Agnostic Front

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not adequately cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!)
Any material not supported by sources may be challenged and removed at any time. This article has been tagged since March 2007.
Agnostic Front
Background information
Origin New York City, USA
Genre(s) Hardcore punk
Crossover thrash
Years active 1982-Present
Label(s) Nuclear Blast Records
Members
Roger Miret
Vinnie Stigma
Joe James
Mike Gallo
Steve Gallo
Former members
Louie Beatto
Ray Beez
Jim Colletti
Lenny Di Sclafani
Matt Henderson
Dave Jones
Rob Kabula
Alex Kinon
Steve Martin
Adam Moochie
Alan Peters
Craig Setari
Will Shepler

Agnostic Front are a New York hardcore punk and crossover thrash band formed in New York City in 1982.

Contents

[edit] History

Formed by guitarist Vinnie Stigma (formerly of the Eliminators) in November/December 1980 with Diego on Bass and Rob Krekus on drums. Agnostic Front went through a few singers, two of them being John Watson and Jimmy the Russian before settling with Roger Miret (formerly of the Psychos). They soon added Ray Barbieri (aka Raybeez) on drums and Adam Moochie on bass. Their debut EP United Blood, released in 1983 on an indie label, has since become a collector's item.

The follow-up was Victim in Pain (1984) and is regarded as a seminal New York hardcore release. Dave Jones replaced Ray Barbieri on drums and Rob Kabula on Bass. In 1984 Jim "the Kid" Colleti joined on drums. The album pushed the band to the forefront of New York's fledgling hardcore scene, which was centered around CBGB's, where they played with bands like The Cro-Mags and Murphy's Law.

1986's Cause for Alarm was a difficult album to record, due to constant line-up changes and personnel problems. Released on Combat Records, it added thrash metal influences. With other bands such as Suicidal Tendencies and Stormtroopers of Death, this album would mark AF's foray into the world of crossover thrash. With yet another new lineup, the band soon released Liberty and Justice for... in 1987.The album featured stripped down punk with a lack of thrash influences, yet it contained many metal-style guitar solos. It was a failure compared to previous record sales, only. Sometime later, Miret was arrested on drug charges after releasing a live album, and spent his time in prison writing new songs while Stigma and the band toured Europe for the first time. The lyrics written by Miret while incarcerated formed most of 1992's One Voice, which featured members of Madball and Sick of It All. Not long after its release, the band decided to call it quits. Their last concert was at CBGB in 1993; Last Warning, which was also released with United Blood E.P on the end of the release. Vinnie Stigma apparently remarked that he hated Last Warning.

Stigma and Miret reformed Agnostic Front in 1997, signing to Epitaph Records and recruiting Jimmy Colletti on drums and Rob Kabula on bass who was playing with Against The Grain at the time. Their latest venture was titled Something's Gotta Give, although Miret announced in the UK the original title would be Today, Tomorrow, Forever. In 1999, they followed up with Riot, Riot, Upstart which was also hailed by critics. Their comeback albums have sold well and been mostly acclaimed by music critics for their pure hardcore punk/oi! sound. In 2001 they released the album Dead Yuppies. Songs from this album were rarely played live, as the band considered it more a product of Loved and Hated, Jimmy Colletti's side-project bands. In 2002, Miret worked on a side project band, Roger Miret and the Disasters, looking for a sound akin to old school punk rock and Oi!.

Agnostic Front came out in 2005 with their latest album, Another Voice. The album was regarded mainly as a follow up to One Voice. The album, however, did receive some criticism from fans and the press for apparently changing their music to fit the current wave of 'tough guy' bands. Musically, the album bears resemblance to bands that were heavily influenced by Agnostic Front, such as Hatebreed. Miret's vocals on the album particularly seemed to turn off many less hardcore punk oriented fans. Later, the track "Peace" was contributed to the mashup album Threat: Music That Inspired The Movie, where it was remixed by Schizoid and renamed "World At War."

On March 7, 2006, Agnostic Front released their long-awaited DVD "Live at CBGB". This follows the efforts of many bands that tried to save CBGB from shutting down.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums/EPs

[edit] DVD/VHS

  • Live at CBGB's DVD 2006
  • CBGB's Punk From the Bowery

[edit] Members

[edit] Current members

[edit] Former members

  • Robbie Krekus - Drums
  • Joe "Fish" Montenaro - Drums
  • Louie Beatto – Drums
  • Ray Beez – Drums
  • Jim Colletti – Drums
  • Lenny Di Sclafani – Guitar
  • Matt Henderson – Guitar
  • Dave Jones – Drums
  • Rob Kabula – Bass
  • Alex Kinon – Guitar
  • Steve Martin – Guitar
  • Gordon Ancis - Guitar
  • Diego - Bass
  • Adam Moochie – Bass
  • Alan Peters – Bass
  • Craig Setari – Bass
  • Will Shepler – Drums
  • Jimmy the Russian - Vocals
  • John Watson - Vocals

[edit] Trivia

Agnostic Front's most famous song is 'Crucified', which is incorrectly believed to be one of their own songs. The song is actually originally written by Iron Cross.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../a/g/n/Agnostic_Front_c9dd.html"