U.P.O.

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U.P.O.
Country	USA
Years active	1998–present
Genres	Rock
Labels	Epic
Members	Shawn Albro Chris Weber Ben Shirley Tommy Holt

U.P.O. is an aggressive rock band from Los Angeles, California, consisting of Shawn Albro (vocalist), Chris Weber (guitarist), Ben Shirley (bassist), and Tommy Holt (drummer).

[edit] History

Influenced heavily by bands such as The Cult, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam, the four members of UPO have brought with them a new style to the hard rock genre of music.

Albro and Weber both lived in Los Angeles, but first met at England's Reading Festival in the mid-'90s. The pair needed a rhythm section to compliment their work, and after some searching, they picked up Shirley, a friend of Albro's, and later on discovered Holt through newspaper ads.

After crafting a 4-song demo which attracted major label interest, and only a few short months of self-promoted shows, the band found themselves very much on the industry radar. The group was signed to Epic Records and released their debut album, No Pleasantries, in 2000.

No Pleasantries - produced by Rick Parashar, (Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog, Blind Melon, Nickelback, Default)--spawned two Top 40 Mainstream Rock hits. “Godless” climbed to #5 on the Billboard chart and “Feel Alive” reached #25.

After extensive touring with many of today’s rock heavyweights, (Linkin Park, Slipknot, Nickelback, Godsmack, 3 Doors Down) and building soundtrack, TV, and CD compilation credits (Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows, “Nash Bridges,” MTV2 Return of Rock, Tattoo The Earth Live CD, ECW Anarchy Rocks!, ESPN Under The Helmet), in 2002 U.P.O. took a hiatus.

Armed with a brand new record label, U.P.O. exploded back on the rock scene in 2004 with their second album, THE HEAVY, (released March 30, 2004 on Nitrus Records). Soon after, there were changes in the line up including Zoltan Bathory on Bass, and Philippe Mathys on Drums.

In 2006, word became that the band was going on a "break."