Weezer

Formed of members Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Brian Bell, and Scott Shriner, Weezer have been heavy weights on the alternative scene since day one, with their style being described as everything from emo to power pop.

Every album Weezer has released since 1994 has placed in the top 20 of the US album charts, with the majority of Weezer’s albums charting somewhere in the top 10. Three of Weezer’s nine studio albums have been self-titled and are respectively known as the “Blue Album”, the “Red Album” and “The Green Album”.

Despite the band’s popularity and the generally good reviews each of their albums have received, the only Weezer single to have made it into the top ten of the US singles chart was the 2005 single “Beverley Hills”. Nonetheless, Weezer has a strong following cultivated by their extensive touring over the years.

Weezer’s second album “Pinkerton” has achieved somewhat of a cult status among fans, and is considered to be a collection of the band’s greatest and most influential work. Indeed, multiple bands including The Fall of Troy and Real Estate list Weezer as being a vital influence to their work. The band themselves attribute a lot of their creative inspiration to Kiss, Oasis, Nirvana and The Beach Boys.

Weezer has been recognized for their work since their earliest days with one of their debut singles. “Buddy Holly”, winning the band an MTV Video Music Award. The band’s 2008 single “Pork and Beans” also won the band a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.

Weezer’s creativity and work ethic have certainly paid dividends so far in their musical journey, and, will continue to do so, I’m certain, for many years to come.

Prior to forming Taking Back Sunday, rhythm guitarist Eddie Reyes played in a number of seminal post-hardcore bands including Mind Over Matter and the Movielife. With the band recording their debut self-titled EP, original bass player Jesse Lacey left the group to form Brand New. Guitarist John Nolan invited his North Carolinian friend Adam Lazzara to play bass, but he ended up on lead vocals and Shaun Cooper came in on bass. After the release of their EP Taking Back Sunday began to tour relentlessly alongside the likes of Brand New and The Reunion Show, which would set the scene for their future touring endeavours.

The band’s full-length debut arrived in 2002 with the tongue-in-cheek and highly transparent name “Tell All Your Friends” released through Victory Records. It was the band’s first taste of commercial and critical success aided by the singles “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team)”, “Great Romances of the 20th Century” and “You’re So Last Summer”.

Following the departure of John Nolan and Shaun Cooper in 2003, replaced by Fred Mascherino and Matt Rubano, Taking Back Sunday opened for Blink-182 and appeared on the 2004 Vans Warped Tour. Soon after came the band’s sophomore release “Where You Want To Be” on July 27, 2004. The album debuted at No.3 on the Billboard 200 and following high-profile appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and the Spider-Man 2 soundtracks, cemented the band as a forerunner among melodic hardcore and commercial emo bands. The release was followed again by an extensive and exhaustive tour schedule including stops on the Warped Tour and several North American festivals.

Taking Back Sunday made their major label debut in 2006 with their third full-length “Louder Now” which attempted to capture some of the energy of their distinctive live show. Released through Warner Bros. the album was led by the single “What’s It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?” and resulted in appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

In 2007 Fred Mascherino left the group to focus on his solo album with The Color Fred, citing many the band’s problems regarding writing songs. Taking Back Sunday has subsequently release the albums “New Again” in 2009, “Taking Back Sunday” in 2011 and “Happiness Is” in 2014, along with an EP entitled “Faith (When I Let You Down)” in 2011. Since 2011 the original Taking Back Sunday line-up has returned, playing both on subsequent releases and at live shows.