My Chemical Romance

My Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock. Shortly after forming, the band signed to Eyeball Records and released their debut album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in 2002. They signed with Reprise Records the next year and released their major label debut Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge in 2004; the album was a commercial success, and was awarded platinum status a little over a year later. The band eclipsed their previous success with their 2006 concept album, The Black Parade, which gained generally favorable reviews among music critics. Their fourth studio album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, was released on November 22, 2010, to positive reviews.

Background

Early career

The band was formed by front-man Gerard Way and drummer Matt Pelissier approximately one week after the September 11 attacks. Witnessing the planes crash into the World Trade Center influenced Way's life to the extent that he decided to start a band. Way wrote the song "Skylines and Turnstiles" to express his feelings about September 11 and shortly thereafter, Ray Toro was recruited because at the time Way couldn't sing and play the guitar at the same time.The name of the band was suggested by bass guitarist Mikey Way, younger brother of Gerard, who was working in a Barnes & Noble when he was struck by the title of a book by Irvine Welsh named Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance. The first recording sessions were undertaken in Pelissier's attic, where the songs "Our Lady of Sorrows" (formerly called "Bring More Knives") and "Cubicles" were recorded. The band refers to those sessions as The Attic Demos. After hearing the demo and dropping out of college, Mikey Way decided to join the band. While with Eyeball Records, the band met Frank Iero, the lead vocalist and guitarist for Pencey Prep. Following Pencey Prep's split in 2002, Iero became a member of My Chemical Romance, just days prior to the recording of the band's debut album. They recorded their debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, just three months after the formation of the band and released it in 2002 through Eyeball Records. The album was produced by Thursday frontman Geoff Rickley after the band became friends with him while playing shows in New Jersey. Iero played guitar on two of the tracks, one of which was "Early Sunsets Over Monroeville." During this time, the band was booked at the infamous venue, Big Daddy's, where they began to receive more attention.

My Chemical Romance offered free downloads through PureVolume and the social networking website MySpace, where they gained an initial fan base.

Musical style and influences

My Chemical Romance's general style has been categorized as "alternative rock", "post-hardcore","punk revival","pop punk" and, most controversially, "emo". The band's official website describes their music as simply "rock" or "violent, dangerous pop". Gerard Way has publicly rejected the term "emo", describing the genre as "fucking garbage". However, Way has reportedly also described the band's style as "What-else-ya-got-emo".

Way said to Rolling Stone, "we love bands like Queen, where it's huge and majestic, but also bands like Black Flag and the Misfits, who would go absolutely crazy." Way has stated that the band is heavily influenced by Queen, Misfits, Black Flag, Iron Maiden, The Cure, Joy Division, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and The Smiths/Morrisey. Way has also said that his band patterns their career after that of The Smashing Pumpkins, another band they admire.

Band members

Current members

• Ray Toro – lead guitar, backing vocals (2001–present)
• Gerard Way – lead vocals (2001–present)
• Mikey Way – bass guitar (2001–present)
• Frank Iero – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2002–present)

Former members

• Matt Pelissier – drums (2001–2004)
• Bob Bryar – drums (2004–2010)

Touring members

• James Dewees – keyboards, percussion, backing vocals (2007–present)
• Michael Pedicone – drums (2010–2011)
• Jarrod Alexander – drums (2011–present)

Discography

• I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (2002)
• Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004)
• The Black Parade (2006)
• Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (2010)

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Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California. Formed in 1999, the group consists of vocalist M. Shadows, lead guitarist Synyster Gates, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, bassist Johnny Christ.

They are known for their diverse heavy metal sound, dramatic imagery in album covers and t-shirts. Avenged Sevenfold emerged with a metalcore sound on their debut Sounding the Seventh Trumpet but their style had evolved by their third album and first major label release, City of Evil into a hard rock/heavy metal sound. The band continued to explore new sounds with their self-titled release and enjoyed continued mainstream success before their drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan, died in 2009. Despite his death, the band continued on with help of now-former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy and released and toured in support of their fifth album Nightmare in 2010 which debuted on the top spot of the Billboard 200, their first number one debut.

To date, Avenged Sevenfold has released five studio albums, one live album/compilation/DVD, and eighteen singles and sold more than four million album worldwide. The band has received much credit for their worldwide mainstream success and were featured as second place on Ultimate Guitar's Top Ten Bands of the Decade.

