One of the most popular music articles this month is called The Day Metallica Went Mainstream. The article explains how, on the 19th anniversary of its release, Metallica’s 1991 Black Album transformed the group from niche metal hit-makers to international mainstream superstars.
The article recalls how the group slowly grew in popularity during the eighties, from their debut 1983 album Kill ‘Em All, which was a commercial flop, to their 1998 album …And Justice for All, which saw them break into the US Top 20 for the first time and score a hit with Eye of the Beholder. But it argues that it was Metallica’s self-titled 1991 album, known as the Black Album to their fans, that shot them to mainstream popularity – reaching number one on the Billboard 200, selling over fifteen million copies worldwide and producing the hit singles Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven and Nothing Else Matters.
You can read the full article here.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Former Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody has finally explained why he left the group to found rivals We Are the Fallen, along with fellow ex-members John LeCompt (rhythm guitar) and Rocky Gray (drums).
In a statement released in late August, Moody begins by saying “I’m going to tell you exactly what happened in October of 2003,” before going on to explain the rise and fall of his relationship with fellow founder Amy Lee. “The person you are at 15 doesn’t resemble the person you are at 18, and 21… we were becoming two very different people” he says. “Ironically, it was Amy and my absolute equal devotion to Evanescence that drove us to such extreme opposition.”
The guitarist, who scored hits like Bring Me to Life (ft. Paul McCoy), Call Me When Your Sober, Good Enough and Everybody’s Fool with Evanescence, left the group in 2003 to found the gothic metal group We Are the Fallen. They have released one album, 2010’s Tear the World Down, to date.
Popularity: 15% [?]
In recent months there have been rumours that Jesse Leach would return to the line-up of Killswitch Engage – the group he left in 2002 to form the band Seamless, and then later join The Empire Shall Fall. It has now been revealed, sadly, that it won’t be happening… but fans can enjoy the next best thing instead: a brand new group centred on the singer and Killswitch guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz.
The new group, which was announced last month, will be called Times of Grace and has been described as ‘heavy yet melodic’. The duo were the creative driving force behind Killswitch’s smash hit 2002 album Alive or Just Breathing, and they believe their “collaborative energy and chemistry can yield quality, long-lasting results” yet again.
Times of Grace are currently working on their debut studio album The Hymn of a Broken Man, which is due for release in November. Leach remarked that none of his previous releases with any group “bares my soul as much as this record does.” To download Killswitch Engage ringtones, visit mobijoy.com
Popularity: 11% [?]
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois, currently consisting of Tim McIlrath on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Zach Blair on lead guitar, Joe Principe on bass guitar and Brandon Barnes on drums and percussion.
Formed as ‘Transistor Revolt‘ in 1999, the group released one self-titled EP before signing with Fat Wreck Records and changing their name to Rise Against. Under this new name, the group released their debut album The Unravelling in 2001. Although not a commercial or critical success, the singles The Art of Losing and My Life Inside Your Heart were both featured on the Dreamcast game Propeller Arena. This was followed by 2003’s Revolutions per Minute, which reached number fifteen on the Billboard Top Independent Albums chart and produced the single Like the Angel – again used on a popular computer game (Tony Hawk’s Underground). This album earned the group a luncrative move to the major label Geffen Records.
Rise Against’s third album Siren Song of the Counter Culture would prove to be their major mainstream breakthrough. It reached number one on the Top Heatseekers chart and produced the lead single Swing Life Away, which reached number twelve on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart, as well as the Top 40 singles Give It All and Life Less Frightening. Next came 2006’s The Sufferer & the Witness, which debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200, selling over 48,000 copies in its first week alone, and produced a total of three singles. These included the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart Top 10 hits Prayer of the Refugee and The Good Left Undone.
The group’s latest album, Appeal to Reason, was released in October 2008. It reached number three on the US charts – their first and only Top 10 release – and has produced the hit singles Re-Education (Through Labor), Audience of One and Savior to date.
Popularity: 24% [?]
