Foo Fighter

In the 13 years since Foo Fighters' self-titled debut, frontman Dave Grohl has quietly made the transition from celebrated drummer to arena rock heir apparent, taking part in collaborations with John Paul Jones, Brian May and rock'n'roll cheerleader Jack Black.

With sixth album "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace," Grohl and his fellow Foos again demonstrate reliability as hitmakers. The disc has already produced two modern rock No. 1s: "The Pretender" and "Long Road to Ruin." Third single "Let It Die" is more visceral and frenzied than either, suggesting a band wary of complacency. The song alternates between muted acoustic guitars and an explosive wall of sound, and culminates in screams worthy of Grohl's punk past. The track, which also features Pat Smear on guitar, is one of few safe bets for programmers in the topsy-turvy world of rock.

AFI (band)

AFI is a rock band which was formed in 1991 in Ukiah, California, United States. AFI stands for A Fire Inside.While still in high school in Ukiah, California, Davey Havok (vocals), Mark Stopholese (guitar) and Vic Chalker (bass) formed an outfit called AFI in 1991. At the time, the band did not know how to play any instruments. Stopholese suggested his friend Adam Carson, who had a drum kit, join the band. Stopholese learned guitar and Chalker learned bass, but Chalker was soon replaced by Geoff Kresge and AFI made their first EP in recording Dork (1991) with the now defunct Loose Change, which included future AFI guitarist Jade Puget.

Between 1993 and 1995 they released several vinyl EPs (Behind the Times; Eddie Picnic's All Wet; This Is Berkeley, Not West Bay; AFI/Heckle; Bombing the Bay; Fly in the Ointment;) independently. Their first full-length, Answer That and Stay Fashionable was released in 1995. In 1996, the band released their second album, Very Proud of Ya, on Nitro Records. The songs "Cruise Control" and "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" from Very Proud of Ya were used in the 1996 independent film Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore, which was first screened in 1997 and also featured Havok in a small role.

AFI record Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (1997) and was invited to become the full-time bassist. Future AFI guitarist Jade Puget also provided background vocals on Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes, making it the first album to feature all four current members of the band.

In 2002, AFI left Nitro Records and released Sing the Sorrow (2003) on DreamWorks Records. The songs Girl's Not Grey, The Leaving Song Pt. II, and Silver and Cold had some Billboard chart success and exposed the band to even larger audiences. They were nominated in the MTV Video Music Awards 2003 in the MTV2 award category for the video "Girl's Not Grey", which came to be the first VMA they won.

June 2006, their newest album, Decemberunderground, was released on Interscope Records. Reviewers have noted an even progression in sound for AFI in this album, featuring ColdPop and New Wave[5] elements. The album's first single "Miss Murder" reached #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts.

Band members

* Davey Havok – lead vocals (1991–present)
* Jade Puget – guitar, backing vocals, programming, keyboards (1998–present)
* Hunter Burgan – bass, backing vocals, programming, keyboards (1997–present)
* Adam Carson – drums, backing vocals (1991–present)

Former members

* Mark Stopholese – guitar, backing vocals (1991–1998)
* Geoff Kresge – bass, backing vocals (1992–1997)
* Vic Chalker – bass (1991–1992)

Bad Religion

Bad Religion is an American punk rock band, formed in Southern California in 1980 by Jay Bentley (bass), Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitars) and Jay Ziskrout (drums). They are often credited for leading the revival of punk rock during the late 1980s, as well as influencing a large number of other punk and rock musicians throughout their career. In the 28 years since its inception, Bad Religion has had numerous lineup changes, and Graffin has been the only constant member.

To date, Bad Religion has released fourteen studio albums, two EPs, three compilation albums, one live recording, and two DVDs. Their 1988 album Suffer has been regarded by some critics as one of the most important hardcore punk albums of all time,[1] although it was not charted in Billboard. Bad Religion rose to fame with their 1994 major-label release Stranger Than Fiction, which produced their well-known hit singles "21st Century (Digital Boy)" and "Infected". Following Gurewitz's departure in 1994, Bad Religion declined in popularity and poor record sales continued until the release of The New America in 2000. Gurewitz returned to the fold in 2001, making Bad Religion a six-piece band, and contributed to their three most recent albums.

They are particularly known for their sophisticated use of style, metaphor, vocabulary, imagery, and vocal harmonies (the oozin' aahs), whether reflective on matters of personal feelings or of personal or social responsibility.

Bad Religion was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1980 by high school students Greg Graffin (vocals, keyboards), Jay Bentley (bass), Jay Ziskrout (drums), and Brett Gurewitz, also known as "Mr. Brett" (guitar). The band's major influences stemmed from earlier punk acts such as The Ramones, The Adolescents, Black Flag, The Germs, and The Sex Pistols. Outside of the punk scene, their influences ranged from Elvis Costello, The Jam, and Nick Lowe to authors like Jack Kerouac.[2] Greg Graffin called his influences "pop sounding rock tunes that were not necessarily commercial."[3]

In 1981, the band released their eponymous debut EP on the newly-formed label, Epitaph Records, which was and continues to be managed and owned by Gurewitz. 1982 saw the release of their first full-length album, How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, gaining the band a sizable following.

In 1983, the band released Into the Unknown, a keyboard-driven progressive rock album that was enormously unpopular with the band's core fanbase. It is now officially out of print, after almost all of the 10,000 copies were surreptitiously sold out of the warehouse they were being stored in by Suzy Shaw, an ex-girlfriend of Gurewitz.