History

The band was formed in 1999 in Huntington Beach, California with original members M. Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, The Rev and Matt Wendt. M Shadows came up with the name as a reference to the story of Cain and Abel from The Bible, which can be found in Genesis 4:24, although they are not a religious band. Upon its formation, each member of the band also took on a pseudonym which were already nicknames of theirs from high school.

Before the release of their debut album, the band recorded two demos in 1999 and 2000. Avenged Sevenfold's debut album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, was recorded when the band members were just eighteen years old and in high school. It was originally released on their first label, Good Life Recordings in 2001. After lead guitarist Synyster Gates joined the band, at the end of 1999 when he was 18 at the introductory track "To End the Rapture" was re-recorded featuring a full band element. The album was subsequently re-released on Hopeless Records in 2002. The band started to receive recognition, performing with bands such as Mushroomhead and Shadows Fall and playing on the Take Action Tour.

Style and influences

The band has cited bands such as Bad Religion, Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Pantera, Dream Theater, Metallica, NOFX, Alice in Chains, Black Flag, Corrosion of Conformity, The Misfits, Slayer, The Vandals, Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Deftones and AFI as their artistic influences.

Avenged Sevenfold's material spans multiple genres and has evolved over the band's entire career. Initially, the band's debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of metalcore sound; however, there were several deviations to this genre, most notably in "Streets" which adopts a punk style and "Warmness on the Soul," which is a piano-oriented ballad.On Waking the Fallen, the band displayed the contemporary metalcore style once more, but added more clean vocals as well as more mature and intricate musical elements. In the band's DVD All Excess, producer Andrew Mudrock explained this transition: "When I met the band after Sounding the Seventh Trumpet had come out before they had recorded Waking the Fallen, M. Shadows said to me 'This record is screaming. The record we want to make is going to be half-screaming half-singing. I don't want to scream anymore. And the record after that is going to be all singing.'"

On City of Evil, Avenged Sevenfold's third album, the band chose to abandon the metalcore genre, developing a more hard rock style. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album, again, consists of several deviations to less consistent genres and styles from the album's main hard rock and heavy metal songs, most notably in "Dear God", which adopts a country style and "A Little Piece of Heaven", which is circled within the influence of Broadway show tunes, using primarily brass instruments and stringed orchestra to take over most of the role of the lead and rhythm guitar. Nightmare contains further deviations, including a piano ballad called "Fiction" and a brief return to their metalcore roots on "God Hates Us". The band has changed considerably since their first album, in which during that time they have been characterized as a heavy band with a screamed and growled vocal style combined with clean vocals, chugging guitar riffs and breakdowns that one can expect from the metalcore genre.

 Band members

Current members M. Shadows – lead vocals (1999–present) Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1999–present) Synyster Gates – lead guitar, piano, backing vocals (2000–present) Johnny Christ – bass, backing vocals (2003–present)

Former members The Rev – drums, piano, backing vocals (1999–2009) Matt Wendt – bass (1999–2000) Justin Sane – bass (2000–2002) Dameon Ash – bass (2002–2003)

Session and touring members

• Mike Portnoy – drums (2010)
• Arin Ilejay – drums (2011-present)

Discography

• Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001)
• Waking the Fallen (2003)
• City of Evil (2005)
• Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
• Nightmare (2010)

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Björk

Björk Guðmundsdóttir [ˈpjœr̥k ˈkvʏðmʏntsˌtoʊhtɪr]  (born 21 November 1965), known simply as Björk (pronounced /ˈbjɜrk/ byurk in English), is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk. Her voice has been acclaimed for its distinctive qualities.

Björk's 1990s singles "It's Oh So Quiet", "Army of Me" and "Hyperballad" charted in the UK Top 10. Her record label, One Little Indian, reported that by 2003 she had sold more than 15 million albums worldwide. She has acquired a high level of critical acclaim. She has won four BRIT Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, one MOJO Award, three UK Music Video Awards and in particular, she received, in 2010, the Polar Music Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, in recognition for her "deeply personal music and lyrics, her precise arrangements and her unique voice".

Additionally, Björk has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards, one Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. For her performance in Dancer in the Dark, Björk won the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. She was ranked #36 on VH1's "The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll" and #8 on MTV's "22 Greatest Voices in Music".

