Bands I Recommend Checking Out

Fail Emotions

2011-03-30T19:11:00.000-07:00

It's been an incredibly long time since I've posted on this blog. Sadly,I have only posted one band so far. There's a large amount of bands out there I enjoy and lately I've been listening to a lot of Trancecore. They are a fairly new band, but their music is amazing. Rate: 8/10.

One of my favorite songs by them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xJuuGgMLtE

2010-09-09T19:59:00.001-07:00

Songs So Far Made My Breaking Benjamin
Saturate
(2002)

1. Wish I May
2. Medicate
3. Polyamorous
4. Skin
5. Natural Life
6. Next To Nothing
7. Water
8. Home
9. Phase
10. No Games
11. Sugarcoat
12. Shallow Bay
13. Forever [hidden]

We Are Not Alone
(2004)

1. So Cold
2. Simple Design
3. Follow
4. Firefly
5. Break My Fall
6. Forget It
7. Sooner Or Later
8. Breakdown
9. Away
10. Believe
11. Rain

Halo 2
Volume One
[soundtrack]
(2004)

INCLUDES:

- Blow Me Away

Phobia
(2006)

1. intro
2. The Diary Of Jane
3. Breath
4. You
5. Evil Angel
6. Until The End
7. Dance With The Devil
8. Topless
9. Here We Are
10. Unknown Soldier
11. Had Enough
12. You Fight Me
13. outro

Dear Agony
(2009)

1. Fade Away
2. I Will Not Bow
3. Crawl
4. Give Me A Sign
5. Hopeless
6. What Lies Beneath
7. Anthem Of The Angels
8. Lights Out
9. Dear Agony
10. Into The Nothing
11. Without You

2010-09-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

2010-09-07T14:52:00.001-07:00

Chad Szeliga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Chad Szeliga
Chad Szeliga performing on stage at a Breaking Benjamin concert.
Background information
Born	December 23, 1976 (age 33)
Genres	Alternative metal, Post-grunge, Hard rock
Instruments	Drums Backing Vocals
Years active	1999-present
Labels	Hollywood Records
Associated acts	Breaking Benjamin, Switched, Forever Oeuvre, APG, OurAfter

Chad Szeliga is an American professional drummer from Elyria, Ohio. He is best known for being the drummer for the bands Breaking Benjamin and OurAfter.

[hide]

Career

Chad Szeliga started out with Switched, a hard rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. He was released from the band sometime during 2001. After his release from Switched, Chad played drums for another Cleveland band called Another Path. While with Another Path, Chad recorded an audition video for Breaking Benjamin playing drums for the song So Cold ^[1]. The video submitted happened to be the only VHS tape submitted. Ben Burnley was forced to borrow a VCR from his neighbor to view the tape. After Ben reviewed the tape, the band decided he was the right guy for the job.^[2] His first official recording with the band was for the full-band version of the song "Rain" from We Are Not Alone in late 2005, which was sent to modern radio, and later appeared on the band's cover of Queen's Who Wants To Live Forever?. He recorded with Breaking Benjamin on their 2006 album Phobia, which was released August 8, 2006. He also joined the band on their tour supporting that album.^[3] He is still with Breaking Benjamin at this point, and was the full-time drummer on their fourth album entitled "Dear Agony", which released on September 29, 2009. On the side, he currently plays drums for Scranton based band OurAfter ^[4].

2010-09-07T14:51:00.003-07:00

Aaron Fink

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Aaron Fink
Aaron Fink at a 2009 Breaking Benjamin concert in Indianapolis
Background information
Born	April 22, 1978 (1978-04-22) (age 32)
Genres	Post-grunge, alternative metal
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Guitar, Drums, Bass
Labels	Hollywood Records

Aaron Fink (born April 22, 1978)^{[citation needed]} is an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist and occasional backing vocalist for the alternative metal band Breaking Benjamin.

