Papa Roach life and biography

American rock band formed in Vacaville, California, Papa Roach scored their first release with the triple-platinum album Infest (2000). The group's success continued with their gold album Lovehatetragedy (2002), their platinum album Getting Away with Murder (2004), The Paramour Sessions (2006), and Metamorphosis (2009). The band's seventh album, Time for Annihilation, was released on August 31, 2010.

Members:
Jacoby Shaddix - lead vocals
Jerry Horton - lead guitar, backing vocals
Tobin Esperance - bass guitar, rhythm guitar, programming, backing vocals
Tony Palermo - drums, percussion

Past members:
Will James
Dave Buckner

Papa Roach has sold about 10 million album copies worldwide, and are known for their hits "Last Resort", "Between Angels And Insects", "She Loves Me Not", "...To Be Loved", "Scars", "Forever", and "Hollywood Whore".

They had mostly regional success until their breakthrough with the hit single “Last Resort” from their first major label album, Infest. The band’s latest album titled Metamorphosis was released March 24th , with the singles “Lifeline” and “Hollywood Whore” available now at digital retailers. They released a live album w/ 5 new tracks August 31 named “Time for Annihilation... On the Record and On the Road”, with the first singles being “Kick In The Teeth” and “No Matter What”.

Infest represents a quantum leap in the band's approach, their musicianship, and mostly, in Dick's lyrics. "When we started out, I dabbled in crackspeak," the singer told Rolling Stone. "Just real scatterbrained lyrics. My brother was diagnosed with ADD, and I think I have it, too. I'm pretty hyperactive and mood-swingy. I had a bed-wetting problem until I was sixteen. It was not cool; I had some issues. My mother tried to take me to counseling, but I wasn't going to talk to someone who didn't know me. By the time I was nineteen, I found a different way: I decided to write my life down on paper. And on this record, I'm venting my emotions. It's blunt."

While some might think Dick's revelations contain, as they say, too much information, it's clear that when having a conversation or shouting out his lyrics, Dick holds nothing back. That much is clear on Infest, which contains soul-searching songs about difficult subjects--families falling apart, binge drinking, teen suicide, and the line between good and evil. "We spit the heavy-metal hellfire," he told Rolling Stone, to which Horton added, "We have a metal sound but a punk rock vibe. Punk rock's our heart and soul--singing about your life and doing it all for the music."

That much is clear from "Last Resort," the band's first major hit. It's a song about contemplating suicide, which Dick wrote after a friend he was living with slipped into a harrowing downward spiral and eventually tried to kill himself. The chorus, "Losing my sight, losing my mind/Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine," has particularly resonated with fans, many of whom have contacted the band with messages detailing their own despair and their efforts to struggle with their depression.

"We've gotten so many e-mails from people who tell us 'Last Resort' saved their lives," Dick told Rolling Stone. "It makes some people feel less alone. But it's hard, too. A lot of people tell us they're thinking about suicide and don't know what to do. All we can say is, 'Keep your head up; find a friend, family member or counselor you can talk to. And if that doesn't work, write a song or just write it all down." Horton added, "A lot of people think we have the answers. The only one we have is, 'Don't do it.'"

Some critics and others who haven't read the album's lyric sheet see the band's hard-edge sound as another instance of blind rage, and sometimes Dick seems to confirm that notion. "I read a review of us saying 'Just another band who is mad; it's so easy to be mad,'" he told the Los Angeles Times. "Well, yeah, it's so easy to push your problems to the back of your mind until it all explodes on you. We're not mad to be cool; we're mad because we're (expletive) mad! This is my way of venting it."

In fact, he is quite adept at articulating feelings of helplessness at being caught in the middle of divorcing parents ("Broken Home"), being in the throes of alcohol abuse ("Binge"), and witnessing an abusive relationship ("Revenge"). That such songs have resonated so much with teen audiences shouldn't seem a surprise, but it has been for Dick, who says he only wrote those words for his own well-being.

"At first I didn't even think of the listener," he told the Los Angeles Times. "I've written a lot of songs that dealt with my past. I realized, 'Hey, Coby, this is your outlet.' If there's anything in the world good for me, it's this and bringing all those negative things to light. Afterward, I found people were connecting with my songs."

Despite the depth and variety of subjects covered on Infest and the album's huge success--it has sold more than two million copies--Dick doesn't consider himself written out just yet. "I still have things in my past [to work through]," he told the Los Angeles Times. "One album ain't gonna cure me."

Studio albums:


Old Friends from Young Years (1997)
Infest (2000)
Lovehatetragedy (2002)
Getting Away with Murder (2004)
The Paramour Sessions (2006)
Metamorphosis (2009)
Time for Annihilation (2010)

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