The overwrought label “supergroup” is often times slapped on bands that don’t live up to the lofty expectations that come with the moniker. Hard rockin’ “supergroup” HELLYEAH shows the “supergroup” wannabes how it’s done on their second album Stampede, which just rolled over a herd of competition to debut at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart, besting its 2007 self-titled debut, which entered the survey at No. 9.
Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be: This week, only two true rock bands stand amid the crowded rap, pop, and country (pop?) filled top 10: Korn and HELLYEAH. And only one – HELLYEAH – holds the distinction of owning the No. 1 position as the most added song at Active Rock Radio (“Hell of a Time”). The opening line of the band’s official bio states: “Every night is a Friday night for HELLYEAH and their fans.” True fans of the band don’t need to read or hear much more than that, but those less Hellish might need to be initiated.
In his attempt to describe the band, frontman Chad Gray edits himself, cuts to the chase, and simply says, “The band is called HELLYEAH, come on. It’s like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s do it!’” Still need more on the band and its philosophy? Here’s drummer Vinnie Paul to try and shed more light: “First and foremost, we said if we were going to do this, it’d be about having a good time, with kick ass music and drinks, not a big corporate f***in’ supergroup bulls*** deal.” Are you getting the idea? If not, read on.
As previously mentioned, the group’s 2007 self-titled debut roared into the top 10 its first week out, and to date, has sold close to half a million copies. For their sophomore set, most would figure the band members would take the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach. According to Paul, most would be right – and wrong! “Now…for this second record, we knew we found ourselves as a live band. We wanted to translate what came off the stage into the studio… But it’s even more diverse and deeper. Obviously, our roots are metal, but we have ties with Southern rock, like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band, and we’re bringing that out more.”
HELLYEAH’s Southern roots become abundantly apparent most on “Hell of a Time” and its accompanying video as well as in the lyrics to the album opener “Cowboy Way,” and the music of mid-tempo Skynyrd skewed “Better Man” and “Cold as a Stone.” But their metal roots shine through on “Debt That All Men Pay,” “It’s On!,” “Pole Rider,” “Stand or Walk Away,” “Alive and Well,” “Order the Sun,” and the title track. As succinct as Gray was in describing the band earlier, Paul does the same in summarizing Stampede: “It’s HELLYEAH, VERSION 2.0: more beer, more weed, more rock, more riffs.” Need we say more? Hell no!
Raisin’ Hell: Join HELLYEAH for a lovely “picnic” in the park with friends by watching the video for “Hell of a Time”:
As A Matter of Fact…
* HELLYEAH members include Chad Gray (vocals) and Greg Tribbett (guitar) of Mudvayne, Vinnie Paul (drums) of Pantera, Tom Maxwell (guitar) of Nothingface, and Bob Zilla (bass) of Damageplan.
* HELLYEAH’s self-titled debut is closing in on 500,000 copies sold, and produced 2 top 10 Active Rock songs, “Alcohaulin Ass” and “You Wouldn’t Know.”
* Between Pantera and Mudvayne, Paul, Gray and Tribbett have sold close to 23.5 million albums worldwide.
* HELLYEAH’s current headlining tour continues through August 14 in Cedar Rapids, IA; on August 17 they begin their stretch on the Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR festival, which wraps October 4 in Madison, WI.