Lo-Pro (album)
| Lo-Pro | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Lo-Pro | ||||
| Released | September 30, 2003 | |||
| Recorded | 2003 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock, alternative metal | |||
| Length | 42:14 | |||
| Label | Geffen /413 Records | |||
| Producer |
Aaron Lewis Don Gilmore[1] | |||
| Lo-Pro chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Lo-Pro | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
Lo-Pro is the self-titled debut album of Lo-Pro, released on September 30, 2003.[3][4] It had one single in "Sunday" which garnered considerable radio play upon release. Throughout 2003 and 2004, Lo-Pro toured with groups like Staind and Three Days Grace in promotion of the album before being dropped from their record label.
Background
Singer Pete Murray and guitarist Neil Godfrey had previously played together in the band Ultraspank. After releasing 2 albums in 1998 and 2000, the band split up in 2001. Burned out and disillusioned, everyone parted ways to do their own thing. However, Murray and Godfrey eventually got back together with making music. Godfrey summed it up as:
During the Spank progression Pete M. had always been doing his best to record stuff, keeping up on technology updates. By the end of that time he was getting really good with Pro-Tools. So I think about 2 or 3 weeks went by and I'd been playing my guitar. I called up Pete and said I had some ideas to lay down.The Spank guys were all going in different directions. With the pressures of the industry gone and the freedom to do anything I wanted, we started writing songs. The result was so refreshing in the fact that we could record ourselves and make these great sounding recordings we could listen to.[5]
The demos they created in these sessions were the starting point for the album. Eventually, they were able to gain the attention of Aaron Lewis, lead singer of the band Staind, and was signed to his vanity label, "413 Records", through Geffen. Through this, they configured the rest of the band, and began work on the actual album, with producing being done by Aaron Lewis and Don Gilmore.
Release
The album was released on September 30, 2003. It peaked at no. 9 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, and stayed on the chart for two weeks.[6] One single, "Sunday", was released from the album, and while it did receive moderate radio airplay, another single was never released, and the band was later dropped from the label in mid-2004.[7]
Murray later would express a number of regrets on the album, ranging from it being "over-produced" [8] to not releasing "Oblivion" as a single.[9]
Track listing
| CD | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Fuel" | 3:27 |
| 2. | "Not Me" | 2:52 |
| 3. | "Sunday" | 3:46 |
| 4. | "1Day" | 3:22 |
| 5. | "Reach" | 3:25 |
| 6. | "Walk Away" | 3:12 |
| 7. | "Thread" | 3:51 |
| 8. | "Oblivion" | 3:19 |
| 9. | "Ignition" | 3:37 |
| 10. | "Never" | 3:07 |
| 11. | "Fake" | 3:31 |
| 12. | "Bombz" | 4:45 |
| Total length: | 42:14 | |
Known "homemade" demos
These are songs known to have been worked on by Pete Murray and Neil Godfrey when they were creating demos in one of their homes:
| Demos | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Thread" (Early version of the song. Featured more electronics overall, and different guitar in the chorus.) | ? |
| 2. | "Ignition" (Vastly different version, almost unrecognizable with the exception of one lyric regarding "saying goodbye to the bright side") | ? |
| 3. | "Wheels" (Kept off the final album altogether. Keeps with the theme of the other known demos with being darker and having more electronic aspects than material on the final album. Was finally released in acoustic form on their acoustic album Bittersweet.) | ? |
Single charts
| Song | Chart | Peak position |
Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Sunday" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 20 | 2004 |
| "Sunday" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 27 | 2004 |
Personnel
- Pete Murray - vocals, programming
- Neil Godfrey - guitar
- Pete Ricci - guitar
- John Fahnestock - bass
- Tommy Stewart - drums
- Additional personnel
- Gayle Boulware - handclapping
References
- ↑ Don Gilmore credits at Allmusic
- ↑ Allmusic review
- ↑ "Staind's Lewis Makes Lo-Pro Look Like Chopped Liver, But It's All Love - Group released self-titled debut Tuesday" MTV.com. Oct 3, 2003.
- ↑ "Lo-Pro Coming this Tuesday" Melodic.net. Sep 28, 2003.
- ↑ "Interview with Neil Godfrey for a college magazine in late 2005" Posted to the Lo-Pro message board on Nov 6, 2005.
- ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/307716/lo-pro/chart?f=303
- ↑ "Lo Pro Has Parted Ways With Geffen" Melodic.net. Jun 9, 2004.
- ↑ Fredrickson, Mark: "Pete Murray of LO-PRO" Ink19.com. February 2008.
- ↑ Markunas, Jim: "Lo-Pro – Interview With Pete Murray Archived 2010-04-24 at the Wayback Machine." CWG Magazine.com. Apr 16, 2010.