The Fuckin' Used

The Used (originally called "Strange Itch" and then "Dumb Luck" without Bert in the band) are from Orem, Utah and were formed officially in 2001. They received their name because friends of the band said they felt "used" as the members became more involved in the band and less in friendships. The band consists of Quinn Allman, Jeph Howard, Dan Whitesides and Bert McCracken. Bert was the final member to be chosen for the band as vocalist and the first song he wrote lyrics for and recorded a demo with was "Maybe Memories". They are put in the genres screamo/post-hardcore. The band was formed by Branden Steineckert (ex-drummer), Jeph and Quinn, but Branden left the band (In late 2006, due to personal conflicts with band members supposedly. He went to play drums for "Rancid" instead). The band wrote more songs and fans entitled this CD as "demos from the basement". This was sent to producer John Feldmann from the pop punk group Goldfinger and he immediately thought The Used were spectacular after hearing "A Box Full of Sharp Objects". John believed there was nothing quite like The Used out there and so he tried hard to get them signed and was turned down frustratingly, many times. The band eventually signed to Reprise records in 2001. In 2002 they released their self-titled album and it had many hits and awesome songs. It became a gold record. Then in 2003, they released a CD/DVD combo called "Maybe Memories" and it went platinum. The Used started to get more mainstream attention at this point because it was around this time lead singer, Bert, was dating Kelly Osbourne. In 2004, Bert's ex-girlfriend who also happened to be pregnant with his child died of a drug overdose. This gave the name of their next album "In Love and Death" which was a reference to the tragedy Bert experienced. The song "Hard to Say" on the album is a reference to Bert's ex-girlfriend. Even though he wrote it previously he felt it was appropriate to release it then. The album was re-released with the Queen cover "Under Pressure" featuring My Chemical Romance and the album also went gold. In 2007, the CD/DVD "Berth" was released and also went gold. The Used were on fire considering their career so far and were touring hard and picking up more and more fans as they went on. Their 3rd album, "Lies for the Liars" was released in mid-2007. The Used were meant to play Warped Tour to promote the album that Summer but Bert had to go into surgery to remove a node from his vocals cords. After recovering The Used played "Reading and Leeds Festival" and then went onto tour the States. The band had also made an album of B-sides entitled "Shallow Believer" and they were going to release it with "Lies for the Liars" as a double album but instead released it as an EP in February 2008. It charted #13 on Itunes top 100 albums. The Used have since been working on a 4th album to be released early 2009 and during 2008 played shows in various places as obscure as Indonesia and South Korea. This 4th album is the first to be done with a new producer (Good Charlotte's....I hate them by the way, instead of their usual John). This is said to be because they want to make a new sound on this album. Bert went on to say that the new album will be "10 times noisier and messier than ever". He said the record is about "coming to grips with how much you hate yourself and knowing that you can never really hate yourself to the fullest extent, so you're free to hate yourself as much as you want to". Another DVD is also to be released shortly after the new album. Now to finish, a little extra info on The Used's Bert!. So Bert's real name is Robert Edward McCracken. Bert was born into a Mormon family and was a happy child. He played trumpet in a local band called "I'm With Stupid" at the age of 12. By 15 he started to deviate from his family and friends "straight-edge" beliefs. He slowly became addicted to drugs, especially crystal meth. He then dropped out of high school and by 16 was kicked out of his house. He became homeless for a while until he made enough money to move into a flat with his now ex (and sadly dead) girlfriend Kate. The relationship fell apart and he fell even harder into substance abuse and decided in late 2000 to return to his parents home. He then joined the band "The Used" (who originally wanted to be called just "Used" but the name was already taken by a Boston band). During the "In Love and Death" era, drinking, drugs and touring all caught up with Bert and on May 27th 2003, he collapsed during his performance of "On My Own". He was rushed to hospital and his symptoms showed that he had acute pancreatitis (probably due to his severe alcoholism). Bert was a huge fan of My Chemical Romance, even using their name in the song "Take it Away". He went as far as to get a tattoo of the band and he performed backing vocals for MCR's "You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison". They also performed Queen's "Under Pressure" together, dedicated to dying friend Sarah Meyler. MCR and The Used's Bert fell out in 2005 although the other band members are all still rumoured to remain contact. Reasons for the break up is unknown. Another rumour is that Bert went to Gerard Way's (lead singer of MCR) wedding. Finally, Bert went onto make "Lies for the Liars" with the Used, and the album was referencing the "fake people" of LA where he was living at the time with his fiancee, Alison. Bert is the youngest member of the band but the oldest brother in his family. The Used have various symbols such as a heart that seems as if it is being choked on previous album art work as well as a character named "Chadam" on their most recent album which was a character created by Alex Pardee. Chadam has grown so popular he has his own myspace (click this to go), comics and movie trailer so far! The Used are an excellent band and I have been lucky enough to see them live more than once. They create immense energy and Bert is a sensational front man. One brilliant memory was seeing Bert perform with Killswitch Engage's lead singer and doing some sick screaming! I hope you all get a chance to see them live! peace x
Recommended: "Taste of Ink", "Box Full of Sharp Objects", "Blue and Yellow", "Take It Away", "I Caught Fire (In Your Eyes)", "The Bird and The Worm", "Pretty Handsome Awkward". This is just a few brilliant songs, The Used kick so much ass. Hardly have a shit song! Enjoy :D

