Song · Rollins Band
“Liar” by Rollins Band
From the album Weight (1994)
“Liar” by Rollins Band appears on 15 radio countdowns from 8 stations between 1994 and 2005. It was first released in 1994 on the album Weight. Its best result is #60 on the Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1994. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #90 alternative song of 1994 and #2,187 alternative song of all time.
Watch
Video from YouTube (80's 90's Music Video's Remastered @Videos80s). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Liar" was the lead single from Weight, Rollins Band's fourth album, in 1994, and it very nearly didn't make the record at all. It started as a loose, jokey improvisation during one of the first jams with new bassist Melvin Gibbs, who came in for Andrew Weiss in 1993, and the band kept it as a live goof. Henry Rollins figured it for a B-side; it was the suits at Imago Records who heard a hit and pushed it to the front.
They were right. Rollins plays a smiling manipulator who draws people close with fake sympathy and friendship and then feeds on the damage, and he sells it with a menacing, theatrical grin while the band lurches from creepy calm to full-on eruption behind him. Rollins, Gibbs, Chris Haskett and Sim Cain share the writing credit, Theo van Eenbergen produced, and it became the album's only charting single.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 106 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1994 | 107 |
| 1994 | 60 | Live 105 San Francisco, CA | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1994 | 106 |
| 1994 | 75 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1994 | 101 |
| 1994 | 68 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1994 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 781 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 1999 | 1224 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 1224 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 1227 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 1226 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2002 | 1110 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1211 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 430 | 107.7 The End | The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) | 500 |
| 2004 | 1211 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 1211 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
| 2005 | 590 | 99X | 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) | 1000 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Liar" by Rollins Band.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.