The Answer (band)

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The Answer

Background information
Genre(s) Hard Rock
Blues Rock
Years active 2000 - Present
Label(s) Albert Productions (UK)
Members
Cormac Neeson
Paul Mahon
Micky Waters
James Heatley

The Answer are a hard rock and blues rock band from Newcastle and Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. They have achieved moderate success with their debut album Rise selling in excess of 30,000 copies in the UK & Europe, 10,000 on day one in Japan and 100,000 worldwide on the whole.

Contents

[edit] Lineup

[edit] History

The Answer were formed in 2000 by guitarist Paul Mahon, whose father was a jazz trumpeter and member of seminal Irish showband The Freshmen, who released three albums on CBS and toured with the likes of the Beach Boys. Aged 18, Paul knew he wanted to put together a rock band and mentioned it to bassist Micky Waters, an old school friend who had been in numerous cover bands around Belfast.

James Heatley, who had played as Ash’s stand-in live drummer in 1993 (when Rick was doing A-Levels), was recruited to be the drummer for The Answer. Paul called him up only to find that he was about to take his finals at University, so the trio waited whilst James completed his degree in Psychology.

In late June 2000, the four of them got together for their debut rehearsal. 2001 was spent writing, rehearsing, gigging locally and building up a set The Answer. By 2002, the band had attracted the attention of MCD promotions in Ireland, (the company who recently bought out the Mean Fiddler Group, alongside Clear Channel), who put them on as openers at the Witnness Festival that year.

In 2005, 'Classic Rock' magazine voted The Answer as 'Best New Band 2005' [1], which brought them even more exposure. Shortly after, in November 2005, came their second official release - the single Never Too Late. They supported Deep Purple at an intimate show at the London Astoria on 17 January 2006. Then came Into The Gutter which was released on 29 May 2006 via 7" vinyl and download only, shortly followed by debut album Rise released on 26 June 2006. The album has already received rave reviews from Kerrang! and The Sun[citation needed] amongst others, and has been nominated for Classic Rock magazine's 'Album Of The Year' and "Best British Newcomer" in the 2006 Kerrang! awards.

The Answer played several festivals over the summer months, as well as a support slot with Whitesnake throughout their UK tour. The band also managed to secure themselves another support slot with Paul Rodgers at the Royal Albert Hall in early October 2006. This was followed by a co-headlining tour with fellow British Rockers Roadstar on a tour across the UK and Europe, with further support coming from American blues-rock band Rose Hill Drive. The band is once again on tour at the moment, with dates in Australia and across Europe before eventually returning for dates in Ireland and to start work on their follow-up to Rise. The band were an opening act for Aerosmith on June 24th 2007 at Hyde Park Calling.

Latest single Be What You Want was released March 19, 2007, and is currently available via download-only.

The Answer have decided to re-issue the Rise album as a promotion for their summer shows and because there have been so many people complaining about download only singles[citation needed]. A second disc adds to the original Rise, featuring all the relevant b-sides that have not been released physically and some tracks that were recorded for the album but left off. The second disc has 15 unreleased songs on it and was released 18 June 2007. The band are also now confirmed for the Lowlands Festival in Biddinghuizen, Holland.

The summer of 2007 has also seen the band support The Rolling Stones at huge open-air gigs in Belgrade (Serbia), and Dusseldorf (Germany), and The Who in Dublin (Ireland).

The Answer are currently at work on their second album, due out early in 2008.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The band played at a Phil Lynott memorial benefit gig in Dublin. Where bass player Micky Waters played Phil Lynott's black bass, becoming the first person to do so since Lynott’s death. The same instrument is used by Waters in the music video for Keep Believin'.
  • They also covered the Aerosmith song "Sweet Emotion" for a free Kerrang! CD. This was included on the second disc of the Special Edition of the Rise album.
  • Def Leppard's lead singer Joe Elliott is a fan of the band and during an interview with AOL has cited them as a possible influence to the way their forthcoming album will sound. He also said, "They're amazing--They could be the new Free!" [2]
  • Former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is also a fan and has attended several of the band's gigs and stated so at the 2005 Classic Rock magazine Roll of Honour Awards.
  • The song "Never Too Late" will be featured in the upcoming Guitar Hero IV video game.[3]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Album Release date
Rise June 26, 2006
Rise: Special Edition June 18, 2007

[edit] Singles and EPs

Single/EP Release date Track listing Notes
Breakdown Honey EP Second quarter, 2002 L.I.V.I.N., Woke Up, Downtown Self-financed
End Your Day On A High EP January 2003 Tonight, Always, Song For The People Self-financed
Come On Free Me EP January 2003 Keep Believin', No Questions Asked, New Day Rising, Be What You Want Self-financed
Rise March 2004 Rise, Rise - acoustic version Self-financed
Keep Believin' July 18, 2005 Keep Believin', So Cold, No Questions Asked, Be What You Want, Keep Believin' Club Mix

Keep Believin', New Day Rising

 EP CD

7"
Never Too Late November 14, 2005 Never Too Late, Rock Bottom Blues, Never Too Late Instrumental, Keep Believin - Video

Never Too Late, Some Unity

 EP CD

7"
Into the Gutter May 29, 2006 Into the Gutter, Take It Easy

Into the Gutter, Only The Strong Survive, Take It Easy, Into The Gutter Instrumental

 7"

Download
Under the Sky October 1, 2006 Under the Sky, I Won't Let You Down, Doctor [Live Session], Under the Sky Video Download
Come Follow Me December 18, 2006 Come Follow Me, Preachin' (Acoustic), So Cold Download
Be What You Want March 19, 2007 Be What You Want, Sweet Emotion, Into The Gutter [Acoustic], No Questions Asked [Live Radio Version] Download

[edit] References

  1. ^ Metal Hammer News Article
  2. ^ News Article retrieved 11th September 2007
  3. ^ Whiting, Mark (2008-02-07). First Guitar Hero IV track revealed?. 1UP.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-12.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Answer
Cormac Neeson | Paul Mahon | Micky Waters | James Heatley
Albums
Singles and EPs
Breakdown Honey EP | End Your Day On A High EP | Come On Free Me EP | Rise | Keep Believin' | Never Too Late | Into the Gutter | Under the Sky | Come Follow Me | Be What You Want