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Biography
Refimprove|date=November 2009Infobox musical artist| name = Failure| image = FailureBand.jpg| background = group_or_band| origin = Los Angeles, California , United States|U.S. | genre = Alternative rock Alternative metal Space rock Post-grunge | years_active = 1990–1997| label = Slash Records|Slash Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros. | associated_acts = Replicants (band)|Replicants ON (music)|On Year of the Rabbit (band)|Year of the Rabbit Autolux A Perfect Circle Queens of the Stone Age Enemy (band)|Enemy Blinker the Star Campfire Girls (band)|Campfire Girls Veruca Salt (band)|Veruca Salt | website =| past_members = Ken Andrews Greg Edwards (musician)|Greg Edwards Kellii Scott Troy Van Leeuwen Robert Gauss John Dargahi Failure was an United States|American rock band (often also classified as alternative rock and/or space rock ) that was active from 1990 to 1997, during which they recorded and released three Music critic|critically acclaimed album s.citation needed|date=December 2011 They are often compared to other hard rock bands from that time that were similarly labeled as "alternative", such as Nirvana (band)|Nirvana , Soundgarden , or Bush (band)|Bush , but are distinguished by their meticulous attention to Texture (music)|textural sonic detail, inventive use of guitar effects and signal processing , and the overall expansive sound design of their later albums.citation needed|date=December 2011
History
In 1992, Failure Recording contract|signed with Slash Records (an LA-based Independent record label|independent label whose releases were manufactured and distributed by Warner Bros. in the United States), and went to Minnesota to record their debut album with notorious producer Steve Albini at Pachyderm Studio that summer. Comfort (album)| Comfort was released in September 1992, and around this same time, they went on their first of several tours with Tool (band)|Tool .
Both the band and Albini were unsatisfied with the sound of Comfort , so when the band went back into the studio in 1993, Andrews and Edwards took on the role of producers themselves. Midway through these sessions, Gauss left the band, so Edwards played some drums himself, until a replacement was found in Kellii Scott . Their second album, Magnified , was released in March 1994; a music video|promotional video (the band's first) was made for the single "Undone", but it received little airtime, if any, on any of the traditional music video outlets. Critics took note of the sonic and musical advances achieved on Magnified , and other more well-known musicians also began singing Failure's praises. That year, they again went on tour with Tool, and during Failure's set each night, Tool guitarist Adam Jones (musician)|Adam Jones came onstage to play rhythm guitar on the Comfort track "Macaque".
Anxious to build on the momentum afforded to them by the relative success of Magnified , Andrews, Edwards, and Scott began recording again in 1995, this time in a rented home owned by Lita Ford in the hills just outside of LA. With the band again producing themselves, and Andrews handling the lion's share of the engineering himself, the situation allowed the band to take far more time in recording than they ever had before, and follow their instincts as far as they chose without outside interference. As the recordings neared completion, they received word that their label's distribution deal with Warner had expired and would not be renewed. Since Failure was essentially sideline d while the owners of Slash were trying to negotiate a new distribution deal, the band members kept themselves busy with outside projects: Andrews and Edwards (and friends) recorded an album of Cover version|covers under the name Replicants (band)|Replicants ; Andrews produced albums for Blinker the Star and Molly McGuire (the Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City -based rock band, not the LA-based singer-songwriter ); Scott did some session work. Meanwhile, the band continued to "unofficially" shop the record to other labels and industry personnel, while hoping that Warner would step up and release the album. In the spring of 1996, Warner did exactly that, agreeing to keep the Slash imprint one last time for Failure, and Fantastic Planet (album)| Fantastic Planet was released that August. Guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen , a friend and former bandmate of Scott's, joined Failure around the time of the album's release. The album's first single, "Stuck on You" (an ironically catchy mid- tempo track that metaphor ically compares heroin to a nagging tune stuck in one's head), became a minor alternative-radio hit and achieved light to medium rotation on MTV , but failed to Billboard Hot 100|chart significantly. The song peaked at #31 on the U.S. Billboard magazine|Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and #23 on the Modern Rock chart.Allmusic|class=artist|id=p21995/charts-awards|pure_url=yes Billboard, Allmusic Other songs, such as "Saturday Saviour" and "Pitiful", received some airplay from more adventurous-minded Disc jockey|DJs , but no more videos were made for any of the album's tracks, and due to the state of disarray at their label at that time, little effort was put into its promotion.
In 1997, the band were asked by friends in the Industrial music|industrial rock band God Lives Underwater to contribute a track for a Depeche Mode For the Masses|tribute album that they were assembling; Failure chose to cover the 1990 hit " Enjoy the Silence ", a worldwide smash and Depeche Mode's best-selling and most well-known single. The members of Depeche Mode were reportedly very pleased with the album, and with the Failure track particularly; Andrew Fletcher (musician)|Andrew Fletcher said that he actually prefers their cover over his band's original version.citation needed|date=December 2011 That summer, Failure also joined the Lollapalooza tour, during what became the last of that tour's travelling years. They were originally playing the side stage, but were promoted to the main stage to fill in for another band who had dropped out of the tour.citation needed|date=December 2011 On 1997#November|November 19, 1997 , Failure officially announced that they had disbanded, citing personal differences. In 2004, although the band had been inactive for many years, Andrews and Edwards got together to collaborate on a CD/DVD set entitled Golden (Failure album)| Golden , which collects demos, outtake#Music outtake|outtakes , touring footage, both of the band's music video|videos , and other rare material from the band's active period. Another posthumous compilation, a 2-CD set titled Essentials , was assembled for release in 2006; the first disc contains selected tracks from Failure's three studio albums, and the second disc features the first official CD release of all four songs from their two pre-Slash singles, and the complete demos for Magnified .
