Aiden
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Aiden | |
|---|---|
| Country | Seattle, Washington, USA |
| Years active | 2003 - present |
| Genres | Post-hardcore |
| Labels | Victory Records |
| Members | wiL Francis Angel Ibarra Nick Wiggins Jake Wambold Jake Davison |
Aiden is an American post-hardcore/emocore[1] band from Seattle, Washington that formed in the spring of 2003. The current members of Aiden are William "wiL" Francis (vocals), Jake Wambold (guitar), Jake Davison (drums), Nick Wiggins (bass), and Angel Ibarra (guitar). wiL originally played bass but took over lead vocals when their original vocalist left. Nick joined prior to the recording of Our Gang's Dark Oath. Despite their early popularity, the band has been accused of ripping off The Misfits and AFI and were criticized for cancelling their UK tour in favour of touring with Finnish band HIM.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Their first full-length album was released on Dead Teenager Records, titled Our Gang's Dark Oath. It was later re-released on Victory Records.
In 2004, the band were signed to Victory Records. Their second album, and debut for Victory Records, was released October 4, 2005 and was titled Nightmare Anatomy, which reportedly is a study of nightmares and features themes of waking up, nightmare and the night time in almost every song; it was recorded while Nick and Angel were still in school, being released shortly after they had left.
In 2006, they contributed a remix of "The Last Sunrise" for the soundtrack to Underworld: Evolution, and had their song "Die Romantic" featured on the EA Sports' game NCAA MVP Baseball 2006. Aiden was also part of the 2006 Kerrang Awards in August, taking home the award of "Best International Newcomer", and was part of the Kerrang XXV tour in January 2006. In May and June of that year, Aiden toured with the Finnish band HIM, a controversial move as the band cancelled an upcoming UK tour in order to tour with HIM and in the process, alienated some of their UK fanbase. They also played the 2006 Warped Tour that summer.
On October 31st, 2006, Aiden released an EP/DVD titled Rain In Hell. While the CD didn't receive rave reviews, the acoustic track 'Silent Eyes' and the ethereal opening track 'A Candlelight Intro' hint towards a broadening of Aiden's musical style. The DVD includes 3 music videos and the live performance of Aiden's Never Sleep Again Tour in Chicago. In October-November 2005, Aiden played the "Never Sleep Again Tour" with Silverstein and Hawthorne Heights.
Jake Wambold's younger brother, Troy, also has a high status among fans for being Aiden's "merch slinger".
[edit] Current developments
In April 2007, Aiden will embark on an arena tour of the UK supporting Lostprophets, and will play UK festivals over the summer. They are also playing the 2007 "Taste Of Chaos" North American Tour alongside 30 Seconds to Mars, The Used, Senses Fail, Saosin and Chiodos from February 15 to April 6.
The band also plans to record and release their third studio album 'Conviction' sometime mid-2007- as yet, confirmed tracks are 'She Will Love You', Son of Lies and 'Teenage Queen', also 'Believe'. wiL Francis has stated that the new album will have more songs that can be sung along to, as the band moves away from being 'just a punk band'.
[edit] Criticism
Some of the opinions are that the group dishonors AFI by imitating the sound AFI took over a decade to develop.[2] However, Aiden receives strong support from media outlets such as Kerrang! who placed the band on the front cover of its magazine three times.
They were repeatedly bottled at both the Download Festival and the Reading Festival. They have also received critisism for having 3 releases in 2006 alone- a split EP, a re-release of Our Gangs Dark Oath and the EP Rain In Hell.
Some controversy comes from Aiden's lyrics and music videos, in which the "Die Romantic" video depicts theft, vomiting to lose weight and suicide while the chorus of "We Sleep Forever" includes the line 'This razorblade was meant for me', again depicting suicide or self harming.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Album Cover | Year Released | Title | Label | U.S. Billboard 200 Peak | U.S. Heatseekers Peak | U.S. sales |
 |
2004 | Our Gang's Dark Oath | Dead Teenager Records (original), Victory Records (re-release) | - | #30 | 20,000 |
 |
2005 | Nightmare Anatomy | Victory Records | #196 | #9 | 100,000 |
 |
2006 | Rain in Hell (EP) | Victory Records | - | #9 | 2,000 |
 |
2007 | Conviction | Victory Records | - | - |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. Modern Rock | U.S. Mainstream Rock | |||
| 2004 | "I Set My Friends On Fire" | - | - | - | Our Gang's Dark Oath |
| 2004 | "Fifteen" | - | - | - | Our Gang's Dark Oath |
| 2005 | "Knife Blood Nightmare" | - | - | - | Nightmare Anatomy |
| 2005 | "The Last Sunrise" | - | - | - | Nightmare Anatomy |
| 2005 | "Die Romantic" | - | - | - | Nightmare Anatomy |
| 2007 | "We Sleep Forever" | - | - | - | Rain in Hell |
Aiden's song "We Sleep Forever" appears on the soundtrack to the horror movie, Dead Silence. A video was also released for the single and was inspired by the film.
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
- ^ Aiden is listed on AllMusic as post-hardcore and emo.[1]
- ^ A review from Drowned In Sound
