BUSH *****

Bush are a British alternative rock band formed in London in 1992 shortly after vocalist/guitarist Gavin Rossdale and guitarist Nigel Pulsford met in a London niteclub. Realizing they shared a love for such diverse artists as the Pixies, Bob Marley, The Jesus Lizard, MC5, Hüsker Dü, and Big Black, they decided to form a band together. It was not long before they recruited drummer Robin Goodridge and bassist Dave Parsons and started writing. Dave Parsons joined Bush shortly after leaving the band Transvision Vamp. Drummers such as Sasha Gervasi, Amir, and Spencer Cobrin had all taken their go as Bush drummers before Robin Goodridge was made the permanent fit and thus completing the Bush lineup.

The band found immediate success with the release of their debut album Sixteen Stone in 1994, which is certified 6× multi-platinum by the RIAA. Bush went on to become one of the most commercially successful rock bands of the 1990s, selling over 10 million records in the United States. Despite their success in the United States, the band were less well known in their native hometown and enjoyed only marginal success there. Bush have had numerous top ten singles on the Billboard rock charts, and one #1 album for Razorblade Suitcase in 1996. The band separated in 2002 but the name was revived in 2010 to support a new album, Everything Always Now, due for release in early 2011 and some live shows.

The group chose the name "Bush" because they used to live in Shepherd's Bush, London.

In Canada, they were once known as Bush^x, because the 1970s band Bush, led by Domenic Troiano, owned the Canadian rights to the name. In April 1997, it was announced that Troiano had agreed to let them use the name Bush in Canada without the exponent x, in exchange for donating $20,000 each to the Starlight Children's Foundation and the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund.

History

Formation and Sixteen Stone (1992-1995)

After leaving his band Midnight, Gavin Rossdale met former King Blank guitarist Nigel Pulsford in 1992. The two bonded over an appreciation of the American alternative rock group the Pixies. The two formed a new band which they called Future Primitive. Describing the early sound of the group, one British record label executive said years later, "They weren't what they are today -- they were a little like the more commercial side of INXS".The pair recruited bassist Dave Parsons (formerly of The Partisans and Transvision Vamp) and drummer Robin Goodridge to complete the lineup.

In 1993, the band was signed by Rob Kahane, who had a distribution deal with Disney's Hollywood Records. The band completed recording its debut album Sixteen Stone in early 1994. However, the death of Disney executive Frank G. Wells eliminated a supporter for Kahane, and executives at Hollywood deemed Bush's album unacceptable for release. As a result, the members of Bush took jobs performing menial labour. Interscope Records ultimately decided to release the album, and at the end of 1994, Kahane sent an advance copy of the album to a friend at influential Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM, which added the song "Everything Zen" to its rotation.

Razorblade Suitcase (1996-1998)

In late 1996 Bush released the first single "Swallowed" from their second album titled Razorblade Suitcase, The song spent seven weeks on top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album hit number 1 in America and placed high in many European countries. Although a success, at two hit singles compared to four the album did not sell as well as Sixteen Stone. Razorblade Suitcase featured Steve Albini as the audio engineer, a move which was criticized by critics. Albini had worked with Nirvana on their final studio album, In Utero, only 3 years before. Many claimed they were trying too hard to sound like the grunge pack. Following the success of "Swallowed," the album had one more hit, "Greedy Fly", but then failed to produce any more sizeable hits.

Possibly to boost the sales of Razorblade Suitcase or move into new ground, Bush released the remix album Deconstructed. The album saw Bush re-arranging their songs into dance and techno stylings. The album was a moderate success going platinum less than a year after release.

The Science of Things (1999-2000)

Following the completion of touring, Rossdale went into seclusion in Ireland, where he worked on material for the group's next album. Rossdale periodically sent demo tapes of his works in progress to his bandmates. The group finally convened to record in London in August 1998, where the band reteamed with Sixteen Stone producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley.

The release of The Science of Things was held up by a court battle between the band and Trauma Records. The case was settled in early 1999 and the album was finally released that October. The Science of Things was a major departure in several forms from Bush's first two albums. Like the multi-platinum successes of Bush's first two albums, this album also reached platinum status. Also, while the band's previous albums were strongly influenced by grunge, The Science of Things featured some electronic music influences that distinguished the work from Bush's earlier sound. For example, although lead single "The Chemicals Between Us" had a prominent guitar riff, it also had many electronic elements usually found in dance music. Although the album had a few hit songs, it failed to chart within the top 10. The band's performance at Woodstock '99, however, helped The Science of Things achieve platinum status despite its slow start.

Three singles were released from The Science of Things, most notably "The Chemicals Between Us", which spent five weeks at #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks and peaked at #67 on the U.S. Hot 100. "Letting the Cables Sleep," the third single, reached #4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and also received considerable airplay.

Golden State and breakup (2001-2002)

Bush released its final album, Golden State, in October 2001. While the album attempted to return to the simple, catchy sound of the band's debut, it failed to achieve commercial success due to a lack of support from the band's new record label, Atlantic Records. Several singles were released, most notably the hit "The People That We Love", but none were mainstream successes. The album was the band's least successful, selling only 380,000 copies in the US. "The People That We Love" was used in the game Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2.

In January 2002, Pulsford left the band after the release of Golden State to spend more time with his family and Chris Traynor took over on lead guitar for the subsequent tour, which would turn out to be Bush's last for 8 years.

Due to declining record sales and a lack of support from Atlantic Records, Bush disbanded in 2002. In 2005, the band released a greatest hits album called The Best of: 1994-1999, and, a few months later, a live album called Zen X Four.

