Showing 1 - 25 of 96
Artist: The Beatles
So much has been said and written about the Beatles -- and their story is so mythic in its sweep -- that it's difficult to summarize their career without restating clichés that have already been digested by tens of millions of rock fans. To start with the obvious, they were the greatest and most influential act of the rock era, and introduced... [+] Read More
Artist: Prince
Few artists have created a body of work as rich and varied as Prince. During the '80s, he emerged as one of the most singular talents of the rock & roll era, capable of seamlessly tying together pop, funk, folk, and rock. Not only did he release a series of groundbreaking albums; he toured frequently, produced albums and wrote songs for many... [+] Read More
Artist: Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath has been so influential in the development of heavy metal rock music as to be a defining force in the style. The group took the blues-rock sound of late '60s acts like Cream, Blue Cheer, and Vanilla Fudge to its logical conclusion, slowing the tempo, accentuating the bass, and emphasizing screaming guitar solos and howled vocals... [+] Read More
Artist: Dr. Dre
More than any other rapper, Dr. Dre was responsible for moving away from the avant-noise and political stance of Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions as well as the party vibes of old-school rap. Instead, Dre pioneered gangsta rap and his own variation of the sound, G-funk. BDP's early albums were hardcore but cautionary tales of the... [+] Read More
Artist: B2K
Urban boy band B2K broke into the pop market in early 2002 with "Uh Huh," a fun song driven by more-dance-than-hip-hop beats and a hot delivery, downright sexy for four young innocent-looking men. The single's success drew attention toward the group's self-titled debut album and group members Omarion, Raz-B, Lil Fizz, and J-Boog. Epic Records,... [+] Read More
Artist: Little Big Town
The country vocal quartet Little Big Town began with Kimberly Roads and Karen Fairchild, both from Georgia, who began singing together in college. Arkansan Jimi Westbrook, a friend of Fairchild's husband, joined them to make a trio and the group was completed in 1998 by Phil Sweet, another native of Arkansas. Little Big Town was devoted to... [+] Read More
Artist: Posey Rorer
String band fiddler Posey Rorer was born on September 22, 1891, in Franklin County, Virginia. The brother in law of banjo player Charlie Poole, Rorer was a key part of Poole's North Country Ramblers until 1928, when a disagreement with Poole led to Lonnie William Austin taking over the fiddle spot in the band. Rorer was an in-demand Virginia... [+] Read More
Artist: Caledonia
Gloomy and darkly melodic, Caledonia was a promising but obscure goth-rock/alternative rock band that was active in New York in the late 1990s. Caledonia started playing the Manhattan club scene in 1996, when the half-female, half-male quartet outfit consisted of lead singer Mikaela Pearson, guitarist Scott Varol, bassist Kit E. Hawke and... [+] Read More
Artist: Scheer
Alternative metal band Scheer formed in Northern Ireland in 1993. Bringing together Audrey Gallagher (vocals), Neal Calderwood (guitar), Joe Bates (drums), Paddy Leyden (guitar) and Peter Fleming (bass), the band experienced some success in the late 1990s. After spending a few playing small venues around Ireland, the band were signed by the... [+] Read More
Artist: The Sisters of Mercy
One of England's leading "goth" bands of the 1980s, the Sisters of Mercy play a slow, gloomy, ponderous hybrid of metal and psychedelia, often incorporating dance beats; the one constant in the band's career has been deep-voiced singer Andrew Eldritch. (There is some disagreement as to whether the group took its name from an order of Catholic... [+] Read More
Artist: Choppa
The energetic and physically chiseled rapper Choppa was born and raised in New Orleans. As a teenager he worked on his lyrical skills as a hobby but all the while he felt his destiny was in professional sports. Disagreements with his high-school football coach steered him away from sports and Choppa started taking his rap skills seriously. An... [+] Read More
Artist: The Tuesdays
A short-lived but enjoyable group, the Tuesdays were Norway's answer to Different Light-era Bangles, balancing indie-style guitar pop hooks and commercial gloss. The group formed in 1990 as a high school cover band called No Limits in their hometown of Larvik, Norway. The group, which included guitarist Hege Solli, keyboardist Kristin Werner,... [+] Read More
Artist: Bluemolly
