Author: Tim Duncan

Pink Floyd are one of the most successful bands of all time with an estimated 200 million albums sold worldwide. The band originally consisted of university students Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Richard Wright and Syd Barrett and was founded in 1965. They first became popular playing in London’s underground music scene in the late 1960s with their progressive, psychedelic rock, being well received in a cultural climates eager to escape the pressures of the Vietnam war and government repression. Their stage performances were complemented by extravagant visual displays, philosophical, introspective lyrics and an experimental sound that would go on to become a trademark of the civil rights movement throughout the 70’s.

 After the release of two charting singles in 1967, Pink Floyd were quickly snapped up by major label EMI. The same year they released a successful debut The Piper at the Gates of Dawn in 1967, which was well received in the UK and US alike. Unfortunately front man Syd Barret’s declining mental health saw him alienate himself from his role, and band members, over the ensuing touring schedule. Guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour, who was seen as a future replacement for Barret, joined the band in 1968 and after several more months Barret reluctantly agreed to leave the band. Bassist Roger Waters took up the helm as lead vocalist and creative influence but was strongly supported in this role by guitarist David Gilmour. Pink Floyds agents seeing Barret as the creative genius behind the band, chose to leave them and represent Barret in his solo endeavours.  The rest of the band then decided to employ Steven O’Rourke as their new manager and went about establishing themselves as the new look Pink Floyd. From 1968 to 1989 Pink Floyd released a string of successful records most notably the iconic Dark Side of the Moon,  Wish you Were Here and The Wall, with the latter topping the album charts for over 15 weeks and to date selling over 23 million copies in the US alone. By the time The Wall was released in 1979 relations between the band members, most notably principle contributors Waters and Gilmour, had deteriorated. Waters, of the opinion that he was the driving force behind Pink Floyd and the reason they were still going, was already trying to dictate proceedings and signified the beginning of the so called Waters lead era. From 1980-85 Waters had a strangle hold on the band which saw the release of The Final Cut of which had not one song credited to Glimour. The album was given five stars by many magazines with quotes such as “a superlative achievement on several levels …” and “rock art’s crowning masterpiece“. Loder viewed the album as “… essentially a Roger Waters solo album”. By 1985 Waters referred to Pink Floyd as a spent force and with the release of his second official solo album left the band. Gilmour, Mason and Wright however chose to stay on, much to Waters dismay, and went on to release two more albums in what is referred to as the Gilmour era.

The band today is officially finished, however there have been a few reconciliation performances, most notably at Live aid in 2005, where the classic line-up, post Barret, performed for the first time in 24 years. They were then to turn down a $250 million comeback tour, however have not gone as far to rule out collaborations in the future.

“There’s a lot about gender, about relationships; it’s about sex” –  Jamie Hince

“I think we’re just both obsessive people.

Obsessive about what we love and maybe even more obsessive about what we hate” –  Alison Mosshart

NEW SINGLE | SATELLITE | OUT NOW

NEW ALBUM | BLOOD PRESSURES | OUT 1 APRIL

10th October 2005, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Judas Priest are an English metal band from Birmingham, formed in 1968. Judas Priest’s core line-up consists of vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, and bassist Ian  Hill. The band has gone through several drummers over the years, though Scott Travis has held the position since 1989 and is the band’s longest-serving drummer. In 1978 Rob Halford began incorporating a macho image of what today is known as hardcore metal/biker/S&M style, into his look and the rest of the band followed. It became a mainstay in heavy meta even today,l and sparked a revival in metal in the early ’80s, catapulting them to fame in both the mainstream and underground. MTV has hailed them as the second greatest influence to heavy metal behind Black Sabbath for both their imagery and musical artistry.

 For the release of their debut album Rock and Rolla in 1974 the band hired Rodger Bain after recommendation from their record company. Bain and the record company suggested they add another member to the band and also made quite a few changes to the album that the band did not agree with. The album was released to mediocre reviews, and sales were were not met by the hype surrounding them. For their next release in 1976 however, The Sad Wings of Destiny, the band hired a new producer and decided to include some old material that had been cut from the previous album by then producer Bain. The album was a success and just several years later they had released a Live album Unleashed in the Middle East which was the first of a string of albums to go platinum. Judas priest are acclaimed as one of the pioneers of metal where they brought a harder more metallic sound to the rock music of the day. To date, they have released 16 albums and sold over 30 million record world wide earmarking them as metal greats.