Biography

Before Breaking Benjamin, Aaron Fink and bandmate Mark James Klepaski (bass), were members of the band Lifer (Strangers With Candy). They broke away from Lifer in late 2001, in a surprising blind leap of faith to join their old high school friend Ben Burnley (vocals/guitar) and Jeremy Hummel (former drummer) in creating Breaking Benjamin. Fink has helped Burnley write many of the bands lyrics and is a strong backbone of the band. He is known as an expressive guitarist with a flair for both color and crunch. Ben has stated the following about Aaron's work on the band's second album, We Are Not Alone, "He's not so much a riff guy as someone who creates atmosphere. His talents really shine through here."
In live performances, Fink currently plays MusicMan/Ernie Ball Axis Super Sport Guitars. He used to play his Washburn Idol guitar for live performances, and a Fender Telecaster in earlier years, but has started to play MusicMan instead. He also pulls out his PRS for a few songs in the live set.
Fink is living in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, United States and had a son born in 2001 named Gavin.

2010-09-07T14:51:00.001-07:00

Mark Klepaski

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Markus James Klepaski

Background information
Birth name	Markus James Klepaski
Born	September 11, 1975 (1975-09-11) (age 34)
Genres	Alternative rock, alternative metal, nu metal, post-grunge, hard rock
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Bass guitar
Labels	Hollywood Records

Markus James Klepaski (born September 11, 1975) is an American bass guitarist, best known as the bass player for the American rock band, Breaking Benjamin.

Biography

Before Breaking Benjamin, Mark was the bass guitar player for Lifer (Strangers With Candy). He and guitarist Aaron Fink eventually made the decision to leave Lifer for Breaking Benjamin, headed by good friend Ben Burnley, because of their faith in his songwriting abilities. Mark is also the founder of the clothing line Ke'Kuhn. He currently lives in Pennsylvania, with his wife Laura, and two children.Mark and Aaron recently agreed to reunite with their old band Lifer and they will perform a reunion show in the future.^[1]

2010-09-07T14:50:00.001-07:00

Benjamin Burnley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Benjamin Burnley
Benjamin Burnley performing with Breaking Benjamin
Background information
Birth name	Benjamin Jackson Burnley
Also known as	Ben Burnley
Born	March 10, 1978 (1978-03-10) (age 32)
Origin	Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA
Genres	Alternative rock, alternative metal, post-grunge
Occupations	Musician, Singer-songwriter, Lyricist, Composer, Vocalist, Guitarist
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar
Labels	Hollywood
Notable instruments
PRS Guitars

Benjamin Jackson Burnley (born March 10, 1978) is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the band Breaking Benjamin.^[1] He is also known for his brutal screams and high range melodic singing voice.

Biography

Ben Burnley was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He grew up in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. He dropped out of high school and moved to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania at the age of 18. He moved in with former Breaking Benjamin bass player Jonathan Price. He taught himself to play guitar by listening to Nirvana's Nevermind and has also claimed that Nirvana was his biggest influence. Before Breaking Benjamin was formed, Burnley had earned money by playing cover songs in various coffee houses as a solo artist under his own name "Benjamin." He later came up with the band's name, "Breaking Benjamin," after doing a performance of a Nirvana cover. At the end of the performance, Ben knocked over and cracked a microphone he had borrowed. The owner of the microphone walked onto the stage and said, "I'd like to thank Benjamin for breaking my fucking microphone."^[2] Burnley has several phobias and has even said that the name of their 2006 album, Phobia, was named after that simple fact. His most notable fear is that of flying, thus the reason why Breaking Benjamin never tours outside of the United States and Canada.^[3] Burnley is a self-admitted hardcore video gamer. In fact, he wrote a song entitled "Blow Me Away" for Bungie Studios' Halo 2, which is featured on the game's soundtrack and during gameplay. The song "Polyamorous" is also featured on the game Run Like Hell and WWE Day of Reckoning(also with their song Firefly), and "The Diary of Jane" was also featured on NASCAR 07 the video game.[4

2010-09-07T14:48:00.001-07:00

Breaking Benjamin - Phobia

More of the same (i.e. Emo Hard Rock) from the Pennsylvania quartet.

