Papa Roach

In 1993, four school friends from Vacaville, California, decided to build up a rock band. That was the beginning of one of the most established alternative outfits, Papa Roach, initially composed by Jacoby Shaddix, Jerry Hotorn, Dave Buckner and Will James. The young musicians were courageous enough to combine various styles with the basic focus on hip-hop and hard rock. Papa Roach spent their first two years to maintain a solid contact with the audience. Teenagers were happy to visit each of their gigs looking for a good deal of adrenalin pumped by the explosive-like nature of the music and the musicians. The fresh band should have been thankful to the fortune for having and taking a chance to play several concerts with such well-known acts like Deftones, Incubus, and Human Waste Project. In the summer 1996, Papa Roach went through the first lineup change. Will James could no longer stay with the band as he preferred to commit himself to the church summer camp. He was replaced by the group’s long time roadie Tobin Esperance. Furthermore, not to be distracted from the music affairs by the organizational issues, Papa Roach hired manager Bret Bair.

Papa Roach recorded and got out their debut album all by their own having spent as little as 700 dollars. Old Friends From Young Years hit the market in February 1997 featuring 13 compositions. Some of them entered instantly the playlists of the numerous college radio stations broadcasting for the entire West Coast. Papa Roach became one of the most anticipated guests at any rock festival in California. The musicians were greatly surprised with the crowds visiting their concerts after the release of the debut studio album. Shortly after, Papa Roach qualified from the local stars category into the national heroes division. Following the joint performances with Suicidal Tendencies, Sevendust, and Powerman 5000, the young musicians inked the deal with Dreamworks Records. 2000 saw Papa Roach deliver their, most likely, strongest to date album, Infest. Largely owing to the powerful single Last Resort, this record reached the platinum level of sales three times. Papa Roach issued their subsequent album in June 2002. In the terms of music, Lovehatetragedy marked the band’s withdrawal from the rap-rock roots and movement towards a more melodic and difficult music. After the release, Papa Roach shared the stage with the rap celebrities Ludacris, and Xzibit in the frames of Management Tour held by Eminem.

In 2004, Papa Roach presented one more studio work. Called Getting Away with Murder and backed by the popular single Scars, this long player had considerable sales and eventually ran platinum. Two years later, the band released another album, The Paramour Sessions. Right after the material was completed, Dave Buckner exited the outfit and left the drum kit to Tony Palermo. To promote the fresh release, Papa Roach embarked on a massive tour during which they played along with Seether, and Staind. Commercially, the album was a sheer disappointment though. Despite the packed concert schedule, the group did not abandon the studio. They started recording session of the new CD in 2008. Stylistically, the new effort followed the hard rock and metal paths trodden by its predecessors. Metamorphosis saw light early in 2009 and, apparently, has become another lame attempt to repeat the achievements of Infest. A year later the band released their first compilation album, titled ...To Be Loved: The Best Of Papa Roach (2010). That record proved to be a real present to the group’s fans: it included best Papa Roach’ works, while the album is opened by old compositions Broken Home, Last Resort and Time And Time Again that are so much loved by music lovers.