 Early life

Björk was born and raised in Reykjavík, Iceland. Her father is Guðmundur Gunnarsson, a union leader and electrician, and her mother is Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir, an activist who protested against Kárahnjúkar, a controversial hydro-electric development in Iceland.

Her musical career began when she was eleven with her study of classical piano in elementary school. One of her instructors sent a recording of Björk singing Tina Charles' song "I Love to Love" to RÚV, then the only radio station in Iceland. The recording was broadcast on radio nationally; after hearing it, a representative of the record label Fálkinn contacted Björk to offer a record contract. An album, Björk, was recorded and released in 1977.

In her teens, Björk was influenced by punk; at 14 she formed the all-girl punk band Spit and Snot, shortly followed by the jazz fusion group Exodus in 1979. In 1980 she graduated from music school. In 1981 she and bassist Jakob Magnússon formed another band called Jam-80, which later became Tappi Tíkarrass (which means "Cork the Bitch’s Arse" in Icelandic), and released an extended single, "Bítið Fast í Vítið" in the same year. Their album, Miranda, was released in 1983.

Björk collaborated with Einar Örn Benediktsson and Einar Melax from Purrkur Pillnikk, and Guðlaugur Óttarsson, Sigtryggur Baldursson, and Birgir Mogensen from Þeyr. After writing songs and rehearsing for two weeks, the new band, KUKL ("sorcery" in Icelandic), developed a sound described as Gothic rock. Björk began to show indications of her trademark singing style, which was punctuated by howls and shrieks.

KUKL toured Iceland with anarchist UK punk band Crass, and later visited the UK in a series of performances with Flux of Pink Indians. They produced two albums as a result of these collaborations: The Eye in 1984, and Holidays in Europe in 1986, both on Crass Records.

The band eventually dissolved, in part due to the closure of their label, Gramm. In mid-1986, several members of KUKL and the surrealist group Medusa got together to create the arts collective Smekkleysa (Bad Taste). They created a musical division, a band again called KUKL, but soon changed the name to The Sugarcubes.

Music and voice

Compositions

Björk's music style tends to be quite eclectic and often challenging. She has embraced many genres throughout her career, creating a varied range of pieces, from big band music to sound art. Björk's lyrical themes range from personal matters to scientific, natural, or social topics.

Voice

Björk is a "robusto" soprano, which means she has a voice which is particularly marked by a certain fullness of sound with a light timbre, but without losing the projection or volume of it. Her vocal range covers three octaves, going from F3 to E6, but she tends to use her chest and mid voice more often, using her head voice particularly during vocal games in live concerts. Her singing style is largely based on improvisation and natural expression, letting her voice perform long vocal acrobatics while performing. Classical composer John Tavener has praised Björk as being "more intelligent than most opera singers", music critic Alex Ross has cited Björk as one of the most gifted voices nowadays. The National Public Radio counted Björk among its list of "50 Great Voices" and MTV included her on its countdown "22 Greatest Voices in Music".

Currently, Björk trains her voice with vocal coach Maureen Scott from the British Voice Association.

Discography

• Björk (1976)
• Debut (1993)
• Post (1995)
• Homogenic (1997)
• Vespertine (2001)
• Medúlla (2004)
• Volta (2007)
• Biophilia (2011)

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Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish indie rock and post-punk band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos (lead vocals and guitar), Bob Hardy (bass guitar), Nick McCarthy (rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing vocals), and Paul Thomson (drums, percussion and backing vocals).

The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in the UK Charts,followed by their debut album, Franz Ferdinand, which debuted on the UK album chart at #3. The band went on to win the 2004 Mercury Music Prize, and two BRIT Awards in 2005 for Best British Group and Best British Rock Act. NME named Franz Ferdinand as their Album of the Year. From the album, three top-ten singles were released: "Take Me Out", "The Dark of the Matinée", and "This Fire".

The band's second album, You Could Have It So Much Better (2005), was a platinum-selling album in the United Kingdom and gold-selling in the United States. The album topped the UK Album Charts, and made the top ten in the Billboard 200 in the US. The album produced the hit single "Do You Want To", amongst many other singles. After the release of You Could Have It So Much Better, the band took some time recording their third album, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, which was released internationally on 26 January 2009, and made the top ten in the United Kingdom and the United States. "Ulysses" was released as the lead single, although "No You Girls" proved to be popular, being their second longest-charting single in the UK, after "Do You Want To" (2005).

