Music Review

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead was formed in late 1994 by singers/guitarists/drummers Jason Reece and Conrad Keely, longtime friends who originally met in Hawaii before both settled in the perennial indie hotbed of Olympia, WA (where Reece fronted the notorious Mukilteo Fairies). Upon relocating together to Austin, TX, the duo played their first shows as You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, eventually adding both the conjunction and the ellipsis as well as recruiting guitarist Kevin Allen and bassist/sampler Neil Busch. After issuing a live cassette on the local Golden Hour label, the group — already legendary in indie circles for their anarchic concert sets — released their self-titled full-length debut on Trance Syndicate in early 1998. Following the label’s collapse, AYWKUBTTOD moved to Merge to issue Madonna in the fall of 1999. After signing to Interscope, the band issued the formidable Source Tags & Codes in 2002, followed by The Secret of Elena’s Tomb EP in 2003. Worlds Apart, a prog rock-inspired epic, arrived early in 2005. Despite widespread acclaim for the album, its sales were disappointing, leading Keely to consider disbanding the group. However, he and the rest of …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead found inspiration in their frustration and bounced back with the full-length So Divided — which was initially conceived as an EP — in late 2006. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Raised in New York City, Anastacia came from an entertainment-oriented family: her father was a singer; her mother an actress in musical theater on Broadway. Despite being diagnosed with the chronic intestinal illness Crohn’s disease at age 13, she developed a career as a dancer, appearing on Club MTV and in such music videos as Salt-N-Pepa’s “Everybody Get Up” and “Twist and Shout.” In 1999, she was a finalist on the MTV talent contest show The Cut, which attracted the interest of record labels. She signed to the Daylight custom label of Sony Music’s Epic Records and recorded her debut album, Not That Kind, which was released internationally in 2000. Read the rest of this entry »

Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos) was one of several female singer/songwriters who combined the stark lyrical attack of alternative rock with a distinctly ’70s musical approach. Her music falls between the orchestrated meditations of Kate Bush and the stripped-down poetics of Joni Mitchell. In addition to reviving the singer/songwriter traditions of the ’70s, Amos revived the piano as a rock & roll instrument. With her 1992 album Little Earthquakes, Amos built a dedicated following that continued to expand with her second album, Under the Pink. Read the rest of this entry »

Amil is a female rapper from New York whose vocals were featured on the popular rap singles “Can I Get A…” and “Jigga What?” by Jay-Z. She is the child of a black father and a European/Cherokee mother, raised in all five boroughs of New York. Her earliest influences were classic rap groups, such as Run-D.M.C., who she would mimic and practice rapping over when she was young. When she was 12, Amil started rapping at talent shows, beginning her local popularity as a female rap artist. In 1997, she became part of the group Major Coins, through which she met rapper Jay-Z. At the time Jay-Z was recording his third album, Vol. 2 Hard Knock Life, and wanted one of the women in Major Coins to do vocals on the album. By chance, Amil accompanied the group member to the studio, and Jay-Z asked her to freestyle on the album. Soon after Major Coins broke up, Amil decided to follow a solo career. She became a part of the group associated with Jay-Z’s label, Roc-A-Fella, joining the 1999 Hard Knock Life Tour. After the tour she appeared as a guest on albums for Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, and Funkmaster Flex. Amil released her first solo project through Roc-A-Fella, All Money Is Legal, in late 2000. ~ Diana Potts, All Music Guide

Singer Amerie is the daughter of a Korean mother and an African-American father who was a career military member. She grew up on bases from Alaska to Germany, meanwhile gaining an appreciation of the classical arts from her mother and of R&B music from her father.

