While Taking Dawn are by no means a throwback to 80s glam metal, the band is certainly inspired by the era gone by and have chosen to take the foundation of that sound and scene and update it in a thoroughly modern way: by shredding, soloing and creating melody in their music. "I don’t get people who don't like Bon Jovi and Skid Row and other classic bands," he says. "We want to bring it to the kids, for them to understand it in a modern context. We don't want to imitate. We want to do our own thing. We want the balls and the attitude."

Time To Burn has the desired cojones and a whole lotta attitude. The title track was the one that attracted the attention of Roadrunner, due to the fact that it's fast, oozes energy and makes a big statement. "It goes, 'Homicidal, kill your idols / Your heroes are whores and your only God is you.' It's a big statement about what we want to say. We don't want to look like "some" part or image and we're saying you don't have to do drugs and be complete fuck up to still rock harder than the rest of them." Amen to that! The band is particularly proud of the song, saying, "We can write an aggressive, catchy song that shreds." The song even has a part where the band sings, 'Halle-Fucking-lujah.' Of that moment, Babbitt offers further explanation, saying, "It builds differently, instead of being the same formulaic, pseudo-anti-establishment and anti-organized religion song. It has religious innuendo. You know, it's the one word Ozzy never said! I needed one word he didn't already use. It's liberating and fun as fuck to sing. We almost didn't keep that part but it's the hook of the song."

The band also shows off its non-standard side by covering Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain." They originally planned to do their own rendition of WASP's "Fuck Like a Beast," but decided to switch gears. Babbitt says, "We wanted to do something more ambitious, even though that song summed up the band and we want to give that song limelight.

The band demoed with Jason Suecof (Trivium, All That Remains) and eventually recorded with Elvis Baskette (Chevelle, Incubus). In the end, Babbitt wants to write songs that sound like Randy Rhoads meets Marty Friedman, merging the classic rock and modern metal sounds into their own unique blend. He admits, "We're not trying to write other people's songs. We're trying to write songs that kick your fucking ass but have a vintage feel." He also eschews genre classification, saying, "Our music is about attitude and being open to rocking out to a song. That goes far for us. The genre barrier bullshit is not for us. You can do both. You don't have to be a savior or a martyr. That kills music."

Genres, compartmentalization and safe rock 'n roll be damned.