Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. Guitarist Dave Mustaine, who formed Megadeth after being fired from Metallica, and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted are former members of the band.
Monster Magnet is an American rock band, founded in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1989 by Dave Wyndorf, John McBain (guitar) and Tim Cronin. The band has since gone through several lineup changes, leaving Wyndorf as the only constant member. Monster Magnet has released eleven studio albums to date, and are best known for their 1990s hits "Negasonic Teenage Warhead" and "Space Lord". The band has also been credited for developing and popularizing the stoner rock genre, along with Masters of Reality, Kyuss, Fu Manchu and Sleep.
Skillet is an American Christian rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1996. The band currently consists of husband and wife duo John Cooper and Korey Cooper along with Jen Ledger and Seth Morrison. The band has released eleven studio albums, two of which, Collide and Comatose, received Grammy nominations. Two of their albums, Comatose and Awake, are certified Platinum and Double Platinum respectively by the RIAA, while Rise and Unleashed are certified Gold as of June 29, 2020. Four of their songs, "Monster", "Hero", "Awake and Alive", and "Feel Invincible", are certified Multi-Platinum, while another three, "Whispers in the Dark", "Comatose", and "The Resistance" are certified Platinum, and another five, "Rebirthing", "Not Gonna Die", "The Last Night", "Legendary", and "Stars" are certified Gold.
Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed by singer Brent Smith in 2001 after the dissolution of his previous band, Dreve. Smith, still under contract with record label Atlantic Records, recruited the band's original lineup of Jasin Todd as guitarist, Brad Stewart on bass, and Barry Kerch on drums. Consistent for the first two album cycles, several lineup changes followed in the late 2000s, eventually stabilizing with Smith and Kerch alongside Zach Myers on guitar and Eric Bass on bass. The group has released seven studio albums: Leave a Whisper (2003), Us and Them (2005), The Sound of Madness (2008), Amaryllis (2012), Threat to Survival (2015), Attention Attention (2018), and Planet Zero (2022).
Buckcherry is an American hard rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, Buckcherry (1999) and Time Bomb (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Buckcherry's first album Buckcherry was DreamWorks' first album to go gold. In 2005, lead vocalist Josh Todd and lead guitarist Keith Nelson reformed Buckcherry with a new lineup and released a new album in 2006, 15. It contained Buckcherry's biggest crossover hits to date, "Crazy Bitch", and their first Billboard Hot 100 top ten hit, "Sorry". The band continued to record albums, releasing five between 2008 and 2019: Black Butterfly in 2008, All Night Long in 2010, Confessions in 2013, Rock 'n' Roll in 2015, and Warpaint in 2019. Their ninth album Hellbound released in 2021, and their tenth and most recent album Vol. 10 released in 2023.
Big Head Todd and The Monsters is a rock band formed by Todd Park Mohr, Brian Nevin, and Rob Squires in 1986 in Colorado. The band has released several albums since 1989; their 1993 album Sister Sweetly went platinum in the United States. The band developed a sizable live following, especially in the Mountain States of the United States.
Peelander-Z is a Japanese-American punk rock band formed in 1998 and based in Austin, Texas. They bill themselves as a "Japanese Action Comic Punk band hailing from the Z area of Planet Peelander". While the founding members of Peelander-Z were all born in Japan, they first met and formed their band while living in Buffalo, New York. The original three members of the band were billed as Peelander Yellow, Peelander Red, and Peelander Blue. Later members of the band have adopted the same naming structure, with mostly different colors, although one name, Peelander Green, has been used by two different drummers.
Sister Sweetly is the third album by the Colorado rock band Big Head Todd and the Monsters, released in 1993. It was the band's first album with Giant Records. Sister Sweetly sold more than 1,000,000 copies, going platinum.
"Boom Boom" is a song written by American blues singer and guitarist John Lee Hooker and recorded October 26, 1961. Although it became a blues standard, music critic Charles Shaar Murray calls it "the greatest pop song he ever wrote". "Boom Boom" was both an American R&B and pop chart success in 1962 and a UK top-twenty hit in 1992.
"Bittersweet" is the lead single from Boulder, Colorado-based rock band Big Head Todd and the Monsters' third album and major label debut Sister Sweetly, which eventually went platinum. The song was their third biggest success charting at number 14 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. It also "bubbled under" the Billboard Hot 100 at number 104.
Beautiful World is the fifth album by the Colorado rock band Big Head Todd and the Monsters, released in 1997. The album produced two hit singles: "Resignation Superman" and a cover of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom".
Rocksteady is the ninth studio album from Big Head Todd and The Monsters, released on July 20, 2010. The album's first single, "Beautiful", charted top 20 in Adult album alternative in 2010 and is available on iTunes. Glide Magazine's Doug Collette called the album "fresh in ways even the band might not expect" and the band "right in their element from the opening title track".
Of Monsters and Men is an Icelandic indie folk/rock band formed in Garðabær in 2010. It consists of lead singer and guitarist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, singer and guitarist Ragnar "Raggi" Þórhallsson, lead guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, drummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson, and bassist Kristján Páll Kristjánsson. The band won the Músíktilraunir in 2010, an annual Battle of the Bands in Iceland. In 2011, Of Monsters and Men released an EP titled Into the Woods. Their 2011 debut album, My Head Is an Animal, reached the No.1 position in Australia, Iceland, and Ireland, as well as on the US Rock and Alternative charts, while peaking at No. 6 on the US Billboard 200 album chart, No. 3 in the UK, and top 20 of most European and Canadian charts. Its lead single, "Little Talks", was an international success, reaching the top 10 in most music charts in Europe, including No. 1 in Ireland and Iceland, and No. 1 on US Alternative Songs.
Chvrches are a Scottish synth-pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly deriving from the synth-pop genre, Chvrches also incorporate indietronica, indie pop, and electronic dance into their sound.
"Didn't Know I Had It" is a song by American rock band Cheap Trick, released in 1994 as the fifth and final single from their twelfth studio album Woke Up with a Monster. It was written by Rick Nielsen and Todd Cerney, and produced by Ted Templeman.
Midnight Radio is the second studio album by Big Head Todd and the Monsters that was released in 1990.
Strategem was the fourth studio album by Colorado rock band Big Head Todd and the Monsters, released in 1994. It was the band's second Giant Records release, following their platinum Sister Sweetly released the year before. While the album failed to match the sales and popularity of the band's previous effort, several individual tracks were positively received by reviewers, including "Kensington Line" and "Neckbreaker". Several verses on the album were inspired by Buddhist koans.
Lauren Eve Mayberry is a Scottish singer, musician and songwriter. She is the vocalist and percussionist of the Scottish pop band Chvrches. In Chvrches, Mayberry co-writes and co-produces the songs with Iain Cook and Martin Doherty, and sings as the lead vocalist. She also plays drums and keyboards. Mayberry is a soprano. She is also an active feminist and philanthropist.
Hollywood Monsters was an American hard rock supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2013. The band members include Steph Honde, Don Airey, Danko Jones (vocals), Ronnie Robson (bass), Vinny Appice, and Tim Bogert.
Riviera is a 2002 studio album by American rock band Big Head Todd and the Monsters, their first release in five years and was released on the band's vanity label Big Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records after their contract with Giant Records expired.
