Rueben's Ramblings

30 Seconds to Mars

The American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars was founded in Los Angeles in 1998 by actor Jared Leto (vocals, rhythm guitar and songwriter) and his brother Shannon Leto (drums and percussion) as a family project. Matt Wachter later joined the band as bassist and keyboard player (he left the band in 2007 however). After working with a number of guitarists, the trio auditioned Tomo Milicevic (lead guitar and keyboards) to round out the band’s roster.

The band’s self-titled debut album was released in 2002 and featured two singles “Edge of the Earth” and “Capricorn (A Brand New Name),” which peaked at number 31 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart.

You can read more of this article at my Examiner.com page here.

Read Full Post »

Stereophonics

The Welsh classic rock band Stereophonics was formed in 1992 in Wales and they have released seven studio albums since 1997. Five of those albums topped the UK albums charts and their compilation album, released in 2008, charted at number two in the UK. They have also achieved a total of 10 top-ten singles as well as one number 1 single.

But first, the formation of the band came about by founding members Kelly Jones (lead vocals, rhythm guitar and keyboard), Richard Jones (bass guitar, vocals, piano and harmonica) and the late Stuart Cable (drums, percussion and backing vocals) who performed as a teenage cover band known as Tragic Love Company. They later changed the band’s name to Stereophonics, named after the manufacturer of a record player that had belonged to Cable’s father.

You can read the rest of this article at my Examiner.com page here.

Read Full Post »

Anouk

Anouk is a Dutch singer, who has released 10 pop-rock albums since 1997. Her interest in music began thanks to the fact her mother was a blues singer and her early days were spent singing at weddings and parties in the Netherlands.

Her first album called “Together Alone” was released in October of 1997 and remained at the top of the Dutch music charts for a number of weeks, earning her several awards from the Dutch music channel known as The Music Factory in addition to an Edison award.

You can read the rest of this article at my Examiner.com page here.

Read Full Post »

Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood was the winner of the fourth season of American Idol and began making strides in the world of country music very quickly. In the few years since her AI win, she has become a multi-platinum selling recording artist, has won multiple Grammy Awards, is a Grand Ole Opry inductee, a three-time American Country Music and Country Music Association Female Vocalist winner and won back-to-back Academy of Country Music Awards for Entertainer of the Year (2009/2010).

Her debut album “Some Hearts” was released in 2005 and featured her three hit singles “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” “Waste” and “Before He Cheats.” In October of 2007, her second album “Carnival Ride” came out and has sold three million copies as of January 2010. This album produced four number one country hits, including “Last Name” and “All-American Girl”.

You can read more of this article at my Examiner.com page here.

Read Full Post »

Sia

Sia is an Australia pop singer and songwriter, who recorded two albums as part of the jazz and indie formation known as Crisp before recording her own solo album called “Only See” in 1997. It wasn’t until 2000 that she signed with Sony Music and released her major-label debut “Healing is Difficult,” which featured the single “Little Man”. This album received wide critical acclaim, but she soon left Sony for Go! Beat Records (a subsidiary of  UMG). After releasing an EP called “Don’t Bring Me Down” in 2003, Sia released her second major album entitled “Colour the Small Ones” in 2004. This album featured one of Sia’s most recognizable songs “Breathe Me,” which was featured not only in the made-for-TV movie Fallen (which starred Paul Wesley, who can now be seen in the popular series on the CW The Vampire Diaires) but also appeared in the series finale of the HBO show Six Feet Under.

After changing records labels, again, touring throughout the United States and providing the vocals for the band Zero 7 on their hit single “Destiny,” Sia released an “almost EP-ish” album called “Lady Croissant” in April of 2007 and followed that up with her next album “Some People Have Real Problems” in January of 2008. Her most recent album, which was just released last month, is called “We Are Born”.

You can read the rest of this article at my Examiner.com page here.

Read Full Post »