Stone Gods

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Stone Gods

Stone Gods are a rock band formed by ex-members of defunct UK hard rock band The Darkness. Their debut album, titled Silver Spoons & Broken Bones[1], was released on July 7th 2008, with the first single 'Knight of the Living Dead' released on June 23rd 2008.[2]

History

Formation

When Justin Hawkins decided to leave The Darkness in autumn 2006, it meant the end of the band. However, guitarist and songwriter Dan Hawkins and bassist Richie Edwards were determined to carry on working together. A new band was to be formed and Richie Edwards was to make the move from bass guitar to centre stage as vocalist/rhythm guitarist[3]. The line up was completed by drummer Ed Graham and bassist Toby MacFarlaine (who was a long time friend of Dan Hawkins). The band spent the latter part of 2006 and early 2007 writing and rehearsing new material and commenced recording their debut album soon after. No official announcement was made, the band's name was not revealed and the existence of the new band was only confirmed through postings on the band members personal MySpace sites during the period of the recordings. This was the only information available publicly for almost a year after the band had first formed.

Early activity and first EP (Burn the Witch)

In October 2007 the website of the UK music magazine Classic Rock leaked a news piece saying that a new band called Stone Gods had been added as a support act on the upcoming UK tour by Thin Lizzy, it was also stated in this news piece that this band was made up of ex-members of The Darkness. Then, on November 9, 2007, the website of the student union from the University of East Anglia announced a live date by a band that they claimed was the new band of former The Darkness guitarist Dan Hawkins and that the name of the band was Stone Gods. This news was confirmed by the launch of an official website a few days later and a string of support dates was announced for November and December 2007. These dates were unfortunately curtailed when firstly Richie Edwards succumbed to a throat infection after only three gigs had been performed and then, in a bizarre twist, dates with the Finnish classical/metal band Apocalyptica were cancelled due to 'lack of stage space'.

In January 2008 Stone Gods headlined their first proper tour in the UK and it was announced that a limited edition EP called Burn The Witch was to be released by independent label PIAS on February 25, 2008. The EP contained two tracks from the upcoming debut album- 'Burn The Witch' (rumoured to be about former Darkness manager Sue Whitehouse) and 'You Brought A Knife To A Gunfight' as well as two non-album b-sides 'Breakdown' and 'Heartburn'. Despite being released four weeks after the tour had ended the EP still picked up radio play and reached number 2 in the Radio 1 Rock charts. It was also claimed on the band's official website that the EP sold out on the day of release.

Knight Of The Living Dead EP and Silver Spoons & Broken Bones album

The band appeared live again during March 2008 when they played two dates in London and Brighton as main support to Velvet Revolver and it was also around this time that it was announced that PIAS would be releasing the band's debut album Silver Spoons & Broken Bones on the 7th July 2008.[4] This would be preceded by the single 'Knight of the Living Dead' on 23rd June and a UK tour, which included appearances at the Download Festival and the Isle of Wight festival, would take place throughout June.

Before all this activity started, the band released a sampler for the album. 3 songs were made available exclusively on iTunes on 25th May 2008. The songs were 'Knight Of The Living Dead', 'Making it Hard' and 'Defend Or Die'.

Silver Spoons & Broken Bones was released to great acclaim on 7th July. Classic Rock magazine called it 'One of the finest rock debuts of the millenium so far' while Metal Hammer said the album was 'a text book example of something marvellous emerging from shitty adversity'. Kerrang magazine thought it was 'a distillation of most of the things that have historically underpinned great rock music' and even UK tabloid The Sun give it four and a half out of five, adding that 'its a record that oozes joy from every riff, from a band that live and breathe rock 'n' roll'. Classic Rock magazine have also nominated the band in the Best New Band and Best Album categories at their upcoming awards ceremony in November 2008.


Knight Of The Living Death tour and more cancellations

On 10th June 2008, Stone Gods were scheduled to start their 'Knight of the Living Death' tour. However, a statement appeared on the band's website on 9th June explaining that the first three dates (Liverpool, Cardiff and Bristol) had been cancelled due to 'an emergency health issue' with drummer Ed Graham [5]. This issue was not (and has still yet to be) specified and when the tour commenced on 13th June at the Download Festival it was with ex-Bush drummer Robin Goodridge behind the kit. The tour continued successfully and ended with a sold out date at Norwich Waterfront on June 29th 2008. The continuing problems with Ed Graham's health meant that Robin Goodridge appeared with the band again at a performance at the Classic Rock nominations ceremony on 23rd July and forced the cancellation of the band's appearance at the Wacken Festival. Eventually it was announced on July 29th that Ed Graham had left the band permanently.[6]

Recent and future activities

Stone Gods performed a one off special gig for Kerrang Radio on 13th September 2008. With Robin Goodridge unavailable, Stuart Cable (formerly of Stereophonics) filled in as temporary drummer. [7] The band have also announced a major UK tour as support to Australian rock band Airbourne that begins on 1st November 2008. On October 6th, 2008, it was confirmed by the band that Robin Goodridge was to become the permanent replacement for Ed Graham[8]. This now leaves Dan Hawkins and Richie Edwards as the only two members who used to be with The Darkness. The band will release a new single 'Don't Drink The Water' in late October 2008.

Discography

Studio albums

Year Title UK Top 100[9] Billboard album 200 FR DE NL BE
2008 Silver Spoons & Broken Bones 67 - - - - -

EPs

Year Title UK Top 100[9] Billboard album 200 FR DE NL BE
2008 Burn the Witch - - - - - -

Singles

Year Title Billboard Hot 100 U.S Mainstream Rock U.S Modern Rock UK Singles Chart[9] UK Rock Chart UK Indie Chart Album
2008 "Burn the Witch" - - - 166 2 6 Burn the Witch EP
"Knight of the Living Dead" - - - - - - Silver Spoons & Broken Bones
"Don't Drink The Water" - - - - - -

References

  1. ^ Album Title Announcement
  2. ^ Welcome to Stone Gods
  3. ^ Stone Gods
  4. ^ Stone Gods
  5. ^ Stone Gods
  6. ^ http://www.stonegods.co.uk/news.php?nw_id=140 Sad but True
  7. ^ Stone Gods
  8. ^ [http://www.stonegods.co.uk/news.php?nw_id=149
  9. ^ a b c everyHit.com search results

External links

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