Post-breakup (2003-2009)

Gavin Rossdale formed a new band, Institute, in 2004, serving as their lead vocalist and guitarist, just as in Bush. Chris Traynor also joined the band, as lead guitarist. (In addition to playing in Institute, Traynor also joined the reunited metal band Helmet in 2004 on bass; he quit the band in 2006.) Institute released one album, Distort Yourself, but failed to achieve much commercial success in spite of opening for U2's Vertigo Tour at some shows. Institute broke up in 2006 and Rossdale then embarked on a solo career. In 2007, he covered the John Lennon song "Mind Games" for the Lennon tribute album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. His first solo album, Wanderlust, supported by leading single "Love Remains the Same", was released in June 2008. Wanderlust was originally intended to be the next Bush album but after originally agreeing to take part in the Bush reunion, guitarist Nigel Pulsford opted out as he doesn't care to tour anymore.

Rossdale has also ventured into the world of acting, appearing in the films Zoolander, Little Black Book, The Game of Their Lives, Constantine, How to Rob a Bank and others.

Robin Goodridge recorded with the British rock band Elyss in 2004, although they have not released any new material since. In 2006, Goodridge began drumming for indie rock band Spear of Destiny, and appeared on their 2007 album, Imperial Prototype. During the summer of 2008, he toured the UK with British rock band Stone Gods after their current drummer Ed Graham reportedly fell ill. On 29 July it was announced that Graham had left the band and on 6 October 2008, the band's website announced that Goodridge had joined the band full time.

Nigel Pulsford has spent most of his time since leaving Bush raising his children with his wife.

In an interview with Blender, Gavin Rossdale admitted that the likelihood of a Bush reunion was "very high". He then added "quite high," In a November 2008 interview, Rossdale revealed that he had tried to contact the other members of Bush, "I reached out to them."

Everything Always Now (2010-present)

On June 22, 2010, it was announced that Bush would play their first show in eight years at the second-annual Epicenter Music Festival in Fontana, California on September 25, 2010. A new album, Everything Always Now, was also confirmed and a new single, "Afterlife", was released.

Founding members Nigel Pulsford and Dave Parsons both decided not to rejoin the band, with Rossdale stating: I’ve been speaking to Nigel a lot and each time I do a record, I’d ask him to do it. He’s happy and it’s not something he wanted to do — he has a family. I spoke to Dave. I was surprised because I thought he’d do it. He thought about it for the weekend and then said he couldn’t. He didn’t want to commit and then back out — he didn’t know how long he could tour. It’s an absurd amount of work.

Pulsford and Parsons were replaced by Chris Traynor and Corey Britz respectively. Traynor had also stood in for Pulsford during the Golden State tour. The new line up played seven shows in 2010, performing songs from Bush's previous four albums as well as their new song "Afterlife".

BUCK-O-NINE **

Buck-O-Nine is an American ska punk band which was formed in San Diego in 1991. The band has toured internationally and released several albums and e.p.'s, as well as appearing on compilations and film soundtracks. During the mid-to-late 1990s, they experienced mainstream success with the release of the album Twenty-Eight Teeth and its most successful single, My Town. Estimates put combined worldwide album sales at approximately 400,000. As the popularity of third-wave ska waned, Buck-O-Nine stopped touring full-time in 2000, but continues to perform regularly throughout California and much of the southwestern United States. Since 2001, the band has also performed in the UK and Hawaii.

Buck-O-Nine released its fifth studio album, entitled Sustain, on August 7, 2007 on Asian Man Records.

History

1991 to 1993

Buck-O-Nine formed around the end of 1991, when one of the original members of the band, Scott Kennerly, placed a newspaper ad and Steve Bauer and Craig Yarnold answered and began playing with the earliest incarnation of the band. Previous to Buck-O-Nine, saxophone player, Craig Yarnold was in a Ska band called the Spy Kids, which also included Matt Hensley from the band Flogging Molly on guitar, and Scott Russo from the band Unwritten Law on keyboard. By very early 1992, Buck-O-Nine had played its first live club gig, opening for The Mighty Mighty Bosstones at the Spirit Club (now Brick By Brick) in San Diego, California. After the first few shows, the lead singer was replaced by Jon Pebsworth, and Dan Albert and Tony Curry joined the band to fill out the horn section.

There are several stories about where Buck-O-Nine's name came from. One was that someone used the phrase in the context of a joke they were telling ("yo mamma don't weigh more than a buck-o-nine," or something to that effect). Another version was the band pooled their money for beer and all they had was a dollar and nine cents.

Jon Pebsworth's entry to the band was solidified after the first rehearsal. Previous to Buck-O-Nine, he was in a hardcore punk band called Labeled Victims, which also included Pat Kim, the current bass player of the band Unwritten Law. Pebsworth had a binder full of lyrics, many of which were written during his time in Labeled Victims, and as the band went through its material for him, he began flipping through pages and plugging in lyrics for each song, almost as if the lyrics had been written for the music without him ever hearing it. At the band's next rehearsal, Pebsworth showed up with his shoulder in a sling - he had broken it the previous weekend while stage-diving at a local punk show.

Likewise, Dan Albert and Tony Curry had been playing together in reggae bands, including T. Irie Dread, for several years, and had developed a large repertoire of horn lines and riffs that had gone unused, yet somehow fit perfectly into many of the songs Buck-O-Nine would write over the next several years. Albert and Curry still occasionally perform with T. Irie Dread in and around San Diego.

By the end of 1992, the band prepared to release a twelve song demo tape entitled Buck Naked, which featured a cartoon drawing by then drummer Steve Bauer, depicting a naked deer sheepishly covering its private parts. Steve was attending art school at the time, and used the album art as one of his class projects.

