Cool Top 10

Music, a gift from the heavens that unites us all, regardless of race, creed, sex or religion is one of the bonds that has brought the best of friends even closer and the worst of enemies into a synchronized dance of revere, uniting all under an umbrella of instruments and lyrics. For ages, music has served as one of the purest means of expressing one’s deepest, purest and darkest emotions, without being judged. This heavenly gift from God has the power to make the coldest hearts thaw and show a lost soul the very essence of life itself.

Be it Indian classical, Country, Opera or any other genre, music will forever have an impact on us, unlike any other. The very heart of creativity, music has a power to bring out the very best of us and it has been scientifically proven that, music has an immense impact on the human psyche itself. Centuries ago, music was hailed as a divine instrument by numerous cultures and civilizations and was considered to be a direct link with God himself. Since the modern era of our existence, say from the 20th century, mankind developed numerous venues to let the music spread throughout the world. From radio, television to the Internet, music never has and never will lose its importance in our lives and for ages to come, it will always be on an evolutionary incline, where creativity is sure to take this most noble and endearing of human traits to greater heights.

However, come the 1950s era, the generation of the youth, the world witnessed the rise of a different kind of music genre, that not only appealed to the younger generation, but also inspired them to accomplish something much larger in life. We are talking about the legendary ‘Rock Music’, a phenomenon that includes the usage of guitars, bass guitars, drums and vocals that take the rawest of human emotions and feelings and turns it into a near realistic dance of notes and beats. Today, we are taking this opportunity to bow our head in salute to some of the biggest artists and bands in the Rock circuit, that have entertained and given us a harmonious perspective towards life itself, with their greatest musical creations.

• Guns N’ Roses: Formed in the year 1985, under the leadership of front man and vocalist, Axl Rose, Guns ‘N Roses (GNR) is a hard rock band, that traces its lineage to Hollywood, Los Angeles. The line up of the included Axl Rose, Slash (guitars), Duff McKagan (bass guitar), Izzy Stradlin (rhythm guitar) and Steven Adler (drums). GNR took the world of rock n roll by storm, when the band released their debut album, ‘Appetite for Destruction’ in the year 1987. The initial days of the album were less than satisfactory, but with the intervention from Geffen records, track “Welcome to the Jungle” was played along with the video on MTV, that GNR on a path fame and glory. Another track, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ caught the generation next into a groove that, propelled the album to the No.1 position on Billboard charts. Throughout their career, Guns N’ Roses continued to compose phenomenal music, that literally touched the hearts and lives of all their listeners.

• Metallica:  In the year 1981, the world of heavy metal music, saw the rise of a new band called, Metallica and since their inception, the band took the heavy metal genre to new heights, with their incredible heart thumping tracks. The current line up of Metallica consists of James Hetfield (rhythm guitar & vocals), Lars Ulrich (drums), Kirk Hammett (lead guitar) and Robert Trujillo (bass guitar). At the time of Metallica’s evolution and after the releases of the chartbusting album, ‘Master of Puppets’, Metallica found themselves in the league of other heavy metal behemoths, such as the likes of Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. In the year 1991, the band released a self titled album, ‘Metallica’, also known as ‘The Black Album’. The Black Album instantly captivated the attention to fans and the album itself debuted on No.1 position on the Billboard 200. However, the band seemed to lose a considerable fan base with the release of ‘St. Anger’, that to many seemed to be too loud and noisy and not being music at all.

• Extreme:  Formed in the year 1985 and led by vocalist, Gary Cherone, rock band, Extreme is heavily inspired by the music of Queen and Van Halen and the line up of the band includes Gary Cherone, Nuno Bettencourt (guitar), Pat Badger (bass guitar) and Kevin Figueiredo (drums). One of the principal reasons for the phenomenal success of Extreme is the legendary guitar skills of Nuno Bettencourt. Tracks from the band’s album, ‘Extreme II: Pornograffitti’ such as ‘Get The Funk Out’ and ‘Decadence Dance’ contributed immensely to the album’s success, and Get The Funk Out reached number 19 in U.K charts. Regrouping in the year 2004, Extreme went on series of tours and in the year 2007, released another album, ‘Saudades de Rock’ that reached the number 9 position on the Independent Albums Chart.

• Marilyn Manson: One of the most profound industrial metal bands in the music industry, Marilyn Manson was founded in the year 1989 by the band’s vocalist of the same name. The theatrical live performances and the videos of the band’s songs that depict the dark side of the human psyche propelled Marilyn Manson to a cult status band, with a global fan following. The name of the band is cross breed between the infamous serial killer, Charles Manson and the legendary Hollywood actress, Marilyn Monroe. The band has most frequently been surrounded in controversies, due to the nature of their lyrics, that teeter on the edge of condemning religion and various political figures, One such track to gain immense negative publicity has been ‘Antichrist Superstar’ for spreading negative and hateful sentiments among the youths. Still, Marilyn Manson has been able to maintain a wide fan base and considered to one of the biggest and most famous metal bands in the U.S.