The band have been nominated for several Grammy Awards, becoming one of few Scottish bands or artists to be nominated for a Grammy Award. They have been nominated for several BRIT Awards in the UK, and have won an NME Award. With their three studio albums, the band sold over 3 million albums worldwide in 2009.

History

The members of Franz Ferdinand played in various bands during the 1990s, including The Karelia, Yummy Fur, 10p Invaders, and Embryo. Alex Kapranos and Paul Thomson played together in Yummy Fur, and subsequently teamed up to write songs. Around the same time, Kapranos taught his friend, Bob Hardy, how to play bass after being given a bass guitar by Mick Cooke of Belle & Sebastian. Kapranos met co-guitarist Nick McCarthy, who had returned to Scotland after studying jazz bass in Germany, in 2001. Franz Ferdinand's longtime sound engineer is Michael Parker.

In May 2003 the band signed to Laurence Bell's independent record label, Domino Records. The band had recorded an EP which they intended to release themselves; it was released by Domino as Darts of Pleasure in the latter part of 2003. The cover art was designed by Thomson. It reached #43 in the UK chart The band won the "Phillip Hall Radar Award" at the NME Awards of 2004, announced in November 2003.

Name

The name of the band was originally inspired by a racehorse called Archduke Ferdinand. After seeing the horse win the Northumberland Plate in 2001, the band began to discuss Archduke Franz Ferdinand and thought it would be a good band name because of the alliteration of the name and the implications of the Archduke's death (his assassination was a significant factor in the lead-up to World War I).

"Mainly we just liked the way it sounded," says Bob. "We liked the alliteration." "He was an incredible figure as well," continues Alex. "His life, or at least the ending of it, was the catalyst for the complete transformation of the world and that is what we want our music to be. But I don't want to over-intellectualize the name thing. Basically a name should just sound good ... like music." Paul offered, "I like the idea that, if we become popular, maybe the words Franz Ferdinand will make people think of the band instead of the historical figure."

The song "Take Me Out", on the band's first album, was the second single to be released by the band. The single release of "Take Me Out" came with the B-side, "All for You, Sophia", based on the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, whose name was Sophie, not Sophia. The band chose the name Sophia rather than Sophie to give the song a better ring. The song mentions the assassin Gavrilo Princip, the Black Hand, the location of the Apple Quay and "Urban" (Franz Urban), the name often mistakenly given to Leopold Lojka, the driver of the car.

In addition to this, in 2004 the band played a number of "secret" gigs under the pseudonym "The Black Hands", alluding to the secret society that was held responsible for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.

Discography

• Franz Ferdinand (2004)
• You Could Have It So Much Better (2005)
• Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (2009)
• TBA (2011)

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The Offspring

The Offspring is a punk rock band of the United States from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1986. Formerly known as Manic Subsidal, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Dexter Holland, lead guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, bassist Greg K. and drummer Pete Parada. Parada replaced former drummer Adam "Atom" Willard in 2007, during the recording of the band's eighth studio album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, and has been a member of the band since.

The Offspring was originally part of the punk scene in their early career. The band's first two albums for the independent record labels Nemesis and Epitaph earned them a following. Their 1994 third studio album Smash became a breakout success and eventually sold over 12 million copies worldwide, setting a record for most albums sold on an independent label. The Offspring was widely credited, alongside fellow California punk bands Sublime,Green Day and Rancid, with popularizing and reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States. The critical praise given to Smash garnered attention from major labels, including Columbia Records, with whom The Offspring would sign in 1996. Their first album for Columbia, Ixnay on the Hombre was released in 1997 and was well received by critics. The Offspring continued to achieve success with their three follow-up albums, Americana (1998), Conspiracy of One (2000) and Splinter (2003), reaching multi-platinum, platinum and gold status respectively. Splinter was followed five years later by Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008), which was also successful, due to the album's second single "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" reaching number one on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for 11 weeks and becoming their only gold single in America to date. The band has been in the studio recording a new album, which is due for release in 2012.

The Offspring has sold over 35 million albums worldwide, making them one of the best-selling punk rock acts of all time, and many of their albums have sold over a million units.

