Papa Roach
Contents |
Introduction
Papa Roach is a Rock band formed back in 1993 in California. They became famous with their first album, called Infest, in 2000, which was the 20th highest selling album that year and peaked 5th on Billboard. Later came albums such as Love Hate Tragedy (2002), Getting Away with murder (2004) and their latest, The Paramour Sessions (2006)
Who They Are
Before going deep into the History of the band, let's take a look at each of the four original members that have been together until 2008:
Coby Dick
Jacoby Shaddix, also known as Coby Dick, is the "alma mater" of Papa Roach, and as such acts as frontman and lyricist.
His songs are really intense, talking about daily matters such as divorce ("Broken Home"), struggles with alcohol ("Binge"), Attention Deficit Disorder ("Thrown Away") and suicide ("Last Resort")
In his own words "I deal a lot with the line between good and evil. And I tiptoe down that line myself". He really feels the stories he sings and most of them are written in first person, like a secret diary that needs to be heard.
Coby started like many other kids playing in his garage, until he and his friends from high school decided to go further and form Papa Roach.
Buckner
Buckner, started playing violin in Los Angeles, but soon was taking drum lessons from a 70-year-old female jazz drummer when he was in Junior High.
After getting his first drum set he got tired of the school bands and realized his heart was made for rock and roll, having listened to Pink Floyd, Suicidal Tendencies, Metallica and Beastie Boys since young. He soon met Coby and became Papa Roach drummer.
Esperance
Esperance joined the band when he was just 13 years old. His dad played bass, and gave him his first instrument when he was just 10. His influeneces go from jazz to Reggae and later punk and heavy. As time went by he blended it all together to provide excellent heavy line bass for the band.
In his own words: "People put us in the rap-rock category. I don't care what they call us, but we definitely do it differently from anyone out there right now."
Horton
Horton started playing guitar to emulate one of his favourite bands, Metallica.
Papa Roach were playing a mixture of punk and funk when he joined, and his heavier taste made the band evolve into something more aggressive, giving Papa Roach the ingredient they were missing to find their own sound.
His tone comes from modified amps that deliver a meaty tone, that he describes as " Amps for a bigger and beefier sound. We used vintage pedals and I used a delay, an old chorus pedal and an old phaser. I also used a hyper-fuzz pedal. It fills in spaces and really separates my sound from the rest of the world."
Papa Roachs guitarist is key to their success, and as prove all is needed is listening to any of "Infest" tracks to realize that he sure knew what he was doing at the time.
History
Back in 1993 three friends from school called Jacoby Shaddix (voice, also called Coby Dick), Dave Bucker (Drummer) and Will James (Base) formed the band Papa Roach in Vacaville, South California. Soon a fourth member would join, Jerry Horton (guitar). Their influences were Rage against the machine, Primus and Faith no more. They made a mixture of hardcore and hip-hop.
The band was called Papa Roach after Shaddix grandfather, and chose the image of a roach as a symbol of longevity.
Their first recording was an EP containing 7 tracks called "Potatoes for Christmas" in 1994. One year after that they released another one called "Caca bonita".
James leaves the band in 1996 and Tobin Esperance takes his place. Right after that they released an album featuring 12 tracks called Old friends from young years, which was successful and played locally at the radios in Vacaville. The album was full of hip-hop influences.
In the next couple years they released two more EPs, called "5 tracks deep" (1998) and "Let'em know" (1999).
Come 2000 they realeased their biggest hit album called "Infest" which made them famous worldwide with hits such as "Broken Home" & "Last resort".
Right after the 9/11 tragedy they released their album "Lovehatetragedy" (2002), but it wasn't as succesful as their last album.
In 2004 they released "Getting away with murder", and a live DVD "Live and murderous in Chicago" in 2006. Their last album is called "The paramour sessions" (2007).
The early years
These are the early EPs and albums from 1994 to 1999:
Potatoes for Christmas (1994)
This was their first EP, in which David Buckner was replaced by Ryan Brown, because he had gone away for a year to study Art in Seattle.
- Mama's Dress
- Lenny's
- Lulu Espidachi
- Cheez-z-fux
- I Love Babies
- Dendrilopis
Caca Bonita (1995) - Gerber
With David Buckner back they recorded this 2 track EP, consisting of a blue tape as seen in the picture below.
- Grrbrr
- DIRTYcutFREAK
Old Friends From Young Years (1997)
This was their first album, and by this time the band was touring along with bands such as Incubus, which helped them a lot in that period.
- Intro
- Orange Drive Palms
- Liquid Diet
- GerBer
- Isedufukndie
- DirtycutFreak
- Living Room
- 829
- Peewagon
- Hedake
- Shut Up N Die(Reprise)
- Thanx
5 Tracks Deep (1998)
- Revenge In Japanese
- My Bad Side
- July
- Tambienemy
- Thrown Away
Let 'em Know (1999)
After this EP they got the attention of the Warner Brothers, who produced another EP with 5 songs that was never released. That EP contained the soon to be hit "Last resort", "Infest" and "Broken Home". The Warner Brothers didn't believe in the project though and Papa Roach didn't sign with them.
- Walking Thru Barbed Wire
- Legacy
- Binge
- Snakes
- Tight Rope
The albums: "Infest" to our days
Infest [2000]
Papa Roach signed with Dreamworks Records in 1999 and released their most widely known album "Infest", which certified triple platinum on 2000. This album was full of rock and roll, aggressive riffs and emotional stories.