On June 8, 2010, Fantastic Planet was released on 2LP record set for the first time from Warner Bros.
Both Magnified and Comfort are to be released on LP record for the first time in the second half of 2011 by ORG Music.
Discography
Comfort (album)|Comfort (1992)
Magnified (1994)
Fantastic Planet (album)|Fantastic Planet (1996)
Golden (Failure album)|Golden (2004)
Essentials (Failure album)|Essentials (2006)
Post-Failure projects
Ken Andrews has gone on to become a well-known producer, engineer, and Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixer ,citation needed|date=December 2011 and has been involved in several different music projects. ON (music)|ON (1999–2002) was more or less a solo project, and was not unlike Failure, in terms of songwriting, but the overall sound was more based on Electronic music|electronics , with less emphasis on guitar s and the typical Hard rock|heavy rock sound. Year of the Rabbit (band)|Year of the Rabbit (2002–2004) saw Andrews' return to the four-piece rock band format, alongside ON's touring drummer, Tim Dow, and former members of National Skyline and Cupcakes; the harder-rocking sound of YotR is much closer to that of Failure, but the band lost momentum and eventually went on indefinite hiatus after their label, Elektra Records , was ostensibly shut down by its parent company. Throughout all of this, Andrews has become increasingly sought-after for his production and mixing skills, and his résumé has expanded to include work on albums by Pete Yorn , Tenacious D , Black Rebel Motorcycle Club , and Mae , among many others. (Also notable is his participation in the production of " You Know My Name ", the theme for the 2006 James Bond movie Casino Royale (2006 film)|Casino Royale , performed by ex- Soundgarden / Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell .) Currently, Andrews is performing as a solo artist, as well as collaborating in a self-described "digital band" called Los Angeles Digital Noise Academy, whose loose membership also includes Brad Laner ( Medicine (band)|Medicine ), Sharky Laguana ( Creeper Lagoon ), Charlotte Martin (whom Andrews married in 2005), and others. He has also started a label, Dinosaur Fight Records, which has released his solo album and Martin's, and has announced their intention to release the forthcoming LADNA album, as well.
Greg Edwards collaborated with fellow musicians Chris Pitman , Brad Laner, and Paul D'Amour in the psychedelic pop outfit Lusk, releasing the album Free Mars in 1997. In 2000, Edwards formed the band Autolux in with vocalist/bassist Eugene Goreshter and former Ednaswap drummer Carla Azar . Their self-produced, self-released 2001 EP Demonstration brought them to the attention of legendary producer T Bone Burnett , who used his vanity label DMZ to secure them a contract with Sony BMG|Sony BMG Music Entertainment and produced their debut album, Future Perfect , which was released in October 2004 to general critical praise. They were hand-picked by Trent Reznor to open for Nine Inch Nails ' North America n arena tour in the autumn of 2005, playing bottom of the bill before Queens of the Stone Age . In 2006, they collaborated on a few tracks with the British musical outfit UNKLE , for UNKLE's 2007 release, War Stories (Album)|War Stories . After various delays, Autolux released their second album, Transit Transit , in 2010.
Kellii Scott joined Blinker the Star after Failure's breakup, and then joined Campfire Girls (band)|Campfire Girls for their 2003 album, Tell Them Hi . As of 2005, he was playing drums for both Veruca Salt (band)|Veruca Salt and Enemy (band)|Enemy . In 2008, Kellii's most recent band The Brontosaur released their self-titled album.
Troy Van Leeuwen first resurfaced in the original lineup of A Perfect Circle , appearing on their debut album, Mer De Noms (2000), and on the subsequent tour. During the sessions for APC's second album, Van Leeuwen was extended an invitation to join Queens of the Stone Age , which he accepted; he does appear on three tracks on the second APC album, Thirteenth Step (2003), but the included cover of Failure's "The Nurse Who Loved Me" is not one of them. He has remained with QotSA since then, first appearing on the tour for their 2002 album, Songs for the Deaf , but not on the album itself. Also, during this time, Van Leeuwen assembled the band Enemy (band)|Enemy , a vehicle in which he is the frontman and guitarist; their debut album, Hooray for Dark Matter , was released in October 2005. And more recently forming the band Sweethead along with vocalist Serrina Sims , who provided backing vocals on the QotSA album Era Vulgaris (album)|Era Vulgaris , http://loudnoiseandpictures.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/troy-this-on-for-size/ Troy this on for size. « Loud Noise and Pictures in 2008color|blue| grammar needed . The bands roster was rounded upcolor|blue| "rounded up"? with Norm Block formerly of Plexi and Troy's former Enemy (band)|Enemy bandmate Eddie Nappi .
References
Reflist
External links
MySpace|failuregolden|Failure
http://fantasticplanet.org/ The Failure Archive
http://popuprecords.com/ Pre-order Failure Tribute Album "The Nurse Who Loved Me"
http://youfail.org/
http://www.dinosaurfightrecords.com/ Ken Andrews independent record label Dinosaur Fight Records
DEFAULTSORT:Failure (Band) Category:Alternative rock groups from California Category:Musical groups established in 1990 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1997 Category:Art rock musical groups Category:Space rock Category:American post-grunge musical groups
