Billy Talent
August 17, 2009 7:47 PM Subscribe
Originating as Pezz, the Canadian punk rock, Juno Award winning group Billy Talent has to date released three major albums under that name: Billy Talent, II, and III (released this past June, coming to the US 'officially' in September).
The band came together at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Secondary School, with lead vocalist Ben Kowalewicz, lead guitarist Ian D'Sa, bass guitarist Jon Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. From the band Wikipedia link:
Notable songs:
The band came together at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Secondary School, with lead vocalist Ben Kowalewicz, lead guitarist Ian D'Sa, bass guitarist Jon Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. From the band Wikipedia link:
"The band existed for almost a decade before mainstream success. The members met and played in high school under the name Pezz and remained underground in Toronto's indie music scene until 2001. The band renamed itself Billy Talent after running into legal trouble with the old name. It was then that Kowalewicz's connection with a worker in Warner Music Canada's A&R landed the band a record deal and launched them into mainstream success. Since then, Billy Talent has made two multi-platinum records in Canada, and continues to expand their success overseas, this included touring for 20 months supporting their second album. They released their fourth* album Billy Talent III on July 14, 2009."*If you include Watoosh, released under the former Pezz name, they have released 4 significant albums.
Notable songs:
- Try Honesty: First major single under the Billy Talent name.
- River Below: music video released after the 2004 Madrid bombings, and thus controversial due to the story of a man who builds and detonates a bomb. Features a quote from J. Robert Oppenheimer.
- Devil in a Midnight Mass: revolves around the story of a Boston priest convicted of child abuse.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Really, without some substantial non-wikipedia content this really isn't a good mefi post. It's not enough to just talk about a band you're interested in. -- cortex
Wikipedia's awesome, eh?
posted by djgh at 7:52 PM on August 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by djgh at 7:52 PM on August 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
So basically a whole bunch of links to Wikipedia pages and a couple links to the website of an unremarkable, super-commercial pop-punk band?
Flagged.
posted by dunkadunc at 7:57 PM on August 17, 2009
Flagged.
posted by dunkadunc at 7:57 PM on August 17, 2009
It's fortunate that MetaFilter doesn't have Wikipedia-style rules about the notability of its post subjects, except in this case.
posted by tapesonthefloor at 7:58 PM on August 17, 2009
posted by tapesonthefloor at 7:58 PM on August 17, 2009
Yeah, I'm all about the Canada boosting generally, but this is weak.
posted by the dief at 8:06 PM on August 17, 2009
posted by the dief at 8:06 PM on August 17, 2009
They stole their name from a great movie, Hard Core Logo. Skip their records, find this DVD.
posted by hamfisted at 8:10 PM on August 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by hamfisted at 8:10 PM on August 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
hamfisted: I don't think that you can call it stealing when they openly acknowledge taking the name from Hard Core Logo.
posted by dead cousin ted at 8:15 PM on August 17, 2009
posted by dead cousin ted at 8:15 PM on August 17, 2009
I got II at a yard sale, didn't like it at all. They're just really repulsive lyrically.
posted by LSK at 8:16 PM on August 17, 2009
posted by LSK at 8:16 PM on August 17, 2009
Their ability of choosing creative album titles is matched only by that of writing good lyrics.
Led Zeppelin is grandfathered in past my snark.
posted by Lemurrhea at 8:40 PM on August 17, 2009
Led Zeppelin is grandfathered in past my snark.
posted by Lemurrhea at 8:40 PM on August 17, 2009
Obligatory links to bios at sing365, MapleMusic, and LastFM.
I'll give LSK that some of their lyrics can be repulsive, but some are really spot on IMHO. "Where is the Line" from II would be an awesome example, and a good chunk of their stuff from III, as far as I care, is great. 89X (and likely other alternative rock stations) has just been overplaying "Rusted from the Rain" when "Turn Your Back" would have been much much better.
It's the guitar work that really hooked me to them though...
posted by JoeXIII007 at 8:49 PM on August 17, 2009
I'll give LSK that some of their lyrics can be repulsive, but some are really spot on IMHO. "Where is the Line" from II would be an awesome example, and a good chunk of their stuff from III, as far as I care, is great. 89X (and likely other alternative rock stations) has just been overplaying "Rusted from the Rain" when "Turn Your Back" would have been much much better.
It's the guitar work that really hooked me to them though...
posted by JoeXIII007 at 8:49 PM on August 17, 2009
This is not what Metafilter is for.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 8:55 PM on August 17, 2009
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 8:55 PM on August 17, 2009
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posted by dead cousin ted at 7:52 PM on August 17, 2009