I’m so excited about this. I love this song SO MUCH. It’s got all the components of a great rock song. I can hear the sharpening of pitchforks as I await the slew of “wHaT aB0uT b0hEMiAn rHaPS0dY” and woe betide anyone who dare approacheth, attempting to sing the praises of Stairway to Heaven, Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing or anything, anything by Biffy Clyro. When I say that Stay is the ultimate rock song, I mean in terms of the ingredients that have gone into it – you can stand down.
You know it’s going to be good when there’s a strut-worthy introduction. The sort which turns turns you from stressed London commuter to fan-blown, leather-trouser-wearing frontman whilst walking down Marylebone Road in the dark in January.
Dann Huff did not need to go that hard. Providing not only a blistering solo but also having the perfect rock voice – equal parts power, range, rasp. “Won’t you stay till the end/Don’t walk away tonight” – this moment when the drums drop out before the vocals return on the upbeat in the last chorus. It’s the most satisfying part of the song, culminating at the end with the backing vocals, Huffy’s high note and the solo. Sublime.
Giant really don’t get enough credit. They just happened to come along right as hair metal was having its face rubbed in the dirt by grunge and so never really got off the ground. Stay is from the band’s second album, Time to Burn. The first, Last of the Runaways (1989), contains similar masterpieces, notably It Takes Two and I’ll See You in My Dreams. There’s no bravado, no stupid outfits, nor does a fog of drugs and chaos suspend itself over the heads of Giant like it did those of the bands rolling, crazed and wild, off the Sunset Strip in the late 80s. Whether or not Giant were melodic rock or hair metal made no difference, as it was all destined to be swallowed by the rise of Pearl Jam and the globalisation of Nirvana. It doesn’t mean it isn’t still a shame that a new decade of music threw out the baby with the bathwater and a band like Giant never stood a chance.