U.P.O. | |
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Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 1997–2004 |
Labels | |
Past members |
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U.P.O. was an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1997. The band's line-up originally included Shawn Albro (lead vocals), Chris Weber (guitar), Ben Shirley (bass) and Tommy Holt (drums). Shirley and Holt left and were replaced by Zoltan Bathory (now in Five Finger Death Punch) and Philippe Mathys shortly before the band's breakup in 2004.
U.P.O. released two studio albums – No Pleasantries (2000) and The Heavy (2004).
Both frontman Shawn Albro and guitarist Chris Weber began their careers as a part of the mid-1980s glam rock scene. Weber was actually a founding member of the band Hollywood Rose, which served as the precursor to the legendary band Guns N' Roses, while Albro sang lead for the band Wicked Teaze. [1] [2]
After meeting in the mid '90s, [3] at the Reading Festival [3] in England, Weber and singer Shawn Albro began working on material that eventually gained some major label interest. [3] They recruited bassist Ben Shirley and drummer Tommy Holt, [3] forming U.P.O., and going on to sign a record deal with Epic Records. [3] They released their debut album, titled No Pleasantries , in 2000, [3] produced by Rick Parashar, [4] with the album peaking at number 19 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart [5] while the singles "Godless" and "Feel Alive" peaked at number 6 [6] and 25 [6] on the Mainstream Rock Chart respectively. "Feel Alive" appeared on the soundtrack to the film Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 [7] while the group toured with the likes of Slipknot, Slayer, Mudvayne and Sepultura as part of the Tattoo The Earth tour with the song "Dust" being included on the live album Tattoo The Earth: The First Crusade. [8] After further touring in support of the album, the group went on hiatus with Albro auditioning for "The Project" (later known as Velvet Revolver) during this time. [9]
The group returned in 2004, recording and releasing The Heavy , [3] working again with producer Rick Parashar, [10] the same year through DRT Entertainment/Nitrus Records. Following this, a second guitarist, Logan, joined the band, and Shirley and Holt left due to creative differences and were replaced by Zoltan Bathory and Philippe Mathys respectively. The group toured in support of the album, however, after an October concert later that year, Weber suffered a seizure before being rushed to a hospital. [11] It was soon revealed that he had a meningioma brain tumor [11] for which Weber underwent successful surgery on November 17, 2004. [12] The group disbanded soon afterwards with Bathory [13] [14] going on to form Five Finger Death Punch [14] and Mathys joining Hydrovibe.
Final line-up
Former members
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1995 by percussionist Shawn Crahan, former vocalist Anders Colsefni and bassist Paul Gray. After several lineup changes in its early years, the band settled on nine members for more than a decade: Crahan, Gray, Joey Jordison, Craig Jones, Mick Thomson, Corey Taylor, Sid Wilson, Chris Fehn, and Jim Root. Slipknot is well known for its attention-grabbing image, aggressive style of music, and energetic and chaotic live shows.
Corey Todd Taylor is an American musician, songwriter, author and actor. He is the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #8, as well as the lead vocalist, guitarist, lyricist, and sole continuous member of the rock band Stone Sour.
Vol. 3: is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot, released on May 25, 2004, by Roadrunner Records. A special edition, containing a bonus disc, was released on April 12, 2005. It is the band's only album produced by Rick Rubin. Following the band's tour to promote its second album in 2002, speculation regarding the future began. Some band members had already been involved in side projects including Murderdolls, To My Surprise, and the reformation of Stone Sour. In 2003, Slipknot moved into The Mansion to work on the album. Initially, the band was unproductive; lead vocalist Corey Taylor was drinking heavily. Nevertheless, the band managed to write more than enough material for a new album. Vol. 3 is credited as Slipknot's first to incorporate more traditional, melodic song structures, guitar solos and acoustic instruments.
Hollywood Rose was an American glam metal group formed in June 1983. They are best known as the precursor for what would eventually become Guns N' Roses. The group was founded by Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin and Chris Weber, while they were aided during live shows by Rick Marrs, Andre Troxx, Daniel "DJ" Nicolson, Johnny Kreis and Steve Darrow. Rose, Stradlin and Weber, along with Kreis and Nicolson, recorded a five-song demo on January 1984. However, after a number of lineup changes, which includes Weber, Kreis and Nicolson being replaced by Slash and Steven Adler as well the departure of Stradlin, the group disbanded the same year.
Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor, Josh Rand (guitar), Christian Martucci (guitar), Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums). Longtime members Joel Ekman and Shawn Economaki left the band in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Former lead guitarist Jim Root left in 2014. The band has been on an indefinite hiatus since 2020.
