Lostprophets
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lostprophets | ||
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 Lostprophets in 2006
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  Pontypridd, South Wales |
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| Genre(s) | Alternative metal Alternative rock Hard rock |
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| Years active | 1997-present | |
| Label(s) | Sony BMG Music Entertainment Columbia Records Visible Noise |
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| Website | www.lostprophets.com | |
| Members | ||
| Ian Watkins Jamie Oliver Stuart Richardson Lee Gaze Mike Lewis Ilan Rubin |
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| Former members | ||
| DJ Stepzak Mike Chiplin |
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Lostprophets are a Welsh rock band formed in 1997. They have produced several demos (none of which are still produced commercially), three studio albums and ten singles. Their first album, thefakesoundofprogress, was originally recorded in a week for £5000 and intended as a glorified demo,[1] but the band re-recorded and re-released the album on a much wider scale through Columbia Records in the USA, although they remain with Visible Noise in the UK. They released Start Something in 2004, and Liberation Transmission in 2006, both to mixed reviews and commercial success.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Early years (1997–2000)
The band formed in 1997 in the Welsh town of Pontypridd near Cardiff, the capital of Wales. Pontypridd was also the birthplace of Tom Jones. Lostprophets formed with the break-up of Public Disturbance, which featured drummer Ian Watkins and guitarist Mike Lewis. With Watkins taking over vocal duties, the band recruited guitarist Mike Chiplin, who would later take over on drums, and guitarist Lee Gaze. The band is named after a bootleg recording of a 1988 Duran Duran concert in Italy.[2]
Lostprophets started out as part of the fledgling south Wales hardcore scene, under the original spelling of the name - Lozt Prophetz, playing gigs at venues across Wales including T.J.'s in Newport. From there, they went on to conduct tours on the UK's toilet circuit.
The band released several early demos, on which they experimented with their sound extensively. Their first known recording, Here Comes The Party, featured ska-like brass instrumentation on some tracks, as well as the novelty of frontman Ian Watkins rapping. As the band refined their sound, the rapping was quickly abandoned, though a strong hip hop influence remains evident in the band's sound.
The band recorded two other demos during this time; Para Todas las Putas Celosas, which translates as "For all the jealous whores," and "The Fake Sound of Progress". Several tracks from their third demo were refined and re-recorded for the release of their debut album of the same name, including the title track and "Moac Supreme" ("A Thousand Apologies"). These are all currently out of print.
The band caught the attention of Kerrang! magazine, and were offered a gig in London. Independent label Visible Noise, subsequently offered an opportunity to record a single. The band spent most of 1999 working on new material with Stuart Richardson, who had joined the band as a bass player.
[edit] thefakesoundofprogress (2000–2002)
In February 2000, they signed with Visible Noise. The band's first album thefakesoundofprogress was then released through the label in July. Recorded in less than two weeks for a mere £5000[3] the record drew on a wide range of influences. Arguably inspired by Refused's final album The Shape of Punk to Come, released the year before Lostprophets began working on material for their debut album. Soon after the album's completion, musician Jamie Oliver joined the band.
thefakesoundofprogress featured many references to 1980s pop-culture. In addition to the Duran Duran reference in the band's name, there was an image of Vengar from the Dungeons & Dragons TV series on the album liner notes, as well as song titles like "Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja" and "Kobrakai". The first song's title was a reference to the video games Shinobi and Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja, while the second was an alternative spelling of Cobra Kai, the name of the karate dojo in the Karate Kid movies. Another reference is the use of the VF-1 Valkyrie in Battroid mode from the 1982 anime The Super Dimension Fortress Macross as part of the album illustration.
Q Prime management, who represent such acts as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica assisted the band in courting America's top major labels. In an interview[citation needed], the band jokingly remarked that one American showcase gig was so crowded with major label bigwigs that should the venue have been targeted by terrorists, the entire American music industry would have collapsed overnight. Eventually, the band chose to sign with Columbia, a division of Sony Records, though in the UK their records continue to be released through Visible Noise.
