lostprophets COMPLETE History

[nashphx13z]

lostprophets are the best band you've never heard of. I don't know anyone personally who has heard of them before I told them. Below is an essay I wrote about them for Music Class at school last year (I've also attached the Word document for easier reading. Keep in mind that it was for music class, not English, so there may be a few grammatical errors here and there. I've also attached the powerpoint that accompanied my 20 minute speech about them. I hope you like it and learn something new! Please check them out on Myspace or iTunes; they don't sell very many albums due to the fact that they only release a perfected album about every 4 years!

lostprophets Official Website
lostprophets Official MySpace


lostprophets are an alternative hard rock band originating from Wales. The current members are Ian Watkins, Lee Gaze, Mike Lewis, Stuart Richardson, Jamie Oliver, and Iian Rubin. Ian Watkins is the lead singer. Lee Gaze is the lead guitarist. Mike Lewis is the rhythm guitarist. Stuart Richardson is the bassist. Jamie Oliver is the keyboardist, backup vocalist, and does the turntable. Iian Rubin is the drummer.
The band was formed in Pontypridd, Wales. They called their band “Lozt Prophetz” at first, and then later changed the name to “lostprophets” after a bootleg recording of a Duran Duran concert in 1988. They started out doing gigs across the country of Wales, and eventually expanded where they played to virtually anywhere in the world. After all, their motto is “All Boro, Any City” (they spelled ‘borough’ wrong, not me). To get their record deal that would eventually send them on their journey, touring across the world, they had to make demo albums. They made one called “Here Comes the Party”, which was an experiment to see what kind of music they could and could not do. They found out shortly after recording this demo that they could not rap. Their next two demos, Paras Todas las Putas Celosas and The Fake Sound of Progress, focused more on their rock sound. In February 2000, lostprophets brought the demos to the record label, Visible Noise (UK), and The Fake Sound of Progress landed them their record deal.
Visible Noise, their record label, asked lostprophets to clean up their songs from The Fake Sound of Progress and use them to create their first album. They remodeled the songs in less than two weeks for only about ₤5,000 (that is about 7,830.98 US dollars). The songs on this album contained many references to 1980s pop culture. First and foremost, “lostprophets” were named after a bootleg recording of a 1980s Duran Duran concert. Their album art for The Fake Sound of Progress has a “VF-1 Valkyrie” from the 1982 anime “The Super Dimension Fortress Macross”. In the album booklet, there is a sketch of Vengar from the TV show “Dungeons and Dragons”. Their song titles used references of ‘80s pop culture, too. For example, “Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja” was a reference to the video games “Shinobi” and “Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja”. Also, the song “Kobrakai” was simply an intentional misspelling of “Cobra Kai”, a karate dojo in the movie “Karate Kid”. lostprophets served as supporting acts for more well-known bands such as Linkin Park, Deftones, and Taproot during the time before their second album. They also toured with Ozzfest and made guest appearances on many different British television shows.
lostprophets’ second album, Start Something, was released on February 17, 2004. It was the much anticipated sophomore album by lostprophets. It featured the songs “Burn, Burn”, “Last Train Home”, “To H**l We Ride”, “Wake Up (Make A Move)”, “We Still Kill the Old Way”, and “I Don’t Know”. “Burn, Burn”, the first single off Start Something, was very controversial. It was played many times on television networks such as MTV and VH1, usually being in the top video countdowns. Some critics argued that the beginning of the song was too similar to the band Far’s song, “Mother Mary” for it to be lostprophets’ own creation. Others said that it had a striking vocal pattern resemblance to Adamski’s song, “Killer”. lostprophets did not deny that they had “been inspired” by Adamski’s “Killer”, but they did not copy the pattern completely. No comment was issued about the resemblance to the beginning of “Mother Mary”. Their second single, “Last Train Home” was the most popular song of the album. It was featured in the video game “NFL Street”. “To H**l We Ride” was a feature song on the video game “Need for Speed Underground”. “We Still Kill the Old Way” was featured on the video game “ATV Offroad Fury 3”. Apparently lostprophets’ music comes to mind when video game marketers think of songs to put in their game. lostprophets’ song, “Start Something”, one of my personal favorites, was featured in ads for the 2006 film “Annapolis”. “Last Train Home” was number one on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart for one week, to add to the popularity of the song.
Shortly after lostprophets finished their sophomore album, they started working on their third album, Liberation Transmission. It was recorded in about the same amount of time as Start Something, which was about 2-3 years. Liberation Transmission was recorded in a studio in Hawaii. It was a major change in direction from their previous albums, going from rock to alternative rock/new wave/nu-metal. Some of the songs featured on this album are “A Town Called Hypocrisy”, “Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)”, “Can’t Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won’t Save You This Time)”, “Everyday Combat”, and “The New Transmission”. Many original fans of lostprophets either don’t like the new sound of this album or think lostprophets have “sold out”. In a sense, they have sold out. They told “Kerrang!” magazine that they changed up their sound to appeal to the modern-day listener in order to make more money. Still, most critics gave this album a good review and raved about the song “Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)”.
lostprophets’ much anticipated fourth album is set to release early this summer. They have already announced some of the songs on the album, including “It's Not The End Of The World But I Can See It From Here”, “Credible vs. Incredible”, “Next Stop Atro City”, “The Mourning Reign”, “What Seems To Be The Problem Officer?”, “She's With The Banned”, “Save Yourself”, “If It Wasn't For Hate We'd Be Dead By Now”, and “For He's A Jolly Good Felon”. Lead singer, Ian Watkins said to “Kerrang!” magazine that the new album would be “nastier” and “darker” than the previous ones. A blog on lostprophets’ MySpace said “now [that] we have gotten a lot of our pop vibes out of our system, we are fixing for some more old school vibes”. From what they have said to the press, it sounds like lostprophets’ next album will be like taking their first two albums, mixing them together, and making it heavier.
The drummer for lostprophets, a 19 year old named Iian Rubin, started his own band. He is not separating from lostprophets, he is just writing songs in his spare time. He is also playing and recording all the songs. He doesn’t have any other members in this band, just himself. He plays all the instruments he uses in the songs and uses his own recording studio; his garage. He calls his band “The New Regime”. He has made eight songs so far, all of which are lighter than the kind of music lostprophets makes. He had never sung before, but people have said that they really liked the singing. When he first started this, he would make a song and let someone listen to it without telling them the artist. After getting rave reviews, he decided to carry onward with his idea. He really likes doing this and it gives him something to do while on a break from lostprophets. “The New Regime” has attracted many lostprophets fans (mostly because there’s a link to it saying ‘check it out’ on lostprophets’ MySpace page). Iian may ask people to take part in this band later down the road, but is content with where it is at right now.
Although very few people have heard of lostprophets, they are a great band. They work hard on every album, ensuring that it is equal to or greater than the album before it. They have built a fan base that allows them to take more time on their albums to perfect the songs. They have done this by starting with great music in the first place. Once someone hears phenomenal music, they want to hear more. Therefore, they are able to wait longer for the next album. That is what lostprophets have done and will continue to do. Summing up everything, lostprophets make good music and will continue that for many more years.

