"Wasteland"
Single by 10 Years
from the album The Autumn Effect
ReleasedJune 7, 2005
Genre
Length3:50
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Jesse Hasek
  • Ryan Johnson
  • Brian Vodinh
  • Matt Wantland
Producer(s)Josh Abraham
10 Years singles chronology
"Wasteland"
(2005) 		"Through the Iris"
(2006)

"Wasteland" is a single released by American alternative metal band 10 Years in 2005. It is their debut single from their first major release, The Autumn Effect. The song reached number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in February 2006 during its twenty-seventh week on the chart, making it one of the slowest-rising number-one singles in the chart's history.[3] It also spent an unprecedented ten weeks at the number two position on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.[4] In December 2017, the RIAA gave "Wasteland" a gold certification for selling 500,000 copies.[5]

The song was originally featured on the band's independent second album Killing All That Holds You, produced by Travis Wyrick. The album was eventually reissued with four acoustic tracks. The acoustic tracks were recorded live by Mike D for Lakeside Studios.

Music videos

Actor Brad Renfro stars in the music video.

The first music video was a representation of the song and featured Jesse Hasek's cousin actor, Brad Renfro, who, having had a long struggle with drug abuse, was the inspiration for the song.[6] It was directed by Scott Lee. This music video has been removed from many websites including YouTube.

A second music video was a metaphorical representation using a fish flopping around on a dry lake bed. Directed by Chris Simms, this version can only be seen online.

The third and final music video released for the song addressed the social problem of human rights around the world, showing various victims of human rights violations. This video was directed by Kevin Kerslake for Amnesty International. The video received nominations for Best Direction and Best Art Direction at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards.

In Brazil, this song was featured in a promotional video for the TV series Heroes.

The first and second music videos used the recording of the song from Killing All That Holds You, while the final video used the re-recorded version from The Autumn Effect.

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Wasteland" (Album Version)3:50
2."Wasteland" (Acoustic Version)5:08

Charts

Chart (2005–06) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[7] 94
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[8] 1
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[9] 2

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[5] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Ranking: Every Alternative Rock No. 1 Hit from Worst to Best - Consequence". 5 July 2017.
  2. ^ "Ranking: Every Alternative Rock No. 1 Hit from Worst to Best - Consequence". 5 July 2017.
  3. ^ "10 Years: Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved Feb 9, 2016.
  4. ^ "10 Years: Mainstream Rock Tracks". Billboard. Retrieved Feb 9, 2016.
  5. ^ a b "American single certifications – 10 Years – Wasteland". Recording Industry Association of America.
  6. ^ "Interview: 10 Years". ARTISTdirect. Retrieved Mar 15, 2016.
  7. ^ "10 Years Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  8. ^ "10 Years Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  9. ^ "10 Years Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2017.


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