"Hoobastank,The Fray,Nickelback"

Nickelback

Few bands did more than Nickelback to establish the force of slick, commercially minded post-grunge in the 2000s. Led by vocalist Chad Kroeger, the band initially emerged in the late '90s as Canada's answer to Creed, prizing a blend of gruff vocals and distorted (yet radio-friendly) guitars. After a handful of singles failed to gain much traction in Canada, "How You Remind Me" caught hold in 2001, eventually topping the charts in several countries while gathering four Grammy nominations and four Juno Awards. Creed imploded several years later, but Nickelback's popularity only grew as the decade progressed, effectively eclipsing those acts that had once informed the band's sound.



Chad Kroeger honed his frontman skills by performing with cover bands in Hanna, a small Canadian town 215 kilometers northeast of Calgary. After growing tired of playing other people's songs, he borrowed money from his stepfather and relocated to Vancouver, where he recorded his first batch of original material. Mike Kroeger, Chad's bass-playing sibling, decided to join his brother's band, as did fellow Vancouver transplants Ryan Peake (a guitarist who had befriended the Kroegers in middle school) and Ryan Vikedal (a drummer from Peake's hometown of Brooks, Alberta). Nickelback officially took shape in 1996 and quickly set to work, releasing two albums -- the Hesher EP and full-length album, Curb -- before the year was up. By 1998, the bandmates were managing themselves; Chad courted radio stations, brother Mike Kroeger handled distribution, Ryan Vikedal booked shows, and Peake maintained the band's website.



January 2000 saw the arrival of The State, Nickelback's second independent release. Issued at a time in which Canadian content requirements were increased (and, accordingly, local radio stations had begun to desperately seek out homegrown product), the album fared very well on indie charts. Nickelback toured ceaselessly in support of The State, logging approximately 200 shows while playing alongside other groups of the burgeoning post-grunge genre. Nickelback's commercial appeal wasn't lost on the record industry, either, and The State's distribution rights were quickly snapped up by Roadrunner Records in the U.S. and EMI in Canada. As the band continued to tour, Chad Kroeger kept writing new songs, many of which were honed in front of live audiences. Much of that material found its way onto Silver Side Up, which was produced by Rick Parashar (who came to prominence in the early '90s by helming Pearl Jam's Ten, Alice in Chains' Sap, and Blind Melon's self-titled debut) and recorded at Green House, the same Vancouver studio used during The State's creation. The combination of Nickelback's growing popularity and Kroeger's focused songwriting propelled Silver Side Up onto album charts across the world, spearheaded by the hit single "How You Remind Me." Kroeger capitalized on that exposure by producing another Vancouver-based band, Default, and collaborating with Saliva's Josey Scott for the Spiderman soundtrack. The Long Road then arrived in 2003, featuring an increasingly polished sound and another high-charting single, "Someday." While some listeners criticized the apparent similarities between "Someday" and "How You Remind Me," The Long Road had little trouble maintaining Nickelback's wide audience, eventually selling over five million copies worldwide.

In February 2005, Nickelback announced the departure of Ryan Vikedal. He was soon replaced by 3 Doors Down's former drummer, Daniel Adair, and Nickelback returned to Kroeger's studio in Vancouver to begin work on another album. ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and Pantera's Dimebag Darrell (who unfortunately died before the album's release) were guests on the chart-topping All The Right Reasons, which arrived in October 2005. The album proved to be Nickelback's most popular effort to date, remaining in the Billboard Top 30 for over two years and selling over 7 million copies in the U.S. alone. It also spawned five Top 20 singles, a feat that attracted the attention of veteran producer (and demonstrated hit-maker) Mutt Lange. Nickelback traveled to Lange's home in Switzerland to share songwriting ideas : impressed with the results, they also enlisted him to helm their next album. Recorded in a converted Vancouver barn, Dark Horse marked the band's sixth studio album upon its release in November 2008. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide

