Yellowcard

Formed in 1997 in Jacksonville, Florida, the group released their debut album Midget Tossing with independent label DIY Records in April that year. They then signed to Takeover Records and released their second album Where We Stand in 1999 (later re-released in 2004 and 2005). This was followed by the group’s first EP Still Standing in 2000, then their third album One for the Kids the following year. It was their biggest hit to date, with the songs Cigarette and Drifting appearing on a number of television shows and computer games. This was then followed by their second EP release The Underdog EP.

However, it was their fourth studio album Ocean Avenue, recorded after signing to the major label Capitol Records, that would prove to be the group’s breakthrough mainstream success. It was their first album to chart inside the Billboard 200 and eventually climbed to a peak of number 25. The album would go on to sell over a million copies and produce the US Top 30 hit single Ocean Avenue.

The group’s next release Lights and Sounds showcased more of an alternative rock sound – a departure from their previous pop punk staple. It subsequently reached number five on the Billboard 200, selling over 80,000 copies in its first week of release, and spawned two singles: Lights and Sounds and Rough Landing, Holly. This was followed by 2007’s Paper Walls, which hit number thirteen in the US and produced the hit single Light Up the Sky… but this was to be the group’s last release for the foreseeable future as they announced an indefinite hiatus in April 2008.

HIM

Formed in 1991 as His Infernal Majesty and later shortened to HIM, the group released the seven-track demo tape Witches and Other Night Fears in 1992. This was followed by their 1997 debut album release Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666, which included covers of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game and Blue Öyster Cult’s (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, although it was 1999’s Razorblade Romance that first got them mainstream attention. As well as doing well in their native Finland, the album was a big hit in Germany, reaching number one on the album chart and producing the chart-topping single Join Me in Death, as well as the Top 20 hits Right Here in My Arms and Gone With the Sin.

The group’s third album Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights was another hit, producing the singles Heartache Every Moment, In Joy and Sorrow, Pretending and Close to the Flame, while their fourth release Love Metal saw them hit the Top 20 in the UK with the single The Funeral of Hearts. They also gained notable popularity in the US after being promoted heavily by the MTV presenter Bam Margera.

The group’s fourth and fifth studio albums – Dark Light and Venus Doom – saw the group cement their place as international stars, with both releases charting inside the Top 20 in the US and producing the international hit singles Wings of a Butterfly (which reached number ten in the UK), Killing Loneliness, In Joy and Sorrow/Pretending and The Kiss of Dawn.

HIM’s latest album, Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, Chapters 1–13, was released in February 2010. It has spawned the singles Heartkiller and Scared to Death to date.

Radiohead

Formed in 1985, Radiohead shot to prominence with the release of their 1993 debut album Pablo Honey. It reached the Top 40 in the UK and the US and produced the single UK Top 10 hit Creep, as well as the Top 40 single Anyone Can Play Guitar. However, things were soon to get even better…

On 13^th March 1995 the group released their second studio album The Bends. Taking them away from their post-grunge sound and experimenting with alternative rock, the album shot to number four on the UK Albums Chart, enjoyed universal critical acclaim and spawned a total of four UK Top 30 singles: My Iron Lung, High and Dry/Planet Telex, Fake Plastic Trees, Just and Street Spirit (Fade Out) – their first UK Top 5 hit. Retrospectively, The Bends is now widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time.

Just when things looked like they couldn’t get any better, along came OK Computer. Released on 16^th June 1997, the album shot to number one in the UK Albums Chart and number 21 on the Billboard 200. It also produced three UK Top 10 singles – Paranoid Android, Karma Police and No Surprises. Immediately after its release OK Computer was met with universal acclaim, with many critics claiming it was a landmark record that would have a far-reaching impact. Retrospectively, the album was voted the greatest of all time by Q magazine (with The Bends taking second place) in 1998 and it’s also appeared near the top of professional lists and public polls for NME, Virgin, Rolling Stone and many others.

Since the turn of the century Radiohead have released a further four studio albums – Kid A, Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows – all of which have charted within the Top 5 in both the UK and the US (as well as a dozen other country charts). Between them the albums have sold millions of copies around the world and produced five UK Top 20 hits: Pyramid Song, Knives Out, There There, Go to Sleep and 2+2=5.

Linkin Park

Formed in 1996 as Xero, the group first changed their name to Hybrid Theory and then to Linkin Park – in homage to Santa Monica’s Lincoln Park. After landing a contract with Warner Bros. Records in the late 90s they began work on their debut album, which they decided to name after their previous incarnation.

Hybrid Theory was released on 24^th October 2000 and was an instant, phenomenal success. It reached number two on the Billboard 200 and eventually went on to sell ten million copies in the US – and over 29 million copies worldwide (making it the second biggest selling album of the decade, behind The Beatles’ 1). It produced four hit singles in total: the US number two smash hit In the End, the Grammy Award-winning Crawling and the UK Top 30 releases Papercut and One Step Closer.