Three Days Grace is a Canadian hard rock/alternative metal group, currently consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, lead guitarist Barry Stock, bassist Brad Walst and drummer Neil Sanderson.
Formed in Norwood, Ontario in 1992, the group were originally called Groundswell but changed their name in 1997. The recorded a demo album towards the end of the 1990s and sent it to EMI Records in Canada. The tape subsequently attracted interest from several labels and in 2001 they were signed to Jive Records.
The group released their self-titled debut album Three Days Grace in July 2003. The album was a moderate success, reaching number nine in the Canadian Albums Chart and number 69 on the US Billboard 200, and went on to sell over two million copies in North America alone. The lead single I Hate Everything About You shot to number one in Canada and reached the Top 10 in the US, while the follow-up single Just Like You topped the US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart (as well as the Canadian Singles Chart). The third single Home reached number two on the Mainstream Rock chart. The album also won a coveted Juno Award for production, as well as earning them a nomination for New Group of the Year.
Three Days Grace followed this success with the release of their second studio album in 2006. One-X reached number two in Canada and number five in the US and produced three Mainstream Rock chart number one hits – Animal I Have Become, Pain and Never Too Late – as well as the Top 20 single Riot. Then came Life Starts Now, released in September 2009, which also reached the Top 5 in the both the US and Canada and has produced three singles to date: Break, The Good Life and World So Cold.
The group are currently touring with the rock bands Nickelback and Buckcherry on the Dark Horse Tour.
Popularity: 29% [?]
Lamb of God is an American heavy metal band, currently consisting of vocalist Randy Blythe, lead guitarist Mark Morton, rhythm guitarist Willie Adler, bassist John Campbell and drummer Chris Adler.
Formed in 1990 by Morton, Campbell and Chris Adler, the group was originally known as Burn the Priest. They released a number of demo tapes in the mid-1990s before bringing Blythe on lead vocals and landing a deal with Legion Records. This led to the group recording and releasing their debut self-titled album Burn the Priest in April 1999. Although a critical success and a minor commercial one, the group changed their name shortly afterwards and began work on their follow up album New American Gospel. It was released in September 2000 and was an even bigger success, selling over 100,000 copies in the US and producing the single Black Label.
The group continued to grow in popularity with the release of their third studio album in May 2003. As the Palaces Burn sold over 200,000 copies in the US and produced three singles: Ruin, 11th Hour and the title track. It was also voted the best metal album of the year by both Metal Hammer and Revolver Magazine. However, it was 2004’s Ashes of the Wake that gave the group their first taste of mainstream success. The album debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200, selling over 400,000 copies in the US alone, and produced the hit single Laid to Rest. Then came 2006’s Sacrament, which charted inside the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 and was the best-selling metal album of the year. It also earned the group a Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance (for the single Redneck).
Lamb of God’s latest album Wrath was released in February 2009. It reached number two on the Billboard 200 and has produced the singles Contractor and Set to Fail to date.
Popularity: 23% [?]
British heavy metal giants Bullet for My Valentine have revealed their plans to tour in the United States during autumn 2010, and have already announced the first locations and dates of the tour.
The group, from Bridgend in Wales, shot to mainstream fame in 2008 with the release of their second studio album Scream Aim Fire, which spawned three US Rock Chart number one hits: Scream Aim Fire, Hearts Burst into Fire and Waking the Demon.
However, this tour will be to support their third album Fever, which was released in April this year. The album reached number three on the Billboard 200 and has produced the hit singles Your Betrayal and The Last Fight to date.
The first gig has been announced as Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel on Rhode Island on Tuesday 5th October. They will be joined by the likes of Escape the Fate, Black Tide and Drive A, and tickets are on sale now. To download Bullet for My Valentine ringtones, visit mobijoy.com
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It’s official – the new Kings of Leon album will be released before the end of the year. The group recently announced that Come Around Sundown – their fifth studio album – will hit stores on 9th October 2010.
