Everything about Rise Against totally explained
Rise Against is an
American band from
Chicago, Illinois that was formed in 1999. Their current line-up consists of four members:
Tim McIlrath (vocals, guitar),
Joe Principe (bass guitar),
Brandon Barnes (drums), and
Zach Blair (guitar). To date, Rise Against has released four albums, a rare material EP, and one DVD.
Rise Against rose to fame with their first two major label releases,
Siren Song of the Counter Culture (2004) and
The Sufferer & the Witness (2006), with hits such as "
Give It All," "
Swing Life Away," "
Ready to Fall," "
Prayer of the Refugee," and "
The Good Left Undone." They are currently working in the studio, preparing their
fifth studio album, which is expected to be released late
2008 or early
2009.
History
Early years (1999-2003)
Rise Against was formed in 1999 by former members of the bands
88 Fingers Louie and Baxter following the break up of
88 Fingers Louie. The first lineup consisted of
Tim McIlrath (vocals),
Joe Principe (bass and vocals), Tony Tintari (drums), and
Mr. Precision (guitar and vocals). Though the band never performed live with this lineup, it released a self-produced demo/EP entitled
Transistor Revolt in 2000, a year before signing with
Fat Wreck Chords to release its first two albums,
The Unraveling (produced by veteran punk producer
Mass Giorgini), and
Revolutions Per Minute (produced by Bill Stevenson at The Blasting Room) in 2001 and 2003. A re-issued version of
The Unraveling was also released on
August 23,
2005 through
Fat Wreck Chords with bonus tracks.
Tintari left after recording the original Transistor Revolt Demo, and Mr. Precision also left the band in 2001. Mr. Precision was replaced by Kevin White during
The Unraveling touring cycle, but he also left and was then replaced by
Todd Mohney to complete the cycle and begin writing
Revolutions Per Minute. The band toured extensively on these two records, accepting invitations from the likes of
Sick Of It All,
NOFX,
Agnostic Front,
No Use for a Name,
AFI,
Strung Out and the
Mad Caddies. "Revolutions Per Minute" received critical acclaim and attracted the interest of several labels.
Siren Song of the Counter Culture (2004-2005)
Rise Against switched to
Dreamworks Records and recorded their third album
Siren Song of the Counter Culture. However,
Dreamworks Records was absorbed by the
Universal Music Group and Rise Against finally found themselves on
Geffen Records, a
Universal Music Group subsidiary, releasing
Siren Song of the Counter Culture in August 2004. Shortly after the band signed with Geffen, Mohney left and was replaced by Chris Chasse.
Rise Against toured the US, Europe, Australia and Japan in support of
Siren Song of the Counter Culture. Some of the most notable mentions include performances with the first international
Taste of Chaos tour in 2005 (with
Funeral for a Friend,
Story of the Year,
The Used and
Killswitch Engage), going to the UK, Germany, Australia and Japan,
Give It a Name 05 in the UK,
Reading Festival and
Leeds Festival in the UK, US tour with
Alkaline Trio and
Warped Tour in the US.
The Sufferer & the Witness (2006-2007)
Their fourth album,
The Sufferer & the Witness (also produced by Bill Stevenson @ The Blasting Room), was released on
July 4,
2006, reaching #10 on the
Billboard 200 and has since gone Platinum in Canada. A DVD titled
Generation Lost containing a documentary on the band members as well as live footage of the band was released on
December 5,
2006. "Generation Lost" went Gold in Canada in its first week of sales.
In early 2007, the band supported
My Chemical Romance on the first half of their arena tour. When in Canada they backed up Billy Talent on their arena tour. In their tour in support of
The Sufferer and the Witness, they played the song "Ohio" by
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young live. Rise Against later announced they'd be heading their own tour through North America throughout the summer of 2007. They have also announced their participation in this year's International Taste Of Chaos in the Fall of 07.
