released in March 1995 and mixed by Kevin Shirley and Greg Smith. It is the most mainstream oriented album of the German singer to ...
'' (1995). Recording commenced on July 15, 2006, and wrapped up in late August 2006; the band would record from 12pm to 6pm or 8pm per day. Morgan said that Kittie found working with Ponti "a bit rusty in the beginning"—it would take him and the band a week to record the album's first song—though "In the end, veryone'svisions were the same—we wanted to make a great album." Mercedes said that Kittie "didn't have a lot of say" in the way the album was recorded, which she would later attribute to a "power struggle" between the band and Ponti that they ultimately lost "because he had the stronger personality".' Doan had a poor working relationship with Ponti, and he stopped speaking to her directly following an argument at the studio. Morgan said that Ponti encouraged Kittie to push the boundaries of their sound, and also that he had a "definite idea of how he
anted Anted is the name of the coins issued by Antedios (or Anted), an ancient king of the Iceni, a Brythonic tribe who inhabited the present day county of Norfolk in Britain from approximately the 1st century BCE until the 1st century CE. Only the fi ...
things to sound". During the recording of ''Funeral for Yesterday'', the band experimented with different recording techniques, vintage instruments, microphone placements, and
vocal harmonies Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical chor ...
, the latter which Morgan called Ponti a "master at arranging". The band worked on completing a song individually before moving on to another; Ponti spend time arranging microphones for each of them. Whilst its guitars, bass and drums were tracked onto two-inch
analogue tape An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present ...
, the album's vocals were recorded using
Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
, which was also used for the incorporation and arrangement of its vocal harmonies. McLeod said that Ponti rejected most of her "planned" guitar parts in favour of her jamming "off the cuff" to its tracks; Morgan said that he would "point at cLeodto play a
lick Lick may refer to: * Licking, the action of passing the tongue over a surface Places * Lick (crater), a crater on the Moon named after James Lick * 1951 Lick, an asteroid named after James Lick * Lick Township, Jackson County, Ohio, United Stat ...
. Just making it up as she went along." Doan said that 90% of her basslines were changed and had to relearn them as recording progressed. Mercedes' drums were recorded in no more than three takes per song. Kittie said that the album was recorded with a "less is more" mentality; Morgan explained that this was "not 'less is more' in terms of the end product and the richness of the music, ut'less is more' like you do less guitar tracks to make it sound fuller". The band used two guitar tracks on each song—one for Morgan and the other for McLeod's leads. Morgan used a custom Hamer Victor guitar, whilst McLeod used a
Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typic ...
; both played through Krank Krankenstein amplifiers. Four microphones were split between the front and the back of their
cabinets A cabinet in governing is a group of people with the constitutional or legal task to rule a country or state, or advise a head of state, usually from the executive branch. Their members are known as ministers and secretaries and they are ...
to allow "the high-end o mixwith the
low-end Bass ( ) (also called bottom end) describes tones of low (also called "deep") frequency, pitch and range from 16 to 250 Hz (C0 to middle C4) and bass instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range C2-C4. They belong to different fam ...
", according to Mercedes. Morgan compared the guitar sound to that of
Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...
's self-titled debut album (1978): "That album had just one guitar track mixed hard to one side, and it sounds huge. We adopted that style--adding just a little textural pepper here and there to make tsound well rounded." Mercedes' drum kit used a microphone setup similar to
John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician who was the drummer of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Noted for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove, John Bonh ...
's during the recording of
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
's "
When the Levee Breaks "When the Levee Breaks" is a country blues song written and first recorded by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy in 1929. The lyrics reflect experiences during the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. "When the Levee Brea ...
" (1971); four room mics were placed in front of, behind, and to the sides of her, alongside "mics on all my toms, two mics on my kick and a giant tent ..around my kick drum, which also had different mics in it." After recording was completed, ''Funeral for Yesterday'' was mixed at The Document Room in Malibu, California by
Kevin Shirley Kevin Shirley, also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer, audio mixer, and musician. He has produced music for many artists, including Silverchair, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Angels, and C ...
between September 5 and September 14, 2006. Morgan said that Kittie supplied Shirley with "as much work as possible", giving him unused counterpoints,
overdubs Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...
and "little nuances" from recording for him to work with, and that the final album was "99% of what we wanted to have on there,
ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometers, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is i ...
a couple of things he fiddled around with." The album was then sent to
Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He attended ...
to be
mastered Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source from which all copies will be ...
by Leon Zervos. On October 11, 2006, Mercedes announced that the album had been completed. The album's recording sessions were partially documented in a companion
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
released with physical editions of the album.