The group’s follow-up album Meteora was released in March 2003. Selling over ten million copies worldwide, the album reached number one on the Billboard 200 and also became the US Modern Rock Tracks chart’s most successful album ever. A total of six singles were released from the album, including the US number eleven hit Numb and the UK Top 40 singles Somewhere I Belong, Faint and Breaking the Habit.

Linkin Park’s third studio album Minutes to Midnight was released in May 2007 and again shot to number one in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and more than a dozen other countries around the world. It produced a total of five singles: What I’ve Done, Bleed It Out, Shadow of the Day, Given Up and New Divide.

The group’s fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns, is due for release in September 2010.

Alanis Morissette

Born 1^st June 1974 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Morissette began playing the piano at the age of six. She wrote her first song Stay with Me at the age of ten, and released it as a single with the backing of local folk singer Lindsay Morgan. Her musical education continued throughout elementary and high school, and at the age of twelve she also took an acting role as a regular character on the CTV/Nickelodeon show You Can’t Do That on Television.

She entered a number of local talent competitions in her teens and won several of them. She also appeared on the renowned Star Search in New York, USA, but was sent home after just the first round. However, this appearance led to her signing her first record contract in 1988. She released two albums (in Canada only) in the early 1990s – Alanis and Now Is the Time – and scored Top 40 hits with the singles Too Hot, Walk Away, Feel Your Love, An Emotion Away, No Apologies and (Change Is) Never a Waste of Time.

But it was 1995’s Jagged Little Pill that shot Morissette to international fame. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 (spending twelve weeks there in total) and sold over 33 million copies worldwide – making it one of the best-selling records of all time. It was nominated for six Grammy Awards (winning four) and produced five US Top 10 singles – You Oughta Know, Ironic, You Learn, Hand in My Pocket and Head over Feet.

Alanis Morissette has released four more albums since then – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998), Under Rug Swept (2002), So-Called Chaos (2004) and Flavors of Entanglement (2008) – which have produced the hit singles Uninvited, Thank U, Hands Clean, Precious Illusions, Hands Clean, Everything,  Eight Easy Steps, Underneath and I Remain.

My Chemical Romance

Formed by Way and Pelissier in September 2001, My Chemical Romance quickly signed to Eyeball Records and released their debut album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in July 2002. Although not a mainstream success, the album earned the group a significant underground following and produced three singles: Honey This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough for the Two of Us, Vampires Will Never Hurt You and Headfirst for Halos.

The group’s second album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, was released in June 2004. Unlike its predecessor, the album was an instant mainstream success – reaching the Top 30 on the US Billboard 200, selling over a million copies worldwide and producing three Billboard Hot 100 singles: I’m Not Okay (I Promise), Helena (a Top 40 hit) and The Ghost of You.

After releasing the EP Warped Tour Bootleg in 2005, followed by the live album Life on the Murder Scene in early 2006, the group released their third studio album in October that year. The Black Parade shot to number two on the Billboard 200 and produced the UK number one single Welcome to the Black Parade, as well as the Top 20 hits Famous Last Words, I Don’t Love You and Teenagers.

The group have since released three more EPs – 2007’s AOL Sessions and Live and Rare and 2009’s The Black Parade: The B-Sides – as well as the live album The Black Parade Is Dead! and the video album ¡Venganza! Their fourth studio album Monsters is due for release some time in late 2010.

The Cranberries

Formed as ‘The Cranberry Saw Us’ in Limerick in 1989, the group produced a demo tape of songs in the early 90s and sent it to several record companies in Ireland and the UK. It immediately attracted a lot of attention and, following a short industry bidding war, the group signed with Island Records.

After deciding to shorten their names to ‘The Cranberries’, the group released their debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? in 1993. It became an immediate commercial hit, reaching number one in the UK Albums chart and selling over five million copies in the United States. It produced two hit singles: Linger (which reached number eight in the US) and Dreams (which hit the UK Top 30).

The group released their second album, No Need to Argue, on 3^rd October 1994. Although a much darker record than its predecessor, focusing on subjects like war, death and destruction, it is the group’s most successful album to date. It produced the smash hit single Zombie – a song about The Troubles in Northern Ireland that topped the Australian and German pop charts, as well as the US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also produced the UK Top 30 singles Ode to My Family and I Can’t Be With You. To date, the album has sold sold over seventeen million copies around the world.

The band released three more albums during the 1990s and 2000s: To the Faithful Departed, Bury the Hatchet and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.  Between them the records produced a string of hit singles, including Salvation, Free to Decide, When You’re Gone, Promises and Animal Instinct, before the group took a hiatus in 2003. However, they reunited six years later and are currently working on their sixth studio album.