Bluemolly's first appearances go back to the mid-'90s, then using the name Ed's Too Short. Releasing their debut album on Birdcage Records and gaining a considerable following, Ed's Too Short embarked on an extensive touring season across the Southwest. However, following varied creative disagreements, the ensemble decided to split ways in 1998.... [+] Read More
Artist: Flynet
Exploring additional experimental fields in the metal style, Flynet assembled in 1997 in Manchester, NH, with Adam Fithian (vocals), Dan Saunders (guitar), Jason Luscher (bass), and Brian Miller (drums). Expanding their raging sounds beyond untamed marks of alternative metal, the team started gathering a considerable fan base from the very start... [+] Read More
Artist: SHEECK
Sheeck has been in the Hip Hop game since the 80's. He was an original member of the infamous group Above The Law, doing production on several tracks and having a highly influential impact on the group. Due to contractual disagreements, Sheeck and Above The Law parted ways as a group. As Above The Law continued on, Sheeck stayed busy behind... [+] Read More
Artist: BEZZLE
The 18-year-old born Terrance B. Doucet in the projects of downtown Charleston, South Carolina is the poster child of his area. Growing up in this crime infested area he has been introduced to a lot of things that challenged him as he grow into a man. He lived with his mom in a two bed room apartment who worked three jobs to provide for him and... [+] Read More
Artist: Goatlord
Goatlord was a short-lived but influential, sludgy, and doomy (i.e., slow) death metal band from Las Vegas, NV, featuring Ace Still (vocals), Joe Frankulin (guitar), Jeff Schwob (bass/vocals), and Jeff Nardone (drums). Formed in 1985, the band recorded several demos (including 1988's Sodomize the Goat) on their way to 1991's watershed... [+] Read More
Artist: Terry Kirkman
Born in Salina, Kansas, Terry Kirkman went to California to study music and turned professional in the wake of a chance meeting with guitarist Jules Alexander. They put together a 13-member group that quickly fell apart in a disagreement over direction, and managed to keep the remaining six-man line-up together as the Association. A prodigious... [+] Read More
Artist: Crowcuss
Crowcuss formed in 1976 with the help of a few talented guys who had already left their mark on rock history with groups like the Guess Who. Members of Crowcuss included lead singer and bassist Bill Wallace, guitarist Greg Leskiw, singer and drummer Marc LaFrance, and keyboardists Larry Pink and Hermann Fruhm. Within a couple of years, Leskiw... [+] Read More
Artist: Aggression
Briefly calling themselves Asylum, Canadian thrash metal band Aggression was formed in Quebec, in 1985, and recorded their first, four-track demo the following year, eventually being invited to participate on underground metal compilations like Greenworld's Records' Speed Metal Hell II and the New Renaissance label's Thrash Metal Attack. Less... [+] Read More
Artist: Cosmicity
Cosmicity is not a band; it's merely one person. Mark Nicholas, the only member of Cosmicity, attended the University of Michigan School of Music in the early '90s. Before Cosmicity, Nicholas was involved with various groups, one of which was a Top 40 outfit called Backdoor that utilized four female backup vocalists. Nicholas then trimmed the... [+] Read More
Artist: Mutiny
George Clinton's funk empire was not without its disagreements over money and control, and drummer Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey's Mutiny project was a direct result of just such a disagreement, as well as one of the more notable offshoots of the P-Funk axis. Brailey had come to P-Funk from gigs with the Five Stairsteps and the Chambers Brothers,... [+] Read More
Artist: Staind
It has been said that first impressions last a lifetime. Luckily for Staind, some only last for about 45 minutes. After a volatile disagreement with Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst over some of Staind's early cover art, it seemed their big break had walked out the door. Fortunately, by the time Durst had witnessed Staind's intense live show, he was... [+] Read More
Artist: Cock Sparrer
One of the first Oi! bands, Cock Sparrer was playing loud, raw, Cockney working-class anthems as early as the first wave of British punk, although record company difficulties prevented them from issuing much material until the early '80s, when the Oi!movement was well underway. The group formed in London's East End in 1975, originally as a... [+] Read More
Artist: Coal Chamber
Coal Chamber broke out of the Los Angeles alternative metal scene in 1997 with a sound often compared to Korn, although both bands formed around the same time and are quality representations of the scene's overall sound -- the heavy, detuned guitars of the murkiest Black Sabbath, grungy, noisy textures reminiscent of White Zombie or Tool, the... [+] Read More