Jimi_Hendrix_in_Hoepla

Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall ”Jimi“ Hendrix  was born November 27, 1942. He was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter widely considered the greatest electric guitarist of all time, and one of the most influential musicians of his era across a range of genres. He often favoured raw overdriven amplifiers with high gain and treble, and helped develop the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback.  Hendrix popularized use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock which he often used to deliver an exaggerated pitch in his solos, particularly with high bends and use of legato. Hendrix’s first full length release with his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience, came with Are You Experienced in 1967 at the age of 25, which went on to  debut  at number 1 in the UK charts. However, whilst there was widespread success in other parts of the world, The Jimi Hendrix experience was yet to crack America, with their first single release there Hey Joe, failing to make an impression. Fortunately after befriending John Lennon and Paul Mccartney, they were able to recommend the band to the Monteray International Pop Festival. This was an opportune moment for the band firstly because of the size and reputation of the festival, but more importantly due to the myriad of journalists sent to report on it. The Jimi Hendrix Experience did not disappoint, famously ending their set with Jimi smashing and setting alight his guitar. A documentary was made of the festival and the Jimi Hendrix Experience were a prominent part, soon after becoming a force in American music culture.

With America conquered and another successful album released in the form of Axis: Bold as Love in the same year, the band were to release their third and most famous studio LP, Electric Ladyland. The making of the album was marred by Jimi’s insistence on perfection with sources reporting that the recording of one of its tracks Gypsy Eyes took place 43 times before Hendrix was content. The recording period lead to the breakdown of manager/friend Chas Chandler professional relationship with Hendrix, and tensions created here would inevitably lead to Bassist Noel Reading leaving the band. Despite this the album went two times platinum and remains arguable the bands most acclaimed work. Following Readings departure, the band played a famous set at Woodstock in which Hendrix allegedly played whilst on LSD, but soon after the band went their different ways before Hendrix began work with a new band, The Band of Gypsies.  They release a live album in 1970 which went multi-platinum and things continued to progress well for Hendrix and his musical associates. Tragically however, on the 18^th of September 1970, Hendrix was found dead in his apartment from an apparent sleeping pill overdose, subsequently dying of asphyxiation on his own vomit. With the relatively shallow catalogue of  music released within his lifetime ,Hendrix sold more than 20 million albums and will forever be remembered as one of, if not the greatest electric guitarist of all time.

copyright: Iron Maiden Holdings Ltd

Iron Maiden have more than earned their status as one of the foremost contemporary and influential Rock bands in the World as they debut at #1 in the UK (their fourth No 1 album here, the first being 1982’s seminal ‘The Number of the Beast’ album) and TWENTY other countries to date with The Final Frontier.

In addition to the phenomenal number of No.1 debuts in all parts of the world, Maiden are currently No.2 in Australia, Belgium and Holland, No.3 in Ireland Poland and Turkey, No.4 in USA and No.5 in Singapore. The debut at No.4 on the Billboard chart in the USA is the band’s highest-ever chart position.

Having recorded the new album at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas earlier this year, in an historic first for the band, they released ‘El Dorado’, a track from ‘The Final Frontier’, as a free download on the eve of the opening date of their North American tour to huge excitement from their massive fanbase. Following this a cutting edge video was released for the opening track, ‘The Final Frontier’, produced by the award-winning production company Darkside Animation Films (“Lost in Space,” “Gladiator” and “Black Hawk Down”) and two innovative computer games were created as companion releases to the album.

Thirty years after their eponymous debut album in April 1980 and with more than 80 million albums sold, Iron Maiden are more creatively vibrant, dynamic and relevant than ever, reaching a new pinnacle in their career and still adding legions of new young fans to their ever-increasing following.

They recently completed one of the most successful North American tours of the Summer, playing to over 350,000 fans there across 25 concerts, and followed that success across Europe, where they headlined a series of major festivals, including the huge Sonisphere events in the UK, Sweden and Finland, alongside their own shows, playing to hundreds of thousands more fans. They will hit the road again in 2011 with further extensive touring, headline dates on the Soundwave series of major Festivals in Australia already being on sale for February and further shows to be announced over the coming months. Maiden are on blistering form and ready to take their music into 2011 and beyond.

