THE SUICIDE MACHINES **

The Suicide Machines were an American punk rock band formed in March 1991 in Detroit, Michigan and disbanded in May of 2006. During the course of their career the band released six full-length albums on the labels Hollywood Records and Side One Dummy Records. Though they experienced several lineup changes over the years, founding members Jason Navarro and Dan Lukacinsky remained regular fixtures. The band's musical style initially blended elements of punk rock, ska, and hardcore into a genre popularly known as ska punk or "ska-core," which characterized their first two albums. During the middle of their career they shifted gears, moving away from this sound and producing two albums with a heavy pop rock influence. Their final two albums moved back towards their mid-1990s style, bringing back heavy ska punk and hardcore elements.

Despite being signed to a major record label for their first four albums, The Suicide Machines did not experience significant mainstream success. However, they did achieve a relatively high level of underground recognition through relentless touring, including multiple performances on the Warped Tour. This trend continued when the band moved to an independent label for their last four years, before their breakup brought an abrupt end to the band's career.

Band history

1991-1995: Jack Kevorkian and the Suicide Machines

The Suicide Machines formed in 1991 in Detroit, Michigan under the original name Jack Kevorkian and the Suicide Machines. The band's original lineup consisted of Jason Navarro on vocals, Dan Lukacinskyon guitar, Jason Brake on bass, and Stefan Rairigh on drums. This lineup lasted a year until Bill Jennings replaced Rairigh, but he was himself soon replaced by Derek Grant. They recorded the band's first demos The Essential Kevorkian and Green World in 1993 and 1994, both released through their own label Sluggo's Old Skool Records. They also released the "Vans Song" 7" single on Youth Rendition Records. Brake left the group in 1994 and was briefly replaced by Dave Smith until Royce Nunley joined as the new permanent bass player. The lineup of Navarro, Lukacinsky, Nunley, and Grant would last for the next four years. This lineup reduced the band's name to The Suicide Machines and recorded the Skank for Brains split album with The Rudiments.

1996-2001: Hollywood Records years

In 1995 the band signed to Hollywood Records, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. 1996 saw the release of their first album, Destruction by Definition. Its blend of punk rock and ska brought them national attention in the midst of the mid-1990s punk rock mainstream revival. The single "No Face" became a minor hit on modern rock radio stations and the album was supported through extensive touring across the United States. They released a follow-up in 1998 entitled Battle Hymns, which continued their ska punk style while incorporating more aggressive elements of hardcore punk and sociopolitical lyrics, with nearly all of its songs lasting under two minutes in length.

Following the release of Battle Hymns Grant left the band. He went on to play with numerous groups including Thoughts of Ionesco, The Vandals, Face to Face, and Telegraph before finding a permanent position in the Alkaline Trio. He was replaced by Erin Pitman for some touring before new permanent drummer Ryan Vandeberghe joined. In 2000 this lineup released The Suicide Machines, a more pop rock oriented effort that moved away from the ska influences of their earlier releases. They received some radio and video play for the single "Sometimes I Don't Mind" and performed on the Warped Tour that Summer. In 2001 they released Steal This Record, which continued their exploration of pop punk style while mixing in elements of their earlier ska punk and hardcore albums.

2002-2005: Side One Dummy Records years

Following touring in support of Steal This Record bassist Nunley left The Suicide Machines to start his own band, Blueprint 76, and was replaced by Rich Tschirhart. The band also ended their contract with Hollywood Records, fulfilling their contractual obligations by releasing the compilation album The Least Worst of the Suicide Machines. They then moved to the independent label Side One Dummy Records. Their next album A Match and Some Gasoline, released in 2003, found the band abandoning the pop experimentations of their previous two albums and returning more to the ska punk and hardcore styles of their earlier years. They also continued exploring sociopolitical themes in songs such as "Did You Ever Get a Feeling of Dread?" and "Your Silence," which were critical of President George W. Bush's administration, its response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They toured internationally in support of the album and again performed on the Warped Tour.

In 2005 the band released the album War Profiteering is Killing Us All, which continued their political themes by openly attacking the Bush White House, the continuation of the Iraq War, and conservative Republicanism. Navarro also launched his own record label, Noise Riot Records, and released On the Eve of Destruction: 1991-1995, a compilation of the band's early EPs, singles, and demos.