The band worked with renowned producer Michael Barbiero to re-record their Visible Noise debut, and the retooled version of thefakesoundofprogress was released in October 2001 and was dedicated to Steve Cookson, a fan who died in a car crash enroute to a Lostprophets gig. The album appears to have divided the band's existing fan base where the first accusations of selling out were levelled at the band from the underground music scene within which they achieved their first success[citation needed].
During this period, Lostprophets built up a strong live following with support slots to popular acts such as Linkin Park, Deftones and Taproot, as well as several headlining stints of their own. They also took part in the successful Nu-Titans tour with Defenestration among other new UK Metal acts of the time.
Headlining the 2002 Deconstruction festival in London, Lostprophets headlined a bill consisting of underground punk bands, and their appearance allegedly[citation needed] provoked hostility from fans of many of these bands' fans, who were both upset at the fact Lostprophets were headlining.
The band subsequently toured with Ozzfest, played at Glastonbury and the Reading and Leeds Festival. They also appeared on a number of British TV shows, including Top of the Pops, CD:UK and Never Mind The Buzzcocks. They also performed as part of the 2002 NME Awards tour.
[edit] Start Something (2003–2004)
After the extensive touring cycle for thefakesoundofprogress finally ended, the band took a brief break before beginning the process of writing new material at Frontline Studios in Caerphilly, Wales. They then entered LA's Bigfoot Studio for a recording process that lasted from March until September 2003, with producer Eric Valentine. Valentine had previously produced albums for Queens of the Stone Age and Good Charlotte.
The first most fans heard from the album was the song "Burn Burn", the music video for which began receiving heavy rotation on satellite channels like MTV2, Kerrang! TV and Scuzz in the UK. The song attracted some criticism, however, as the opening bore a striking resemblance to "Mother Mary", a song from the band Far's Water and Solutions album. The band themselves even conceded in interviews that the singing pattern bore an undeniable similarity to the Adamski song "Killer"[citation needed].
The single was released on November 3, 2003, and was originally scheduled to be closely followed by the release of the album. The release of the album was delayed several times and a headlining tour of the UK, was also postponed during this time. The band rescheduled the cancelled UK shows, with the exception of their scheduled appearance at the Reading and Leeds Festivals, stating in magazine interviews that honouring those commitments would have meant leaving the recording studio while the album was only half completed.
The album was released in the UK on February 2, 2004, and was commercially successful, achieving number four in the UK Albums Chart. The critical response from mainstream magazines was positive, though the response from rock publications such as Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and Rock Sound was tepid.
To promote the album, they toured North America, Europe and, as part of the Big Day Out festival, Australia.
The second single to be released was "Last Train Home". It was a number-one song on US Modern Rock Tracks radio play chart for one week, and reached number eight in the UK charts.
The tour for this record culminated in a sold out show on November 21, 2004, at Cardiff International Arena
In addition, "To Hell We Ride" appeared in the EA Games video game Need For Speed: Underground - although it was displayed simply as 'Ride'
The title track song "Start Something" was featured for ads for the 2006 film Annapolis.
[edit] Liberation Transmission (2006—2007)
On June 19, 2005, founding member Mike Chiplin left the group to pursue other musical opportunities. Since then, Mike Chiplin has joined another band called The Unsung. He has also opened up his own practice studio for young kids to start bands.
The remaining members began working on material for the next album. Due to the lengthy gap between thefakesoundofprogress and Start Something, and the backlash that grew against the band because of it, the remaining band members stated in various interviews that they wanted to release their third album as quickly as possible.
As with Start Something, the band wrote and recorded demo tracks for the album in a UK recording studio before completing the album in America.
Liberation Transmission was recorded in Hawaii, and saw the band work with Bob Rock. Drummer Josh Freese (of The Vandals and A Perfect Circle) joined the band for this album.