Composition and lyrics

Musically, ''Funeral for Yesterday'' sees Kittie mix their heavy musical side with more melodic elements, incorporating guitar solos and vocal harmonies. The album has also been noted for its softer, more accessible production and sound. Morgan stated that Kittie wanted to "make an album where you could bang your head ''and'' sing along at the same time", whilst Doan believed that the band had "worked more in a way that ... was to get songs on the radio." Morgan and McLeod cited
classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...
acts, including
Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...
,
Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...
,
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
and
AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
, as influences on the album's song structures and guitar solos. The album's songs are played in the tuning of
drop C Drop C tuning is an alternative guitar tuning where at least one string has been lowered to a C, but most commonly refers to CGCFAD, which can be described as D tuning with a 6th string dropped to C, or drop D tuning transposed down a whole ...
. The album has also been noted for focusing more on Morgan's clean singing in contrast on Kittie's previous releases, alongside screamed and
growled vocals The death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Sometimes death growl vocals are criticized for their ...
. Mercedes said that it was deliberately sequenced with songs that mainly featured clean vocals placed in its first half, and "more aggressive vocal stuff" in its second. Lyrically, Morgan said that ''Funeral for Yesterday'' is loosely themed around "the demise of the former ncarnation of Kittie ndthe resurrection of something new." In a 2007 interview with ''
Metal Edge ''Metal Edge'' was a magazine covering heavy metal music published by Zenbu Media. The magazine was founded in the summer of 1985, during the height of glam metal's success. While its sister publication, ''Metal Maniacs'' focused more on extreme ...
'', she stated that Kittie "wanted to make an impression and show people what we could do now ... ndchange people's opinions of us", and that the album was supposed to represent "the death of the past and cleaning the slate." ''Funeral for Yesterday'' opening title track, which deals with themes of morality and rebirth, was described by ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' as "a tale of renewal for Morgan ... and for ittieas a whole". Morgan felt that the song was the most emblematic of Kittie's direction on the album. According to Morgan, "Everything That Could Have Been" covers "reflection of the past, and wishing to change it solely to see how differently the outcome would have been", whilst "Slow Motion" is about "seeing something or someone that you love die slowly, and nowing thatthere is nothing that can be done". In a 2007 interview with ''
Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
'', Morgan said that "Never Again" is about Kittie "taking a stand never to be treated a certain way, never to be walked on again or allow ourselves to be vulnerable. We've dealt with these things before and made our mistakes, and now we're fucking warriors." "Flower of Flesh and Blood" is "about the concept of having a human guinea pig and seeing beauty in death and things that are ugly"; Morgan said the song deviated from the album's general concept.