2006: Breakup and post-Suicide Machines activity

In 2006, while touring in support of War Profiteering is Killing Us All, the band abruptly broke up. Explanations given by the band members for this included Vandeberghe's desire to take a break from touring, which he did while friend Steve McCrumb filled for a performance at the Troubadour in Los Angeles on May 11. A tour of Mexico had been planned to follow this, and Navarro had suggested that the band perform its final shows that Christmas. However, interpersonal tensions came to a head after the Troubadour show when Lukacinsky refused to finish the tour. Lukacinsky himself further elaborated that the band had been planning to break up for some time.

Following the band's breakup Navarro and Vandeberghe continued working with Left in Ruin, a band they had started as a Suicide Machines side project and had worked on and off with for almost 6 years. Vandeberghe also joined the new band Hifi Handgrenades, and Tschirhart joined the band soon after. Later, Tschirhart formed another band called The A-Gang with former Mest drummer Nick Gigler. Lukacinsky, meanwhile, started his own band Bayonetting the Wounded, who broke up after a few demo recordings. He then moved to Japan and formed The One Thought Moment. Early 2008, Navarro formed another Detroit band, Hellmouth, in which he is back on lead vocals.

In late 2009, Jason Navarro, Rich Tsirhart, and Ryan Vandeberghe reunited with Hellmouth drummer Justin Malek (on guitar)as "The Suicide Machines" for a beneficiary show in Detroit. The show was done to support a local activist, and was supported by many upcoming bands such as G-Had, The Cause, Noman and A-Gang.

On July 24th 2010, The Suicide Machines played one final show at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit. Opening bands included We Are The Union, Bill Bondsmen, and The Code. Jay did say we would see them again at The Trumbullplex but that the future remains unclear. In October of 2010 The Suicide Machines performed at The Fest 9.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN ****

System of a Down, also known by the acronym SOAD and often shortened to System, is an Armenian-American rock band from Southern California, formed in 1994. It consists of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar), Daron Malakian (guitar, vocals), Shavo Odadjian (bass, background vocals) and John Dolmayan (drums). All four members are of Armenian descent, and are widely known for their outspoken views expressed in many of their songs confronting the Armenian Genocide of 1915 as well as the ongoing War on Terrorism.

The band has achieved commercial success with the release of five studio albums; three of their studio albums debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. System of a Down has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, and won the award in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "B.Y.O.B." On August 13, 2006, the group went on indefinite hiatus, but announced a reunion on November 29, 2010 with several shows planned at European music festivals for the summer of 2011, as well as several dates in North America in May.

History

Soil (1992–1994)

Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, and Shavo Odadjian all attended Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School while children, although due to their eight-year age difference they did not meet until 1992 while working on separate projects at the same recording studio. They formed a band named Soil with Tankian on vocals and keyboards, Malakian on vocals and guitar, Dave Hakopyan (who later played in The Apex Theory/Mt. Helium) on bass and Domingo "Dingo" Laranio on drums. The band hired Shavo Odadjian (another Rose and Alex Pilibos alumnus) as manager, although he eventually joined Soil as rhythm guitarist. After three years, only one live show, and one jam session recording, Hakopyan and Laranio quit the band, feeling that it was not going anywhere.

Demo tapes and signing (1994–1997)

After Soil split up, Tankian, Odadjian, and Malakian formed a new band, System of a Down. The group took its name from a poem that Malakian had written titled “Victims of the Down." The word "victims" was changed to "system" because Odadjian believed that the alteration would appeal to a much wider audience and also because the group wanted their records to be alphabetically shelved closer to their musical heroes, Slayer. Odadjian switched from guitar to bass and passed on his managerial duties to Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group and its founder David “Beno” Benveniste.The band recruited drummer Ontronik "Andy" Khachaturian, an old school friend of Malakian's and Odadjian's who had played with Malakian in a band called Snowblind during their teens.

System of a Down quickly made what is known as Untitled 1995 Demo Tape, which was not commercially released but appeared on file sharing networks around the time of the band's success with Toxicity about six years later. Demo Tape 2 was released in 1996. At the beginning of 1997, System of a Down recorded their final publicly released demo tape, Demo Tape 3. In mid 1997, drummer Khachaturian left the band due to a hand injury (he subsequently co-founded The Apex Theory, which included former Soil bassist Dave Hakopyan). Khachaturian was replaced by John Dolmayan.

