2010-08-05T18:45:00.000-07:00

Staind (pronounced /ˈsteɪnd/, STAYND) is an American rock band from Springfield, Massachusetts, including lead singer/guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist Johnny April and drummer Jon Wysocki. Over the past 14 years the band has recorded six studio albums, had multiple chart topping singles, and sold over 15 million records worldwide.^[1]

Staind is well known for using baritone guitars, which helps give the band its distinctive sound.

Early days and Tormented (1995-1998)

Staind formed on November 24, 1995 in Springfield, Massachusetts. The band met through friends and started covering KoRn, Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, Tool, and Alice in Chains, among others, in smalltime clubs for a year and a half. Staind self-released their debut album, Tormented, in November 1996, citing influences Pantera and Machine Head. Until recently, the album was difficult to obtain, as only four thousand copies were originally sold. Since then, the band's official website has released the album to meet the demand from fans.

During this time, Staind played a show with Limp Bizkit. When Fred Durst saw the controversial cover of the group's self produced album, Tormented, he tried to have the band kicked off the bill, but when he saw the band's live show, he changed his tone and befriended them.

Dysfunction (1999-2000)

On April 13, 1999, Staind released its major label debut Dysfunction on Flip Records. The album, which was co-produced by Durst and Terry Date (who also produced acts like Soundgarden, Deftones, and Pantera), received comparisons to metal giants Tool and Korn.^[2] In particular, Aaron Lewis was lauded for his vocals, which were likened with those of Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.^[3]

The album achieved slow success, with the album reaching the #1 spot on Billboard's Heatseaker Charts almost six months after its debut.^[4] In the same week, the album jumped to #73 on Billboard's Top 200 Album Charts.^[4] The nine-track LP (with one hidden track, "Excess Baggage") produced three singles, "Just Go", "Mudshovel", and "Home". "Mudshovel" and "Home" both received radio play, cracking the Top 20 of Billboard's Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. In promotion of Dysfunction, Staind went on several tours, including the Family Values Tour with acts like Limp Bizkit and The Crystal Method, as well as opening for Sevendust's headlining tour.^[5]^[6]

Lewis performs at the Rolling Rock Town Fair on August 4th, 2001.

Break the Cycle (2001-2002)

Staind toured with Limp Bizkit for the Family Values Tour during the fall of 1999, where Aaron Lewis performed their first mainstream hit "Outside" with Fred Durst. After heavy touring, Staind released their third studio album Break the Cycle on May 22, 2001. Propelled by the success of their first single "It's Been Awhile", the album debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Album charts, selling 716,000 albums in its first week.^[7] The album's first week sales were the second highest of any album that year, a significant achievement for a hard rock band at a time when music charts were largely dominated by hip hop and teen-pop acts.^[8]

The album saw the band move away from the nu metal sounds of their previous album and turn to an alternative metal sound.^[9] The album spawned five hit singles: "It's Been Awhile" (which hit the Billboard Top 10), "Fade" (which has been featured on a number of movie soundtracks and television shows), "Outside", "For You," and the acoustic ballad "Epiphany." It also included a track called "Waste," devoted to two teenage fans who committed suicide shortly before the album was released. "It's Been Awhile" spent a total of 16 and 14 weeks on top of the modern and mainstream rock charts, respectively, making it one of the highest joint numbers of all time. Break The Cycle would go on to sell 7 million copies to people worldwide, making this Staind's best selling album.

14 Shades of Grey (2003-2004)

In early 2003, Staind embarked on a worldwide tour to promote the release of the follow-up to Break The Cycle, 14 Shades Of Grey, which sold two million albums and debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200. The fourteen-track collection was the band's most mainstream yet^[10], and showed Aaron Lewis writing songs about his daughter, as well as moving on with his life and forgetting his past, hence the title representing uncertainty for the future and forgiveness. The album provided two mainstream hits: the lead single "Price to Play", and "So Far Away" (which spent 14 weeks on top of the rock chart, and was featured on an episode of Smallville); in addition, two other singles failed to crack the Hot 100—"How About You" and "Zoe Jane"— but "How About You" was a fairly popular song on modern rock radio. Their song "Price to Play" was the official theme song of WWE's Vengeance pay-per-view event in July 2003. As well, their song "So Far Away" was featured on an episode of WWE Raw as part of a video tribute to hardcore wrestling legend Mick Foley. The band's appearance at Reading Festival during the 2003 tour had another impromptu acoustic set, this time due to equipment failure. The singles "So Far Away" and "Price to Play" came with two unreleased tracks, "Novocaine" and "Let It Out", which were released for the special edition of the group's Chapter V, which came out in late 2005. In 2003, Staind unsuccessfully sued their logo designer Jon Stainbrook in New York Federal Court for attempting to re-use the logo he had sold to the band. They re-opened the case in mid-2005.^[11]

Chapter V (2005-2006)

