"Loud Music" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter

Michelle Branch Michelle Jacquet Branch (born July 2, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. She won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals with Santana for their 2002 single, " The Game of Love". As a solo recording artist, Bran ...

, which she co-wrote with the track's producers,

Jim Irvin James Lawrence Irvin is an English singer, songwriter, music journalist and podcast host. Irvin was a singer in the English new wave band Furniture, who had a UK hit single, in 1986 with Irvin's " Brilliant Mind". Irvin contributed to ''Melod ...

and

Julian Emery Julian Emery is a British musician, producer and songwriter, best known for his work with McFly,Sowden, Steve (15 May 2007).Anna is 'bang on' with the drums, ''Yeovil Express''. Retrieved on 2009-09-12. Nothing But Thieves and Lissie. Early lif ...

. Originally intended as the lead single from an unreleased studio album, ''West Coast Time'', the single was included on the eponymous ''The Loud Music Hits EP'' instead. "Loud Music" was officially released to digital retailers on June 10, 2011, through

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Green Day, En ...

Critical reception

Katherine St. Asaph of PopDust.com gave the song a 3.5 out of 5 and stated that "without the constant hard-rock callouts, "Loud Music" is every bit as good as the rest of Branch's back catalogue". Amanda Hamsel of ''

PopCrush Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

'' gave it a 4 out of 5 rating, praising the song for its sound, and writing that it "is definitely the kind of song that sounds best, well, loud, with its '80s pop flavor and heavy-on-the-guitar back-track". Sarah Maloy of ''

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 ...

'' gave "Loud Music" a mixed review, praising the song's "strong beat, steady vocals and breezy melody," but criticized the production for "sometimes overshadow ng Branch's voice and for being at odds with the song's lyrics.

Chart performance

"Loud Music" debuted at No. 37 on the US ''Billboard''

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

chart for the week ending July 16, 2011. It peaked at No. 19, making the song her highest peaking single on the chart since 2003's "Breathe".

Music video

An accompanying music video premiered August 11, 2011. The video follows two parallel storylines — one involving Branch taking a

road trip A road trip, sometimes spelled roadtrip, is a long-distance Travel, journey traveled by a car or a motorcycle. History First road trips by automobile The world's first recorded long-distance road trip by the automobile took place in German Em ...

with her friends and bandmates, and the other involving Branch's character falling in love with a blonde, "rocker dude" love interest.

Use in popular culture

On October 31, 2011, days before the premiere of the seventh season of

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

Fox Network Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...

released an Official Bones Music Video of "Loud Music". It features clips from past seasons and promotional jackets of the network's hit crime drama series. Cuts from

's Loud Music music video are also included. It ends with a clip from the upcoming season of the show. The song's lyrics include references to

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

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

and allusions to the Led Zeppelin song "

Stairway to Heaven "Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 8 November 1971 on the band's untitled fourth studio album (commonly known as ''Led Zeppelin IV''), by Atlantic Records. Composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy ...

", the

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 ...

song "

You Shook Me All Night Long "You Shook Me All Night Long" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, from the album '' Back in Black''. The song also reappeared on their later soundtrack album ''Who Made Who''. It is AC/DC's first single with Brian Johnson as the lea ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

and their song "

Start Me Up "Start Me Up" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1981 album '' Tattoo You''. Released as the album's lead single, it reached number one on Australian Kent Music Report, number two in Canada, number two on the ''B ...

", and turning an amplifier's volume "

Up to eleven "Up to eleven", also phrased as "these go to eleven", is an idiom from popular culture, coined in the 1984 film ''This Is Spinal Tap,'' where guitarist Nigel Tufnel demonstrates a guitar amplifier whose volume knobs are marked from zero to eleven ...

" as mentioned in the '' This Is Spinal Tap'' rockumentary. The song's music also briefly quotes the opening vocal riff in the Led Zeppelin song "

Immigrant Song "Immigrant Song" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is built upon a repeating riff and features lyrical references to Norse mythology, with singer Robert Plant's howling vocals mentioning war-making and Valhalla. The song was i ...

Charts

References

{{Michelle Branch 2011 singles Michelle Branch songs Songs written by Michelle Branch Songs written by Jim Irvin Songs written by Julian Emery