The band's first official release of a professionally recorded song was on a collection called Hye Enk ("we're Armenian" in English), an Armenian Genocide recognition compilation, in 1997. Soon after playing at notable Hollywood clubs such as the Whisky-A-Go-Go and Viper Room the band caught famed producer Rick Rubin's attention who asked them to keep in touch with him. Showing great interest, the group recorded Demo Tape 4 near the end of 1997. Unlike the previous demo tapes, however, Demo Tape 4 was made only to be sent to record companies (although it has since been leaked onto the internet). Rubin signed the group onto his American/Columbia Records, and System of a Down began to record in Rubin's studio, laying down tracks that would eventually be released on their debut album.

Also in 1997, the group won the Best Signed Band Award from the Rock City Awards.

System of a Down (1998–2000)

In June 1998, System of a Down released their debut album, System of a Down. They enjoyed moderate success as their first singles "Sugar" and "Spiders" became radio favorites and the music videos for both songs were frequently aired on MTV. After the release of the album, the band toured extensively, opening for Slayer and Metallica before making their way to the second stage of Ozzfest. Following Ozzfest, they toured with Fear Factory and Incubus before headlining the Sno-Core Tour with Puya, Mr. Bungle, The Cat and Incubus providing support.

In November 1998, System of a Down appeared on South Park's Chef Aid album, providing the music for the song "Will They Die 4 You?" Near the end of the song Tankian can be heard saying, "Why must we kill our own kind?" a line that would later be used in the song "Boom!" Although System of a Down is credited on the album, South Park character Chef doesn't introduce them as he does for all other artist featured on the record.

System of a Down's former drummer, Ontronik Khachaturian, briefly reunited with the band at a show at The Troubadour in 1999, filling in on vocals for an ill Tankian. In 2000, the band contributed their cover of the Black Sabbath song "Snowblind" to the Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black 2.

Toxicity and Steal This Album! (2001–2003)

On September 3, 2001, System of a Down had planned on launching their second album at a free concert in Hollywood as a "thank you" to fans. The concert, which was to be held in a parking lot, was set up to accommodate 3,500 people, however, an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 fans showed up. Due to the large excess number of fans the performance was cancelled by police officers just prior to the group taking stage. No announcement was made that the concert had been cancelled. Fans waited for more than an hour for the group to appear, but when a banner hanging at the back of the stage that read "System of a Down" was removed by security, the audience rushed the stage, destroying all the band's touring gear (approximately $30,000 worth of equipment) and began to riot, throwing rocks at police, breaking windows, and knocking over portable toilets. The riot lasted six hours, during which six arrests were made. The band's manager, David "Beno" Benveniste, later said that the riot could have been avoided if the group had been permitted to perform or had they been allowed to make a statement at the concert regarding the cancellation. System of a Down's scheduled in-store performance the next day was cancelled to prevent a similar riot.

The group's big break arrived when their second album Toxicity debuted at #1 on the American and Canadian charts, despite the events of September 11. The album eventually achieved multi-platinum certification and has since sold over 12 million copies worldwide. It was still on top in America during the week of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the political environment caused by the attacks added to the controversy surrounding the album's hit single "Chop Suey!" The song was taken off the radio as it contained politically sensitive lyrics at the time such as "(I don't think you) trust in my self-righteous suicide." Regardless, the video gained constant play on MTV as did the album's second single, "Toxicity". Even with the controversy surrounding "Chop Suey!" (which earned a Grammy nomination), System of a Down still received constant airplay in the United States throughout late 2001 and 2002 with "Toxicity" and "Aerials". In May 2006, VH1 listed Toxicity in the #14 slot in the 40 Greatest Metal Songs.

In 2001, the band went on tour with Slipknot throughout the United States and Mexico. Following a performance in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Odadjian was harassed, ethnically intimidated, and was physically assaulted by security guards backstage, who then dragged him out of the venue. Odadjian received medical attention from police and later filed a suit against the security company. Despite the incident, the tour was a success and System of a Down and Slipknot went on the Pledge of Allegiance Tour with Rammstein in 2001.