The band returned to their roots, playing a series of small venues across South Wales. They also played Give it a Name, a two-day event. These shows featured the first live appearance of 17 year-old Ilan Rubin on drums and the live premiere of songs Rooftops, A Town Called Hypocrisy and The New Transmission.
The album itself was released on June 26, 2006 (June 27 in the USA), and became the first Lostprophets album to reach number one in the UK album chart. The album has seen the band adopt a more contemporary indie sound with far less emphasis on screaming than previous releases (with one exception being opening track Everyday Combat, which features ex-When Reason Sleeps and current The Blackout vocalist Sean Smith). The bands comments in relation to the new album being similar to thefakesoundofprogress are something that have garnered them criticism from long-term fans, with the general consensus being that Liberation Transmission is a far greater departure from the bands origins as a hard rock band than previous offering Start Something. The band have listed The Cure and We Are Scientists as major inspirations for the sound on this album. While some point to this as evidence of the band changing their sound to maximise record sales, others say that the band have never made a secret of their love of popular music, with covers of bands such as Duran Duran and INXS being included as B-sides to some of their earliest singles, and also the fact that the band are named after a bootleg Duran Duran album. Watkins had previously stated that any band can create avant garde music, but it takes real talent to make good pop music that people will actually want to listen to while also staying true to yourself. The bands MySpace page reflects this change in direction, listing the band's genre as Rock/Alternative/New Wave.
Lostprophets began a full-fledged UK tour on July 3, 2006. As with their warm-up gigs prior to the album's release, the band selected South Wales-based support bands for this tour, such as The Guns, The Blackout, Covergirl, Dopamine and Kids in Glass Houses, most of who found themselves playing to the largest crowds of their careers.
The band followed this with another UK tour in November. The main support for this was Bring Me the Horizon. They will also be following their UK dates with a European tour in France, Germany, and several other countries. The main support for this will be from 'The Blackout'. They will be returning to the UK for an Arena tour in April 2007, from April 18 to 22nd. The scheduled venues are: Glasgow (SECC); Manchester (MEN ARENA); Birmingham (NIA)& London (Wembley Arena). Lostprophets will also be playing the Full Ponty festival in Wales on 26 May 2007. The support acts include very special guests Taking Back Sunday and Aiden.
At the Kerrang! Awards 2006, Lostprophets picked up awards for "Best Album" and "Best British Band".
The band recently began a competition in which fans have to create a video for The New Transmission. This has led to speculation that the song is the next single,[4] although this has not been confirmed by the band or the record label.
New pictures were added to the Lostprophets Myspace page on February 6, leading to speculation that a video for 4:am Forever was being shot. This speculation was confirmed when these shots can be seen as stills in the video. However, the two pictures of Ian Watkins are not in the video.
The video for 4:am Forever is now available to view on Ryan Smith's website and on YouTube.
On February 26, 2007 it was confirmed by their record label that 4:am Forever will be their next single and will be released on April 23, 2007.
[edit] The Future (2007—)
Guitarist Mike Lewis has stated that the band is hoping to record their fourth studio album in a much shorter space of time than Start Something and Liberation Transmission.[5] He claims that the band would like to write the album in February and March, record it in May and June and release it before the end of 2007. On Kerrang! radio during the week of November 13, Ian Watkins stated he wanted the new album to be "nastier" and "darker" than previous efforts, with more energy and vibe than before.[6][7] As for the drummer on the next album, the band has remained reluctant to name Ilan Rubin as a permanent band member, saying they would want to see how writing songs with him goes.[8] More recently, a blog post from Mike Lewis has suggested that Ilan is very much a large part of the writing/recording process, making it more likely that he will remain in the band permanently.
On February 17, Lostprophets posted a blog on their myspace stating that the band was flying out to Los Angeles to start writing new songs for the album. The blog quotes "Now we have gotten a lot of our pop vibes out of our system, we are fixing for some more old school vibes." With this blog they also removed the newer Liberation Transmission songs that were up and replaced them with their much older and heavier songs.