History

The foundations for The Offspring began in 1984, when guitarist/vocalist Bryan "Dexter" Holland and bassist Greg Kriesel, who both met on their high school cross-country team, formed a local band called Manic Subsidal. The decision to form a band came outside of a Social Distortion concert when they were refused entry. Not long after their formation, Holland had changed his role from drums to guitar and vocals and James Lilja took over the drums. Doug Thompson was added for vocals, and Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman (formerly of Clowns of Death), the school janitor, was welcomed into the band, allegedly because he was old enough to purchase alcohol for Holland and Kriesel, both of whom were under the legal drinking age. The band used Thompson's friend, Jim Benton, as their drummer. Thompson was eventually forced out of the band, while Benton left. This led to Holland taking over on vocals, and James Lilja joining as the drummer. The band changed their name to The Offspring in 1986.

In 1986, the band released their first single; the 7" "I'll Be Waiting/Blackball". They released the single on their self-made Black Label record company, named after the brand of beer. An earlier version of "I'll Be Waiting", which was then known as "Fire and Ice", appeared on the long-out of print Subject to Blackout compilation tape, which was also released in 1986 (this version is also available for free to download from the European Offspring website). Also in 1986, The Offspring recorded a demo tape, which received a positive review in Maximum Rocknroll magazine. Lilja left The Offspring in 1987 to pursue a medical career in gynecology,and was replaced by Ron Welty, who was only 16 years old at the time.

Style and influences

While The Offspring are primarily considered a pop punk or simply a punk rock group, their music contains strong elements of 1990s grunge, and the occasional ska. A signature style of The Offspring is their chorused "whoas", "heys", or "yeahs". NOFX (who were labelmates with The Offspring from the early to mid 1990s) has poked fun at them for this in their song "Whoa on the Whoas". Several tracks also incorporate elements of Eastern music, which can be heard on the likes of "Pay the Man" and the verse hook from "Come Out and Play". Their lyrics cover a wide range of topics, like personal relationships, such as in their songs "She's Got Issues", "Self Esteem" and "Spare Me the Details," and the degradation of the United States and society in general with songs like "It'll Be a Long Time", "Americana" and "Stuff Is Messed Up". The lyrics generally reflect a sarcastic viewpoint, which, along with the language, can be offensive to some. This is acknowledged in the first track from their album Ixnay on the Hombre, "Disclaimer". Like "Disclaimer", the first track of most of The Offspring's albums are an introduction of some sort, "Time to Relax" (from Smash), "Welcome" (from Americana), "Intro" (from Conspiracy of One), and "Neocon" (from Splinter) are also examples of this.

The band cites their musical influences as Agent Orange, The Adolescents, Angry Samoans, Bad Brains, Bad Religion, Black Flag, Channel 3, Circle Jerks, The Clash, D.I., The Damned, Dead Kennedys, Descendents, The Dickies, Iron Maiden, Jane's Addiction, Bob Marley and The Wailers, Metallica, Minor Threat, Nirvana, Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sex Pistols, Sham 69, Social Distortion, Thelonious Monster, TSOL, The Vandals and Youth Brigade.

Band members

Current members

• Dexter Holland – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano (1986–present)
• Noodles – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1986–present)
• Greg K. – bass, backing vocals (1986–present)
• Pete Parada – drums, percussion (2007–present)

Discography

• The Offspring (1989)
• Ignition (1992)
• Smash (1994)
• Ixnay on the Hombre (1997)
• Americana (1998)
• Conspiracy of One (2000)
• Splinter (2003)
• Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008)

 

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Audioslave

Audioslave was an American rock supergroup that formed in Los Angeles, California in 2001. It consisted of former Soundgarden lead singer/rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell and the former instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine: Tom Morello (guitar), Tim Commerford (bass and backing vocals) and Brad Wilk (drums). Critics initially described Audioslave as an amalgamation of Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden, but by the band's second album, Out of Exile, it was noted that they had established a separate identity.

The band's trademark sound was created by blending 1970s hard rock with 1990s alternative rock. Moreover, Morello incorporated his well-known, unconventional guitar solos into this mix. As with Rage Against the Machine, the band prided themselves on the fact that all sounds on their albums were produced using only guitar, bass, drums and vocals.

After Audioslave released three successful albums, received three Grammy nominations, and became the first American rock band to perform an open-air concert in Cuba, Cornell issued a statement in February 2007 announcing that he was permanently leaving the band "due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences". As the other three members were busy with the Rage Against the Machine reunion, and Morello and Cornell had each released solo albums in 2007, Audioslave was officially disbanded.