In late 2001, unreleased tracks from the Toxicity sessions made their way onto the internet. This collection of tracks was dubbed Toxicity II by fans. The group released a statement that the tracks were unfinished material and subsequently released the final versions of the songs as their third album, Steal This Album!, which was released in November 2002. Steal This Album! resembled a burnable CD that was marked with a felt-tip marker. 50,000 special copies of the album with different CD designs were also released, each designed by a different member of the band. The name of the album is a reference to Abbie Hoffman's counter-culture book, Steal This Book as well as a message to those who leaked the songs onto the internet. The song "Innervision" was released as a promo single and received constant airplay on alternative radio. A video for "Boom!" was filmed with director Michael Moore as a protest against the War in Iraq.

Mezmerize and Hypnotize (2004–2005)

The second part of the double album, Hypnotize, was released on November 22, 2005. Like Mezmerize, it debuted at #1 in the US, making System of a Down, along with The Beatles, Guns 'N Roses, and rappers 2Pac and DMX, the only artists to ever have two studio albums debut at #1 in the same year. In February 2006, System of a Down won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for "B.Y.O.B.", beating out other established artists such as Nine Inch Nails and Robert Plant. Their second single off the Hypnotize album, "Lonely Day" was released in March in the United States. System of a Down released "Kill Rock 'N Roll" and "Vicinity of Obscenity" as their next promo singles. The band headlined Ozzfest 2006 in cities where tour founder Ozzy Osbourne opted not to appear or wasn't playing on the main stage.Between 2004 to 2005, the group recorded the follow up to Steal This Album!, a double album, which they released as separate installments six months apart from each other, notably including album cover artwork by Malakian's father, Vartan Malakian, which was designed to connect the two separate album covers. The first album, Mezmerize, was released on May 17, 2005 to favorable reviews by critics. It debuted at #1 in the United States, Canada, Australia and all around the world, making it System of A Down's second #1 album. First week sales rocketed to over 800,000 copies worldwide. The Grammy Award-winning single "B.Y.O.B.", which questions the integrity of military recruiting in America, worked its way up the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. The next single, "Question!" was released with Shavo Odadjian co-directing the music video. Following the release of Mezmerize, the band toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada with The Mars Volta and Bad Acid Trip supporting.

Whereas on System of a Down's previous albums most of the lyrics were written and sung by Tankian and the music was co-written by Tankian and Malakian (and sometimes Odadjian) much of the music and lyrics on Mezmerize/Hypnotize were written by Malakian who also took on a much more dominant role as vocalist on both albums, often leaving Tankian providing keyboards and backing vocals.

Concert footage and interviews with the band concerning the importance of helping create awareness and recognition of the Armenian Genocide were featured in the 2006 film Screamers, directed by Carla Garapedian. An interview with Tankian's grandfather, a survivor of the Genocide, was also included in the film as well as Tankian's and Dolmayan's meeting with (then) Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert during which the two musicians campaigned for the United States government's official recognition of the Genocide. Footage of Tankian and Dolmayan marching with protesters outside of the Turkish embassy in Washington D.C. was also used in Screamers.

System of a Down was honored at a University of Southern California game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The Trojan Marching Band, along with Dolmayan and Odadjian, performed three System of a Down songs: "Toxicity," "Sugar," and "Hypnotize." System of a Down's song "Lonely Day" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in the 49th Grammy Awards in 2007, but lost to "Woman" by Wolfmother.

Hiatus (2006–2010)

In May 2006, the band announced they were going on hiatus. Malakian confirmed the break would probably last a few years, which Odadjian specified as a minimum of three years in an interview with Guitar magazine. He told MTV, "We're not breaking up. If that was the case, we wouldn't be doing this Ozzfest. We're going to take a very long break after Ozzfest and do our own things. We've done System for over ten years, and I think it's healthy to take some rest."

May 2006 also saw the UK publication of a biography of the band entitled System Of A Down: Right Here In Hollywood by writer Ben Myers. It was published in the US in 2007 through The Disinformation Company.

Malakian announced he was forming a band called Scars on Broadway, which was joined by Dolmayan. System of a Down's final performance before their hiatus took place on August 13, 2006 in West Palm Beach, Florida. "Tonight will be the last show we play for a long time together," Malakian told the crowd during Sunday's last performance. "We'll be back. We just don't know when."

Tankian released his debut solo album Elect the Dead in the autumn of 2007 to great critical and commercial acclaim. Malakian and Dolmayan released Scars On Broadway's debut self-titled album on July 29, 2008. Dolmayan, alongside working with Scars on Broadway, formed his own band, Indicator, as well as opened Torpedo Comics, an online comic book store. Odadjian pursued his project with RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, a hip-hop group named AcHoZeN, worked on his urSESSION website/record label, and performed as a member of funk legend George Clinton's backing band.

