Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones by The Toll

Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones, the Toll's second and last album, came out on Geffen in 1991, and it's the sound of a band pushing back. The Columbus, Ohio four-piece, Brad Circone singing, Rick Silk on guitar, Greg Bartram on bass and Brett Mayo on drums, had handed Geffen a concept album called The Parable of Pariah, and the label turned it down. Several of those songs were cut again for this record instead.

The Toll never played it safe: Circone would drop into spoken narratives mid-song, preacher and storyteller at once, over guitars that seethe and surge, and "Standing on the Ledge" and the first single "One Last Wish" carry that brooding, arena-sized drama. They took it on the road with the Ramones, but Geffen barely promoted it, the album sank, the label dropped them, and the band broke up soon after.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.