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Alter BridgeRise TodayTies That Bind
Despite Creed's multi-platinum success, Alter Bridge arose with only gold status with their first studio album, One Day Remains, which was released on Wind-up Records in August 2004 to generally mixed reviews. After the band's first tour, they dropped their contract with Wind-up Records in 2006 and signed with Universal Republic, releasing their sophomore album, Blackbird, which was positively received by critics, in October 2007. Alter Bridge spent the next two years touring and working on other projects before reconvening in 2010 to work on their third album, AB III. The album received critical acclaim and was released in October 2010 on Roadrunner Records, and later on the band's own label via EMI in North America in November 2010. In January 2011, Alter Bridge's first live album and concert film, Live from Amsterdam, was released. Originally released exclusively on Amazon.com in August 2009, it was met with two years of delays before finally being released in stores. A second live DVD, Live at Wembley, is due out in March 2012. Early on, Alter Bridge was criticized by some
for perceived similarities to Creed in their music. However, the
band has since made several critical and commercial achievements
and has received general praise in recent years, despite relatively
low mainstream success and label support for the majority of its
career. Alter Bridge has become known for their frequent and extensive
touring and for their loyal fanbase. The individual members of
Alter Bridge are also involved with various other projects, including
solo and session work, Creed, and Kennedy's collaborations with
Slash and former members of Led Zeppelin. In 2009, Ultimate Guitar
Archive named Alter Bridge the 36th greatest band of the decade.[1] Alter Bridge lead guitarist and founder Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips were members of Creed with lead vocalist Scott Stapp since 1997. After releasing two successful albums, Marshall left the band in 2000, followed by the release of their third album in 2001. The band went inactive in 2003 following the conclusion of a controversial tour. That year, Tremonti began writing new material with plans of forming a new band with Phillips and Marshall. Being fans of Myles Kennedy's former band, The Mayfield Four, they invited him to join as their new lead vocalist.[2] They named the new band Alter Bridge, after an actual bridge near Tremonti's home on Alter Road in Detroit, and subsequently began recording their debut album.[3] Citing creative differences and increasing tension between Stapp and the other band members, Creed announced its breakup in June 2004.[4] Coinciding with this announcement was the one of Alter Bridge's formation and of their debut album and the album's lead single, "Open Your Eyes." The band members felt as if Creed had "run their course" and were determined to focus on their future with their new singer.[2] Alter Bridge's debut album, One Day Remains, was released on August 10, 2004 by Wind-up Records and received mixed reviews.[5][6] Produced by Ben Grosse (who has also produced albums by artists such as Filter, Fuel, and Sevendust),[3] the album sold 750,000 copies worldwide and achieved only gold status,[7] a far cry from the multi-platinum success that Creed had previously achieved. It peaked at #5 on the Billboard charts for fourteen weeks.[8] After "Open Your Eyes," two more singles were released from the album: "Find the Real" and "Broken Wings." Also, partially due to the fact that the album was almost finished by the time Kennedy joined the band, it is the only Alter Bridge record that does not feature Kennedy as a guitarist, although he did play guitar on several songs on the album's accompanying tour. The music was composed completely by Tremonti, who had also written most of the lyrics by himself, though Kennedy wrote or at least co-wrote the lyrics for about half of the remaining songs.[9] Several songs from One Day Remains established
an affiliation with WWE. Most notably, "Metalingus" was adopted by former WWE superstar Edge as his entrance theme in 2004, and
it was used as such until his retirement in 2011. Alter Bridge
would later appear with Edge in a backstage segment on an episode
of WWE Raw in 2005.[10] Also in 2005, Alter Bridge released a rare
instrumental song called "Ahavo Rabo Taco Salad" for Total Guitar magazine. It was solely a Mark Tremonti song originally, but
the rest of Alter Bridge soon got involved.[11] A song called "Save Me" was included on the soundtrack for the 2005 Marvel film Elektra.[12] The soundtrack
for another 2005 Marvel film, Fantastic Four, also featured an
Alter Bridge song, "Shed My Skin."[13] That same year, the band released a four-song EP called Fan EP as a promotional