A7X!

Avenged Sevenfold (A7X) are a metal band formed in Huntington Beach, California. The band consists of M. Shadows (vocals), Zacky Vengeance (rhythm guitar), Synyster Gates (Lead Guitar), The Rev (drums) and Johnny Christ (Bass). Synyster Gates replaced a previous guitar player during "Sounding The Seventh Trumpet", their first album and re-recorded the first track "To End The Rapture" without the piano track in it. Johnny Christ was also a new member, replacing 2 former bassists. M. Shadows' real name is Matthew Sanders and he got the part "Shadows" in his name because he was always the "darkest kid" in the band. Synyster Gates' real name is Brian Elwin Haner Jr. and he came up with the name when driving through the park with The Rev drunk one night and said randomly "I am Synyster Gates, I am awesome". Zacky Vengeance's real name is Zachary James Baker (so you can figure out his nickname). Johnny Christ's real name is Jonathan Lewis Seward and his name was given to him by Zacky. However, "Misfits" bassist is called John Christ so I wonder if he took it from that. I don't know!. Finally, The Rev/The Reverend Tholomew Plague's real name is James Owen Sullivan and I have no idea where his nick name came from. So First a little about the members of the band. The Rev is a mean drummer, with mad skills and he is married to ex-porn star Leana Silver. M. Shadows used to scream a lot more in old A7X albums but he had minor throat surgery and has since been singing much more of his own accord. He states that he always planned on making "Waking the Fallen" half-singing and half-screaming and then the album after that would be all singing. Proof that he still has the ability to scream can be seen in their latest live DVD where he screams a bit on the songs "Unholy Confessions" and "Chapter 4". Synyster Gates was a self-taught guitar player which was unusual since his father was a song-writer and guitar player who played with the likes of Frank Zappa. He was recruited into the A7X team and proved to be an immense member of the band. Zacky Vengeance has created a clothing line called "Vengeance University" and has a website at www.vengenz.com. Johnny Christ is the youngest member of A7X and he was even bullied by Zacky Vengeance and The Rev at high school because he was one of Synyster's friend's little brother's friends!. His 2 biggest influences are the late, great Cliff Burton (of Metallica) and Duff Mckagan (of Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver). A7X have been active since 1999 and created their first album "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet" when they were just 18 years old and still at high school. The album was released on Hopeless records, followed by their second album "Waking The Fallen". Their sound at this time was very much metalcore (screaming vocals, singing, melodic, breakdowns etc.). After this release they signed to Warner Bros. Records and made the album "City of Evil" which was very successful and their first gold record. However they lost some fans and gained many at the same time since the screaming had gone and pop melodies and catchy hooks and choruses had arrived. M. Shadows biggest influence is Axl Rose so it is possible he was trying to create a more mainstream rock feel. I must admit though I loved this album as I play guitar and all the solos are mind-blowing. Synyster really shines on this record. Their most recent album to date is self titled and sometimes called "The Black and White Album" due to the black and white cover. It is also a fantastic album with another new sound. Combining, metal with opera with country and at times electric overlay vocals, the album was very different and after the first listen grew on me immediately! A7X have had tribute albums made to them already by the string quartet and they have even created many cover songs including Iron Maiden's "Flash of the Blade", Pantera's "Walk" and are planning on recording a Black Sabbath cover of "Paranoid" for 2009. They have made 2 DVDs which show their powerful live show and presence on stage and it proves how talented the band is. The band's logo (see above for pic) is known as "The Deathbat" and was created by one of their friends at school. Before I leave you with song recommendations let me just explain where the band got their name from. Their name comes from the Book of Genesis in the Bible where Cain is sentenced to life in exile for murder of his brother. God said nobody could kill him and that he would have to live with his sin and the man who would kill him would suffer "vengeance seven times over". This story is described in the A7X song "Chapter 4" which refers to Chapter 4 of Genesis. The song "Beast and the Harlot" also comes from the Bible, in the Book of Revelation and is written in first person and refers to punishment of Babylon The Great. World Empire and Seat of False Religion. The album "Sounding The Seventh Trumpet" also comes from The Book of Revelation and refers to the last trumpet (7th) sound which would signify the end of the world. Biblical references are also made in the song "The Wicked End". However, even though there are many religious ideas based around the band they have stated themselves they are in no way a religious band. Avenged Sevenfold were major fans of Pantera and even covered "Walk". However one of their best songs is called "Betrayed" and tells the story of Dimebag through Dimebag's eyes and through the killer's eyes. Check it out and check out the rest of these songs by one the best heavy metal bands of today! peace! x
"Unholy Confessions", "Eternal Rest", "To End the Rapture", "Sidewinder", "Seize The Day", "Bat Country", "Scream", "Afterlife", "A Little Piece of Heaven" (must check this one out! Unbelievably good masterpiece)