During the recording process, Jonas Kleiner was recruited to play guitar. Kleiner's first rehearsal with the Buck-O-Nine was remarkable in that the band had spent the entire day auditioning guitar players, and Jonas was the last person scheduled to show up. None of the previous guitarists had come close to being able to play the ska style that the music demanded. When Jonas began jamming, his style fit in with the band immediately. Jonas' previous experience playing in various Arizona punk and ska bands became a huge asset to Buck-O-Nine, and over the years his guitar work would provide the musical foundation for many songs.

Most of the guitar tracks on the demo were recorded by bass player Scott Kennerly, with Jonas recording guitar tracks on one song. The demo was released on cassette tape on the band's own pseudo record label, Working Class Records. Working Class Records would also be the pseudo home of the band The Mountain Men, which was composed of friends and roommates of some members of Buck-O-Nine.

Shortly after the demo was released, a 7" record, known as the California 7", was released on Silver Girl Records. The front cover of the record sleeve features the license plate from Kennerly's truck, attached to the bumper of an old car at a junk-yard and photographed by Kennerly.

It was during this early period that the band began establishing itself in the San Diego all-ages music scene by playing regularly at the well-known club, SOMA . Originally located in downtown San Diego, SOMA was a unique venue because it had a basement stage area (affectionately known as "The Dungeon") where new bands would perform with hopes of drawing enough fans to be promoted to the main stage located above on the main floor. Buck-O-Nine was able to move from the dungeon to the main stage within a short period of time, and thus began opening up for local favorites such as Sprung Monkey, as well as nationally touring acts like Skankin' Pickle. By the time Buck-O-Nine released its first album in 1994, they were regularly selling out the venue, with an estimated 900 - 1000 fans attending most shows.

1994 to 1996

In 1994, the band released its first full-length album, Songs in the Key of Bree on San Diego label Immune Records. One week after the CD was released, the band embarked on its first US tour, in support of fellow ska bands Gangster Fun, from Detroit, and MU330 from St. Louis. Unfortunately, the tour was never completed due to a series of misfortunes. Buck-O-Nine had been told prior to leaving for the tour that all bands would be sharing one drum kit. Of course, when the band arrived at the first gig in Corona, California, they found that they were the only band without a drum kit! Fortunately, the other bands were gracious enough to share drums.

Shortly after the halfway point, MU330 had to drop off the tour when their drummer fell ill. On the last leg of the tour, which had the remaining bands swinging through the deep south, Gangster Fun's tour bus (actually an old school bus) broke down and forced them to head home. This left Buck-O-Nine stranded in Mississippi (without a drum kit), where they shacked up at Tony's grandmother's house for several days, attempting to piece together the remainder of the tour. Of course, with the headliner and main support acts gone, promoters were unwilling to commit to hosting the remaining shows, so Buck-O-Nine packed up and headed straight home to San Diego.

The Irish Drinking Song from Songs in the Key of Bree is sometimes mistakenly credited as "Drink and Fight" by Flogging Molly, The Bouncing Souls or Dropkick Murphys. Although Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys are known for playing similar types of songs, that particular song was written and recorded by Buck-O-Nine. There is a Canadian band called Mudmen who wrote a song called "Drink and Fight."

In 1995, Buck-O-Nine released its second full-length album, entitled Barfly on Taang! Records. The album title was inspired by the movie of the same name, starring Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway. The album featured a mixture of originals and cover tunes by bands which had inspired Buck-O-Nine's music since the band's inception. The track "Barfly" actually appears on two Buck-O-Nine albums, Songs in the Key of Bree (1994) and "Barfly" (1995). "Songs in the Key of Bree" was originally released on Immune Records, a tiny San Diego Label. Curtis Casella, owner of Taang! Records and a Bukowski fan, wanted to release a Buck-O-Nine EP on his label called Barfly that would consist of several cover tunes and the Buck-O-Nine original, Barfly. Taang! eventually re-released Key Of Bree as well. As sales of Barfly started to increase, the band was slapped with a cease and desist notice. The original cover of the album used images of both Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway. The actors' legal representation were less than thrilled with this. In 1996, drummer Steve Bauer created an alternate album cover for Barfly, which is the current album cover.

During this time, the band also released a video, entitled "Raw Crap" which was composed of tour footage shot by the band as well as the videos for the songs "On A Mission" and "Water In My Head". The "On A Mission" video was shot in Boston by a friend of Curtis Casella. The "Water In My Head" video was shot in San Diego by Mark Mannschreck, a friend of Jonas'.

In 1996, after two years of constant touring, Buck-O-Nine saw the sales of their Taang! releases, Songs In The Key of Bree and Barfly, increase substantially to well over 60,000 copies sold despite distribution problems and a dire lack of promotion by the Taang! Records label.

1997 to 1999

Buck-O-Nine's next full-length release was the 1997 album Twenty-Eight Teeth on TVT Records. The album was released April 15, 1997,while the band was touring the U.S. with Face To Face.

With the release of this third album, and several years of touring under their belts, Buck-O-Nine began to see increased national radio airplay with the release of the single "My Town". A video was shot and received limited airplay on MTV. Twenty-Eight Teeth sold over 200,000 copies, appearing in a top spot on the Billboard HeatSeekers chart at one point, and appearing in the Billboard Top 200 for one week, peaking at #190. In addition, "My Town" was featured in season 8 of Beverly Hills, 90210 in the episode, "Toil And Trouble," which aired October 29, 1997. The band toured constantly to promote Twenty-Eight Teeth, sharing the stage with a wide variety of bands, both in and outside their genre. Notable appearances included the 1997 Warped Tour, and being picked by Primus as the support act on their tour for The Brown Album.