Reunion and tour (2011)

On November 29, 2010, following several weeks of internet rumors, System of a Down officially announced that they would be reuniting for a string of large European festival dates in June 2011. Among the announced tour dates included UK's Download Festival, Switzerland's Greenfield Festival, Germany's Rock am Ring/Rock im Park, Sweden's Metaltown, Austria's Nova Rock Festival and Finland's Provinssirock. In their reunion statement posted on their website, the band was unclear as to the extent of their reformation. It read, "We have no master plan of sorts -- we are playing these shows simply because we want to play together again as a band and for you, our amazing fans." On March 1, 2011 the band announced they will play several shows in western North America in May and June. The reunion tour will commence on May 10, 2011 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. On May 4, 2011, Roberto Medina announced that System will be headlining Rock In Rio 2011 on October 02 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Style and influences

The stylistic variety and level of experimentation in System of a Down's music has made it difficult to describe, but System of a Down has, for the most part, maintained a single style throughout their body of work. This style has variously been termed alternative metal, alternative rock, rock, art rock, experimental rock, hard rock, heavy metal, nu metal, progressive metal and progressive rock. Malakian has stated that "We don't belong to any one scene"and that "I don't like the nu-metal drop-A 7-string guitar sound; it is not my thing, at least not yet". According to Tankian, "As far as arrangement and everything, [our music] is pretty much pop. To me, System of a Down isn't a progressive band. [...] But it's not a typical pop project, obviously. We definitely pay attention to the music to make sure that it's not something someone's heard before."

The band has used a wide range of instruments, including electric mandolins, baritone electric guitars, acoustic guitars, ouds, sitars and twelve string guitars. According to Malakian, he would often write songs in E♭ tuning, which would later be changed to drop C tuning in order to be performed by the band. Malakian states that "For me, the drop-C tuning is right down the center. It has enough of the clarity and the crisp sound—most of our riffy stuff is done on the top two strings, anyway—but it's also thicker and ballsier."

The band's influences include Middle Eastern music, Ozzy Osbourne, Dead Kennedys, Frank Zappa, Slayer, The Beatles, and Van Halen. The band's musical style has often been compared to that of Zappa. Malakian has stated that "I'm a fan of music. I'm not necessarily a fan of any one band." Dolmayan stated "I don't think we sound like anybody else. I consider us System of a Down." Odadjian stated "You can compare us to whoever you want. I don't care. Comparisons and labels have no effect on this band. Fact is fact: We are who we are and they are who they are."

SUGAR RAY ****

Sugar Ray is a pop rock band from Orange County, California. The band gained fame in the late 1990s with such hits as "Someday," "Every Morning," "Fly," and "When It's Over."

 

 

History

Formation and Lemonade and Brownies (1990-1996)

Prior to Sugar Ray, in the late 1980s, Rodney Sheppard and Stan Frazier had been together in a band under the name The Tories. Later additions Murphy Karges and Mark McGrath changed the band's name to "Shrinky Dinx". After signing with Atlantic Records, the name was changed to Sugar Ray upon threat of lawsuit from the Milton Bradley Company, maker of the Shrinky Dinks toy.

The band's debut album, Lemonade and Brownies, was released in 1995 and though it failed to produce a major hit single it did earn them recognition in alternative circles. Their early work was strongly influenced by funk metal, hip-hop, punk, and alternative rock. This first album leaned on experimenting with those many influences, combining genres.

After they gained fame with the 1997 album Floored in 1998, the single "Mean Machine" off Lemonade and Brownies was featured in the PlayStation game Road Rash 3D, and it's Nintendo 64 counterpart Road Rash 64.

Floored (1997-1998)

Sugar Ray's first mainstream hit came in the summer of 1997 with their song "Fly," which was released on the album Floored and featured reggae artist Super Cat. "Fly" was notable for not sounding anything at all like the rest of the tracks on the album and received frequent radio play, resulting in a number one rank on the Billboard's Hot 100 List. As a result of the success of "Fly," Floored sold well and was certified double platinum. However, by the end of 1997, critics were skeptical that Sugar Ray could put out another successful song and labeled them a one-hit wonder. The same year, Sugar Ray was featured in the movie Father's Day, starring Billy Crystal and Robin Williams. Floored featured a strong nu metal influence and was the band's last "heavy" album before they moved into a more adult contemporary direction.

