Corrosion of Conformity

Corrosion Of Conformity出道已有20年之久。樂隊(duì)經(jīng)過從一開始的變賣血本錄制首張專輯到如今90帶中期轉(zhuǎn)透大公司的奮斗歷程，以為廣大聽眾所知曉。在朋克和金屬成為與不共戴天的兩大音樂流派的年代時(shí)，Corrosion Of Conformity就成為在音樂中同時(shí)融合兩者的先驅(qū)，當(dāng)時(shí)讓歌迷又驚又喜。從Black Flag式怪異的音樂專輯Eye For An Eye到從Black Sabbath中得到靈感的專輯Deliverance，樂隊(duì)幾乎囊括了所有的音樂風(fēng)格——朋克，金屬，還有許許多多其他的風(fēng)格。
 
故事的起因已眾人皆知——Woody在六年級時(shí)碰到了Reed，并在高中時(shí)組建了Corrosion Of Conformity，樂隊(duì)原先叫No Labels，但Mike以及Eric是怎么加入的，Eric做完專輯又為什么離隊(duì)而去的，而緊接著剩下的三人怎么會發(fā)行一張由Mike領(lǐng)銜主唱的EPSix Songs With Mike Singing——這些都不得而知。不管怎么樣，樂隊(duì)隨后又發(fā)行了一張專輯Animosity，并在樂隊(duì)的第三張專輯Technocracy中找來Simon Bob擔(dān)當(dāng)主唱?？刹恢繫ike Dean是自動離開還是被踢出樂隊(duì)，總之他隨后離開了Corrosion Of Conformity并據(jù)說加入了一個(gè)叫Ugly Americans的樂隊(duì)之中，并92年里在Raleigh的一家音響商店工作，隨后又重新搬回北卡。到樂隊(duì)的第四張專輯Blind時(shí)Mike Dean已經(jīng)走了。但這張Blind卻一炮打紅，讓Corrosion Of Conformity從此名聲大燥。而關(guān)于Mike離去的原因據(jù)Corrosion Of Conformity官方主頁所說——“那個(gè)時(shí)候我們的巡演票績相當(dāng)糟糕，我當(dāng)時(shí)離開是因?yàn)閷Υ耸欠駪?yīng)該恐嚇一下我們的債主還是削減開銷從頭開始這個(gè)問題上大家互相指責(zé)。但我后來又回來了，因?yàn)樵阡浿齐S后一張Deliverance時(shí)樂隊(duì)意見仍四分五裂，而我仍和樂隊(duì)保持著聯(lián)系。我有時(shí)候做做調(diào)解人，但聽說我的建議對樂隊(duì)相當(dāng)管用——這就象是在開玩笑一樣，而且那個(gè)時(shí)候我聽到了樂隊(duì)當(dāng)時(shí)的一些錄音材料，覺得相當(dāng)出色，所以我邊回到了北卡，回到了樂隊(duì)身邊，而且回去之后感覺還相當(dāng)好。就這樣我們錄制完成了這張Deliverance。”
 
Pepper Keenan以前在新奧爾良的一個(gè)叫Graveyard Rodeo的樂隊(duì)里，這個(gè)樂隊(duì)在90年里還和Corrosion Of Conformity一起搞過演出。Corrosion Of Conformity很喜歡Pepper，并把他叫到北卡去試音，于是Pepper隨后便加入了樂隊(duì)。然而隨著時(shí)間的推移，唱片公司為了維生把Corrosion Of Conformity以及公司里樂隊(duì)所有的朋友都開除了。緊接著，Sony簽下了樂隊(duì)，因?yàn)镾ony公司缺少一個(gè)硬核朋克的骨干樂隊(duì)。同時(shí)樂隊(duì)也經(jīng)歷了一次重大調(diào)整，Karl Agell被踢出樂隊(duì)同時(shí)由Pepper擔(dān)當(dāng)主唱一職，Karl被開除的同時(shí)Phil Swisher也宣布退出了樂隊(duì)，這兩位前Corrosion Of Conformity舊將隨即組了一支名為Loose Cannon的70年代硬搖滾樂隊(duì)，這支樂隊(duì)就是現(xiàn)在Roadrunner旗下的Leadfoot。而幸運(yùn)的是Mike Dean當(dāng)時(shí)仍留在Raleigh，因此他重新回到了Corrosion Of Conformity。
 