On top of extensive national touring, Buck-O-Nine co-headlined a nation-wide tour of Canada along with the Suicide Machines. The tour saw both bands enjoy increased popularity north of the border, and culminated with a show at Toronto's famed El Mocambo club. The band also traveled to Australia twice, playing shows up and down the east coast and connecting with Australia's most famous ska band, The Porkers.

The band's fourth album Libido was released on TVT Records in 1999. Buy this time, drummer Steve Bauer had left the band, and studio drummer Chuck Treece was hired to record the drum tracks. (Bauer is now a successful tattoo artist in Colorado Springs. Libido represents an evolution in the sound the band had developed, steering somewhat away from the ska and punk sound that defined Buck-O-Nine in the earlier years. One of the stand-out tracks, "Who Are They?," was featured on an episode of Six Feet Under. By the time Libido was released, the popularity of third wave ska in the US had crested and was beginning to recede. During this period, original bass player Scott Kennerly left the band and was replaced by original Unwritten Law bassist, John Bell. The band continued to tour throughout 1999, but stopped working full-time after this.

Unfortunately, Buck-O-Nine's last national tour almost ended in tragedy when Bell fell ill with severe stomach pain. After soundchecking for a gig in Pittsburgh, PA Bell collapsed back-stage and had to be rushed to the hospital, where doctors discovered he was suffering from Meckel's Diverticulum. Surgery followed, and eventually the band headed straight home for San Diego, while Bell recovered with his parents by his side. Longtime associated Andy Platfoot filled in on bass for the ailing Bell, and would eventually become a full-time member of the band.

Buck-O-Nine won eight San Diego Music Awards between 1995 - 2000.

2000 to present

In 2000, Buck-O-Nine released Hellos and Goodbyes, a live album which also included new unreleased tracks that were demos of songs intended for a 5th full length studio CD release. Buck-O-Nine eventually decided to not pursue the recording of this album.

Between the latter part of 2000 and well into 2001, things quieted down for the band, and they considered calling it quits all together. During this period, John Bell left the band as he pursued college and a career in engineering full-time. An offer to tour the UK saw the band regroup near the end of 2001 and release a UK only album composed of tracks from the band's first two albums and e.p. A successful tour of much of the UK ensued, and in the aftermath, Buck-O-Nine found itself re-energized and continued to play regional shows and write new material.

Between 2002 and 2004, the band wrote close to 20 new songs, but most of them fell by the wayside until 2006 when they got serious about putting together a new album. Only three songs that had previously been written survived the cut, and the band relentlessly pumped out another nine original songs throughout the end of 2006. The philosophy was simple - to stick to what the band does best, which is to write and perform high-energy ska-influenced music that combines elements of reggae, punk and rock & roll.

Before entering a professional recording studio, the band recorded the entire album using its own recording equipment and rehearsal studio so that they could get a better feel for what the finished product might sound like, and iron out any underlying issues with arrangement, tuning and tempos. The band decided to return to Doubletime Studios in El Cajon, California, where the first two studio albums were recorded. In early 2007 they began recording tracks during several weekend and evening sessions.

At the end of recording and during some preliminary mixing sessions, they decided to have the entire album shipped to The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado for final mixing and mastering.

In 2007, Buck-O-Nine released its fifth studio album, entitled Sustain, and performed on all California dates of the Vans Warped Tour.

In December 2007, the band filmed a video for the song I'm not Dead. The video was filmed and edited by bass player Andy Platfoot, to be available for viewing on the band's web site. Andy has also directed and edited music videos for a number of bands, including Flogging Molly.

Guitarist Jonas Kleiner is also the guitarist and singer of the San Diego band, Destrung.

BREAKING BENJAMIN ****

Breaking Benjamin is an American rock band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, consisting of Benjamin Burnley, Aaron Fink, Mark Klepaski and Chad Szeliga. The band has released four albums to date. Their music is most often classified as alternative rock, and post-grunge. The group is currently on hiatus due to frontman Benjamin Burnley's recurring illnesses and is unable to tour for the time being.

 

History

Formation (1998-2001)

Before Breaking Benjamin, Ben Burnley was a solo performer. He later came up with the band's name, "Breaking Benjamin," after doing a performance of a Nirvana cover. At the end of the performance, Ben knocked over and cracked a microphone he had borrowed. The owner of the microphone walked onto the stage and said, "I'd like to thank Benjamin for breaking my fucking microphone."

In 1998, Burnley and current lead guitarist Aaron Fink, got together (along with Nick Hoover and Chris Lightcap) and started the band Breaking Benjamin. Eventually Ben wanted to try something different and went out to California to try some new material. Ben Burnley soon moved back to Pennsylvania and started a band called Plan 9 with drummer Jeremy Hummel. Originally the band was a 3-piece. The lineup consisted of Ben on vocals and guitar, Jeremy behind the kit, and Jason Davoli on bass. Plan 9 would occasionally open for Lifer at home shows. During one show, Ben said “Thank you, we’re Breaking Benjamin”, and thus reclaiming the name from 1998.

Saturate (2002-2003)

Breaking Benjamin signed to Hollywood Records in early 2002 after the success of an independently-released, self-titled EP, which sold all 2,000 copies that were manufactured. The band then released their full-length, major-label debut, Saturate, on August 27, 2002. The album peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Chart and at 136 on the Billboard Top 200.

The album's first single, "Polyamorous", received a fair amount of radio play, although it failed to reach mainstream audiences. A video was released in three different versions for "Polyamorous": one that had all live-action footage, and one that had footage of the video game Run Like Hell. The third was a variation of the non-live action video, but instead of scenes from Run Like Hell, it has scenes of people in flirtatious acts. This song was featured on the game Smackdown vs. Raw.