CD in Europe. Before the final leg of the One Day Remains tour in 2006, Alter Bridge's relationship with Wind-up Records, who did not share the band's vision, began to deteriorate. The band asked to be released from the label since the release of One Day Remains, but their request was consistently declined until April 2006 when all recording, publishing, and merchandising agreements were finally terminated.[14] However, Alter Bridge continued to face difficulties, including criticism for disbanding Creed, pressure to reform Creed, and numerous false reports of a Creed reunion, in addition to some critics describing Alter Bridge's music as sounding like "Creed with a different singer." Despite Creed later reforming in early 2009,[15] Tremonti responded to these claims by stating, "Creed will never exist as a band again."[14] In 2007, Alter Bridge announced that they had signed a record deal with Universal Republic. Tremonti said of the band's new material, "I think it's the best work we've ever done."[16] Alter Bridge's second album, Blackbird, featuring the successful singles "Rise Today" and "Watch Over You," was released on October 9, 2007.[17] "Watch Over You" was featured in VH1's Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2008 and its music video featured clips from the series.[18] Another version of the song featuring Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil is available in the United Kingdom.[19] Blackbird received very positive reviews from critics, and currently holds an average of 9.4 out of 10 on Ultimate Guitar Archive.[20] The album also featured the critically acclaimed title track, the guitar solo of which would later be lauded by Guitarist by reaching #1 on their 2011 list of the greatest guitar solos of all time.[21] The band embarked on a successful world tour in support of Blackbird, recording their December 7, 2008 show at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands for a live DVD titled Live from Amsterdam.[22] A single disc version was sold exclusively at venues during the Creed reunion tour in 2009 and on Amazon.com.[23] Released to extremely positive reviews, the DVD sold "thousands and thousands" of copies as opposed to the projected "hundreds" that Amazon expected to sell, reached #1 on Amazon's "Bestsellers in Music Videos & Concerts," and remained there for several weeks.[22][24] A Blu-ray Disc version and a deluxe edition to be sold in stores, however, became the source of controversy as they were delayed by Universal Republic several times, causing frustration amongst Alter Bridge fans and band members, but the band remained optimistic about its release. It was finally released in stores in North America on January 11, 2011 after two years of delays.[25] Singer Myles Kennedy received much credit since
2008 when he was strongly rumored to be working with former members
of Led Zeppelin.[26][27][28] While reports that Led Zeppelin would
be reforming with Kennedy as their new singer were false,[29] Kennedy
later confirmed that he had in fact written songs and rehearsed
with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham.[30] Alter Bridge took a break in 2009 following the announcement of Creed's reunion tour and new album. While Tremonti, Marshall, and Phillips were touring with Scott Stapp as Creed, Kennedy worked on his first solo album and began working extensively with Velvet Revolver lead guitarist Slash, and later touring with Slash throughout 2010 and 2011 as his lead vocalist.[31] However, Alter Bridge continued to write music through most of 2009 and began the recording process of their third album from February through May 2010.[32][33] On July 17, 2010, Billboard reported that Alter Bridge had signed with Roadrunner Records and that the band would embark on a spring tour with Godsmack in 2011.[34] While the latter report was later denied by the band, Alter Bridge announced the title of their new album, AB III, along with the track listing on their official website in early August,[35] and the rumors that the band had signed with Roadrunner were confirmed in a press release by the label. The press release also included an announcement that AB III would be released on October 8, 2010.[36] On September 6, 2010, Roadrunner Records debuted the first single, "Isolation," on their website, where it was announced that the single would be made available in the United Kingdom on September 26, 2010.[37] The song became the band's most successful song, reaching #1 on active rock radio and on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, a first for Alter Bridge.[38] AB III was released in Australia and Germany on October 8, 2010 and in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2010 by Roadrunner Records. It was then released on November 9, 2010 in North America on the band's own label, Alter Bridge Recordings, via EMI.[39] The album debuted at #17 on the Billboard 200.[38] The music video for "Isolation" premiered on Noisecreep on December 6, 2010.[40] On January 11, 2011, the band finally released its long-awaited live album and concert film, Live from Amsterdam, in stores.[25] Also, "I Know It Hurts" was later released as the second single, in Australia only, on January 21, 2011.[41] "Ghost of Days Gone By" was released as the next single on April 18, 2011,[42] followed by "Wonderful Life" on June 5, 2011 in the United Kingdom.[43] The band advertised that AB III would be much "darker" than and a lyrical departure from their previous albums, and the album was confirmed to be constructed as a loose concept album.[44] AB III was met with "overwhelming critical acclaim" from professional reviewers upon its release,[45] with MusicRadar calling it "one of the guitar albums of the year."[46] Artistdirect gave AB III a perfect score and called it a "masterpiece."[47]Also, a tribute album to Alter Bridge titled String Tribute to Alter Bridge, which features instrumental classical arrangements of various Alter Bridge songs, was made available on March 8, 2011.[48] On October 25, 2011, Alter Bridge released a special edition of AB III titled AB III.5, which includes three bonus tracks and an hour-long documentary titled One by One.[49] The band started touring in support of AB III, in fall 2010 in the United Kingdom with Slaves to Gravity appearing and a second in the United States with Taddy Porter and Like a Storm.