In 1984, Greg Hetson of Circle Jerks fame, who had played the guitar solo for "Part III" on How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, teamed up with Graffin on the song "Running Fast" for the soundtrack of the film Desperate Teenage Lovedolls.

The reunited band released Suffer in 1988, cementing their comeback in the punk community. Not only is this album often cited as one of their very best by fans, but it is credited with "saving" the Southern California punk rock scene by fans and Bad Religion's contemporaries alike.[5]

No Control (1989) and Against the Grain (1990) further increased the band's popularity, followed by Generator (1992). Before recording sessions for Generator commenced, drummer Pete Finestone left Bad Religion in 1991 to focus on his other band, The Fishermen, which had signed with a major label, and Bobby Schayer joined the band as his replacement.

Also during 1991, Bad Religion released a compilation album, 80-85, a repackaging of their debut album, How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, their two EPs, Bad Religion and Back to the Known and the band's three track contributions to the Public Service EP. This compilation did not include Into the Unknown. 80-85 is now out of print and has been replaced by the 2004 re-issued version of How Could Hell Be Any Worse? with the same track listings.

The majority of Bad Religion's lyrics are written by either Greg Graffin or Brett Gurewitz. Only on rare occasions will they co-write a song. Other band members, such as Jay Bentley, also contribute songs, but these constitute only a small percentage of the Bad Religion catalog.

Brett Gurewitz acknowledges attempting to emulate The Germs singer Darby Crash early on in Bad Religion's lyrical style. "He wrote some intelligent stuff, and didn't shy away from the vocabulary, which I thought was cool."[19] In addition to their use of unusually sophisticated vocabulary for a punk band, Bad Religion is also known for their frequent use of vocal harmonies, which they refer to in their album liner notes as the "oozin aahs". They took their cues from The Adolescents, in the way that they used three-part harmonies. Bassist Jay Bentley says, "Seeing The Adolescents live, it was so brilliant. So, in a way, the Adolescents influenced us into saying we can do it too, because look, they're doing it.

Sum 41

Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The current members are Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Cone McCaslin (bass guitar, backing vocals), Steve Jocz (drum kit drums,and percussion, backing vocals). The band's "classic" line-up is the same except with Dave Baksh on lead guitar and backing vocals.

Since signing an international record deal with Island Records in 1999, the band has released five studio albums, one live album (under two different titles), two live DVDs, more than fifteen singles, and sold over 10 million albums worldwide.[citation needed] It is reported that the band performed more than 300 times in a single year which is why they have become famous for their long and global tours, often lasting for more than a year.

The members of Sum 41 started out in rival bands in high school. They joke that they met while attending a Hole concert 41 days into the summer of 1996. According to the website Supernova, the band was originally a NOFX cover band and named Kaspir, and changed their name to Sum 41 for a Supernova show on September 28, 1996. The website also states that they were scouted by Greig Nori of Treble Charger at a Supernova show at the Opera House in Toronto on February 24, 1996. The current bassist, Cone, joined the band in 1999, after the band went through several other bassists. Cone claims the reason they were signed was that he had joined their band. After that they spent some time recording demos, praying a record company would sign them. In 1998 the band recorded a demo tape on cassette which they sent to various record companies in the hope of getting a recording contract, which they entitled "Rock Out with Your Cock Out". These Demo Tape tapes are extremely rare and are the only recordings with the original bassist Twitch.

The band submitted the video footage along with their demo tapes to several record labels. Island Records, wanting to capitalize on the pop punk fad popularized by Green Day and blink-182, signed Sum 41 in early 2000. The band decided to stay with Aquarius Records in Canada, as they were "the first label to show an interest in us and they got us our first Warped tour dates, so we wanted to stay with them.

Sum 41 released the album "Half Hour of Power" on June 27, 2000. The first single released by the band was "Makes No Difference", which had two different videos. The first video was put together using the video clips (such as the band robbing a pizza place) sent to the record label and the second showed the band performing at a house party.

Line-ups
(1996-1997)

* Deryck Whibley - Lead vocals, Rhythm guitar
* Richard Roy - Bass, Backing vocals[20]
* Steve Jocz - Drums, Backing vocals

(1997-1999)

* Deryck Whibley - Lead vocals, Rhythm guitar
* Dave Baksh - Lead guitar, Backing vocals
* Mark Spicoluk - Bass, Backing vocals[22]
* Steve Jocz - Drums, Backing vocals

(1999-2006)

* Deryck Whibley - Lead vocals, Rhythm guitar, Piano/Keyboards
* Dave Baksh - Lead guitar, Backing vocals
* Cone McCaslin - Bass, Backing vocals
* Steve Jocz - Drums, Backing vocals

(2006-2007)

* Deryck Whibley - Lead vocals, Rhythm guitar, Piano/Keyboards
* Cone McCaslin - Bass, Backing vocals
* Steve Jocz - Drums, Backing vocals

(2007-present)

* Deryck Whibley - Lead vocals, Rhythm guitar, Piano/Keyboards
* Cone McCaslin - Bass, Backing vocals
* Steve Jocz - Drums, Backing vocals
* Thomas Thacker - Lead guitar, Keyboards, Backing vocals (touring member)


Studio albums

* Half Hour of Power (2000)
* All Killer No Filler (2001)
* Does This Look Infected? (2002)
* Chuck (2004)
* Underclass Hero (2007)