14:59 (1999-2000)

Their 1999 album 14:59 was the reply to these accusations, with the title implying that their 15 minutes of fame were not quite up — their "fame clock" reading 14:59. "Every Morning," which received widespread comparisons to "Fly," rose to similar success during the spring of 1999, reaching No. 3 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their follow-up single "Someday" received extensive airplay later that year as well and reached No. 7 in the U.S. 14:59 outsold its predecessor and was certified triple platinum. Another Billboard hit, "Falls Apart," gained popularity as well.

 

Sugar Ray (2001-2002)

In 2000, Sugar Ray did a cover version of John Cale and Brian Eno's "Spinning Away" for the soundtrack to "The Beach." Their 2001 self-titled album Sugar Ray produced another hit with "When It's Over," which failed to reach the same level as their previous singles.

In the Pursuit of Leisure (2003-2005)

Sugar Ray's 2003 effort In the Pursuit of Leisure, and the first single from that album, "Mr. Bartender (It's So Easy)," received a lukewarm reception. The album also contained the band's cover of Joe Jackson's famous "Is She Really Going Out With Him?". In 2005, Sugar Ray released a greatest hits album, with three new songs, "Shot of Laughter," "Time After Time," and "Psychedelic Bee".

 

Music for Cougars (2006 - present)

After releasing their Greatest Hits album, in 2005, the band went into a period of relative inactivity for a number of years, with Mark McGrath starting a new job as an anchor on the television show Extra. In January 2006, Sugar Ray was released from their recording contract with Atlantic Records. An exception to this was during mid 2007, with their inclusion of the previously unreleased song "Into Yesterday" on the Surf's Up movie soundtrack, and a brief tour in Asia in August 2007 where they headlined SingFest, the nation's first international music festival.

Sugar Ray appeared on the May 18, 2008, on the season 3 finale of American Dad, titled "Spring Break-Up," as themselves, playing "Fly" at a Spring Break party. They also starred in the first live-action Scooby-Doo movie as themselves performing the song "Words to Me."

An announcement came the next day, on May 19, 2008, that the band would be entering the studio to record their first album of new material since 2003. It was also announced that the band signed a new record deal with Pulse Recordings and that the new album should be released in the summer of 2009.

On March 6, 2009, Mark McGrath posted an update on Facebook announcing that a new album, titled Music for Cougars, was on the way. It was released on July 21, 2009. The first single was "Boardwalk."

On August 22, 2010, Sugar Ray's Twitter page announced that Craig 'DJ Homicide' Bullock has left the band.

Sugar Ray released on their blog a song called "Down With Whatever" that was previously unreleased. Also on their blog, they make mention of new music before planning another tour.

STAIND ***

Staind is an American rock band that was formed in 1995 in Springfield, Massachusetts. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist Johnny April, and drummer Jon Wysocki. Over the past 15 years the band has recorded six studio albums: Tormented (1996), Dysfunction (1999), Break the Cycle (2001), 14 Shades of Grey (2003), Chapter V (2005), and The Illusion of Progress (2008). A seventh album is currently in the works. The band has also had multiple chart topping singles and has sold over 15 million records worldwide.

Staind is known for using baritone guitars and over 20 guitar tunings.

History

Early days and Tormented (1995–1998)

Staind formed on September 23, 1995 in Springfield, Massachusetts. The band met through friends and started covering KoRn, Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, Tool, and Alice in Chains, among others, in smalltime clubs for a year and a half. Staind self-released their debut album, Tormented, in November 1996, citing influences Pantera and Machine Head. Until recently, the album was difficult to obtain, as only four thousand copies were originally sold. Since then, the band's official website has released the album to meet the demand from fans.