The second single from Saturate was "Skin", which fared even worse than "Polyamorous". Burnley has been known to state his disdain for the song during live performances and has the crowd sing the words as the band plays. This is due to Hollywood Records choosing it as the main single instead of the band's choice, "Medicate".

They had planned on releasing a studio version of their cover of "Enjoy the Silence" along with "Lady Bug" on the European version of Saturate. However, the European version was never released. "Lady Bug" was eventually released on the "So Cold EP", and on the Japanese version of We Are Not Alone.

"Wish I May" is a song played during the closing credits of the 2003 movie Wrong Turn.

We Are Not Alone (2004-2005)

Breaking Benjamin released their second album, We Are Not Alone, on June 29, 2004. The album featured the lead off single "So Cold", which reached number two on the United States Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. The band had two music videos made for "So Cold" one of which was a promotional video for the movie Hellboy. "So Cold" spent 37 weeks in the top 20 of the Billboard charts (as of February 3, 2005).

Also released as singles from the album were "Sooner or Later" and a re-recorded, full band version of "Rain", which was featured on later pressings of the album. A music video was made for "Sooner or Later" as it got a fair amount of radio play reaching number two on the Mainstream Rock Charts. The track was also performed live on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno".

Kevin Soffera was the drummer that Jeremy suggested as a fill in while he was unable to play with the band due to the birth of his child. Kevin filled in for Jeremy from August until September 2004. Kevin appears on the recordings of The Conan O’Brien show and The Carson Daly Show as well as on the So Cold EP performing the songs Away and Breakdown. In September 2004, drummer, and founding member of Breaking Benjamin, Jeremy Hummel was fired. Subsequently, on September 28, 2005, Hummel filed a federal lawsuit against the remaining members of Breaking Benjamin, as well as its management, claiming he was not paid for songs he helped write. Hummel's lawsuit asked for more than $8 million in damages. An article was released October 25, 2006, stating that Hummel does not receive any payments from the making of We Are Not Alone in which he co-authored. After Kevin was finished with his duties as a fill-in for Jeremy, the band brought Ben "B.C." Vaught into the band to fill in as their drummer. B.C. was with the band until the band hired Chad Szeliga in early 2005. The track "Firefly" was featured in the "WWE Day of Reckoning" video game, released on November 2004.

The tracks "Rain", "Forget It" and "Follow" were all co-written by the guitarist and vocalist of The Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan. Ben Burnley and Billy Corgan's collaboration took place for six days in December. Burnley admitted he was, at first, nervous to work with Corgan, but later felt comfortable and called the experience one of the highlights of his career. Later in 2004, the band released the So Cold EP.

We Are Not Alone achieved platinum status in mid-2005which led to the platinum edition of We Are Not Alone being released featuring the full band version of "Rain".

Phobia (2006-2009)

Breaking Benjamin released Phobia on August 8, 2006, heading off the album with the single "The Diary of Jane", which made it to #4 on the U.S. Modern Rock Charts.

On February 11, 2007, HDNet premiered a one-hour show of the Breaking Benjamin concert in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania at Stabler Arena. This is also the concert that was included on the Phobia re-release DVD in April 2007, advertised as "The Homecoming". The band obtained their first number 1 billboard single with "Breath". Footage of the band's live Stabler Arena performance of "Breath" comprises the song's music video. On April 17, 2007, Breaking Benjamin re-released the album Phobia. The album featured a DVD with about an hour of their Stabler Arena concert footage. They completed a co-headlining tour in the United States with Three Days Grace and had Red and Puddle of Mudd as openers. The album re-entered the Billboard 100 at number 38 on May 5, 2007 with its reissue.

On June 29, 2007, the band appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and performed "Breath". On July 6, 2007, the band performed "Breath" again on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. The band announced a 36-date fall 2007 tour with Three Days Grace, Seether, Skillet (first half) and Red (second half).

On May 21, 2009 Phobia reached RIAA Platinum status, selling over one million units in the U.S.

Dear Agony and hiatus (2009-present)

David Bendeth who produced the band's last two studio efforts, We Are Not Alone and Phobia, produced Breaking Benjamin's 4th studio album, Dear Agony. On their MySpace blog, Breaking Benjamin stated, "We are busy crafting the new material and have several songs ready for the Bendeth production treatment." Jasen Rauch, guitarist for Red, co-wrote four of the new tracks including "I Will Not Bow", "Hopeless", "Lights Out" and "Without You".He stated that he was getting no deadlines or pressure from the label on this album so he was taking his time.

On August 11, 2009, Breaking Benjamin's hometown radio station WBSX (97.9X) in Wilkes-Barre, PA debuted the album's first single, "I Will Not Bow". Due to the single being leaked, "I Will Not Bow" began streaming on their MySpace at 8PM eastern time on August 11. "I Will Not Bow" was released onto radio stations on August 17, and was released on iTunes on September 1. After a few days it became one of the top ten selling songs on iTunes, along with the album Dear Agony. A music video for "I Will Not Bow" premiered on their MySpace on Friday, August 21.

On September 28, the album was officially released in Australia. On September 29, the album was officially released in the United States. Dear Agony purchased from Best Buy includes a bonus DVD of the band's six music videos, one of them being a previously-unreleased version of the video for "I Will Not Bow". The version on the DVD is of the band only and does not contain any footage from the film Surrogates, unlike the version released online.

The band co-headlined a January–February 2010 tour of the US with Three Days Grace and Flyleaf.