Elvis + Jim Morrison + Evil = DANZIG!

Glenn Danzig (born Glenn Anzalone on June 23rd 1955) is a super talented man also referred to as "Evil Elvis" and "The Other Man In Black". He is the founder of the bands "Misfits" and "Samhain" (who eventually changed their name to Danzig and so is sometimes referred to as a 3rd band simply entitled "Danzig"). In addition to this he owns his own record label "Evilive" and also founded "Plan 9 Records"(1977-1995) which got it's name from the Edward D. Wood Jr. Sci-Fi movie "Plan 9 From Outer Space". Danzig was born to a New Jersey Protestant family of Italian, German and Scottish-American heritage. He graduated from Lodi High School in 1973 hoping to become a comic book writer and/or photographer. He later became a comic book writer and has his own adult comic book publishing company, Verotik (www.danzig-verotik.com). He was introduced to metal by one of his brothers who showed him "Blue Cheer" and influenced him. He got involved in the music business as a drum roadie and local bass player at the age of 11. Then one day he tried out his vocals and impressed everyone. He then played in several local bands as vocalist, including "Talus", "Whodat" and "Boojang", covering Black Sabbath songs and also doing originals. He started "Misfits" aged 21. He has written countless brilliant songs over the years and even wrote "Life Fades Away" for Roy Orbison and the song "Thirteen" for Johnny Cash (He also wrote "Come to Silver" for Cash but he left American Records and couldn't give Cash the song). Danzig is one of my favourite artists because of his style, range and lyrical content. From the horror punk/fiendcore sound of "Misfits" to the gothic, heavier sound of "Samhain" to the heavy metal and blues style of "Danzig". He even created an industrial rock album called Blackacidevil under the band "Danzig"(which some fans love and some hate since it's very unusual to hear this sort of sound from Danzig). Danzig eventually broke into the mainstream in 1993-1994 when MTV played his video for "Mother" even though the song had been recorded originally 6 years earlier! I believe Danzig is a legend because he has created some of the best music ever heard (although rumours and evidence from many sources including youtube and split up with bandmates shows that he is probably an asshole even though I believe him to be awesome no matter what). Most recently, "Mother" was played over the adverts for the new terminator movie with Christian Bale in America. Please check out my recommendations:
1. Misfits....."see previous post" but also : "Skulls", "20 Eyes", "Nike-A-Go-Go", "Astro Zombies"
2. Samhain....."Archangel" and "All Murder, All Guts, All Fun"
3. Danzig....."Mother", "Am I Demon", "She Rides", "I'm The One" (Think about Evil Elvis now), "Twist of Cain", "Blood and Tears"

I Got Something To Say!