She studied dance from an early age and performed in talent contests throughout her youth. After her high school graduation, her family finally settled down in Virginia, while she began to attend Georgetown University, from which she later graduated with a degree in English and fine arts. While living in Washington, D.C., she met producer Rich Harrison, who worked with such performers as Mary J. Blige, and began developing demos with him. They led to a deal with Rise Entertainment and, in turn, Columbia Records. In the spring of 2002, Rise/Columbia released Amerie’s debut single, “Why Don’t We Fall in Love.” By the time her first album, All I Have, appeared that July, the single had reached the Top 20 of the R&B/hip-hop charts and the Top 40 of the pop charts. Her follow-up, Touch, was released in 2005, peaking at number five on the Billboard album chart while yielding the number one single “1 Thing.” Because I Love It, her third album, followed in 2007. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Drummer Stacy Jones already had his hand in rock & roll prior to his gig with American Hi-Fi. Having been a part of some of the 1990’s biggest alternative acts,Letters to Cleo and Veruca Salt, Jones turned his experience inside out for his own musical project. While working on Nina Gordon’s Tonight and the Rest of My Life solo album, Jones looked toward the vibrancy of Cheap Trick and cast the healthy rock sounds of American Hi-Fi. Jones, guitarist Jaime Arentzen, bassistDrew Parsons, and drummer Brian Nolan established home base in his native Boston and signed to Island to issue their eponymous debut in 2001. The album spawned the catchy radio single “Flavor of the Weak”, and was followed by plenty of touring, Live From Tokyo (2002), and Art of Losing (2003). And yet, soon after Losing’s release, Island gave American Hi-Fi the heave-ho. Undeterred, Jones moved Hi-Fi’s HQ to Los Angeles, hooked up with producer Butch Walker, and got to work recording a new record. Hearts on Parade was released in Japan first, and as they shopped for a domestic label Jones and his band went out on tour with Walker. Maverick eventually expressed interest, and Parade was issued stateside in April 2005. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide

Born out of a chance meeting in rehab between Cameron Heacock and Chad Hanks, Minneapolis-based industrial metal collective American Head Charge match their brutally executed music with their behavior. Heacock and Hanks, now known as Martin Cock and Mr. H.C. Banks III, formed AHC in the late ’90s, releasing their critically acclaimed debut, War of Art, in 2001. The record scored the band — which by then included guitarist Bryan Ottoson, keyboardist Justin Fowler, and drummer Christopher Emery –

a coveted slot on that year’s Ozzfest tour, at which point thegroup splintered into a violent, drug-fueled nonentity that became known more for its on-stage/backstage mayhem than for its excellent musicianship. As the year progressed, the bandmembers, despite frequent trips back to rehab and the occasional near-suicidal meltdown, managed to continue to filter their rage into creativity, resulting in their 2005 ambitious sophomore effort, Feeding, their first for the Nitrus/DRT label. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide

America was a light folk-rock act of the early ’70s who had several Top Ten hits, including the number ones “A Horse with No Name” and “Sister Golden Hair.” Vocalists/guitarists Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek, and Gerry Beckley met while they were still in high school in the late ’60s; all three were sons of U.S. Air Force officers who were stationed in the U.K. After they completed school in 1970, they formed an acoustic folk-rock quartet called Daze in London, which was soon pared down to the trio of Bunnell, Peek, and Beckley. Adopting the name America, the group landed a contract with Jeff Dexter, a promoter for the Roundhouse concert venue. Dexter had America open for several major artists and the group soon signed with Warner Bros. Records. By the fall of 1970, the group was recording their debut album in London, with producers Ian Samwell and Jeff Dexter. Read the rest of this entry »

French-born pop singer Amanda started getting involved in music after her family settled in Taby, Sweden. While taking dance classes, the artist joined the musical The Sound of Music, and was soon singing “Little Stars” at Gottenburg’s World Athletic Games. Amanda became the first young female pop act to sign with Madonna’s Maverick Records, making her professional debut with “You Don’t Stand a Chance,” from Rugrats in Paris’ movie soundtrack. In the year 2000 the singer recorded her debut album, called Everybody Doesn’t. ~ Drago Bonacich, All Music Guide

The evolution of Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall as artists is marked with the debut of Alter Bridge. After selling 30 million albums worldwide, Creed has called it quits and its members have chosen to pursue new creative directions. Over three albums, Creed achieved countless industry accolades, had two No. 1 albums, and played to millions of fans around the world. Guitarist/ songwriter Mark Tremonti states, “After all Creed achieved professionally, I felt that I needed to refocus on the goals that I had personally. One of those goals was to get back to my rock and roll roots. After Creed took a break, band-mate Scott Phillips and I started to jam together again and realized that we both shared the same vision and were surprisingly anxious to get back out there and start doing it again.” The evolution continued when original Creed bassist Brian Marshall, who was not part of Creed’s Weathered album and had been working as a musician/ producer at his home studio, got a call from Tremonti. “When I got the call from Mark I could tell by the tone of his voice that Alter Bridge was something that he was really excited about and I immediately knew that I wanted to be a part of it. He told me, ‘Your bass playing matches the sound more than any other, you’re the guy’, he told me. It’s great to be working with those guys again, we haven’t skipped a beat,” Marshall notes. Read the rest of this entry »