Release and promotion

On October 25, 2006, Kittie unveiled ''Funeral for Yesterday'' title and cover artwork. In the coming months, various tracks from the album were uploaded to the band's
MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
page. On November 14, 2006, a radio-ready version of "Funeral for Yesterday", was posted online; a
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for the song was released three days later. A second music video, directed by Vincent Giordano, was filmed in
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, on February 5, 2007. The video was made available to
stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...
online on March 6, 2007, and debuted on
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
's '' Headbangers Ball'' on March 17. ''Funeral for Yesterday'' was released in the United States by X of Infamy and
Merovingian Music Merovingian Music also abbreviated as MRV or MRV Music, is a non-genre specific record label in Red Bank, New Jersey. The label was founded by Jack Ponti who is also CEO of the company. Shortly after, independent label owners Gregory Edgerton and ...
(MRV) on February 20, 2007. It was not released in Europe. The album sold just under 9,000 copies during its first week of release, debuting at number 101 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The album also reached number seven on ''
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 advertis ...
''
Top Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...
chart. By April 4, 2007, it had sold 20,000 copies in the United States. On January 16, 2007, "Funeral For Yesterday" was released as the album's
lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...
; it became Kittie's biggest radio hit up to that point, peaking at number 40 on ''
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 advertis ...
''
Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...
chart on April 14, 2007. "Breathe" was also released as a single from the album, but failed to chart.From February 9 to May 25, 2007, Kittie embarked on their headlining Funeral for Yesterday Tour of the United States, supported by Walls of Jericho,
36 Crazyfists 36 Crazyfists was an American metalcore band formed in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1994. The band's name comes from the Hong Kong martial arts film '' The 36 Crazy Fists'' (1977). To date they have released eight studio albums. History Early years ...
, Dead to Fall and
In This Moment In This Moment is an American Rock music, rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed by singer Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth in 2005. They found drummer Jeff Fabb and started the band as Dying Star. Unhappy with their musical direc ...
. The band also performed several acoustic shows at various FYE stores across the United States between April 17 and May 5, 2007. Kittie intended on touring the United Kingdom supporting
Cradle of Filth Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved originally from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other metal genres. Their ly ...
in April 2007, but pulled out as their record label would not give them any touring support. At the end of the tour, Trish Doan left Kittie due to her worsening
anorexia athletica Anorexia athletica (sports anorexia), also referred to as hyper-gymnasia, is an eating disorder characterized by excessive and compulsive exercise. An athlete with sports anorexia tends to overexercise, to give themselves a sense of having control ...
- nervosa, which she developed during the production of ''Funeral for Yesterday.'' Prior to her departure, the other members of Kittie had expressed concern with Doan's behavior and encouraged her to leave for her health; Doan said she was "still in such denial and so caught up in myself that I just didn't care or I didn't really think about it". She ultimately left the band sometime after
fainting Syncope , commonly known as fainting or passing out, is a loss of consciousness and muscle strength characterized by a fast onset, short duration, and spontaneous recovery. It is caused by a decrease in blood flow to the brain, typically from ...
and falling off the stage at one of the band's shows. Her departure was officially announced on March 4, 2008. Following Doan's departure, Kittie bought themselves out of their contract with Ponti. From July 6 to September 16, 2007, Kittie embarked on another headlining tour of the United States, the Sweet Revenge Tour, with
It Dies Today It Dies Today (sometimes abbreviated "IDT") is an American metalcore band formed in Buffalo, New York, in September 2001. The band achieved success in 2004 with the release of their debut album, '' The Caitiff Choir''. After frontman Nicholas Br ...
,
Silent Civilian Silent Civilian is an American heavy metal band originating from Los Angeles, California. Following his departure from nu metal band Spineshank in 2004, frontman Jonny Santos felt he wanted to move in a different direction musically and start f ...
,
Bring Me the Horizon Bring Me the Horizon are a British Rock music, rock band, formed in Sheffield, England in 2004. The group currently consists of lead vocalist Oli Sykes, drummer Matt Nicholls, guitarist Lee Malia and bassist Matt Kean (musician), Matt Kean. T ...
and
Blessed by a Broken Heart Blessed by a Broken Heart is a Canadian rock music, rock band from Montreal, Quebec. They released three albums, the last of which, ''Feel the Power'', was released by Tooth & Nail Records and made the ''Billboard'' Christian Albums and Top Hea ...
. Former touring guitarist Jeff Phillips filled in on bass for the duration of the tour. At one of the Sweet Revenge tour dates in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
on August 19, 2007, Kittie ended their set early after Morgan was groped by a member of the audience, who was then attacked by the crowd. Kittie recruited Ivana "Ivy" Jenkins as their new permanent bassist after the tour. Jenkins was supposed to have auditioned for the band back in 2005, but her car was totalled and could not travel from Toronto to meet them. In November 2007, Kittie played their first ever shows in South America, performing in
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
and
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
. The band continued to tour until November 2008, with dates in North America and Europe; the latter tour was their first of the region in over six years.