The quartet, who first shot to fame in the UK with the release of their debut album Youth and Young Manhood in 2003, but only achieved success in their native America with 2008’s Only by the Night, has turned to the trusted production duo of Angelo Petraglia and Jacquire King yet again for Sundown – and have subsequently described the album as “yet another bold and expansive statement.” They have been previewing some of their new tracks, like Immortals, Radioactive and Southbound, on tour in 2010.
Known for hit songs like Molly’s Chambers, Wasted Time, The Bucket, On Call, Sex on Fire and Use Somebody, they’ll be hoping their new material chimes with their core audience while earning them a few more fans – especially Stateside. Do you like Kings of Leon? Then download Kings of Leon ringtones here.
Popularity: 40% [?]
Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk group from Quincy, Massachusetts, consisting of Al Barr on vocals, James Lynch and Tim Brennan on guitars and accordian, Ken Casey on bass guitar, Scruffy Wallace on bagpipes, Matt Kelly on drums and Jeff DaRosa on various traditional Celtic instruments.
Formed in 1996, the group first came to prominence with the release of their debut album Do or Die in 1998, along with the singles Fire and Brimstone, Tattoos and Scally Caps and Curse of the Fallen Soul. This was followed by 1999’s The Gang’s All Here and 2001’s Sing Loud, Sing Proud!, which included collaborations with the likes of Shane MacGowan of The Pogues and Colin McFaull of Cock Sparrer. However, it was their fourth studio album that gave them their first taste of mainstream success.
Blackout was released in June 2003 and reached number 83 on the US Billboard 200. It produced a total of four singles – The Dirty Glass, Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight, Walk Away and Fields of Athenry – while the songs Time to Go and This Is Your Life were also featured on the 2003 videogames Tony Hawk’s Underground and Backyard Wrestling: Don’t Try This at Home. These and other Dropkick Murphys ringtones you can download from mobijoy.com Their next album release was even more successful. 2005’s The Warrior’s Code reached number 49 on the Billboard 200 and produced two hit singles: Sunshine Highway and The Warrior’s Code. The album track I’m Shipping Up To Boston also appeared on the soundtrack to the Academy Award-winning 2006 film The Departed.
Dropkick Murphys’ latest studio album The Meanest of Times was released in September 2007. It shot to number twenty on the Billboard 200 and spawned the lead single The State of Massachusetts, as well as the follow-up single (F)lannigan’s Ball. They have recently returned to the studio to begin work on their seventh studio album.
Popularity: 45% [?]
Van Halen are an American hard rock/heavy metal band, currently consisting of David Lee Roth on lead vocals, Eddie Van Halen on lead guitar and keyboards, Wolfgang Van Halen on bass guitar and Alex Van Halen on drums and percussion. They have sold over eighty million albums worldwide to date.
Formed in Pasadena, California in 1972, the group was initially discovered by Kiss frontman Gene Simmons, who encouraged them to record a thirteen-track demo tape. Although his manager wasn’t interested in signing them, they were eventually taken on by Warner Bros. Records and released their debut self-titled album Van Halen in 1978. It was a critical and commercial smash hit, reaching the Top 20 on the Billboard 200 (where it sold over ten million copies and was certified diamond) as well as in Canada, Australia and Germany. It produced three singles in total: You Really Got Me, Runnin’ with the Devil and Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love. This was followed by 1979’s Van Halen II and the US Top 20 single Dance the Night Away.
During the 1980s the group developed into one of the best paid live acts in the world. They released six studio albums – Women and Children First, Fair Warning, Diver Down, 1984, 5150 and OU812 – which all reached the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 and sold over thirty million copies in the US alone. They also produced a string of US Top 20 singles, including (Oh) Pretty Woman, Jump (a number one hit), I’ll Wait, Panama, Why Can’t This Be Love and Finish What Ya Started. During the decade they enjoyed more Billboard Hot 100 hits than any other hard rock or heavy metal band.
Van Halen released three further albums during the 1990s, scoring hits with singles like Top of the World, Right Now, Can’t Stop Lovin’ You, Without You, Fire in the Hole and It’s About Time, before taking a hiatus from music. They recently returned to the stage and will release a new studio album in 2011.
Popularity: 72% [?]