On
23 February 2007, Rise Against announced the departure of guitarist Chris Chasse on the band's official website on the same day as the beginning of their tour with
My Chemical Romance. In the announcement Chasse cited "an overwhelming tour schedule stacked on growing pressures and demands", and thanked fans for their support. Chasse, would be replaced by "longtime friend
Zach Blair from
Only Crime, who had also been the touring second guitarist for
The Loved Ones." Zach is also a former member of the band
GWAR. Chris Chasse went on to form Last Of The Believers shortly after his departure.
On
July 3, 2007, Rise Against also released an EP entitled "This Is Noise" in Canada, which was subsequently released in the United States on
January 15, 2008. It contains 5 tracks: Boys No Good, Fix Me, Obstructed View, But Tonight We Dance, and Nervous Breakdown.
Next album (2008-present)
In
May 2007, it was reported that Rise Against was planning to return to the studio after
The Sufferer and the Witness tour to begin work on their next album.
When asked in
July about the band's plans for a new album, Blair told The Punk Site that Rise Against would "start writing and recording the record" after touring and be "writing for a few months" before returning to the studio. He also predicted a summer 2008 release date for the album. In an interview with Principe, he stated recording would likely begin around early 2008, although he said "everything could change", but that was "the plan right now".
On
January 7,
2008, it was reported on Rise Against's official website that they'd begun work on the new record. The band writes:
May 2008 what the current status of the album was, frontman
Tim McIlrath told
KROQ that the band was in the middle of recording it because of a touring schedule. He also mentioned that interview that Rise Against had tapped
Bill Stevenson and
Jason Livermore as the producers for the album and would be recording it at The
Blasting Room in
Fort Collins, Colorado, where their second album,
Revolutions Per Minute, and
The Sufferer & the Witness were recorded.
To support the upcoming album, Rise Against have been confirmed for a number of European festival dates that are set to kick off in the summer of 2008. The band is scheduled to play at the sixteenth annual
KROQ Weenie Roast on
May 17th at the
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in
Irvine, California, and the sixth annual
Download Festival on
June 13th at
Donington Park,
England. They have also announced that that'll play at Switzerland's Greenfield Festival as well as Germany's Hurricane Festival and Southside Festival.
Rise Against are also scheduled to be part of 2008's
Warped Tour. They will only be part of Warped Tour on the west side of North America. After Warped Tour, the band will finish/continue working on the new album, making it likely that it'll be released in late 2008/early 2009.
Politics of Rise Against
According to their website, Rise Against are "big fans of
Fat Mike's political views." Fat Mike is the lead singer and songwriter of the band
NOFX which is known for left leaning politics. Moreover, they endorse the
Punkvoter website, which is a liberal site for punks.
All of the group's members are strict vegetarians (as stated in an online interview that also talks about Joe's love of pizza) and active supporters of
PETA.
(External Link
) Their video for the single "
Ready to Fall" addresses environmental degradation and its effect on animals, as well as
animal cruelty inherent to factory farming and sport hunting. The group has called the video the most important video Rise Against has ever made.
(External Link) The Director's Cut of the video was first made available to a PETA website.
(External Link)
Rise Against and Vans shoes
On
May 23,
2007 Rise Against announced their endorsement of a new line of Vans shoes that would be 'completely
vegan in consideration to [their]
animal rights efforts'
(External Link). In response to recent criticism spawning from a rampant rumor of Van's use of sweatshops, Rise Against released a statement to address the matter on both their myspace and website saying,
"Just a quick note to address a handful of concern that some of you have
addressed in regards to the shoe that we've teamed up with VANS to
produce. All VANS shoes, including the RISE AGAINST VEGAN shoe are
manufactured in factories that follow strict guidelines that are
designed to protect the workers involved in this process. The right to
fair compensation, the right to associate freely and bargain
collectively, the right to work free from discrimination and
harassment, and the right to a safe clean workplace are among many of
the guidelines that VANS and the factories that produce VANS are
committed to. We are proud to work with such a progressive and
legendary company. If you're interested in reading their policies in
detail, below you'll find a link to their forty page Global
Compliance Report. We, however, can neither confirm nor deny that our
shoes will in fact make you run faster and score better on your
SATs.