On January 5, 2010, "Give Me a Sign" was released as the second single off of Dear Agony. Subsequently, the music video for "Give Me a Sign" was released on the band's MySpace page on March 10, 2010, which happened to be Ben Burnley's 32nd birthday.

As of February 16, 2010, Dear Agony has been certified Gold by the RIAA.

On June 15, 2010, the third single of Dear Agony, Lights Out, was released.

During the summer Ben played two solo acoustic shows with friend Aaron Bruch who is the bass player of Chad Szeliga's side project OurAfter. This was the first time "Forget It" and "Follow" were actually performed live. Benjamin also did some covers of Tool, Queen, Michael Jackson, Alice in Chains, and Cyndi Lauper.

The band is currently on hiatus due to Ben's recurring illnesses and is unable to tour for the time being. Aaron and Mark have also rejoined their previous band Lifer in wait while Ben recovers, and Chad will be touring with the band OurAfter. A message from Chad's Facebook page states the status of the band: "For those of you who are concerned. We (Breaking Benjamin) are not breaking up. We are taking the summer off due to some health issues that he [Ben] has been dealing with for some time now. I would like to personally thank all of you for the emails and comments. Thanks for your concern. It means a lot to Ben, Aaron, Mark and... myself".

BRAND NEW ***

Brand New is an American rock band from Long Island, New York. Formed in 2000, the band currently consists of lead vocalist/guitarist/lyricist Jesse Lacey, guitarist/lyricist Vincent Accardi, bassist Garrett Tierney, drummer Brian Lane, and guitarist/keyboardist Derrick Sherman.

In the late 1990s, Jesse Lacey, Garrett Tierney and Brian Lane were all members of the band The Rookie Lot. They eventually split off from the other members of the group, and in 2000 formed Brand New in Merrick, New York. The band signed to Triple Crown Records and in 2001 released their debut studio album, Your Favorite Weapon. Their second album, Deja Entendu, was released in 2003 and marked a stylistic change for the band. The album's first two singles, "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows" and "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades", both received airplay on MTV2 and Fuse TV, entering the top 40 on the United Kingdom Singles Chart. Deja Entendu was eventually certified gold in the United States.

Brand New moved to Interscope Records and released The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me in 2006. "Jesus Christ" became their highest charting single in the US, peaking at number 30 on the Alternative Songs chart. In March 2008, the band started their own record label, named Procrastinate! Music Traitors. Their fourth album, Daisy, was released in 2009 and became their highest charting album in the US, reaching number six on the Billboard 200.

History

Formation and early releases (2000–2001)

Prior to Brand New's official formation, in the late 1990s Jesse Lacey, Garrett Tierney, Brian Lane were all members of the post-hardcore band The Rookie Lot, along with Brandon Reilly and Alex Dunne of Crime in Stereo. After the band's split and not playing together for a while, Lacey, Lane and Tierney started to rehearse again. They then recruited guitarist Vincent Accardi, who had been playing in a band called One Last Goodbye, since Reilly had joined The Movielife.

All four members had backgrounds linking into their local Long Island independent and hardcore music scenes, but with influences from an array of artists ranging from Buddy Rich to the Archers of Loaf. They eventually formed Brand New in 2000, in a basement in Merrick, New York. Their initial intention was always to "move outside of whatever notions they felt inclined to when they were making music as younger people." The band gained exposure in the local scene through playing shows with alternative rock contemporaries Midtown and post-hardcore bands like Glassjaw, whilst also self-releasing a four-song demo. They signed to Triple Crown Records after just their second-ever show.

Debut album: Your Favorite Weapon (2001–2002)

Brand New's debut studio album Your Favorite Weapon was produced by friend and practical fifth member of the band Mike Sapone. The album has been described as being "bitter about ex-girlfriends", with an excessive concentration on "post-breakup angst", receiving relatively positive reviews, with Allmusic awarding it three out of five and Popmatters also being favourable. It became a moderate success, selling over 50,000 copies. The record deal gave Brand New the opportunity to tour, playing alongside the likes of Taking Back Sunday and touring the UK in support of Finch, to a "great response" from the crowds.

The only single released from Your Favorite Weapon was "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad". The song has been described by Allmusic as a "semi-hit",after it received airplay on both MTV2 and Fuse.

Deja Entendu and acclaim (2003–2004)

Brand New's second studio album was written in "the year and-a-half or two years" that they were touring the material off Your Favorite Weapon. According to drummer Brian Lane, "Jesse [Lacey] wrote a lot of the lyrics about different things than 'I just broke up with my girlfriend' for the new record," as Lacey had written the songs on an acoustic guitar in his bedroom. Lane also explained that the band was now influenced by a range of different artists, "All of us got exposed to a lot of different music that all of us were listening to. For the first [album] we weren't in such close quarters for 24 hours a day. I think that has a lot to do with it." Unlike their first album, it was said that a lot of time and concentration went into making the album.

The band released Deja Entendu through Razor & Tie/Triple Crown Records in June 2003, with it being issued in Europe and Australia in October 2003. The album's title, Deja Entendu, is French for "already heard." It was explained as "very tongue-in-cheek," by singer Lacey. Elaborating on the title's meaning, he told MTV, "No matter who you are or what your band is about, you can't put a record out without people saying it's derivative of something else. So by saying the record's already been heard, it's kind of like saying, 'Yeah, you're right. We're doing something that's already been done before.'" Also reinforcing, "We're not trying to break new ground in music. We're just trying to make good music." The album was described as a "stylistic leap" from Your Favorite Weapon, with a "decidedly matured" sound. In an interview with Billboard, Lacey said that although Deja Entendu does offer a different sound, the album "doesn't seem like we're departing from anything, really. I think we always knew that we had a lot of potential and there's a lot of different stuff we were able to do, and a lot of different sounds we wanted to make. Not too long after we recorded the first record, we were already wondering where we were going to go from there."