EDIT: My files exceed the Rock Band forum limit, so if you want to see them, just email me at nashphx13z@gmail.com and I'll gladly share a copy.

[OppoKaze]

I like their first cd. They've gotten progressively worse since then though, in my opinion. Liberation Transmissions disappointed me, I hear their upcoming album is much heavier though so I'm hopeful.

[nashphx13z]

I like their first cd. They've gotten progressively worse since then though, in my opinion. Liberation Transmissions disappointed me, I hear their upcoming album is much heavier though so I'm hopeful.

Yeah, I can't wait for their new album. I've been waiting for 4 years now LOL.

[ZortheConqueror]

lostprophets are the best band you've never heard of. I don't know anyone personally who has heard of them before I told them.

This band's pretty well known in my age group. Everyone I know is familiar with them, from their first two albums which were both pretty successful.

[lpunderground19]

This is a band I got into through those two songs in the EA games (Last Train Home and To Hell We Ride). Those are now two of my favorite songs ever. The band is great, but I know all kinds of people who have heard of them, it's weird you've never met anybody who has. Awesome essay btw.

[nashphx13z]

This is a band I got into through those two songs in the EA games (Last Train Home and To Hell We Ride). Those are now two of my favorite songs ever. The band is great, but I know all kinds of people who have heard of them, it's weird you've never met anybody who has. Awesome essay btw.

Yeah, that's actually how I got into them, too (from NFL Street). The world is a small place LOL. And thank you for the compliment!

[nashphx13z]

Hey, does anybody want to see the powerpoint I made about them? Or the Word document for easier reading? I haven't gotten a single email requesting anything and it's kinda bummin me out. Seems like nobody's interested in lostprophets...

But if you are interested even somewhat, my email is nashphx13z@gmail.com and I'd love to hear from you!

[Rev0lver]

I liked some of the stuff from their first album, but now they just suck. And many, many people know them, they're not at fall out boy status but they aren't nearly underground.

I'm sorry, but I could list dozens and dozens of bands that are much better and more talented than Lostprophets.

[Destromas]

Lostprophets was good. Then people realized what rock music should sound like, and due to the lack of appeal in nonsensical lyrics, Lostprophets was insta-suck. I don't see why anyone would write an essay on modern artists when they really aren't that successful.

[nashphx13z]

I liked some of the stuff from their first album, but now they just suck. And many, many people know them, they're not at fall out boy status but they aren't nearly underground.

I'm sorry, but I could list dozens and dozens of bands that are much better and more talented than Lostprophets.

What I meant is that no one in my AGE GROUP has heard of them. Also, I never said that they were underground. And I know that there are bands more talented than lostprophets; the "much better" part is ALL opinion.

Lostprophets was good. Then people realized what rock music should sound like, and due to the lack of appeal in nonsensical lyrics, Lostprophets was insta-suck. I don't see why anyone would write an essay on modern artists when they really aren't that successful.

I wasn't writing an essay on "Modern Artists". To be precise, the assignment was to make something that had to do with music, write an essay, and speak about your topic for 20 minutes. I don't understand your first sentence at all, to be honest. "What rock music should sound like"? What the hell? And "nonsensical lyrics"? Listen to them and find the deeper meanings; they DO in fact make sense. Last, but not least, they are pretty successful. They have built up a limited fanbase (similar to that of bands like the Pixies), and then they complete a perfected album (IN THEIR FANS' OPINION) that all the fans will purchase. Simple marketing: appeal to an audience; produce what they like; sell it.


REALLY not enjoying all the band-bashing here, folks. Let's try to be a bit more rational in our responses, okay?