Thanks to all of the RISE fans who care about human rights
enough to email us and find out where the products they buy are coming
from, and we encourage everyone to always seek the truth. In a world
that rarely questions anything, it's encouraging to have such vigilant
fans."
For more information, please visit http://cache.umusic.com/web_assets/riseagainst/downloads/GCRall.pdf
Song use in popular culture
Various songs by the band have been included in TV shows, sports DVDs and video games. The song "Drones" (from 2006's
The Sufferer & the Witness) was used by
WWE as the theme for
Royal Rumble 2007, and was used by
EA in the video game Madden 2007. The song "Survive" (also from
The Sufferer & the Witness) was used by
WWE in the video game Smackdown! vs. Raw 2007. Various Rise Against songs have been used as background music in the
Need for Speed series,
Burnout 3, Bugbear Entertainment's
Flat Out 2, and
MX vs. ATV Unleashed.
Rise Against has established a niche in the
extreme sport sub-culture: "Like the Angel" (from 2003's
Revolutions Per Minute) was featured in the game
Tony Hawk's Underground, a
skateboarding game, where it was incorrectly noted as "Like the Angels." They also covered
Black Flag's song "Fix Me" for
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, the song appearing both in-game and on the game's soundtrack. The band had a cameo appearance in the 2005 skate-themed movie
Lords Of Dogtown, playing "Nervous Breakdown" in a club while the crowd starts a riot. "Ready to Fall" was used as background music in the
X Games, 2006. The song "Everchanging" was used in the mountain bike video "Roam" produced by "The Collective," 2006.
"
Prayer of the Refugee" (from
The Sufferer & the Witness) is featured in the video game .
The song "Bricks" (from
The Sufferer & the Witness) was used on ATV Offroad Fury 4.
The song "Under the Knife" (from
The Sufferer & the Witness) was used in the film
Never Back Down.
The Song "Give it all" (from "Siren Song of the counter culture") was used in the popular YouTube video called
"Urban Ninja" .
Line-ups
Rise Against has had a number of line-up changes, and Tim McIlrath and Joe Principe have been the only constant members.
| Dates |
Lineup |
Releases/recordings/performances |
| (1999-2000) | |
Transistor Revolt Demo (2000)
|
| (2000-2002) | Tim McIlrath – lead-vocals
Mr. Precision – guitar
Joe Principe – bass, vocals
Brandon Barnes – drums
|
The Unraveling Tour (2001)
The Unraveling (2001)
|
| (2002-2004) | Tim McIlrath – lead-vocals, guitar
Todd Mohney – guitar, vocals
Joe Principe – bass, vocals
Brandon Barnes – drums
|
Revolutions Per Minute Tour (2003)
Revolutions Per Minute (2003)
|
| (2004-2007) | Tim McIlrath – lead-vocals, guitar
Chris Chasse – guitar, vocals
Joe Principe – bass, vocals
Brandon Barnes – drums
|
Siren Song of the Counter Culture Tour (2004-2005)
Siren Song of the Counter Culture (2004)
The Sufferer & the Witness Tour (2006-2007)
The Sufferer & the Witness (2006)
|
| (2007-present) | Tim McIlrath – lead-vocals, guitar
Zach Blair – guitar, vocals
Joe Principe – bass, vocals
Brandon Barnes – drums
|
The Sufferer & the Witness Tour (2007)
Rise Against's fifth studio album (TBA 2008/2009)
|
Discography
Albums
The Unraveling -
Revolutions Per Minute -
Siren Song of the Counter Culture -
The Sufferer & the Witness -
Upcoming studio album - scheduled for release in late 2008/early 2009Further Information
Get more info on 'Rise Against'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://rise_against.totallyexplained.com">Rise Against Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