對于樂隊(duì)的歷史，Corrosion Of Conformity一個(gè)成員為Convulse雜志寫的文章中總結(jié)道：
 
Corrosion Of Conformity的內(nèi)幕到底怎么回事？
 
“我們1982年成立，我們是一支硬核朋克樂隊(duì)，因此我們的音樂快速而具有沖擊力，還有不少政治見解。我們的音樂完全受著象Minor Threat和Black Flag,Bad Brains,Discharge以及Black Sabbath等等這類樂隊(duì)的影響。因此當(dāng)人們談起我們的新唱片——‘嘿，你們聽起來象Black Sabbath’的時(shí)候顯得相當(dāng)可笑，而事實(shí)上我們也在不斷向Black Sabbath靠攏。我們曾經(jīng)歷了許多次不同的人事變動，也出了許多唱片，同時(shí)也有點(diǎn)小名氣，因?yàn)槲覀兪悄切╅_創(chuàng)硬核與金屬的融合的樂隊(duì)之一。在美國，朋克和金屬樂迷簡直是與不共戴天，但我們屬于那些少有幾個(gè)真正結(jié)合了這兩種音樂風(fēng)格的樂隊(duì)。最近我們和Metal Blade簽了協(xié)議，但樂隊(duì)內(nèi)部和外部仍有不少問題——人事調(diào)整就是其中之一。我們的經(jīng)理Dick曾與唱片公司和售票代理大吵一頓，結(jié)果使得樂隊(duì)在走了不少人并在87年宣告解散，但一年多后樂隊(duì)又回來了，發(fā)行了一張新專輯，還帶會來一個(gè)吉他手和新主唱——Karl和Pepper，就是這兩個(gè)新來的家伙。”
 
Corrosion Of Conformity因?yàn)閱吻?ldquo;Drowning In A Daydream”而獲97/98年Grammy大獎，而這張專輯Wiseblood還獲得提名，但非常不幸地還是給Tool拿走了最佳專輯稱號。
 
在Sony炒了Corrosion Of Conformity魷魚之后，Sanctuary/BMG迅速接住了他們，并由Sanctuary發(fā)行了樂隊(duì)2000年的專輯America's Volume Dealer。但Reed無法參加樂隊(duì)的巡演，由Jimmy Bower頂替了他，緊接著Reed宣布退出Corrosion Of Conformity并集中盡力去完成他自己新樂隊(duì)Brown的工作，于是Jimmy Bower從此接替了Reed并一直工作至今。樂隊(duì)最近錄制了一張現(xiàn)場專輯Live Volume，發(fā)行于2001年四月，這張專輯的DVD及錄象帶版發(fā)行于2001年9月。
 
One of the first punk/metal fusion bands, Corrosion of Conformity (C.O.C. for short) were formed in North Carolina by guitarist Woody Weatherman during the early '80s. In their early years, C.O.C. became known for their aggressive sound, intelligent political lyrics, and willingness to break away from both hardcore and metal conventions. In the '90s, their shift to a more stripped-down, deliberate sound — sort of Black Sabbath filtered through the Deep South — brought them enough in line with the alternative metal zeitgeist to bring them a measure of mainstream popularity.
 
C.O.C. debuted in 1983 with the thrashy, Black Flag-influenced Eye for an Eye, featuring a lineup of Weatherman, drummer Reed Mullin, vocalist Eric Eycke, and bassist Mike Dean. They began to build up a cult following with 1985's Animosity, which featured additional guitarist Pepper Keenan and new vocalist Simon Bob. However, their label at the time, Death, grew tired of the band's internal instability and dropped them following 1987's Technocracy. It took several years for a new lineup to come together — featuring Weatherman, Keenan, Mullin, vocalist Karl Agell, and bassist Phil Swisher — but when it did, the result was 1991's Blind, a powerful, focused, more metallic record which increased their audience by leaps and bounds. Agell was fired following its success, and he and Swisher went on to form Leadfoot; meanwhile, Keenan became the full-time lead vocalist on 1994's even more Sabbath-esque Deliverance, which also featured the return of original bassist Mike Dean. During 1995, Keenan took a short detour into the Southern metal supergroup Down (which also featured Pantera's Phil Anselmo and members of Crowbar). Thanks to a shift in popular taste in favor of the ultra-heavy brand of alternative metal the group had helped pioneer, C.O.C. found themselves with a larger audience than ever before when they released 1996's Wiseblood, which continued and expanded their rock radio success. After a lengthy break from recording and a world tour with Metallica, C.O.C. returned with a new album in the fall of 2000, titled America's Volume Dealer. Another break ensued, resulting in the release of the live recording Live Volume in 2001. It wasn't until April of 2005 that the band regrouped for the hard-hitting and complex In the Arms of God.