This article will be on the Misfits. Danzig will feature shortly but I felt I had to write about Misfits before Danzig solo. So Misfits were a band from the 1970s and they still play these days with line-up changes. Their name came from Marilyn Monroe's movie "The Misfits". They created a genre known as horror punk and the theme of their songs were from B-movies, horror and sci-fi material. The founder of the band was lead singer, Glenn Danzig (From Scottish-American heritage (I will give more detail when I write about him specifically)) and he really made me fall in love with the band. As my bro Donn says, he brought an opera like style in vocals to punk and it was kick ass. The bassist Jerry Caiafa/Jerry Only (the name came from Misfits first record, released without Jerry's second name on it and so he wanted to be called "Jerry....Only Jerry") was the only (excuse the pun) member to stay with the band through all the years and now he still remains in the band with other punk rock veterans on other instruments (including members of Black Flag). Misfits are a very important band as they influenced punk rock and metal. Metallica covered them (an immense influence, especially to legend Cliff Burton), Lamb of God vocalist has been seen wearing Misfits merchandise, A.F.I. are heavily influenced by them and Avenged Sevenfold, Pantera and many other bands all cite them as influential. The Japanese rock band, "Balzac" are particularly Misfits followers as you can see on their videos. Misfits have countless brilliant songs and well Danzig made this band extra special for me so the feature on Glenn Danzig later will give more details about him. Check out the following songs : Last Caress (a cool piece of rare footage with metallica and danzig doing this song!), Die Die My Darling, Where Eagles Dare, Halloween. I am sorry I won't mention stuff by Misfits of today as much. It's just, for me, Danzig was and is the shit and so once he left the band in 1983 I believe, I didn't want to listen anymore. Instead I followed Samhain and Danzig :D. Take care, peace x

A Metal Militia

Metallica....so how to start writing about this incredible band? Well they started in 1981 and Lars Ulrich could be described as the founder. They started with guitarist dave mustaine (now of Megadeth) and then James Hetfield and bassist Ron McGovney. They were an alcohol fuelled metal machine and soon recruited the best bass player in the world that ever lived....the amazing Cliff Burton. They also took up Kirk Hammett from Exodus on lead guitar as there were too many issues with Dave. Megadeth went onto continued success with thrashing rhythmns, "evil" lyrics and vocals with atttitude but never claimed the success Metallica did. The album Kill em all was released and an absolute killer!. The album to me defines thrash metal. Hyperspeed rhythmn, blazing solos and James Hetfield screaming his young lungs out with attitude and aggression. The album is so good and real it feels like you are getting sweat on you from the pure aggression coming from the band. They then released Ride the Lightning another amazing album which includes Creeping Death which was covered my Machine Head excellently. Metallica were amazing. Good lyrics, strong vocals, lightning guitar with brilliant melody and Lars on the drums (who I have heard many drummers say, is very hard to replicate his style). Metallica then created the best metal album of all time in many people's opinions "Master of Puppets". This album defines the band at it's peak. Heavy riffs, speed guitar, melody, sick bass and more grown up vocals from Hetfield. Kerrang magazine created a "Master of Puppets Covers" cd which included Machine Head on Battery. Sad news followed. After a show in Sweden, a bus crash killed Cliff Burton. The bus landed on him and when it was lifted off it was dropped by accident again on top of him confirming his death. It is known as one of the saddest days of Metal. Jason Newsted was recruited in his place. He was a Metallica fan himself and worked his ass of for the band but was bullied because the rest of the band missed Cliff so much. ....And Justice for All was then released which was also an immense album and Metallica success continued. Metallica have continued to make good albums until today although I the material after "the black album" is not near as impressive as the period before. They released Death Magnetic in 2008 and it is pretty good I must say. Solos are back, vocals sound good (although James's vocals are getting stretched to the limit) and Robert Trujillo who filled in on bass is fantastic. I love this band so much because they started everything themselves. From young drunk teenagers to Gods of Metal, producing many brilliant cds, winning Grammy Awards and still being a major name in the business. I know this seems quite rushed but it is hard to make a short article on this band. If you like it please ask for requests maybe from certain Metallica eras or albums and I will write about them again more specifically. My last piece of advice is to go see this band live. When you see them work the stage you will see why they are the powerhouse they are today.
Favourite songs to check out are fade to black, one, battery, disposable heroes, seek and destroy and let's say....creeping death!
P.S. Check out Metallica with Symphony....that just shows what this band is capable of!