Michael Shawn Crahan, more commonly known by his stage persona "Clown", is an American musician. He is the co-founder and one of the percussionists for heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #6. Crahan helped form Slipknot in 1995 alongside bassist Paul Gray and former vocalist Anders Colsefni. Crahan is the longest-serving and only remaining original member of Slipknot, and also has extensive involvement with Slipknot's media production and music videos. Outside Slipknot, Crahan had two side project bands called To My Surprise and Dirty Little Rabbits. Aside from his musical activity, he also directed the 2016 action thriller film Officer Downe.
Nathan Jonas "Joey" Jordison was an American musician. He was the original drummer of the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he was designated #1, and the guitarist for the horror punk supergroup Murderdolls.
Stone Sour is the debut studio album by American rock band Stone Sour. It was recorded and produced by the band and Tom Tatman at Catamount Studios in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and was released on August 27, 2002, through Roadrunner Records.
Mickael Gordon "Mick" Thomson is an American musician. He is one of two guitarists for the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #7. Thomson originally met founding Slipknot members Anders Colsefni, Donnie Steele and Paul Gray through their mutual involvement in death metal band Body Pit, later joined in early 1996. Following the departure of bandmates drummer Joey Jordison in 2013 and sampler Craig Jones in 2023, Thomson is now the second longest-serving member of Slipknot.
The American heavy metal band Slipknot has released seven studio albums, three live albums, two compilation albums, one demo album, one EP, twenty-eight singles, five video albums and thirty-three music videos. Formed in Des Moines, Iowa in 1995, Slipknot originally featured vocalist and percussionist Anders Colsefni, guitarists Donnie Steele and Josh "Gnar" Brainard, bassist Paul Gray, drummer Joey Jordison, and percussionist and backing vocalist Shawn "Clown" Crahan. The original lineup released its first album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. in 1996, before undergoing a number of lineup changes over the next few years.
Christopher Garrison Weber is an American musician best known as the guitarist and founder of the groups U.P.O. and Hollywood Rose. With U.P.O., he released two albums, No Pleasantries (2000) and The Heavy (2004), while the Hollywood Rose demos, recorded in 1984, were released in 2004 titled The Roots of Guns N' Roses.
Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead guitarist Caleb Andrew Bingham, bassist Matt Snell, and drummer Jeremy Spencer. Bingham was replaced by guitarist Darrell Roberts in 2006, who was then replaced by Jason Hook in 2009. Bassist Matt Snell departed from the band in 2010, and was replaced by Chris Kael in 2011. Spencer then departed the band in 2018 due to recurring back issues, and was replaced by Charlie Engen, making rhythm guitarist Bathory the only remaining founding member of the band. In October 2020, British guitarist Andy James became the band's lead guitarist, replacing Jason Hook.
No Pleasantries is the debut album of American post-grunge band U.P.O. Released on May 30, 2000, the album broke U.P.O. into the mainstream rock scene and was their most successful release. It was made available on iTunes on September 22, 2004.
To My Surprise is the only album by American alternative rock band To My Surprise. Released on October 7, 2003 by Roadrunner Records, it was the only album that the band released before disbanding in 2006. The album was intended to be self-produced by Shawn Crahan and Brandon Darner, but after producer Rick Rubin was sent demos by Crahan, Rubin invited the band to Los Angeles where he assumed the role of executive producer. Following the release of the album, a music video was released for the song "In The Mood" on December 1.
The Heavy is the second album by American post-grunge band U.P.O. Released on March 9, 2004, it marks the band's return from a two-year hiatus and departure from Epic Records. As common among sophomore independent albums, The Heavy could not repeat the success of U.P.O.'s major label debut, No Pleasantries. It was made available on iTunes on September 22, 2004.
Zoltan Bathory is a Hungarian-American musician and martial artist. He is the founder and rhythm guitarist of Las Vegas-based heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch. In 2010, he was named Golden God's "Best Shredder" by Metal Hammer magazine.
Alien Crime Syndicate, often abbreviated to ACS, were a rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1997. From 1999 to the band's breakup in 2005, the lineup consisted primarily of Joe Reineke, Jeff Rouse, Nabil Ayers (drums), while guitarists Jason Krevey, Mike Squires and Mike Davis were also members of the band.
Soulbender is the only studio album by the American-Canadian metal band of the same name. Originally released in 2004, it was re-released with additional recordings in 2014.
The Memorial World Tour was a concert tour by American heavy metal band Slipknot in honor of late bassist Paul Gray who died on May 24, 2010. The tour was the group's first since the All Hope Is Gone World Tour which ended in 2009. The tour consisted mostly of festival dates and a small number of headlining appearances.
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