September 11, 2006

by Spence D.

LATEST IMAGES

As part of the whole new school hard rock movement (think Staind, Cold, Godsmack, Nickelback, etc.) Breaking Benjamin has amassed a loyal mainstream following since they debuted in 2002 with Saturate. Just as with their sonically like-minded brethren, BB persist in delivering crunching guitars topped off with somewhat generic, angst ridden vocals that waffle between being plaintive and aggressive. Frontman Ben Burnley has one of those somewhat innocuous voices that is crystal clear, delivers just the right amount of emotion, fluctuating between contemplative subjectivity and growling anger. It's pretty standard by 2006 hard rock standards, as evidenced on the album's blazing single "The Diary of Jane" and pretty much every other track on the album. What's lacking in Burnley's voice is any distinction that separates it from the rest of the pack.

BB's strength really lies in the music itself, which is at turns somewhat run-of-the-mill in the way that the pummeling guitars sear and shred amidst the competent rhythm escalade. But axeman Aaron Fink manages to keep things interesting, shredding when appropriate while Chad Szeliga and Mark James Klepaski keep the rhythmic surge rolling like a bulldozer. There are nice, albeit all-too-brief, flourishes of acousticality tucked away on songs like "Breath" and "Here We Are," which add a much needed depth to the proceedings.

Meanwhile numbers like "You" create somewhat mesmerizing sonic scenarios thanks to piercing guitar and Burnley's plaintive wail/croon. This is offset by neo-ballads like "Evil Angel," which despite the title is a slightly warm lament overstuffed with emphatic emotion. The similarly doomsday titled "Until The End" begins with crushing guitars, bass, and drums, then quickly turns into melodic melodrama. The nihilistic titles continue with "Dance With The Devil," though the song isn't half as fiery as the name would suggest.

On the other hand, "Topless," which could easily have been a pole dance swagger, is all grit (at least as gritty as BB can muster) and blitz, mostly thanks to Fink, Szeliga, and Klepaski's turgid convergence. The steamroller blow-out at the end of the track is one of the few moments of true unbridled glory on the album. Ditto for the strange neo electronic scourge of "You Fight Me," which presents the band in a stripped down sound that works well with their accumulated parts. The album's closing number is an acoustic version of "The Diary of Jane," which presents the track in a stripped down version that still sounds somewhat generic, but also resonates with much more passion and intimacy than the original version.

It's easy to see why Breakin Benjamin has such a strong following. They've mastered the intersection of hard rock and emo-oriented introspection, thus creating a combination that appeals to the greater multitudes. Not a bad thing, but also not a terribly memorable or earth shattering one, either.

Link: http://music.ign.com/articles/729/729428p1.html

Breaking Benjamin

2010-09-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

Formed in 1999 under the moniker "Plan 9," the band quickly garnered a local following before changing their name to "Breaking Benjamin" in late 2000 and signing to Hollywood Records, where they released their first major-label record, Saturate, in 2002. The record had clear influences and touches of Tool, KoЯn, and Nirvana. The first single "Polyamorous" received much radio airplay, and propelled the band to stardom. Ever since then Breaking Benjamin has released three albums; We Are Not Alone in 2004, Phobia in 2006 and Dear Agony in 2009. They have also released charting singles such as "So Cold", "Sooner Or Later", "The Diary of Jane", "Breath" & "I Will Not Bow" from their respective albums. (http://sputnikmusic.com/bands/Breaking-Benjamin/473/)

Bands I Recommend Checking Out

Fail Emotions

Chad Szeliga

Contents

Career

Aaron Fink

Biography

Mark Klepaski

Biography

Benjamin Burnley

Biography

Breaking Benjamin - Phobia

More of the same (i.e. Emo Hard Rock) from the Pennsylvania quartet.

showUSloc=(checkLocale('uk')||checkLocale('au'));document.writeln(showUSloc ? '<strong>US, </strong>' : ''); September 11, 2006

Breaking Benjamin

September 11, 2006