Dysfunction (1999–2000)

On April 13, 1999, Staind released its major label debut Dysfunction on Flip Records. The album, which was co-produced by Fred Durst and Terry Date (who also produced acts like Soundgarden, Deftones, and Pantera), received comparisons to metal giants Tool and Korn. In particular, Aaron Lewis was lauded for his vocals, which were likened to those of Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

The album achieved slow success, with the album reaching the #1 spot on Billboard's Heatseaker Charts almost six months after its debut. In the same week, the album jumped to #73 on Billboard's Top 200 Album Charts. The nine-track LP (with one hidden track, "Excess Baggage") produced three singles, "Just Go", "Mudshovel", and "Home". "Mudshovel" and "Home" both received radio play, cracking the Top 20 of Billboard's Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. In promotion of Dysfunction, Staind went on several tours, including the Family Values Tour with acts like Limp Bizkit and The Crystal Method, as well as opening for Sevendust's headlining tour.

Break the Cycle (2001–2002)

Staind toured with Limp Bizkit for the Family Values Tour during the fall of 1999, where Aaron Lewis performed their first mainstream hit "Outside" with Fred Durst. Staind released their third studio album Break the Cycle on May 22, 2001. Propelled by the success of their first single "It's Been Awhile", the album debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Album charts, selling 716,000 albums in its first week. The album's first week sales were the second highest of any album that year, a significant achievement for a hard rock band at a time when music charts were largely dominated by hip hop and teen-pop acts.

The album saw the band move away from the nu metal sounds of their previous album and turn to an alternative metal sound.The album spawned five hit singles: "It's Been Awhile" (which hit the Billboard Top 10), "Fade" (which has been featured on a number of movie soundtracks and television shows), "Outside", "For You," and the acoustic ballad "Epiphany." It also included a track called "Waste," devoted to two teenage fans who committed suicide shortly before the album was released. "It's Been Awhile" spent a total of 16 and 14 weeks on top of the modern and mainstream rock charts, respectively, making it one of the highest joint numbers of all time. On 2001 Break The Cycle sold 4 million copies worldwide making it one of the best selling albums in 2001. Break The Cycle would go on to sell 7 million copies worldwide, making this Staind's best selling album.

14 Shades of Grey (2003–2004)

In early 2003, Staind embarked on a worldwide tour to promote the release of the follow-up to Break The Cycle, 14 Shades Of Grey, which sold two million albums and debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200. The fourteen-track collection was the band's most mainstream yet, and showed Aaron Lewis writing songs about his daughter, as well as moving on with his life and forgetting his past, hence the title representing uncertainty for the future and forgiveness. The album provided two mainstream hits: the lead single "Price to Play", and "So Far Away" (which spent 14 weeks on top of the rock chart, and was featured on an episode of Smallville); in addition, two other singles failed to crack the Hot 100—"How About You" and "Zoe Jane"— but "How About You" was a fairly popular song on modern rock radio. Their song "Price to Play" was the official theme song of WWE's Vengeance pay-per-view event in July 2003. As well, their song "So Far Away" was featured on an episode of WWE Raw as part of a video tribute to hardcore wrestling legend Mick Foley. The band's appearance at Reading Festival during the 2003 tour had another impromptu acoustic set, this time due to equipment failure. The singles "So Far Away" and "Price to Play" came with two unreleased tracks, "Novocaine" and "Let It Out", which were released for the special edition of the group's Chapter V, which came out in late 2005. In 2003, Staind unsuccessfully sued their logo designer Jon Stainbrook in New York Federal Court for attempting to re-use the logo he had sold to the band. They re-opened the case in mid-2005.

Chapter V (2005–2006)

After extensive promotions, including an appearance on Fuse TV's 7th Avenue Drop, Staind's newest album, titled Chapter V was released on August 9, 2005, and became their third consecutive number one. The album opened to sales of 185,000 and has since been certified platinum in the U.S. The first single "Right Here" has been the biggest success from the album thus far, garnering much mainstream radio play and peaking at number 1 on the mainstream rock chart. "Falling" (the video of which does not feature the band members at all) was released as the second single, followed by "Everything Changes" and "King of All Excuses." Staind have been on the road since the album came out doing live shows and promoting it for a full year, including participating in the Fall Brawl tour with P.O.D., Taproot and Flyleaf, a solo tour across Europe and a mini-promotional tour in Australia for the first time. Recent live shows have included a cover of Pantera's This Love, a tribute to Dimebag Darrell. Staind appeared on The Howard Stern Show on August 10, 2005, to promote their new album Chapter V. They performed acoustic renditions of the single Right Here and Beetlejuice's song "This is Beetle." Their rendition of "Beetle" is immensely popular with fans and listeners alike and became a staple of the show. Staind also performed a version of "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. Kevin Lofton, who does all the animation for the Howard Stern website, created a black-and-white animated video for the song. During a January 2006 Episode of WWE RAW, a tribute video to then WWE Champion Edge featured the band's song "Right Here". In early November 2005, Staind released the limited edition 2-CD/DVD set of Chapter V. The set included several rarities and fan favorites— music videos; a complete, 36-page booklet with exclusive artwork; an audio disc with an acoustic rendition of "This is Beetle"; the original, melodic rendition of "Reply"; the previously released B-side singles "Novocaine" and "Let It Out"; and live versions of "It's Been Awhile" and "Falling", among many others.