 

History

Audioslave's history dates back to October 18, 2000, when lead vocalist Zack de la Rocha announced he was leaving Rage Against the Machine. This led to the band's break-up, but the remaining three members of the band decided to stay together and announced plans to continue with a new vocalist. Several vocalists jammed with the three, including B-Real of Cypress Hill, but they did not want another rapper or anybody who sounded like de la Rocha. Music producer and friend Rick Rubin later suggested that they play with Chris Cornell, the ex-frontman of Soundgarden. Rubin also persuaded the three of them to go into group therapy with performance coach Phil Towle after the break-up. Rubin was confident that with the right new voice Rage Against the Machine had the potential to become a better band; he believed "it could turn into a Yardbirds-into-Led Zeppelin scenario". Commerford later credited Rubin for being the catalyst that brought Audioslave together, he called him "the angel at the crossroads because if it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here today".

The chemistry between Cornell and the other three was immediately apparent; as Morello described: "He stepped to the microphone and sang the song and I couldn't believe it. It didn't just sound good. It didn't sound great. It sounded transcendent. And ... when there is an irreplaceable chemistry from the first moment, you can't deny it."The quartet wrote 21 songs during 19 days of rehearsal, and began working in the studio in late May 2001 with Rubin as producer, while sorting out the label and management issues.

Name

The original idea for the band's name was "Civilian", but it was dropped when members found out that it was already taken. Morello later discredited the story, contradicting Commerford and Cornell, and commented that "Civilian" was merely a rumor circulating at the time; he stated: "The band has only ever had one name and that is Audioslave." Morello described the origin of the "Audioslave" name to LAUNCHcast as follows:

That was Chris' suggestion that sort of came to him in a vision. We're all on the two-way pagers, and Chris one night said, "I got it. It's Audioslave." We were all, like, "All right, fantastic."... To paraphrase Elvis Costello, talking about band names is like dancing about architecture—there's just no point in it because the band name becomes the music and the people.

After the name was announced, it emerged that it was already being used by an unsigned band from Liverpool. The two bands worked out a settlement, with Audioslave paying $30,000 in a deal that allowed each band to use the name. To avoid confusion, the Liverpool band would rename themselves "The Most Terrifying Thing".

The name was mocked by critics due to its uninspired nature, and was regarded as one of the worst in contemporary rock music, or even of all time. Pitchfork Media called it the "most asinine bandname of the year", and Chuck Klosterman of Spin magazine chided it as "one of the dumbest band names in recent rock history".

Musical style and influences

By combining '70s style hard rock riffing with alternative rock, Audioslave created a distinctive sound. This mix was driven by Cornell's wide vocal range, Morello's innovative guitar solos and the rhythm section of Wilk and Commerford. Morello, although stating he "never felt musically limited" in Rage Against the Machine, did say that he had "a lot more scope to explore with Audioslave" and a "wider musical territory".This meant that the instrumentalists had the opportunity to write slow and melodic songs, something they had not done before.

As opposed to de la Rocha's lyrics, Cornell's were mostly apolitical; Morello referred to them as "haunted, existential poetry".They were characterised by his cryptic approach, often dealing with themes of existentialism, love, hedonism, spirituality and Christianity. Audioslave's first two albums drew influences from 1970s hard rock such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and from the members' previous bands (the grunge sound of Soundgarden and the funk metal sound of Rage Against the Machine). For Revelations, which was influenced by 1960s and '70s funk, soul and R&B music, Morello used vintage guitars and amplifiers and Cornell adopted his "seventies funk and R&B-flavor vocals".The guitarist also cited Sly & the Family Stone, James Brown and Funkadelic as a reason for the funk overtones on the album.

Just as Rage Against the Machine did, Audioslave also included the statement "All sounds made by guitar, bass, drums and vocals" in their albums' booklets as Morello's guitar work often caused listeners to believe that the band used samples, synthesiser effects or different turntable techniques to produce certain sounds.

Band members

• Chris Cornell - lead vocals, additional guitar (occasionally)
• Tom Morello - guitar
• Tim Commerford - bass guitar, backing vocals
• Brad Wilk - drums

Discography

• Audioslave (2002)
• Out of Exile (2005)
• Revelations (2006)

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