Deja Entendu debuted at number 63 on the Billboard 200. After just seven weeks, the album's sales were at more than 51,000 copies, already closing in on the total figure of its predecessor, Your Favorite Weapon. In May 2007, four years after its release, it was certified gold for surpassing 500,000 sales in the United States, by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Deja Entendu's first single, "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows", impacted radio airplay in July 2003, a month after the album's release. The song was said to be about regret, or "How there can be problems in a relationship and they get ignored. And how that often ends up as a broken home or some kind of bad situation down the road. It's kind of something that if it wasn't overlooked in the first place, you can kind of get through it." The song's music video chronicles the moments after a severe car accident, where a mortally wounded Lacey cannot depart for the next world until he knows that his girlfriend, also injured in the crash, is safe in this one. He says it "is about death or losing someone and it's those moments that you kind of look back on your life and realize all the regrets that you had, and all the things you wish you could change".They also made a music video for the second single, "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades", where Lacey acts like a human voodoo doll; discovering that when he moves a particular body part, it is mimicked by the target of his action. "Since the song is about taking advantage of someone else," he said, "there's a pretty strong correlation between the video and the song." Both music videos gave the band exposure in the mainstream where Your Favorite Weapon went "virtually unnoticed", with the videos finding "constant" airplay on MTV and the band making its live television debut on The Jimmy Kimmel Show. Furthermore, both singles entered the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart, whilst "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows" peaked at number 37 on the Alternative Songs chart.

Three shows of the band's 24-date headlining US tour with Moneen, Senses Fail, and The Beautiful Mistake had sold out prior to even having released a single, with much of the buzz surrounding the band being produced by just word of mouth, touring and Internet message boards. Deja Entendu's success also earned them tours alongside New Found Glory, Good Charlotte, Dashboard Confessional, and Blink-182. The band went on to headline The Bamboozle festival with My Chemical Romance, Alkaline Trio, Thrice, The Starting Line, Fall Out Boy, The Bouncing Souls, Straylight Run and Flogging Molly. They also made their second trip to the UK in 2004, their first as the headline act, the tour completely sold out.

After being pegged as an act to watch in Rolling Stone's annual "Hot Issue",topping punk critics' year-end lists with the "genre-defying" Deja Entendu, with it also becoming a "landmark album of so-called 'emo-punk'"and the band's notable underground following; Brand New found itself in the middle of a bidding war from record labels. At the time, Lane protested the label of "bidding war", but conceded, "There's a few labels that are definitely interested. We've been talking to a lot of people for a while and we're narrowing it down." The band eventually signed with DreamWorks Records, which was then taken over by Interscope Records.

The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (2005–2008)

"I don’t think that in our short recording career we have followed a path. It’s whatever comes out at that point. A song is never pushed into a direction. In ways, I think this is a record apart from the last record, but there are still certain aspects that they have in common. It’s always surprising to us, as we don’t know how it’s going to sound until we’ve written a few songs."

Jesse Lacey, Brand New lyricist and vocalist, talking about the band's stylistic progression on their third record

Following their signing to Interscope, Brand New stopped touring to work on their third album and major label debut. In this time, little to no interviews or updates came from the band. In 2004, Jesse Lacey told Chart magazine that he had written a "few songs" for the next album, commenting that "the other guys love it already". He made mention of the pressure he felt with the "loads of anticipation building up on my shoulders," saying that he even felt depressed because of this; "I'm getting depressed with all of the anxiety about the album and they say I write my best stuff when I'm in that state. Great, I'll spend the next six months all depressed and the rest of band will be excited, so that some good (material) might come out. And then I have to contend with how it's received." Lacey also said that the album would "move into new territory for Brand New".

In late 2005, Brand New started recording their highly-anticipated third album in Oxford, Mississippi with producer Dennis Herring, but later dropped him in favor of Mike Sapone with whom they had worked on their first album.

"In one way it was kind of refreshing and motivating to know that people were still so interested and curious as to what we were up to in that period where we sort of disappeared. But I was also worried that it would derail the process because the four of us had created a pretty safe place where the only critics were ourselves. As much as we tried to shield ourselves from letting the leak affect us, it definitely did. There was a feeling of being robbed, after keeping everything so close to ourselves and then having it heard before it was completed."

Brand New guitarist Vincent Accardi speaking about the leak of the demos

In January 2006, nine untitled demos recorded for the album were leaked to the Internet. In response to the leak, Garrett Tierney stated "I would say it did it in a good way 'cause so many people were curious to hear what we have been doing--and for the most part, the record tracks don't sound anything like the leaked demos." However, Lacey was not so upbeat when asked, saying, "For me it was different. It had me pretty down for a while. No one likes to show their creation in mid-process, and those songs weren't done. They were like blueprints. Just the plan, right? It put me in a state where I was under the impression that those songs had been wasted or something—that we had to go and write new things because those had been heard. Now, in retrospect, I want those songs to be on the album and many of them aren't, and I'm probably more to blame for that than anyone. This record already feels incomplete to me without those tracks and probably will forever."

In the following months, with Brand New doing their first tour dates in over 18 months, a few songs from the demos were performed with a full band, some were fleshed out and had new lyrics. New songs had their debut as well during the summer tour dates. Brand New began their first tour in years on June 20, 2006, where Lacey stated that the album had been completed the previous day.