• Pearl Jam: Formed in the year 1990 in Seattle, Washington, Pearl Jam is one of the few grunge rock bands, that have survived the times of change and yet have been able to maintain an incredible presence in the rock circuit. The current line of Pearl Jam includes, Eddie Vedder (vocals), Jeff Arment (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar) and Matt Cameron (drums). Pearl Jam came in to fame with the release of the debut album, ‘Ten’, that turned out to be a phenomenal success in the year 1992, as the album reached the number two spot on the Billboard charts. Three of the album’s singles, ‘Even Flow’, ‘Alive’ and ‘Jeremy’ took the world of music by storm and marked the album as one of the highest-selling rock records ever. With the incredible success of ‘Ten’ the band witnessed itself being compared to some of the other grunge big hitters such as, Alice in Chains, Nirvana etc. Along with commercial music, Pearl Jam has also been know to associate itself with numerous charity events, including an event held at the Chicago House of Blues in the year 2005, to help raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

• AC/DC:  Formed under the watch of Malcom and Angus Young in the year 1973, AC/DC is considered to be one of the all time greatest hard rock bands. The current line up of the band includes Brian Johnson (vocals), Angus Young (lead guitar), Malcolm Young (rhythm guitar), Cliff Williams (bass guitar) and Phil Rudd (drums). AC/DC’s second album, ‘For Those About to Rock We Salute You’ brought the band to fame and fortune and the album itself charted to the number one position in the United States. The band has been credited with the sales of more than 200 million albums across the globe, including 71 million the U.S alone. In the year 2003, after years of incredible success, AC/DC was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where the band gave a live performance of two of their greatest hits, “Highway to Hell” and “You Shook Me All Night Long” with guest vocalist, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. Furthermore, the home country of AC/DC, Australia honored this legendary band, by naming a street after the band’s name in Melbourne.

• Creed: In the year 1994, high school friends, Scott Stapp and Mark Tremonti, took the initiative of forming a rock band in Tallahassee, Florida named, Creed. That was the platform for one of the most cherished bands in the world, Creed, that not only garnered immense commercial success, but also accumulated a huge fan base all over the world. Creed came out with their debut album, ‘My Own Prison’ in 1997, that included three tracks, “One”, “Sister” and “What’s This Life For”, that the band had composed in its initial days. All three of these songs immediately topped the music charts in America and got Creed into the spotlight. Their second album, ‘Human Clay’ is considered to be one of the best projects from Creed and the album itself went to the number one spot on Billboard 200, thanks to singles such as ‘Higher’ and ‘With Arms Wide Open’. The band broke up in the year 2005 and after four years, all band members reconciled and in the year 2009, Creed came out with a new album, ‘Full Circle’ and announced its ‘Reunion Tour’.

• Alter Bridge: Born after the break up of the rock band, Creed in the year 2004, Alter Bridge combines the vocal talents of Myles Kennedy, Mark Tremonti (guitar), Brian Marshall (bass guitar) and Scott Phillips (drums). The band was formed after Mark, Scott and Brian decided to create a new band with Myles Kennedy as the vocalist. Alter Bridge released their debut album ‘One Day Remains’ in the same year and the album immediately shot to fame with the title song reaching the Gold standards. Most of the lyrics and almost the entire music for the first album was composed by Mark Tremonti. The band later released their second album, ‘Blackbird’ in the year 2008 and two of the album’s tracks, ‘Rise Today’ and ‘Watch Over You’ became instant hits. ‘Watch Over You’ debuted on number 10 position on the VH1 Top 20 Countdown and later reached to the number 3 spot. Alter Bridge also worked on the soundtrack of Hollywood blockbuster, Elektra and contributed their single ‘Save Me’ for the soundtrack. Furthermore, track ‘Rise Today’ from the album, ‘Blackbird’ as used for WWE Unforgiven 2007 event and was even used as the trailer song for the sitcom, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

• Breaking Benjamin: Formed in the year, 1998, Breaking Benjamin is classified as a post grunge band and the line for the band includes Benjamin Burnley (vocals & rhythm guitar), Aaron Fink (lead guitar), Mark Klepaski (bass guitar), Chad Szeliga (drums). Breaking Benjamin had changed their name to ‘Plan 9’ but later decided to stick with the original name. In the year 2002, the bands released their debut album ‘Saturate’ and the album reached the number 2 spot on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Chart, as well claiming number 136 spot on Billboard 200. Breaking Benjamin came out with their second album, ‘We Are Not Alone’ in the year 2004 and one of tracks ‘So Cold’ found itself on the number two spot on the United States Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. “We Are Not Alone’ became a sensation among the young generation and the album claimed the 20th spot on Billboard 200.

• Fuel: Formed in the year 1989, in Brownsville, Tennessee, Fuel is a hard rock band, that was originally known as ‘Small the joy’ until the band decided to change the name to ‘Fuel’. The current line up for Fuel includes Brett Scallions (vocals, rhythm guitar), Jasin Todd (lead guitar), Brad Stewart (bass guitar) and Ken Schalk (drums). Fuel released their debut album, ‘Sunburn’ in the year 1998, of which the title track became an instant hit charting the 40th position in the Top 40. This track was even used in the soundtrack of the Hollywood blockbuster, Scream 3. Later, in the year 2000, Fuel came out with their second album, ‘Something Like Human’ and the again the album immediately got picked by Top 40 and one of tracks, ‘”Hemorrhage (In My Hands)’ climbed number 30 spot on Billboard 200. The album proved to be a Double Platinum in sales terms and was one of the biggest commercial successes for Fuel.