Rock Music Today

The rock band which hails from California is going strong with over 50 million copies sold (combined sales) and two Grammy awards. Last Year, they released their third studio album between May 9th and 18th that it went double platinum. There was however one first for the band, this album was also the first one to have the parental advisory warning label that says it has explicit language. Diamond certified by the RIAA in 2005, the band continues their streak into becoming one of the best modern rock bands ever to hail form the US. They are going strong with their strong fan base and music that truly rocks.

Ever heard the old saying that you should turn down the music or you’ll kill your ears, guess what happened to Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood while they were recording their latest album, he became deaf (temporarily thank God!). Why you might ask? Well, apparently he wore the wrong type of headphones as they were recording the album in the studio that left him quite deaf that it took him quite sometime to regain partial hearing. Rock music is after all about noise and lots of it, but what happened to him was quite ironic for the genre is known for its loud and seemingly random music that sends you into a head banging mood. He blamed his deafness to a pair of inappropriate headphones.

Just as any other newbie band, Bleed the Dream also had their ups and downs. The difference is that they never came up again, instead the band split in 2005. The band is categorized under alternative rock and post hardcore and their single “Should Have Known” has a little mix of both. They did a lot of openings for concerts, and was even included in the Van’s Warped Tour concert, a concert that included established rock bands such as Taking Back Sunday, The Starting Line, Rufio and Paramore.During one national concert, their drummer Scott Gottlieb collapsed on stage. That was the time that they knew he had leukemia. Scott didn’t make it and passed away 2 weeks before their scheduled album release.Photo taken from http://music.yahoo.com

 Incubus, an American alternative metal band from Calabasas, California, is comprised of vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Michael Einziger, bassist Ben Kenney (formerly of The Roots), DJ Kilmore, and drummer Jose Antonio Pasillas II. Former members were bassist Alex Katunich (a.k.a. “Dirk Lance”") and Gavin Koppell (a.k.a. “DJ Lyfe”).Among the band’s most successful singles are “Drive”, “Wish You Were Here”, “Megalomaniac”, “Dig”, “Anna Molly” and “Pardon Me”.For their albums Make Yourself, Morning View, and A Crow Left of the Murder, the band has reached multi-platinum sales. In November 2006, they have released their latest studio album, Light Grenades. Another interesting thing to note is the fact that they wrote and performed 4 Movements ‘Of the Odyssey’ for the first volume of the Halo 2 Original Soundtrack.The story was that Jose Pasillas, Alex Katunich, Mike Einziger began jamming together while at Calabasas High School in 1990, playing at friends’ parties. Soon they asked their friend, Brandon Boyd to join, thus making him the vocalist. At this time they began writing their own music, and on January 7, 1995, the demo tape Incubus was released, featuring songs that would later appear on their first album, Fungus Amongus, and their EP, Enjoy Incubus. On November 1, 1995, Fungus Amongus was released on the band’s own label,Stopuglynailfungus Music on Chillum.Between that release and their 1997 major label debut EP, Enjoy Incubus, the band acquired DJ Lyfe, who introduced hip-hop sounds to the band’s already diverse mix of music. Enjoy Incubus was released on Immortal Records on January 7 of that year, exactly two years after the band’s second demo. Many songs from Fungus Amongus were rereleased on Enjoy Incubus, but were touched up.Check out these Incubus Sites :Enjoy IncubusIncubus Online

Unwritten Law is an American rock band formed in 1990 in Poway, California (a suburb of San Diego) and currently recording for Suburban Noize Records. They have released seven full-length studio albums and have toured internationally, including performances on the Warped Tour. They are notable for their singles “Seein’ Red” and “Save Me (Wake Up Call),” both of which entered the top 5 in the US Modern Rock charts. Their most recent release is a “best of” album entitled The Hit List, released January 2, 2007.Original drummer Wade Youman generally takes credit for starting the band, and a number of players came and went before the lineup coalesced to include Scott Russo on vocals, Steve Morris and Rob Brewer on guitars, and John Bell on bass. They released their first cassette demo in 1992, followed by the 7″ vinyl single Blurr in 1993. The band quickly established themselves in the prolific San Diego music scene of the early 1990s that also included groups such as blink-182, Buck-O-Nine, Sprung Monkey, Drive Like Jehu, and Rocket from the Crypt.

The band has their very own unique sound. Every song explodes with an energy and raw uncut sound that no one can compare to.

Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1990. Since its inception, the band’s line-up has consisted of Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guitar), Jeff Ament (bass), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), and Mike McCready (lead guitar). The band’s current drummer is Matt Cameron, formerly of Soundgarden, who has been with the band since 1998.

Formed after the demise of Ament and Gossard’s previous band Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam broke into the mainstream with its debut album Ten. One of the key bands of the grunge movement in the early 1990s, Pearl Jam was nevertheless criticized early on as being a corporate cash-in on the alternative rock explosion. However, its members became noted for their refusal to adhere to traditional music industry practices as their career progressed, including refusing to make music videos and engaging in a much-publicized boycott of Ticketmaster. Rolling Stone described the band as having “spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame.”

via [Wikipedia]

Pearl Jam – “the most popular American rock band of the 1990s”. – I agree to that

Pearl Jam’s music is the “the riff-heavy stadium rock of the ’70s with the grit and anger of ’80s post-punk, without ever neglecting hooks and choruses”.

a take on why Pearl Jam doesn’t do videos… as bassist Jeff Ament would say ,

“Ten years from now, I don’t want people to remember our songs as videos”.

Have you heard on the radio or the TV perhaps a very faint voice on the vocals that you couldn’t tell whether the person singing was a he or a she? Probably you’ve heard many vocalists sing that way, but treat Coheed and Cambria differently. They’re a progressive rock group (they don’t normally have the chorus-based songs), and been a bit of an icon for the “emo” world. A few of their songs hit the mainstream but most didn’t as it can only be appreciated by those who are into progressive rock. Some of their mainstream songs include A Favor House Atlantic, Welcome Home and Blood Red Summer.

By the way, the guy with the frizzy hair’s the one with the small voice. Call it talent.

Photo taken from http://www.100xr.com