The Singles: 1996-2006 (2006–2007)

In 2006, Staind performed an acoustic show in the Hiro Ballroom, New York City on September 6 and the songs played were recorded for their "Greatest Hits" album. They played sixteen songs including three covers: Tool's "Sober", Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" and Alice in Chains's "Nutshell".

The title was later renamed to The Singles and finally The Singles: 1996-2006. The album had most of Staind's singles (including "Everything Changes" which was recorded at the New York show), the three covers performed at the New York show and a remastered version of "Come Again", from Staind's first independent release Tormented. It was released on November 14, 2006.

The Illusion of Progress (2008–2009)

On August 19, 2008, Staind released their sixth album, The Illusion of Progress. A limited edition of the album was also made available to fans, which included 3 bonus tracks and a year membership in the Staind Fan Club, along with other items (the first 200 fans who pre-ordered the album through Atlantic Records received a signed copy of the album by the band). Prior to the album's release, the track "This Is It" was available for download on the iTunes store, as well as for Rock Band. The album debuted at #3 on US Billboard 200, #1 on the Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums Chart, #1 on the Top Digital Albums Chart, and also #1 on the Top Internet Albums Chart, with first week sales of 91,800 units. The first single on the album, "Believe", topped Billboard's Top 10 Modern Rock Tracks on September 5, 2008. The band has also been supporting Nickelback on their 2008 European tour. The second single was "All I Want", that came out on November 24. The video continues the story of first single and was available on Staind's MySpace on December 12. The single also became Staind's 13th top 20 hit on the rock charts. In Europe the second single was "The Way I Am", released on January 26, 2009. The final single released from the album, "This Is It" was sent to radio stations across the country on May 4, 2009. The single was also included on the successful "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – The Album" released in late June, 2009. Aaron Lewis stated in an interview that he has begun writing for his upcoming solo album later set to be released this year. Staind embarked on a fall tour with the newly reunited Creed.

Next album (2010–present)

In March 2010, Aaron Lewis stated the band would start working on their seventh studio album by the end of the year. Lewis had finished recording his country-tinged solo album and has recently started a nonprofit organization to reopen his daughter's elementary school in Worthington, Massachusetts. Lewis was able to get her school reopened thanks to the benefit concert Aaron Lewis and Friends, which featured performances by Seether,  3 Doors Down, Lo-Pro and more. Guitarist  Mike Mushokstated in a recent question and answer session with fans that the band is looking to make a heavy record, but still "explore some of the things we did on the last record and take them somewhere new for us." In a recent webisode posted on the band's website, Lewis stated that eight songs are written and that "everyone of them is as heavy or heavier than the heaviest song on the last record."

In December 2010, Staind posted three webisodes from the studio, which feature the band members discussing the writing and recording process of their new album. It's speculated that the band will again be working with producer Johnny K after he recently appeared in one of the webisodes. As of April 20th, the band completed recording of their untitled seventh album and will release it later this year. 

Trademark infringement

In November 2003 Staind attempted to sue Ohio musician Jon Stainbrook in New York Federal Court over his 1980 trademark of "The Stain". Staind was unsuccessful in their suit prompting Stainbrook to pursue litigation against the band for including false statements in their application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. If Stainbrook's suit was successful, Staind would have had to change their band name and forfeit all trademark claims.

In 2005, guitarist Mike Mushok claimed during a deposition in Toledo, Ohio that Staind avoided any contact with Stainbrook because they were not made aware of promises a Geffen Records Executive made to Stainbrook on their behalf during a 1999 licensing negotiation. After several legal confrontations, the parties settled their claims in 2006, partially re-negotiating the 1998 licensing agreement, which allows Stainbrook and Staind the right to use the trademark in certain areas.