After extensive promotions, including an appearance on Fuse TV's 7th Avenue Drop, Staind's newest album, titled Chapter V was released on August 9, 2005, and became their third consecutive number one. The album opened to sales of 185,000 and has since been certified platinum in the U.S. The first single "Right Here" has been the biggest success from the album thus far, garnering much mainstream radio play and peaking at number 1 on the mainstream rock chart. "Falling" (the video of which does not feature the band members at all) was released as the second single, followed by "Everything Changes" and "King of All Excuses." Staind have been on the road since the album came out doing live shows and promoting it for a full year, including participating in the Fall Brawl tour with P.O.D., Taproot and Flyleaf, a solo tour across Europe and a mini-promotional tour in Australia for the first time. Recent live shows have included a cover of Pantera's This Love, a tribute to Dimebag Darrell. Staind appeared on The Howard Stern Show on August 10, 2005, to promote their new album Chapter V. They performed acoustic renditions of the single Right Here and Beetlejuice's song "This is Beetle." Their rendition of "Beetle" is immensely popular with fans and listeners alike and became a staple of the show. Staind also performed a version of "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. Kevin Lofton, who does all the animation for the Howard Stern website, created a black-and-white animated video for the song. During a January 2006 Episode of WWE RAW, a tribute video to then WWE Champion Edge featured the band's song "Right Here". In early November 2005, Staind released the limited edition 2-CD/DVD set of Chapter V. The set included several rarities and fan favorites— music videos; a complete, 36-page booklet with exclusive artwork; an audio disc with an acoustic rendition of "This is Beetle"; the original, melodic rendition of "Reply"; the previously released B-side singles "Novocaine" and "Let It Out"; and live versions of "It's Been Awhile" and "Falling", among many others.

The Singles: 1996-2006 (2006-2007)

In 2006, Staind performed an acoustic show in the Hiro Ballroom, New York City on September 6 and the songs played were recorded for their "Greatest Hits" album. They played sixteen songs including three covers: Tool's "Sober", Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" and Alice in Chains's "Nutshell".

The title was later renamed to The Singles and finally The Singles: 1996-2006. The album had most of Staind's singles (including "Everything Changes" which was recorded at the New York show), the three covers performed at the New York show and a remastered version of "Come Again", from Staind's first independent release Tormented. It was released on November 14, 2006.

The Illusion of Progress (2008-2009)

On August 19, 2008, Staind released their sixth album, The Illusion of Progress. A limited edition of the album was also made available to fans, which included 3 bonus tracks and a year membership in the Staind Fan Club, along with other items (the first 200 fans who pre-ordered the album through Atlantic Records received a signed copy of the album by the band). Prior to the album's release, the track "This Is It" was available for download on the iTunes store, as well as for Rock Band. The album debuted at #3 on US Billboard 200, #1 on the Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums Chart, #1 on the Top Digital Albums Chart, and also #1 on the Top Internet Albums Chart, with first week sales of 91,800 units. The first single on the album, "Believe", topped Billboard's Top 10 Modern Rock Tracks on September 5, 2008. The band has also been supporting Nickelback on their 2008 European tour. The second single was "All I Want", that came out on November 24. The video continues the story of first single and was available on Staind's MySpace on December 12. The single also became Staind's 13th top 20 hit on the rock charts. In Europe the second single was "The Way I Am", released on January 26, 2009. The final single released from the album, "This Is It" was sent to radio stations across the country on May 4, 2009. The single was also included on the successful "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – The Album" released in late June, 2009. Aaron Lewis stated in an interview that he has begun writing for his upcoming solo album later set to be released this year. Staind embarked on a fall tour with the newly reunited Creed.

Next album (2010-present)

According to Aaron Lewis, the band will start working on their seventh studio album at the end of 2010.^[12] The frontman has just finished recording his country-tinged solo album and has recently started a nonprofit organization to reopen his daughter's elementary school in Worthington, Massachusetts. ^[13]

Trademark infringement

In November 2003 Staind attempted to sue Ohio musician Jon Stainbrook in New York Federal Court over his 1980 trademark of "The Stain". Staind was unsuccessful in their suit prompting Stainbrook to pursue litigation against the band for including false statements in their application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. If Stainbrook's suit was successful, Staind would have had to change their band name and forfeit all trademark claims.^[14]

In 2005, guitarist Mike Mushok claimed during a deposition in Toledo, Ohio that Staind avoided any contact with Stainbrook because they were not made aware of promises a Geffen Records Executive made to Stainbrook on their behalf during a 1999 licensing negotiation. After several legal confrontations, the parties settled their claims in 2006, partially re-negotiating the 1999 licensing agreement, which allows Stainbrook and Staind the right to use the trademark in certain areas.^[15]

Recognition

In 2006, frontman Aaron Lewis was listed in metal magazine Hit Parader's Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists list at #49.^[16]

The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll notes; "Aaron Lewis is a key figure in metal's shift from the sincerity of Eddie Vedder to the chilly modalities of Layne Staley." ^[17]