[50] In the spring of 2011, Alter Bridge toured the United States with Black Stone Cherry and Like a Storm.[51][52][53] Alter Bridge performed at several European festivals in the summer of 2011, including the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals,[54][55] the Nova Rock Festival,[56][57] the 2011 Download Festival,[58] the 2011 Hellfest Summer Open Air,[59] and several others. Alter Bridge performed a free concert on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on the ABC television network on April 25, 2011.[60] The band also co-headlined the second annual Carnival of Madness Tour in summer 2011 with Theory of a Deadman, with supporting acts Black Stone Cherry, Adelitas Way, and Emphatic.[61] The band played on 29 November at Wembley Arena, with the concert filmed and to be released as a DVD titled Live at Wembley in March 2012.[62] It will later be released in 3D.[63] The tour is expected to extend until January 2012, when the band will play select dates in Australia, including the Soundwave Festival.[64] The band has released a series of webisodes produced by DC3 Music Group detailing their current tour.[65] After the tour the instrumental members will turn
their attention on their other band, Creed.[66] Mark Tremonti has
said in interview that after Creed's scheduled tour and new album
in 2012, Alter Bridge will reconvene to record its fourth studio
album, though no specific date has been announced. He also has
emphasized that he is always writing music for both acts.[67] Drummer
Scott Phillips also said that new Alter Bridge material will probably
be released in 2013.[68] Alter Bridge's music is often characterized and described as "heavy, yet melodic."[69] Their music has been listed under several genres including rock, hard rock, alternative metal, post-grunge, heavy metal, and progressive metal.[70][71][72] Alter Bridge's music is co-written by Kennedy and Tremonti and arranged by Alter Bridge and the band's lyrics are written primarily by Kennedy, although Tremonti wrote most of the lyrics and all of the music on One Day Remains. The lyrics on the first two Alter Bridge albums mainly touch on hope and overcoming regret, sadness, grief, loneliness, pain, and addiction.[20][44][73] The subject matter on their third release, AB III, is noticeably darker, with lyrical themes mostly based on struggling with faith and a loss of innocence, as well as other dark themes including apathy and struggling with the concepts of death and mortality.[74][75] Often recognized for their live performances,
the band generally does not perform in larger venues such as arenas
and amphitheaters. Instead, Alter Bridge regularly plays smaller
venues such as House of Blues, as was their intention from the
start.[2] Myles Kennedy said in an interview with Artistdirect, "We're definitely a live band. That's what it's all about for us. We make records
so we can go out and play for people."[76] The band has been joined on stage by several surprise guests, including
Slash,[77] Paul Reed Smith,[78] Wolfgang Van Halen,[79] and Eric
Friedman, and several notable musicians, such as Eddie Van Halen,[80]
Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones,[81] have been reported to have
attended an Alter Bridge concert. Alter Bridge's live performances
are generally praised.[82] In 2011, Alter Bridge joined the fight against
cancer by helping the "Play for Life" organization raise funds for City of Hope Medical Center, a leading research
center for cancer.[83] Alter Bridge's music was received poorly by critics in the band's early years, but their first album, One Day Remains, was certified gold by the RIAA in November 2004. It is the band's only RIAA-certified album.[84] Since then, however, the band's subsequent albums have received general acclaim. The band has also received extremely positive reception for their 2009 live album and concert film, Live from Amsterdam.[citation needed] It was originally released via Amazon.com, where on October 22, 2009 it rose 15,000 spots on Amazon's "Bestsellers in Music Videos & Concerts" chart, rising ahead of artists such as Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi to #1, where it remained for several weeks. This was done with no official promotion or record label support.[22] Also in late 2009, Alter Bridge was ranked by Ultimate Guitar Archive as the 36th best heavy metal band of the decade.[1] In October 2010, the band's song "Ties
That Bind" from Blackbird was listed by Total Guitar as the 41st greatest guitar song of
the decade,[85] with Ultimate Guitar Archive naming AB III the
seventh best album of 2010 that December.[86] In March of the next
year, the dual guitar solo in the critically acclaimed song "Blackbird" was named the greatest guitar solo of all time by Guitarist, ahead of tracks
by artists such as Led Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, Van Halen, Pink
Floyd, and others.[21] Myles Kennedy responded by saying that he
was "a little uncomfortable with the idea that it was voted the 'best,'" but he and Mark Tremonti both stated that they were honored.[87] Later, in May
2011, the band defeated Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park, Three Days
Grace, and other artists in Fuse TV's "Battle of the Fans" poll. The tournament peaked at 7.2 million votes.[88] Myles Kennedy – lead vocals, rhythm and lead
guitar [edit] Discography One Day Remains (2004)
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