The Fray

Denver-based band the Fray was formed in 2002 by Isaac Slade (vocals, piano) and Joe King (guitar, vocals) when the two former school friends met up again in a local music store. They soon began regular two-man jam sessions that led to writing songs and devising a style pitched between the arena-friendly style of U2 and the authentic rock of bands like Counting Crows. Rounding out the lineup with two former bandmates of Slade's drummer Ben Wysocki and guitarist Dave Welsh, the Fray began playing shows in the Denver area. Their popularity grew quickly and their first demo recordings became local radio faves and the band was voted Best New Band by Denver's Westword Magazine. This all led to them being signed by Epic Records in 2004. Their debut album, How to Save a Life, was released in September of 2005. Hoobastank Hoobastank (also colloquially referred to as "Hooba" or "Who The Stank") is a rock band best known for their crossover hit "THE REASON" (2003) and by their continued success in the modern rock market. Early Carrer Hoobastank formed in the Los Angeles County suburb Agoura Hills in 1994. According to drummer Chris Hesse, vocalist Doug Robb had known guitarist Dan Estrin for some time before competing against him in a high school battle of the bands competition and subsequently, they decided to form a band.[1] They then recruited Markku Lappalainen and Hesse to form Hoobastank, which at the time was spelled Hoobustank (pronounced the same way as "Hoobastank"). In an interview with Launch Yahoo!, Doug Robb said the name had no particular meaning: "You're going to ask me what it means. It doesn't mean anything. And it's really cool, it's one of those old high school inside-joke words that didn't really mean anything."[2] Rob Bourdon, Mike Shinoda, and Brad Delson of Linkin Park attended the same high school, Agoura High School, as the members of Hoobastank. Hoobastank started playing gigs in their local area, the band started out in Cobalt Cafe along with Linkin Park, Incubus, Avenged Sevenfold and others. They recorded their first full-length self-released album in 1998 called They Sure Don't Make Basketball Shorts Like They Used To. It featured a unique saxophone section headed by Jeremy Wasser, who executive produced said album and recorded the Summer Romance saxophone solo on Incubus' S.C.I.E.N.C.E. album. By this stage, Hoobastank had developed a strong reputation in Southern California. This attracted interest from Island Records, who subsequently signed the band in 2000. The band's reputation continued to grow on tours with the similar sounding band Incubus. They covered a variety of songs, such as Rod Stewart's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" and Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Career success Hoobastank released their self-titled debut in November 2001. The first single was "Crawling in the Dark" which was a breakthrough hit reaching #68 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 on the modern rock chart, #7 on the mainstream rock chart[3] and #1 on an MP3.com download chart in early 2002. The second single "Running Away" was even more successful reaching #44 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the modern rock chart, #9 on the mainstream rock chart and #3 on the MP3.com download chart. The Hoobastank album went platinum on the back of these hits and reached #25 on the Billboard 200 album charts and #1 on the Billboard Heatseeker chart. The album also achieved recognition internationally with the band touring in Europe and Asia in support of the record. "Remember Me" the third single was a moderate hit reaching #23 on the modern rock charts and #9 on the mainstream rock charts. The band also made a song titled "Losing My Grip" for the soundtrack of the movie The Scorpion King. The band entered the studio in 2003 with producer Howard Benson who has produced records by P.O.D., Blindside, Cold and The Crystal Method. However, recording was disrupted for a month when Dan Estrin was seriously injured in a freak minibike accident in August. Estrin had recovered by October and the band headed off on a Nokia Unwired Tour with the All-American Rejects and Ozomatli in November. Their second album The Reason was released in December 2003.It showcased a harder-edged vocal performance from Robb.The single "Same Direction" was made available for download on the band's website. Doug Robb says on the band's website: "A lot of it is about asking questions or questioning all that people see. It's not all about religion. "Out of Control" is about that and about opening your eyes after being blinded by being devoted to anything."[4] "Same Direction" would reach #9 on the US modern rock chart, #16 on the mainstream rock chart and #16 on a composite world modern rock chart (based on the US, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Canada and Australia).A year later, the Let It Out DVD collected the band's videos. The title track was released as a single in the first half of 2004. It became a massive hit reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100,[5] #1 on the US and world modern rock charts, #1 on a world airplay chart in May 2004 and #10 in Australia. The song was also played during the final episode of Friends In Canada, it spent 20 weeks at the top, setting a new record for most weeks at No. 1. The Reason received a new lease of life on the US album charts, reaching #3 on the Billboard 200. The band's international profile was increased by a support slot on Linkin Park's Meteora world tour in early 2004. Their third album Every Man for Himself was released in May 2006 and debuted at #12 on the Billboard chart. Three singles, "If I Were You", "Inside Of You" and "Born To Lead" have been released so far, all of which have fared poorly on the Rock charts. Despite this, the album has been certified Gold. On a 2005 co-headlining tour with Velvet Revolver, the band received a chilly reception from some audiences and rumors of a feud between Robb and VR frontman Scott Weiland were soon filling Internet message boards. "If I Were You," addressed the whole affair,[6] Dougg later said in an interview with MTV News online that he has nothing against Scott or any other member of Velvet Revolver [7] As of early 2007, Hoobastank toured in America, Asia, Australia and South Africa. The band went out to tour South Africa late April/early May for two days. They are now back in the states, working on their fifth album which is rumoured to come out late 2007, early 2008. Band members -Douglas Robb - Lead vocals and rhythm guitar -Dan Estrin - Lead guitar and backing vocals -Josh Moreau - Bass guitar and backing vocals -Chris Hesse - Drums and percussion Former members -Markku Lappalainen - Bass guitar (1997-2005) -Jeremy Wasser - Saxophone (Basketball Shorts only) -Derek Kwan - Saxophone (1997-1999)