Breaking Benjamin
Biography
In late 2000, guitarist Aaron Fink and bassist Mark James Klepaski made a surprising and unexpected decision: they left Lifer, an alternative metal band that was signed to Universal and was gaining commercial acceptance. Fink and Klepaski departed Lifer (which was originally called Strangers with Candy) so that they could join forces with singer Ben Burnley and drummer Jeremy Hummel and form Breaking Benjamin. Why would Fink and Klepaski leave a band that had a contract with Universal to form a new alternative rock band that, at the time, was unsigned? According to Breaking Benjamin's press releases, the ex-members of Lifer had so much faith in Burnley's songwriting talents that they were willing to take a gamble and uproot themselves. So in late 2000, Breaking Benjamin got started with a four-man lineup that consisted of Burnley on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Fink on lead guitar, Klepaski on bass, and Hummel on drums. Breaking Benjamin wasn't the first time that Fink had worked with Burnley; he had known the singer since high school. All four members of the band are from Wilkes-Barre, a small town in northeastern Pennsylvania. (Philadelphia and its suburbs are considered southeastern Pennsylvania.
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When Breaking Benjamin started playing around Wilkes-Barre, they were far from a carbon copy of Lifer -- instead, they favored a radio-friendly post-grunge approach that was aggressive and forceful yet melodic. The band's various influences include, among others, Live, Bush, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and Nirvana. Burnley has been quoted as saying that at age 14, he taught himself to play guitar by listening to Nirvana's seminal 1991 release Nevermind over and over. Korn and Tool have also been cited as influences, but unlike Korn, Breaking Benjamin doesn't have strong hip-hop leanings and isn't quite alternative metal -- hard alternative rock, certainly, but not quite alternative metal. However, that isn't to say that Breaking Benjamin hasn't been influenced by certain aspects of Korn's sound. The Pennsylvanians do incorporate the sort of choppy, downtuned guitars that are quite prevalent in alterna-metal, and even though Breaking Benjamin has a lot in common with post-grunge bands like Creed, Default, Cinema8, and Third Eye Blind, they tend to be a bit heavier.
In 2001, Breaking Benjamin's Wilkes-Barre gigs caught the attention of a local radio DJ named Freddie Fabbri, who was an on-air personality at alterna-rock station WBSX-FM. Fabbri put their song "Polyamorous" in rotation, and he also financed the recording of their self-titled debut EP -- which, in 2001, ended up selling about 2,000 copies in and around Wilkes-Barre. It was also in 2001 that Breaking Benjamin signed with Hollywood Records, which united the band with Ulrich Wild (a busy producer/engineer who has worked with Powerman 5000, Stabbing Westward, White Zombie, Static-X, Pantera, Slipknot, and quite a few others). Wild serves as both producer and engineer on Breaking Benjamin's first full-length album, Saturate, which Hollywood released in August 2002. We Are Not Alone followed two years later, complete with a few collaborations with Billy Corgan; the band landed a primo spot on the Evanescence tour in support of the effort, as three of the album's singles made their way onto the Billboard charts ("So Cold" and "Sooner or Later" both peaked at number two in Mainstream Rock).
Breaking Benjamin issued their third album, Phobia, in August 2006 before heading out on nationwide headlining dates with Evans Blue and Dropping Daylight in tow. The album featured new drummer Chad Szeliga and was spearheaded by the single "The Diary of Jane," which quickly heated up airwaves and helped the album debut at number two on the Billboard charts. Phobia was reissued that fall with additional bonus tracks, while the band continued touring alongside Godsmack. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
Selected Discography
I play a lot of comp games ( call of duty, halo, etc), they play my theme song for the game( Evil angel:fav song). my clan makes videos and their music is our theme. they totally rock. !-!
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Phobia is by far their best yet in my opinion....t h e y always surprise me....i love this band alot....they seem to bring tears to my eyes when i hear the songs on this cd...keep putting out the good sh*t benjamin
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I caught these guys live the first time before they even had their own music. They would play covers (mostly TOOL) for hours and at the time I figured they were a bar band with no success in their future. Happy to say they proved me wrong I saw them live back in '03 on their saturate tour on rock fest their music was pretty good at the time but they have matured with each release and are now a bonafied 'Killer band', great job guys!!!
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I love the lyrics that Breaking Benjamin puts out there.
You can take them many different ways depending on what is toubling you.. and if nothing is troubling you it still doesn't hurt to hear the insane drumming. |
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my sister loves BB! and she's got me into it now, so there's two more fangirls for the band! ^.^
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Breaking Benjamin has an original sound (despite what people may think)
i really like them |
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LOVE YOU YOU ROCK!!!!!!!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1 F A N
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I love breaking benjamin they play the most amazing music, I'm gonna buy Phobia off Itunes
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This is my second favorite band right behind Tool/A Perfect Circle. I love that I can listen to every song on the CD, and I never get tired of the songs.
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I totally agree with sabrina. I wish they could put on a concert in Odessa, TX. I would SO go and see them... Burnley, YOU ARE SOOOO HOT!
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U guys rock I wanted 2 see u guys the most when I almost got 2 see Three Days Grace Seether and u guys!!
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These guys are great, I would love to see them live. Too bad Cincinnati isn't on their tour.
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i come from a poor country where we dont have 50 chanels deadicated to infomeschals - zoot69
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I got hooked on these guys in Feb 2007 and have since seen them 3x in concert (with Three Days Grace). I've listen to a lot of bands over the years, but I have to say that Ben Burnley's voice is incredible (even when he had a killer cold) and uniquely his.
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singer's got a great voice. amazing. *hands ben a chocolate chip cookie*
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It sucks that I'm just now starting to listen to this band. Everything I'm hearing from them is awesome. The guy's voice and lyrics are crazy..!
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Yeah, they were just in Minnesota with Three Days Grace and Seether (blows) but they should come back please!
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Love all of their melodies. i've bookmarked every song on Phobia so I'm gonna buy it definitely
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considering that they are a relativly new band, and they always seem to get better, we should be in for a show in the next several years
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Breaking Benjamin is good, though some songs can be hard to listen to most of them are pretty good.
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Breaking Benjamin is the best band in existence! So Cold is pure beauty and all of their songs are amazing. I got all 3 of their CDs after hearing just Diary of Jane. Wow i didn't know that this many other people liked them but i think we can all agree that they r amazing!
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Did my first music video in school to "So Cold". Thanks guys. Good stuff...
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