AC/DC in Tacoma, August 31, 2009. From left to right: Brian Johnson, Malcolm Young, Phil Rudd, Angus Young and Cliff Williams Imhavingfun42, 8th November 2009, Creative Commons License

AC/DC

AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by Angus and Malcolm Young. The band are considered pioneers of heavy metal and are commonly classified as hard rock, however they have always classified their music as rock and roll.

In 1980 having successfully released 3 albums (High Voltage, Powerage and Highway to Hell), AC/DC considered disbanding after Bon Scott, their lead singer and co-songwriter, died following a night of heavy drinking. Having been encouraged to continue by Scott’s parents, AC/DC went on to release their highest selling album, Back in Black, later that year.

In the 1980’s AC/DC popularity declined, however it resurged with the release of The Razor’s Edge in the early 1990’s and Stiff Upper Lip was well received by critics in 2000. The Bands next album, Black Ice, reached #1 on the charts in October 2008. AC/DC’s newest album, Iron Man 2, was released in April 2010 as the sound track to the film.

AC/DC were ranked number 72 in Rolling Stone list of the ‘100 Greatest Artists of all time’. They are to date one of the highest grossing bands of all time with over 200 million albums sold worldwide.

Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield playing at Metallica show at The O2 Arena, London, England Kreepin Deth, 15 September 2008, Creative Commons License

The greatest metal band of the 80’s and 90’s is Metallica. Starting out in 1981 with the release of Kill em’ All, Metallica set the new precedent for metal with their street, fast ,raw, and angry noise. They were opposed to the glam imagery of Metalists before them and pioneered the metal subgenre Thrash, characterized by an aggressive, faster paced sound then previously seen within metal. The band has had varied members over the years but founders include front man James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich.  Lead guitarist Kirk Hammond came into replace Cliff Burton after he was tragically killed in a road accident whilst on tour, making him the third longest and final of the core three Metallica members.

After widespread success within the metal community through the release of Master of Puppets and And Justice for All, Metallica decided to move in a new direction for their next album. With the release of 1991’s self titled album, commonly referred to The Black Album, Bob Rock took over production and Metallica bridged the divide between metal enthusiasts and more mainstream music lovers. Metallica was a defining moment for the band, as it was made in a way that would appeal to a larger audience whilst still appeasing their more traditional metal fans. Tracks such as Nothing Else Matters and The Unforgiven were massively popular, with regular airplay on radio stations across the globe, and the album sold over 7 million copies alone in the US, going platinum in 11 countries. Metallica were the biggest band in the world.

2001 saw however, bassist Jason Newstead abruptly quit the band after nearly 15 years, due to Hetfields insistence that he was spending too much time on his other band Echobrain.  Newstead, feeling stifled of creative input in Metallica, felt this was bulls**t and decided no one could restrict him like that. The ensuing 3 years saw Metallica through a difficult period, with front man Hetfield battling addiction, no one in to replace Newstead, and creative clashes with principal contributors Hetfield and Ulrich, seeing Metallica on the brink of self implosion. The 2003 Documentary Some Kind of Monster portrays the band over this period, however after  Hetfield underwent rehab, followed by a one year hiatus from the band, Metallica regrouped and released St Anger to mixed reviews, with some metal enthusiasts criticizing the bands lack of guitar solos, and progressive rock elements. However Metallica kicked on and in 2008 released Death Magnetic, their 9^th studio album, which heralded a return to Metallica’s thrash roots. They were back. Metallica continue to be one of the world’s biggest band and have cemented their place as pioneers, and a significant influence, in metal and music history.

chiddy-bang

The notion of “traditional hip hop” has changed forever. Whether you’re talking about genre bending projects from superstars like Kanye West and Lil Wayne or surprising debuts from new artists like Kid Cudi and Drake, hip hop has never had a more exciting, expressive moment. If hip hop is reaching a tipping point, and its followers are expanding their horizons, it’s Chiddy Bang who’s serving as the pied pipers for the freshman set.

Chiddy Bang is a Philly based duo comprised of Chiddy (emcee) and Xaphoon Jones (DJ/producer) who combine elements of indie rock and electronica with some good ole fashioned “spittin.” The result has been described by some bloggers as a “hipster’s wet dream,” but Chiddy Bang prefer to think of themselves as “kings of the basement party jam.” This unique take on hip hop earned them Buzzworthy status on MTV and actually caught the attention of the aforementioned Kanye West, who featured the group on his blog.

