Corrosion of Conformity

Corrosion Of Conformity出道已有20年之久。樂(lè)隊(duì)經(jīng)過(guò)從一開(kāi)始的變賣(mài)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(tīng)眾所知曉。在朋克和金屬成為與不共戴天的兩大音樂(lè)流派的年代時(shí)，Corrosion Of Conformity就成為在音樂(lè)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(lè)專輯Eye For An Eye到從Black Sabbath中得到靈感的專輯Deliverance，樂(lè)隊(duì)幾乎囊括了所有的音樂(lè)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(jí)時(shí)碰到了Reed，并在高中時(shí)組建了Corrosion Of Conformity，樂(lè)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(huì)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(lè)隊(duì)隨后又發(fā)行了一張專輯Animosity，并在樂(lè)隊(duì)的第三張專輯Technocracy中找來(lái)Simon Bob擔(dān)當(dāng)主唱?？刹恢繫ike Dean是自動(dòng)離開(kāi)還是被踢出樂(lè)隊(duì)，總之他隨后離開(kāi)了Corrosion Of Conformity并據(jù)說(shuō)加入了一個(gè)叫Ugly Americans的樂(lè)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(lè)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(yè)所說(shuō)——“那個(gè)時(shí)候我們的巡演票績(jī)相當(dāng)糟糕，我當(dāng)時(shí)離開(kāi)是因?yàn)閷?duì)此是否應(yīng)該恐嚇一下我們的債主還是削減開(kāi)銷(xiāo)從頭開(kāi)始這個(gè)問(wèn)題上大家互相指責(zé)。但我后來(lái)又回來(lái)了，因?yàn)樵阡浿齐S后一張Deliverance時(shí)樂(lè)隊(duì)意見(jiàn)仍四分五裂，而我仍和樂(lè)隊(duì)保持著聯(lián)系。我有時(shí)候做做調(diào)解人，但聽(tīng)說(shuō)我的建議對(duì)樂(lè)隊(duì)相當(dāng)管用——這就象是在開(kāi)玩笑一樣，而且那個(gè)時(shí)候我聽(tīng)到了樂(lè)隊(duì)當(dāng)時(shí)的一些錄音材料，覺(jué)得相當(dāng)出色，所以我邊回到了北卡，回到了樂(lè)隊(duì)身邊，而且回去之后感覺(jué)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(lè)隊(duì)里，這個(gè)樂(lè)隊(duì)在90年里還和Corrosion Of Conformity一起搞過(guò)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(lè)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(lè)隊(duì)所有的朋友都開(kāi)除了。緊接著，Sony簽下了樂(lè)隊(duì)，因?yàn)镾ony公司缺少一個(gè)硬核朋克的骨干樂(lè)隊(duì)。同時(shí)樂(lè)隊(duì)也經(jīng)歷了一次重大調(diào)整，Karl Agell被踢出樂(lè)隊(duì)同時(shí)由Pepper擔(dān)當(dāng)主唱一職，Karl被開(kāi)除的同時(shí)Phil Swisher也宣布退出了樂(lè)隊(duì)，這兩位前Corrosion Of Conformity舊將隨即組了一支名為L(zhǎng)oose Cannon的70年代硬搖滾樂(lè)隊(duì)，這支樂(lè)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(duì)于樂(lè)隊(duì)的歷史，Corrosion Of Conformity一個(gè)成員為Convulse雜志寫(xiě)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(lè)隊(duì)，因此我們的音樂(lè)快速而具有沖擊力，還有不少政治見(jiàn)解。我們的音樂(lè)完全受著象Minor Threat和Black Flag,Bad Brains,Discharge以及Black Sabbath等等這類(lèi)樂(lè)隊(duì)的影響。因此當(dāng)人們談起我們的新唱片——‘嘿，你們聽(tīng)起來(lái)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?cè)?jīng)歷了許多次不同的人事變動(dòng)，也出了許多唱片，同時(shí)也有點(diǎn)小名氣，因?yàn)槲覀兪悄切╅_(kāi)創(chuàng)硬核與金屬的融合的樂(lè)隊(duì)之一。在美國(guó)，朋克和金屬樂(lè)迷簡(jiǎn)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(lè)風(fēng)格的樂(lè)隊(duì)。最近我們和Metal Blade簽了協(xié)議，但樂(lè)隊(duì)內(nèi)部和外部仍有不少問(wèn)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(lè)隊(duì)在走了不少人并在87年宣告解散，但一年多后樂(lè)隊(duì)又回來(lái)了，發(fā)行了一張新專輯，還帶會(huì)來(lái)一個(gè)吉他手和新主唱——Karl和Pepper，就是這兩個(gè)新來(lái)的家伙。”
 
Corrosion Of Conformity因?yàn)閱吻?ldquo;Drowning In A Daydream”而獲97/98年Grammy大獎(jiǎng)，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(hào)。
 
在Sony炒了Corrosion Of Conformity魷魚(yú)之后，Sanctuary/BMG迅速接住了他們，并由Sanctuary發(fā)行了樂(lè)隊(duì)2000年的專輯America's Volume Dealer。但Reed無(wú)法參加樂(lè)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(lè)隊(duì)Brown的工作，于是Jimmy Bower從此接替了Reed并一直工作至今。樂(lè)隊(duì)最近錄制了一張現(xiàn)場(chǎng)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.