Alien Ant Farm
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| Alien Ant Farm | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Origin |  Riverside, California, USA |
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| Genre(s) | Alternative metal Alternative rock Post-grunge |
|
| Years active | 1996-present | |
| Label(s) | Universal Records | |
| Website | www.alienantfarm.com | |
| Members | ||
| Dryden Mitchell Joe Hill Alex Barreto Mike Cosgrove |
||
| Former members | ||
| Terry Corso Tye Zamora |
||
Alien Ant Farm is an alternative rock group that formed in the southern California city of Riverside, CA in 1996.
Contents |
[edit] History
In the late 1990s, the band released their underground debut album, Greatest Hits. The album went on to win Best Independent Album in the L.A. Music Awards.
In 2000, after forging a friendship with the post-hardcore band Papa Roach, Alien Ant Farm signed with DreamWorks SKG for their first studio album ANThology.
The band began touring in 2001. In that year, their cover of the Michael Jackson song, "Smooth Criminal", was a #1 single in Australia and New Zealand and a #3 single in the UK. The music video of course features numerous homages to Michael Jackson and his videos, but interestingly a portion of it takes place in a backyard wrestling ring with the A.A.F. logo in the centre. (The song was featured on the soundtrack of the first season of WWE Tough Enough). Their following single "Movies" was a Top 5 hit in the UK and a Top 20 hit in New Zealand.
In May 2002, the band was involved in a bus accident while touring in Spain. The driver, 26-year-old Christopher Holland, was killed, and lead singer Dryden Mitchell suffered a fractured C2 vertebra. Alien Ant Farm soon returned to the studio to work on their next album called truANT, which was released in 2003 produced by Stone Temple Pilots' Robert and Dean DeLeo. The video for "These Days", the first single from the album, was filmed on top of a nearby building during the Red Carpet at 2003 BET Awards. "Glow" was a mainstream radio success, achieving long lasting Top 20 success in New Zealand. Two months after this album was released, their record label closed its doors.
In October 2003, guitarist Terry Corso split with the band citing "irreconcilable differences". Soon after, he joined Powerman 5000. Joe Hill was named the new guitarist in 2005 (formerly in a band called Spiderworks).
In 2004 the band waited in purgatory before Geffen decided to allow them to record another album (after Universal Music bought DreamWorks and assigned the band to its Geffen Records label). Also in 2004, the band recorded the song Dark In Here for The 2004 Punisher video game.
In 2005, the band recorded with producer Jim Wirt (who recorded their independent release Greatest Hits) and planned to release the album during the summer of 2005, however Geffen decided not to put the album out and also denied the band the rights to release it themeselves. The band hit the road and made bootleg copies of the album material available to all of their fans. This unofficial release was coined "3rd Draft" by fans.
In late 2005, Geffen finally agreed to let the band release the album on another Universal label, Universal Music Enterprises (its catalogue division). On May 4, 2006, information began showing up on music store websites and release calendars about an upcoming release entitled Up In The Attic. The band also released a DVD called BUSted: The Definitive DVD that same day. The first single from Up In The Attic was "Forgive And Forget". The music video for "Forgive And Forget" as well as Around The Block and She's Only Evil are included on BUSted: The Definitive DVD, which were actually songs from the self-released 3rd Draft album. Notably the 3 music videos only feature Dryden Mitchell and Mike Cosgrove. On May 30, 2006 the new album Up In The Attic was released digitally on iTunes.
In April 2006, Tye Zamora left the band and decided to go to college. He was replaced by Alex Barreto (formerly in hardcore bands Chain of Strength, Hard Stance, Inside Out). On June 29, 2006 the band performed on G4's Attack of the Show and on July 18 Up In The Attic was released worldwide, along with their definitive DVD, BUSted.
Very little has happened since the commercial flop that was Up in the Attic leading to increased speculation that the group has disbanded.
[edit] Group Members
- Dryden Mitchell - Vocals
- Joe Hill - Guitar
- Alex Barreto - Bass
- Mike Cosgrove - Drums
[edit] Former Members
- Terry Corso - Guitar
- Tye Zamora - Bass
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Release Date | Album Cover | Title | U.S. Billboard Peak | U.S. Sales |
| 1999 |  |
Greatest Hits | - | - |
| March 6, 2001 |  |
ANThology | #12 | Platinum |
| August 9, 2003 |  |
truANT | #43 | |
| Never Released |  |
3rd Draft | - | |
| July 18, 2006 |  |
Up in the Attic | #114 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
| US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | UK Singles Chart | |||
| 2001 | "Smooth Criminal" | #23 | #1 (4 weeks) | #18 | #1 | ANThology |
| 2002 | "Movies" | - | #18 | #38 | #5 | ANThology |
| 2002 | "Attitude" | - | #83 | - | - | ANThology |
| 2003 | "These Days" | - | #29 | #38 | #35 | truANT |
| 2003 | "Glow" | #90 | #77 | - | - | truANT |
| 2006 | "Forgive And Forget" | #81 | #60 | #90 | - | Up In The Attic |
| 2007 | "Around the Block" | - | #55 | - | - | Up In The Attic |
[edit] External links
| Alien Ant Farm |
| Dryden Mitchell | Joe Hill | Alex Barreto | Mike Cosgrove |
| Terry Corso | Tye Zamora |
| Discography |
|---|
| Greatest Hits (1999)| ANThology (2001) | truANT (2003) | Up in the Attic (2006) |
| Singles |
| "Smooth Criminal", "Movies", "Attitude", "These Days", "Glow", "S.S. Recgonize", "Forgive And Forget" |
| Label(s) |
| Universal Records |
