Alcatrazz

The American heavy metal band Alcatrazz was formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by Jimmy Waldo, Gary Shea and Graham Bonnet. The band was first meant to feature ex-Nazareth guitarist Zal Cleminson and ex-Jethro Tull drummer Barriemore Barlow but they both pulled out at the last moment. Instead they found Yngwie Malmsteen after their manager Andy Trueman had been chatting with a heavy metal fan at Ozz Records who recommended him. Cozy Powell had promised them to help out if they had any problems finding a drummer but when he got an offer to join Whitesnake he could not refuse. Aynsley Dunbar was considered and ex-Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr was in the seat for a week but as he wanted to be based in England and not in LA they had to find someone else. After having gone through about fifty drummers they finally settled with Jan Uvena. In July / August 1983 they started recording their debut album which was released later that year. Touring both in the US and Japan followed and their Japanese tour was recorded for a live album. During these tours Bonnet and Malmsteen had several disputes, resulting in Malmsteen leaving after the tour. The band called it a day in 1987.

Saosin

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Californian hardcore band Saosin has achieved an amazing amount of respect from the underground scene. The band held a structured fan base even before the release of the band's first EP, Translating the Name. Pre- orders for the record were extremely high as devoted fans, starving for the CD after being teased with a sampler located on the band's site, quickly brought the EP to the #1 spot on Smartpunk.com's Top 100 CD orders. To put it simply--Saosin is the name on everyone's tongue that nobody can pronounce.
Beau comments, “At the time we started the band, we were actually listening to a ton of Bjork and Sunny Day Real Estate, and I remember thinking how cool it would be to start a hardcore Bjork band.”

Past reviews read about this CD compares Saosin to the likes of popular hardcore bands such as Glassjaw, Taking Back Sunday, and Finch. Saosin seems to be in a league of it’s own. Guitarists Justin and Beau swap powerful-yet-melodic riffs, with Chris on bass and Alex on drums. Anthony covers the lead vocals. Every note, so clear and perfect, dumbfounds you as it is quickly joined by well-executed screams that give the hardcore genre its label.

“All of the lyrics I write for this band are inspired by the members of the band. The whole new record, all the songs that I'm writing, are going to be about the tour and the time that I spend living in Beau's garage. They are all about members of the band, the band as a whole, them as my friends, our time together, and the fears that come with it all (with the exception of SEVENYEARS, which is the last thing I wrote in my pre-California life),” Anthony says.

"Saosin... it was our singer's idea. Saosin, it's this Chinese proverb, which means... like... keep your heart small, because nothing is forever. You know. Don't let yourself get attached to something, because that thing's gonna be gone eventually."

The Used

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On October 5, 1999 a 4-piece band known as "Dumb Luck" was formed by Quinn Allman, Jeph Howard, Branden Steineckert and Ashton Johnson. Not long after the release of their EP, Dumb Luck went through a few line-up changes. Dumb Luck was short-lived. Eventually the band was forced to change its name. They changed it to "Used" when singer Jeph Howard moved to bass and Bert McCracken took over the vocals.[1] The band sent their songs to the producer John Feldman from the punk group Goldfinger. After he heard "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" he called them in for a demo. In 2001, the band finished the demo and he got them signed to Reprise Records all within a few months of meeting them. "Used" then had to change their name to "The Used" when it was discovered that a Boston band had already taken that name. Since then, The Used have released two platinum studio albums.

Present Day and Future Plans
The Used released their third album Lies for the Liars on May 22 2007, and plan on releasing 2 EPs according to an interview in the May 2007 article of Blunt Magazine. The EPs are expected to be released later this year and early next year. They are also planning on releasing a live DVD of their Australian tour, however it is unknown which show will appear on the DVD as both the Melbourne and Sydney shows were filmed, on the 26th and 27th of May 2007 (respectively).

Bert McCracken - Lead Vocals, Piano
Quinn Allman - Guitar, Backup Vocals
Jeph Howard - Bass, Backup Vocals
Dan Whitesides - Drums

Greg Bester - Touring Gutarist - Played with band on tour in early 2000s but has returned to his native country.
Branden Steineckert - Drums, Backup Vocals - Branden was kicked out of the band in the summer of 2006.
Dean Butterworth - Drums - Dean recorded the drums for Lies for the Liars after Branden was kicked out of the band.

Steineckert's Departure
The line up remained unchanged until September 12, 2006 when announced that Steineckert was no longer the drummer of The Used. The Used expressed that they needed to move forward without him but owed him a great deal of gratitude for all his hard work over the years. All the same, they wished him the best for his future endeavours. Later that year, it was announced drummer Dan Whitesides from the New Transit Direction replaced Branden Steineckert. Steineckert has since joined Rancid to replace former drummer Brett Reed.