JOHN BATDORF: Anthem for the Damned

John Batdorf has always known how to write a song that sticks with you. As a Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer, he is no stranger to quality songwriting and remains an influential West Coast folk rocker. But with Anthem for the Damned, he’s not just writing for radio play or coffeehouse singalongs—he’s writing for a world in crisis, a world in love, a world unraveling and holding on all at once.

From the first title track, Batdorf sets a cinematic tone that never quite lets up. There’s a Tarzan-era Phil Collins energy pulsing through the album—clean production, rich harmonies, and a high, emotive vocal range that flirts with the ethereal. He has an ’80s hair-band vocal range with a folk-rock aesthetic. It’s no wonder some of these tracks feel tailor-made for a movie soundtrack. But Batdorf doesn’t deal in fantasy or metaphor. His pen is literal, honest, and often razor sharp.

“The State I’m in” opens like a campfire confessional with subtle Grateful Dead grooves beneath its introspective lyrics. It sets the stage for the album’s dual themes: redemption and reckoning. By the time we reach “Burn It Down,” we’re plunged into a moment of personal cataclysm. The record of my life must be rewound / I think it’s finally time to burn it down, he sings, and you believe him.

“Help Me I’m Falling” offers a breather, sonically speaking—lush Eagles-like harmonies and a clean, warm acoustic guitar line carry the emotional weight. Falling is the price for lessons learned,” Batdorf muses, proving himself again as a songwriter who understands structure as much as sentiment. This is craftsmanship at work and my personal favorite.

And then comes a pivot: Anthem may be “for the damned,” but it’s also a love letter to survivors, lovers, and future generations. “50” feels like a vow renewal set to melody—Batdorf’s tribute to a half-century of marriage that feels sacred, even conspiratorial. “We are the most blessed,” he seems to say, “but no one really knows it but us.”

Friendship, too, gets its recognition in “You Won’t Be Denied,” a validation anthem wrapped in warm chords and the kind of earnest sincerity that’s missing in modern music. There’s no virtue signaling here—Batdorf sings like someone who’s been denied, and now knows better.

If there’s a soul of the album, it might be “I Never Knew,” a heart-wrenching apology letter disguised as a ballad. Careless words that I have spoken / Never knowing you were broken. It hits like therapy set to melody. It’s a vulnerability without too much self-indulgence.

Batdorf’s strength lies in his directness. Take “Sunday with Sophie,” a song inspired by a four-month-old baby whose very presence changes a room. He doesn’t cloak his feelings in abstraction; he delivers them like gospel: If she could change us all in just one evening, think how she is going to change the world. And somehow, you believe him again.

The final stretch of the album leans into the grand and the global. “Is It the End or the Beginning” channels a ’70s folk-rock spirit with one of the album’s most memorable and epic bridges. Then there’s “Mother Nature’s Calling,” a climate change tune that features Arlene Kole as the voice of the Earth herself in the chorus—pleading, aching, wondering if you really love me after what I’ve given you. If you do, then take care of me and do what you can do. It’s maybe the album’s most urgent track.

Closing with “This Is the Place,” Batdorf offers a final benediction. It’s about memory, inheritance, and the quiet importance of place. Give them the world, give them a treasure so they can have memories of this place. It’s a soft landing after an emotionally charged ride.

Anthem for the Damned is just that—a collection of anthems for the lost, the overlooked, the mourning, the hopeful. Every song feels like it could be the theme to a different life. And maybe that’s Batdorf’s gift: not just writing music, but also capturing moments—honest, messy, beautiful ones—and turning them into something meaningful.

Credits: 
John Batdorf: Acoustic Guitars, Vocals, Piano and Percussion
Dean Parks, Michael Dowdle and James Harrah: Electric Guitars
Chad Watson: Bass
BG Vox: Matthew Batdorf and Brett Batdorf
Mother Nature Guest Vocalist: Arlene Kole
Produced, Arranged, Engineered and Mixed by John Batdorf 
Mastered by Kevin Bartley

All Songs: John Batdorf, BatMac Music BMI and Michael McLean, Shining Star Music ASCAP 2024/2025 All Rights Reserved.