Chiddy grew up in the notorious streets of Newark, NJ and that’s where the stereotypical rapper story ends. Raised by hard working parents who left their native villages of Nigeria in pursuit of the American Dream, Chiddy saw first hand the value of hard work. Early on, he used his way with words to create opportunities for himself to attract friends and garner laughs. In the classroom he excelled and earned a scholarship to the prestigious Northfield Mt. Herman High School whose alumni run the gamut from Diplomats to the founder of Burger King and CEO of Citibank. After high school his family relocated to the Philly area, and Chiddy eventually enrolled in Drexel University where he met producer Xaphoon Jones.

Xaphoon’s production style stems from his wide array of musical tastes and a true respect for the art form of sampling. As a kid, when not in school or at temple, he would spend his time running errands in legendary Philly studios, picking up tips from the local Jazz legends and sneaking sessions after hours. He became proficient at several instruments but, to quote Chiddy, “really made magic over the music software Logic and Reason.”

Led Zeppelin performing at Chicago Stadium in 1975 Tony Morelli, 28th August 2007, Creative Commons License

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, formed in 1968, consisting of Jimmy Page (guitar), Robert Plant (vocals, harmonica), John Bonham (drums, percussion) and John Paul Jones (bass guitar, keyboards, mandolin). Hailed as one of the pioneers of heavy metal and hard rock, Led Zeppelin are also credited for instilling folk, blues and alternative rock into popular music for decades to come. Their heavy, guitar-driven blues-rock sound could oscillate between delicate acoustic ballads to thunderous rapture, as Plants wicked screech surpassed any rock vocalist before him. To date Led Zeppelin have sold over 200 million albums worldwide, are one of three bands to ever have had 4 albums go diamond, and have been hailed as the 3^rd greatest band of all time by spin magazine.

They released their debut I in 1969, which was an immediate success across the UK and the US. They followed this with II, which was recorded on the road, came it at number 1 on the album charts, and is often cited as the blueprint for heavy metal and hard rock. Following the release of a more folk oriented, rock record in III, the band were subject to some criticism(which has since been overlooked), with some magazines suggesting Led Zeppelin were riding on the hype and coat tails of their previous work. In response, 1971 saw Led Zeppelin choose to release their next album with no artwork, or  album or band name, claiming that the music was good enough to sell itself. And sell it did. With over 24 million copies sold and with tracks such as Stairway to Heaven, IV remains one of the most successful albums in history. Despite the success of these initial releases however,  it was the momentum generated from this period that saw Led zeppelin really take over the world in the early to late 70’s. After the release of their first double album in 1975, Physical Graffiti, everyone one of the bands previous releases re-entered the billboard top 200. Throughout the 70’s Led zeppelin were the premier rock act outselling other top selling bands such as the Rolling Stones and The Who, and were hailed to the 70’s as what the Beatles were to the 60’s.

 Tragically, on the 24 September 1980, Bonham, after ingesting large amounts of alcohol, died of asphyxiation of his own vomit.  On the 4^th of December 1980, the band decided that they could continue no longer. Despite several reconciliation performances with Bonhams son standing in on drums, the band has no intention of a fulltime reunion. With nine albums released, hundreds of millions of copies sold, and an army of fans across the world, Led Zeppelin remain one of the greatest and most influential bands of all time.

Korn_MTV_Asia_Awards

Korn

Korn is an American nu metal band formed in Bakersfield, California, in 1993. The band formed after the disbandment of of L.A.P.D. and the current line up includes Jonathan Davis, James “Munky” Shaffer, Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. Their nu metal sound is considered a fusion genre and characterised by a traditional metal sound incorporating elements of Grunge and hip hop, supported by  vocals that oscillate between harrowing screeches and soft melancholy. The band released two albums prior to 1996’s Follow the Leader, however it was with this album that the band gained a mainstream breakthrough, peaking at number one on the Billboard 200 in 1998. They soon followed this with 1999’s Issues which was equally successful. They have earnt six Grammy nominations over the years, two of which they have won for Freak on a Leash from Follow the Leader and Here to Stay from 2002’s The Untouchables. Korn have sold over 20 millions albums in the US alone and a total of 35 million albums worldwide marking them as one of the 90’s greats.