Alternative Press published a preliminary date of October 10, 2006, as the album's release date, this was later corrected on the band's official website, when it was announced that the new album would be released on November 21, 2006 in North America, and the day before in Europe. Soon after, a track listing and cover art were revealed, as well as new information regarding the release of the first single - "Sowing Season". Having previously been leaked as a demo, the completed song began airing on radio on October 19, 2006, and appeared on their MySpace page a day later. According to Lacey in a radio interview from the UK (BBC Radio 1 with Zane Lowe), the title The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is taken from a conversation he had with his friend about the musician Daniel Johnston, who has bipolar disorder.

In late December 2006, an unusual video was released for the instrumental track "Untitled", also known as "-", which mainly consists of a man spray painting a wall with "evil and good are raging Inside me" and correcting it to give the album title. On January 16, 2007, "Jesus Christ" was announced as being the official first single from the album. On January 19, the band performed the song on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. They performed it again on February 26 on the Late Show with David Letterman.

From January to June 2007, the band toured the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia, including a headline slot on the UK's Give It A Name festival and playing the main stage at The Bamboozle festival. Despite the band's reluctance towards the press around the time of the release of the album, they were featured in Alternative Press, a cover story for Rock Sound, Kerrang!, and NME. The band went on tour for the fall of 2007, with openers Thrice and MewithoutYou. In early 2008, Brand New toured Australia and New Zealand on the Big Day Out festival.

In October 2007, the band announced via their official website that a new song, entitled "(Fork and Knife)", would be released online on October 23, 2007. "(Fork and Knife)", a rerecorded version of the track formerly known as "Untitled 7" from the leaked demos, was released as a non-album digital download.

In March 2008, Brand New started their own record label, named Procrastinate! Music Traitors. The first act signed to the new label was longtime friend Kevin Devine. The first release from the label was a reissue of the 2006 Kevin Devine album, Put Your Ghost to Rest, in April 2008.

Daisy (2008–present)

In October 2008, it was stated that Brand New was in the studio winding down their new record and were currently recording vocals. Then in December, an update on Brand New's website announced that they had been in and out of the studio since about March, with roughly fifteen tracks to choose from. The album was recorded over a 12 month period from March 2008, with the band announcing in April 2009 that they had commenced mixing with Dave Sardy and that they hoped to release their fourth studio album in the summer of 2009, with potentially, a summer tour to follow. The release date was then delayed to October 2009. Which was announced during a live performance at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival, where Brand New played two new songs, tentatively titled "Bride" and "Gasoline".The band played on the main stage at Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2009, both performances at Reading Festival and Glastonbury Festival were filmed by the BBC however Brand New declined the BBC rights to broadcast either performance on television, or on the BBC website.

In June 2009, UK music magazine Rock Sound, claimed on their website that they had received a copy of the upcoming album, though it was, according to an image later posted by the editor, "incomplete".The site published a "tentative" track listing and reported the incomplete version that they had received to be roughly 30 minutes long.

In an interview with Kerrang!, Jesse Lacey commented on the upcoming album's content, "It's a pretty exhausting record. It's quite dense and I think some of the decisions we made don't always go in the most obvious direction. We were thinking a lot more about what we'd want to play when we were up onstage rather than actually what you'd want to hear on a record." He then questioned the future of the band, saying, "I think a lot of the record is about us trying to make decisions about how long the band should go on. When I listened back to it, I realized how many songs are about something coming to a close, or knowing when it's time to put something away and move on."

On July 7, it was announced that the album would be titled And One Head Can Never Die (to be typeset and one head can never die) and would be released through Interscope Records on September 22, 2009. However, on July 9 it was announced on the band's website that the album title had been changed to Daisy, still being released on the same day. The album's first single, "At the Bottom", was released through digital outlets on 11 August 2009. Daisy" saw vocalist Jesse Lacey step back from songwriting and giving the role to guitarist Vincent Accardi along with the other members of the band.

Daisy debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 in the US, selling 46,000 records in what was their first top 20 entrance on the chart after The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me had reached number 31.

Brand New announced they will be bringing along Manchester Orchestra, Thrice, Glassjaw, Sybris, The Builders and the Butchers, and Crime In Stereo on selected/rotating dates of their headlining Fall North American tour.

On 23rd January 2010, Brand New played their largest UK headline performance to date at London's Wembley Arena in front of 12,500 people. Support came from Glassjaw and Thrice.

When asked if rumours were true that Daisy would be the band's final release, Lacey replied "I don't think that will be true. It might be our last full-length record for a little while, but we've got a lot of things lined up that we want to record, so I think that will happen pretty soon." In early 2010, drummer Brian Lane stated that Brand New were unsure about how they plan to release music in the future with technology being a factor; "I don’t know if there’s a point to releasing records if they’re not physical releases, if we're going to release a lot of things digitally then I don’t see why we couldn’t release a song a week or a song a month or just put out what we like from whenever we record." Lane also discussed the way the band may release their records in the future, "We’re talking about recording another album but we don’t know whether it’s going to come out on a label or whether we just release songs in batches."

On April 28, 2010, at their show in Clifton Park, NY, it was announced that the band is no longer signed to Interscope Records.

Style and influences

The band particularly have been described as alternative rock, indie, emo and their earlier works being described as having a pop punk feel.

The band share a strong interest in a wide variety of bands; with classic rock bands such as The Beach Boys, Squeeze, The Cars, as well as more-contemporary ones like Lifetime, Foo Fighters and Weezer.

Brand New have, upon the time of The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me acquired a high musical influence from earlier emo groups such as Sunny Day Real Estate and kept their direct alternative approach with the inspiration from English bands such as Radiohead.[59]