"Last Resort", "Broken Home", "Infest", "Blood Brothers" and many other songs not to be missed appeared on this great album that made them one of the most popular bands in the world.
It's said that the heartbreaking story behind "Broken Home" made one of the camera guys that were shooting the video to leave and not be seen anymore for three whole days!
- Infest
- Last Resort
- Broken Home
- Dead Cell
- Between Angels and Insects
- Blood Brothers
- Revenge
- Snakes
- Never enough
- Binge
- Thrown away
- Tight Rope (Hidden track)
Lovehatetragedy [2002]
Another solid album in their career, it didn't sell as much as Infest but got higher in the hits list. Powerful rhythms and lyrics the album even featured an awesome Pixies cover of the theme "Gouge Away".
Lots of soothing melodies and powerchords, songs like "Born with nothing, die with everything" (Which is one of Shaddix tattoos) and "Walking through barbed wire" which he wrote after his dog died. Classic Rock in "She loves me not" & "Time and time again", Lovehatetragedy is sure one of their best albums out there.
This was their second album to be published by Geffen records.
01 M-80 (Explosive Energy Movement)
02 Life Is a Bullet
03 Time and Time Again
04 Walking Thru Barbed Wire
05 Decompression Period
06 Born with Nothing, Die with Everything
07 She Loves Me Not
08 Singular Indestructible Droid
09 Black Clouds
10 Code of Energy
11 Lovehatetragedy
12 Gouge Away [Bonus Track]
13 Never Said It [Bonus Track]
Getting Away with Murder [2004]
In this album the band worked closely with the producer Howard Benson, and released some remakable songs such as "Take me" and "Scars". The album was to be called "Dancing in the ashes", but they changed the title to "Getting away with murder" in the end.
As stated by many of their fans this album was a bit of a let down, due to their change in style, softer songs and luck of punch compared to their previous works.
The album was their 1st published by Geffen records.
1. “Blood (Empty Promises)” – 2:55
2. “Not Listening” – 3:09
3. “Stop Looking Start Seeing” – 3:07
4. “Take Me” – 3:26
5. “Getting Away with Murder” – 3:12
6. “Be Free” – 3:17
7. “Done with You” – 2:52
8. “Scars” – 3:28
9. “Sometimes” – 3:07
10. “Blanket of Fear” – 3:21
11. “Tyranny of Normality” – 2:40
12. “Do or Die” – 3:25
The Paramour Sessions [2006]
Their latest album (Geffen records again) got it's name from the place it was recorded at, "The Paramour mansion". They decided to get in there and try to "produce the most savage, bad-ass record we could write", in Jacoby's words.
The album is a tribute to Jacoby's grandfather, who commited suicide in 2006. The song Roses on my grave is dedicated to him.
The album is somewhat harder than the previous, though it still has some softer songs and ballads. "To be loved" & "Forever" are it's most well known hits, being the first one specially popular due to it being used as the music for the WWE RAW shows.
1. “...To Be Loved” – 3:03 T. Esperance
2. “Alive (N’ Out Of Control)” – 3:22
3. “Crash” – 3:21
4. “The World Around You” – 4:35
5. “Forever” – 4:06
6. “I Devise My Own Demise” – 3:36
7. “Time Is Running Out” – 3:23
8. “What Do You Do?” – 4:22
9. “My Heart Is A Fist” – 4:58
10. “No More Secrets” – 3:15
11. “Reckless” – 3:34
12. “The Fire” – 3:32
13. “Roses On My Grave” – 3:13
Singles
Infest
"Last Resort" (2000)
"Between Angels And Insects" (2001)
"Broken Home" (2001)
lovehatetragedy
"She Loves Me Not" (2002)
"Time And Time Again" (2002)
Getting Away With Murder
"Getting Away With Murder" (2004)
"Scars" (2004)
"Take Me" (2005)
The Paramour Sessions
"...To Be Loved" (2006)
"Forever" (2007)
"Time Is Running Out" (2007)
"Reckless" (2008)
Future Projects
After Dave Buckner departure, the band is currently working on their new album which will be probably called "Metamorphosis", and a first single, "Courageous".
In the meantime the band are on tour in the U.S. until the end of August 2008 as part of Motley Crue "Cruefest".
Style & Influences
Papa Roach started as a Nu Metal formation but their evolution really makes them something else, somewhere in between metal, alternative rock and even rap-core sometimes, though Coby avoids being tagged as the latter.
Truth is the amount of influences that the four original members mixed together were to create something different and new: underground hip-hop with a touch of hardcore, touches of faith No More, Primus and Mike Patton on one side, and Esperance's taste for Jazz, Doors and Duke Elington made for an explosive combination.
A melodic band that drinks from punk, hip-hop and heavier influences, Papa Roach shouldn't be tagged, they just have to be listened.
Members
Current members
Jacoby Shaddix (Coby Dick) – Voice
Jerry Horton – Guitar
Tobin Esperance – Base
Nair LeBau - Keyboard and Samples (only in the albums)
Tony Palermo - Drummer
Former members
Will James – base guitar in the first recording of Potatoes For Christmas.
Ryan Brown – Drummer in the album Potatoes For Christmas.
Mike Doherty - 2nd guitar in the Lovehatetragedy tour in 2002.
Dave Buckner: Drummer. He left the band in the beginning of 2008.
Links
Originally by Fran