Critical reception

''Funeral for Yesterday'' received generally favourable reviews from critics.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
reviewer James Christopher Monger said that Kittie's new direction on the album "suits them in a way that indicates actual growth". Aaron Burgess of the '' Phoenix New-Times'' felt that the band had succeeded in transitioning towards a pop-oriented sound, despite calling such a move "risky". ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' Ed Thompson called the album Kittie's "most comprehensive album" up to that point, highlighting the band's newfound musical chemistry. Mark Fisher of the ''
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'' called the album "top notch", stating that its expansion on melody " ddsyet another dimension to ittie'salready solid sound". Less favourably, Keith Bergman of ''
Blabbermouth.net ''Blabbermouth.net'' is a website dedicated to metal and rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. It is run by the website's founder Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001. In October 2001, the rec ...
'' said that the album was mostly "plodding, rudimentary and dishwater-dull", but acknowledged that the band were "slowly getting competent", citing "The Change" and the beginning of "Around Your Heart" as displays of their "frightening potential". ''
Chart Attack ''Chart Attack'' (stylized as ''CHARTattack'') was a Canadian online music publication. Formerly a monthly print magazine, it was called ''Chart'' and published from 1991 to 2009. Online content ceased to be updated sometime between mid 2017 to 20 ...
'' Shehzaad Jiwani described the album as "more or less" a rehash of the band's early sound found on '' Spit'' (1999) that "does nothing to convince listeners that Kittie are a band to be taken seriously." ''Funeral for Yesterday'' focus on Morgan's vocals proved polarizing with critics, and was expected to draw similar responses from Kittie's fanbase. Evan Davies of ''
Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...
'' panned the album for showcasing Morgan's "ultra-annoying ability to sing almost exclusively through her nose as she spouts trite, clichéd lyrics about pain and suffering." Jiwani and Bergman both criticized Morgan's limited range, with the latter blaming Jack Ponti's overuse of "robot choir" vocals on all of the album's choruses for making it both formularic and forgettable. Conversely, Paul Gargano of ''
LiveDaily LiveDaily was a music and entertainment site owned by Ticketmaster, created in 1998 and seen in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. It provided news updates, tour announcements, and ticketing information relative to Ticketmaster. Its ...
'' saw its melodic vocals as indicative of Kittie's developing songwriting and said that they made its songs "immensely more listenable". Carl Begai of ''
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'' (''BW&BK'') is a Canadian heavy metal website and former magazine. Although based in Toronto, Canada, ''BW&BK'' features writers from the US, Germany and the UK, allowing the magazine to represent metal music f ...
'' felt that although Morgan's vocals largely dominated the album's production, they did not overshadow its "brilliant riffs, crushing
Machine Head A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses, and others, and ...
-ish rhythms and solos". Monger expressed similar sentiments, stating that Morgan's vocals did not take away from the album's heaviness and aggression. Morgan and Mercedes have reflected unfavourably on ''Funeral for Yesterday'' in the years following its release, praising its songwriting but criticizing its production. In a 2009 interview, Mercedes singled out its "over-produced" vocals for criticism, claiming that they made Morgan "sound like a fucking
Chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of subtribe Tamiina. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks are classified as four genera: '' ...
 ... which was ridiculous". However, when asked by ''The Rockpit'' in 2010 if she regretted releasing the album, Mercedes stated: "I wouldn't say regret, we would have done it differently." Morgan similarly commented that although she considered ''Funeral For Yesterday'' songwriting some of Kittie's best work, its recording and production "didn't end up sounding the way I had hoped". She described the band's next album, ''
In the Black ''In the Black'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Kittie, released on September 15, 2009, through E1 Music. It was the band's first album with bassist Ivy Jenkins, who had joined in 2007. The album was produced and recor ...
'' (2009), as an "antithesis" to the album and their attempt to "undo all the things tdid". In a 2024
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, Morgan said that a vinyl reissue of ''Funeral For Yesterday'' is unlikely as Kittie does not own the rights to the album, though expressed interest in having it remixed and
remastered A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...
.2024 Reddit AMA: * *


Track listing

All songs written by Morgan Lander and Mercedes Lander.


Personnel

Personnel per liner notes.Kittie * Morgan Lander –
lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
,
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
* Mercedes Lander –
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
,
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
, backing vocals * Tara McLeod – guitar *
Trish Doan Trisha Jaimee Doan (; May 9, 1985 – February 11, 2017) was a Korean-Canadian musician, photographer and television producer, best known for her tenure as the bass guitarist for the Canadian heavy metal band Kittie. Early life and career ( ...
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
Production *
Jack Ponti Giacomo Pontoriero (February 16, 1958 – October 7, 2024), known as Jack Ponti, was an American musician, songwriter, record producer, manager, label executive, and consultant. Career Ponti was an American musician, songwriter, record producer ...
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...
,
engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
, arrangements *
Kevin Shirley Kevin Shirley, also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer, audio mixer, and musician. He has produced music for many artists, including Silverchair, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Angels, and C ...
mixing * Leon Zervos – mastering * John Noll – engineering * Adam Vaccarelli – associate producer, engineering * Rick Moulton – associate producer * Torie Rovere – production assistantArtwork * Geoff Mack – artwork * Morgan Lander – art direction * Mercedes Lander – art direction * Jack Ponti – art direction * Lindsay Campbell – photography * Kyle Kraszewski – formatting, layout design * Greg Edgerton – formatting, layout design ''Funeral for Yesterday -'' Bonus DVD * Greg Edgerton – director, producer, editing * Jack Ponti – executive producer * Akbar Shamji – executive producer * Kyle Kraszewski – associate producer * Adam Worth – associate producer, director of photography * Dale May – photographer * Neva Lindner – stylist * Leyda Quintero – makeup * Kittie – additional footage * Silvia Cincotta – hairstylist * Jamie Roberts – interviewer


Charts


Notes


References

CitationsPrint sources * * * * * * * * * * * * Audiovisual (AV) sources * *


Further reading

* * *


External links

*
Funeral for Yesterday
' on YouTube (streamed copy where licensed) *

'

media kit site hosted by Merovingian Music *
Funeral for Yesterday
' Companion DVD trailer on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

source
* {{Authority control 2007 albums Kittie albums