[edit] Name
The correct way of spelling the band's name is "Lostprophets", with the L upper case and first P lowercase. Also, there is no space between the words.[9] "lostprophets" is also a popular usage. In logos the name appears in either all upper or all lower case.
[edit] Members
[edit] Current lineup
- Ian Watkins — Vocals (1997-present)
- Lee Gaze — Lead Guitar (1997-present)
- Mike Lewis — Rhythm Guitar (1999-present, Bass 1997-1999)
- Stuart Richardson — Bass (1999-present)
- Jamie Oliver — Keyboards, Back-up vocals, Turntables (2000-present)
- Ilan Rubin — Drums (2006-Present)(touring)
[edit] Former members
- DJ Stepzak — Turntables (1997-2000)[10]
- Mike Chiplin — Drums (1997-June 19, 2005)
[edit] Samples
- Shinobi Vs Dragon Ninja (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- Burn Burn (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- "Burn Burn" from Start Something
- Last Train Home (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- "Last Train Home" from Start Something
- Last Summer (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- "Last Summer" from Start Something
- Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast) (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- Problems playing the files? See media help.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Early releases & demos
| Date of release | Title |
| 1997 | Here Comes the Party |
| 1998 | Para Todas las Putas Celosas |
| 1999 | The Fake Sound of Progress (EP) |
[edit] Albums
| Date of release | Title | Label | UK Album Chart | US Billboard peak | RIANZ Top 40 (New Zealand) |
| November 27, 2000 | thefakesoundofprogress | Visible Noise | 44 | 186 | |
| October 8, 2001 | thefakesoundofprogress (remastered) | Columbia Records / Visible Noise | |||
| February 2, 2004 | Start Something | Columbia Records / Visible Noise | 4 | 33 Platinum | 47 |
| June 26, 2006 | Liberation Transmission | Columbia Records / Visible Noise | 1 (Gold 210,000+) | 33 | 14 |
[edit] Singles
[edit] Vinyl
| Date of release | Title |
| November 26, 2001 | Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja 7" |
| March 11, 2002 | The Fake Sound of Progress 7" |
| February 24, 2003 | thefakesoundofprogress 12" Special Edition |
| November 3, 2003 | Burn Burn 7" |
| January 26, 2004 | Last Train Home 7" |
| May 3, 2004 | Wake Up (Make A Move) 7" |
| August 23, 2004 | Last Summer 7" |
| November 22, 2004 | Goodbye Tonight 7" |
| June 19, 2006 | Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast) 7" |
| September 11, 2006 | A Town Called Hypocrisy 7" |
| November 27, 2006 | Can't Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won't Save You This Time) 7" |
| April 23, 2006 | 4:am Forever 7" (x2) |
[edit] Unofficial releases
- Maximum lostprophets: Audio Biography (2004)
[edit] Collaborations, Rare Releases, and Covers
Lostprophets are well-known for recording cover versions of an eclectic array of songs and releasing them as B-sides. These have included songs from Duran Duran ("A View to a Kill"), Phil Collins ("In the Air Tonight"), Saves the Day ("Shoulder to the Wheel"), The Strokes ("Reptilia"), Justin Timberlake ("Cry Me a River"), Rachel Stevens ("Sweet Dreams My LA Ex"), INXS ("Need You Tonight"), and The Cure ("Boys Don't Cry").[11]
They often break into impromptu partial covers of popular songs during live performances. In the past these have included a fusion of Destiny's Child's "Bootylicious", Neneh Cherry's "Buffalo Stance", Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" and also there have been repeated instances of Ian singing the chorus to Nelly's hit single "Hot In Herre" during live performances. After performing it on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge, the band took to playing "Going Underground", originally by The Jam on their UK tour in late 2006. They have also been known to do a cover of Faith No More's We Care A Lot and Outkast's Ms. Jackson.[12]
In 2002, bored with playing a set filled with the same songs they'd been playing since the release of thefakesoundofprogress, the band performed a new, untitled song live on several occasions, including an NME awards performance which was broadcast on MTV2. The song was eventually released on a free CD given away with Kerrang! magazine, and was titled Lately. The band also performed another untitled song during this period, most noticeably at the Glastonbury Festival of that year. The song was then subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio 1, and occasional rips of this performance have surfaced on peer-to-peer file sharing networks.
