| Survival of the Sickest | |
| Cover: | Saliva Survival of the Sickest.jpg |
| Alt: | The cover consists of a dirty red background that features the band's logo outlined in white and the song title colored in black. |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Saliva |
| Album: | Survival of the Sickest |
| Released: | June 15, 2004 |
| Recorded: | 2003–2004 |
| Length: | 4:08 |
| Label: | Island |
| Producer: | Paul Ebersold |
| Prev Title: | Raise Up |
| Prev Year: | 2003 |
| Next Title: | Razor's Edge |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
"Survival of the Sickest" is a song by American rock band Saliva. It was released in June 2004 as the first single off their fourth album of the same name (2004). The song received positive reviews from critics. "Survival of the Sickest" peaked at numbers 6 and 22 on both the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Alternative Songs charts respectively. The accompanying music video for the song, directed by Wayne Isham, features two girls going backstage to a Saliva concert. It was featured in the video game [1] and was the official theme song for WWE's Unforgiven 2004 pay per view.
"Survival of the Sickest" garnered positive reviews from music critics. Johnny Loftus from AllMusic highlighted the song as a "Track Pick" and put it alongside "One Night Only" as tracks that "happily revels in twin guitars and two-girls-for-every-guy rock star debauchery."[2] Entertainment Weekly writer Sean Richardson called the track a "retro party anthem" that pays "rollicking tribute" to '80s hair metal.[3] Bram Teitelman of Billboard praised the song for being a "high-octane, well-oiled rocker" that continues the band's penchant to craft "solid rock tracks", concluding that "Modern rock is coming to the party as well, ensuring that the song's chances for survival at radio are good."[4]
The video was shot in Los Angeles' Grand Olympic Auditorium on July 20, 2004.[5] Directed by Wayne Isham,[6] the video follows two girls going to the backstage VIP area of a Saliva concert. After passing the time in the location, Josey Scott arrives to join the girls but the viewers are left to their "own imagination for the seedy details" when Scott "slams the door in the camera's face".[7]