Rollins Band

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Rollins Band
Henry Rollins, founder and frontman
Henry Rollins, founder and frontman
Background information
Genre(s) Alternative Metal
Hard Rock
College Rock
Post Hardcore
Hardcore Punk
Years active 1986—Present
Label(s) 2.13.61
Sanctuary
Buddha
DreamWorks
Imago
Texas Hotel
Website Official site
Members
Henry Rollins
Chris Haskett
Melvin Gibbs
Sim Cain
Theo Van Rock
Former members
Bernie Wandel
Mick Green
Andrew Weiss
Jim Wilson
Marcus Blake
Jason Mackenroth
Keith Morris

Rollins Band is a rock music group led by singer and songwriter Henry Rollins.

They are probably best-known for the songs "Low Self Opinion" (1992) and "Liar" (1994), which both earned heavy airplay on MTV in the heyday of alternative rock. Critic Steve Huey writes,

The Rollins Band's records are uncompromising, intense, cathartic fusions of hard rock, funk, post-punk noise, and jazz experimentalism, with Rollins shouting angry, biting self-examinations and accusations over the grind."[1]

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] First edition (1987)

Rollins had sung with California-based punk legends Black Flag from August, 1981 to the group's dissolution in early 1986. Less than a year later, Rollins returned to music, with guitarist Chris Haskett (a friend from Rollins' teen years in Washington D.C., bass guitarist Bernie Waddell and drummer Mick Green.

This line-up released two records: Hot Animal Machine (credited as a Rollins solo record and featuring cover art drawings by Devo leader Mark Mothersbaugh) and Drive-By Shootings (credited to "Henrieta Collins and the Wifebeating Childhaters"). The music was similar to Black Flag's, though it flirted more with heavy metal and jazz.

[edit] Second edition (c. 1987-1994)

Soon after, Rollins formed Rollins Band with Haskett, bassist Andrew Weiss, and drummer Sim Cain (Weiss and Cain had previously played with Gone, an instrumental rock group led by guitarist and Black Flag founder Greg Ginn). Live sound engineer Theo Van Rock was usually credited as a band member as well. Ian MacKaye (of the bands Fugazi and Minor Threat; also another longtime Rollins friend from Washington D.C.) produced the band's first album, Lifetime. Three more albums followed in rapid succession: Do It, Hard Volume and Turned On.

Recognizing Rollins' importance in helping establish alternative rock, Perry Farrell invited the Rollins Band to appear on the first Lollapalooza tour in 1991. In 1992 they released their first major-label album, The End of Silence. The singles "Low Self Opinion" and "Tearing" were featured on MTV, gaining the band even more exposure. Their music had begun to move away from its original sound, with the band exploring territory not too far removed from jazz fusion; Rollins is an avid fan of Miles Davis's electric era. (Rollins Band later recorded with flamethrowing free jazz saxophonist Charles Gayle, though these sessions remained unreleased for some years.) Critics Ira Robbins and Regina Joskow describes this line-up as a "brilliant, strong ensemble ... the band doesn't play punk (more a jazzy, thrashy, swing take on the many moods of Jimi Hendrix), but what they do together has the strengths of both. The group's loud guitar rock with a strong, inventive rhythmic clock borrows only the better attributes of metal, ensuring that noise is never a substitute for purpose."[2]

[edit] Third edition (c. 1994-1997)

Weiss was fired following the End of Silence tour; he was replaced by jazz and funk bassist Melvin Gibbs, who'd been highly recommended by guitarist Vernon Reid; Cain and Gibbs had also both played in different versions of guitarist Marc Ribot's band. The first video from 1994's Weight, the schizophrenic "Liar", was a huge hit on MTV, with Rollins sporting numerous costumes (including a cop and a nun). The band appeared at Woodstock '94, and Rollins was a guest-host for several MTV programs, including 120 Minutes.

Rollins Band signed with the then new major label Dreamworks, who released 1997's Come In And Burn The album was not as successful as Weight and, after touring for Burn, Rollins dissolved the group, citing creative stagnation.

[edit] Fourth edition (c. 1997 to 2006)

Rollins replaced the Haskett-Gibbs-Cain lineup with the rock band Mother Superior, retaining the name Rollins Band, and released Get Some Go Again (2000) and Nice (2001). They also released a two-disc live album, The Only Way to Know for Sure. This line-up was a more straightforward hard rock group: their first album featured "Are You Ready?" a cover of a Thin Lizzy song, featuring Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham; Rollins has often expressed fondness for Thin Lizzy and its founder, Phil Lynott.

In 2003, the Rollins Band released Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three. The album features a number of guest vocalists (including Lemmy, Chuck D, Corey Taylor, Ice T, Tom Araya and others) singing Black Flag's songs.

[edit] Reunion

In between other commitments (His radio show Harmony In My Head, his cable/satellite TV show The Henry Rollins Show, and his spoken word tours), Rollins also reunited the Haskett-Gibbs-Cain lineup.[1]. In a blog entry on henryrollins.com, Rollins admitted, "Actually we have been practicing on and off for months now, slowly getting it together ... It’s been really cool being back in the practice room with these guys after all these years." [2]

The band opened some concerts for X, and played on the first season finale of The Henry Rollins Show'on Aug. 12, 2006 [3]. An internet exclusive clip of the band performing "Burned Beyond Recognition" in the show, can be seen here [4].

Rollins told Alan Sculley of The Daily Herald that this reunion with Haskett, Gibbs and Cain would not become long-term unless the group decided to write new songs: "Let's put it this way. I don't want to go out and hit America again without a new record, or at least a new album's worth of material. Otherwise the thing will lack legitimacy ... Miles Davis would never do that. And I'm not into a greatest-hits thing. I think a band, if you're going to be around, you should be moving forward and putting in the time and working for it, getting after the art. Otherwise you're just playing retreads. ... Imagine a tree that grows canned peaches. It's nothing I want to do."[citation needed]

[edit] Current Members

[edit] Former Members

[edit] Studio Albums

[edit] Outtakes and Demos Collections

  • Yellow Blues - from the Get Some Go Again Sessions (2001)
  • A Nicer Shade of Red - from the Nice Sessions (2001)
  • The End of Silence Demos (2002)
  • Weighting (2003)
  • Come in And Burn Sessions (2004)

[edit] Live Albums

  • Do It - Studio Outtakes and Live (1988)
  • Turned On (1990)
  • Insert Band Here: Live In Australia, 1990 (1999)
  • A Clockwork Orange Stage (2001)
  • The Only Way to Know for Sure (2002)

[edit] EPs/Singles

  • Hot Animal Machine /Drive By Shooting EP (1986, reissue 1999)
  • Disconnect (1994)
  • Liar (1994)

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Rollins Band" from Allmusic.com; URL accessed February 09, 2007
  2. ^ "Rollins Band" from Trouser Press; URL accessed February 09, 2007

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../r/o/l/Rollins_Band_bc01.html"