"Never Again" 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 Wale ...

band

Breaking Benjamin Breaking Benjamin is an American Rock music, rock band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, formed in 1999 by lead singer and guitarist Benjamin Burnley and drummer Jeremy Hummel. The first lineup of the band also included guitarist Aaron Fink an ...

, released on January 20, 2017 as the fifth single on the band's fifth studio album ''

Dark Before Dawn ''Dark Before Dawn'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Breaking Benjamin, released on June 23, 2015, by Hollywood Records. It is the group's first studio album following the band's hiatus lasting from early 2010 to late 2014, and ...

''. The song topped 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 Songs 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" fo ...

chart in 2017, the third song from the album to do so, behind "

Failure Failure is the social concept of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and is usually viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. On ...

" and " Angels Fall".

Background

The song was written during the sessions for

's 2015 album release ''

'', which saw

frontman 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 ...

Benjamin Burnley reforming the band after a multi-year

hiatus Hiatus may refer to: * Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure * Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species '' Hiatus fulvipes'' * G ...

with an entirely new lineup. While Burnley states that he ended up writing 95% percent of the album alone prior to recruiting the new band lineup, "Never Again" was one of the album's few collaborative songs, and the only song to feature input from all members of the new lineup. Newly recruited guitarist

Jasen Rauch Jasen Ryan Rauch () (born April 24, 1981) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He is the current lead guitarist of the rock band Breaking Benjamin and was the former lead guitarist of the Christian rock band Red. Rauch was al ...

came in to help Burnley finish the track, writing the song's

guitar riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based on ...

himself, and collaborating on the song's

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

with Burnley. The band first teased a release of 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 on January 9, 2017, before officially releasing it on January 13, 2017. The music video involves a group of three friends who get addicted to a fictional drug that prevents

aging Ageing (or aging in American English) is the process of becoming Old age, older until death. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi; whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentiall ...

. While initially enjoying the effects, it eventually leads them to turn on one another. In the end, all three eventually succumb to their fate and turn to dust dying peacefully, albeit two of them together, and the other (who killed the tree that they used to harvest the drug from which caused them to turn on each other) dying alone.

Composition and themes

The song was described as similar to some of the band's prior music, as a mix of heavy metal and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

, and having a "wonderful dynamic between softer melody driven choruses, the hard-edged crunch of Burnley's

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 ...

and the dirty

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

Personnel

* Benjamin Burnley – lead vocals, rhythm guitar *

– lead guitar * Keith Wallen – rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Aaron Bruch – bass, backing vocals * Shaun Foist – drums

Charts

References

{{authority control Breaking Benjamin songs 2017 singles 2015 songs Hollywood Records singles Songs written by Benjamin Burnley Songs written by Jasen Rauch Songs written by Keith Wallen American heavy metal songs