The band has also collaborated with other bands and artists on several occasions. These collaborations include:
- Members of many other bands have performed gang vocals on "Burn Burn" during live performances, including members of Thursday and Good Charlotte.
- Sean Smith from The Blackout sang along side Watkins on the song Everyday Combat
- "Secret", a song from Amazing Device, featured guest vocals from Ian Watkins.
- "Out of Control", a song by Hoobastank, featured backing vocals from Ian Watkins and Jamie Oliver.
- "It's High Tide Baby", a song by fellow Welsh band and friends The Blackout, features backing vocals from Ian Watkins.
[edit] Trivia
- The song 'Lucky You' is featured on the 2004 soundtrack: 'Spider-Man 2: Music From and Inspired By' and as a bonus track on the Japanese version of the Start Something album.
- In the music video New Born by Muse, near the beginning, a child is wearing a Lostprophets shirt.
- The song 'Start Something' is the theme song for Sky Sports' rugby league broadcasts - Super League (Europe).
- The song 'Burn Burn' is featured in FIFA Football 2004.
- The song 'Last Train Home' is featured in NFL Street.
- The song 'Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja' is featured in ATV Offroad Fury 2.
- The song 'To Hell We Ride' is featured in EA Games Need For Speed Underground
- The song 'The New Transmission' is featured in an advert for Flim4.
- In the episode 'Electro' of The Mighty Boosh there is a Lostprophets poster in the corridor.
[edit] References
- ^ thefakesoundofprogress on Dragon Ninja
- ^ Duran Duran namesake concert
- ^ thefakesoundofprogress on Dragon Ninja
- ^ Fans discuss whether the video competition means that The New Transmission is a future single
- ^ Mike Lewis speaks to Gigwise about Lostprophets' fourth album
- ^ Ian's comments on Kerrang! radio
- ^ Kerrang! Radio News Section
- ^ Ultimate-guitar interviews Lostprophets, December 2 2006
- ^ name
- ^ DJ Stepzak is a former member
- ^ name
- ^ name
- Band biography located at DragonNinja.com [1]
- Maximum lostprophets audio biography (ASIN: B0001QNO2E)
- "Decks + Drums + Rock & Roll". Kerrang! magazine. February 10, 2001.
- Doreian, Robyn. "A Band Down Under". Rock Sound magazine. May 2004.
- Hibbard, Jamie. "Boys on Film". Metal Hammer magazine. December 2003.
- Lawson, Dom. "Didn't We Do Well?". Kerrang! magazine. October 5, 2002.
- Winwood, Ian. "The Second Coming". Kerrang! magazine. October 25, 2003.
- Winwood, Ian. "Lost in America". Kerrang! magazine. May 5, 2004.
[edit] External links
| Lostprophets |
| Ian Watkins | Mike Lewis | Lee Gaze | Stuart Richardson | Jamie Oliver | Ilan Rubin DJ Stepzak | Mike Chiplin |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums and extended plays: Here Comes the Party | Para Todas las Putas Celosas | The Fake Sound of Progress | thefakesoundofprogress | Start Something | Liberation Transmission |
| Singles: Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja | The Fake Sound of Progress | Burn Burn | Last Train Home | Wake Up (Make a Move) | Last Summer | Goodbye Tonight | Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast) | A Town Called Hypocrisy | Can't Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won't Save You This Time) | 4:am Forever |
| Related content |
| Category:Lostprophets songs | Category:Lostprophets albums | |
