Slash's Snakepit Ain't Life Grand and second breakup (1999-2002) What album was Aint life grand for the band? the first Did it chart well at the box office? The album did not sell as well Did the album include any hit even thought it didn't do well? "Mean Bone
Did they tour for the release of this album?
Did Slash tour for the release of their first album?
The band began recording material with producer Jack Douglas at Slash's home studio as well as Ocean Way Studios. The recording featured contributions by Teddy Andreadis, Jimmy Zavala and Lee Thornburg, amongst others. Initially, the label was positive about the album, setting a release date for February 22, 2000. However, when Slash was informed by Geffen, who had folded into Interscope Records, that the album was not the type of music the label produced, he bought the album back and signed a deal with Koch Records. Following the completion of the album, Roxie departed the band with former Big Bang Babies, Warrant and Ratt guitarist Keri Kelli joining in his place.  Ain't Life Grand was released on October 20, 2000 through Koch with "Mean Bone" released as the first single. The album did not sell as well as its predecessor, and critical reception to it was mixed. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tony Scherman stated that "Slash's playing is as flashily incendiary as ever, but the songs and arrangements recycle hard-rock cliches worthier of Ratt than of a bona fide guitar god". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone noted that "great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons". Steve Huey of Allmusic noted that "the new Snakepit does kick up a lot of noise as the album rushes by, and the strong chemistry between the members is immediately obvious". However, he stated that songwriting was the main problem, and that "it never rises above the level of solid, and too many tracks are by-the-numbers hard rock at best (and pedestrian at worst)". The band were dropped by Koch two months following the album's release.  Prior to the album's release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour from August to September, followed by their own headlining tour of theatres. They played only the first two shows on the winter leg of AC/DC's tour. After falling ill and checking into a hospital in Pittsburgh, Slash was ordered by his doctor to stay at home to recuperate, reportedly from pneumonia. Due to this, Slash's Snakepit pulled out of supporting AC/DC in early 2001. Slash later revealed in his self-titled biography that he had actually suffered cardiac myopathy caused by years of alcohol and drug abuse, with his heart swelling to the point of rupture. After being fitted with a defibrillator and undergoing physical therapy, Slash returned to the group to continue touring. They later rescheduled their US tour, performing shows from June 16 - July 6, co-headlining three shows with Billy Idol. Following the tour, feeling that his band was unprofessional and his bandmates were not fully committed, Slash disbanded Slash's Snakepit in an announcement made in early 2002. CANNOTANSWER
release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour
Slash's Snakepit was an American rock supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed by Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash in 1994. Though often described as a solo or side project, Slash stated that Snakepit was a band with equal contributions by all members. The first lineup of the band consisted of Slash, two of his Guns N' Roses bandmates—drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Gilby Clarke—as well as Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez  and former Jellyfish live guitarist Eric Dover on lead vocals.

Their debut album, It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, was released in 1995. For the supporting tour, Slash enlisted James LoMenzo and Brian Tichy, of Pride & Glory, in place of Inez and Sorum, who had other commitments. They played shows in the US, Europe, Japan and Australia before Geffen Records pulled their financial support for the tour, with Slash returning to Guns N' Roses and Slash's Snakepit disbanding.

Following his departure from Guns N' Roses in 1996, Slash formed the cover band Slash's Blues Ball. After a tour in 1997, Slash approached Blues Ball bassist Johnny Griparic about forming a new lineup of Slash's Snakepit. The new lineup consisted of Slash, Griparic, singer Rod Jackson, guitarist Ryan Roxie, and drummer Matt Laug (Roxie and Laug were both former members of Alice Cooper's solo band). They recorded and released their second album, entitled Ain't Life Grand, in 2000, which was preceded by a tour supporting AC/DC and followed by their own headlining tour. For the tour, Keri Kelli joined the group in place of Ryan Roxie, who departed following the completion of the album. However, after the final show, Slash disbanded Snakepit due to a lack of commitment from his band members. Shortly after, Slash formed Velvet Revolver in 2002, along with drummer and fellow Guns N' Roses member Matt Sorum.

History

Formation (1993–1994)
Following the two and a half year world tour in support of the albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash returned to Los Angeles. He soon sold his home, the Walnut House, and moved to Mulholland Drive. He built a small home studio, nicknamed The Snakepit, over his garage and began working on demos for songs he had written during the tour. Slash worked on the demos with Guns N' Roses bandmate and drummer Matt Sorum. They were later joined by guitarist Gilby Clarke and Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez, jamming and recording most nights. Slash played the demos for Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose who rejected the material, though he would later want to use them for the next Guns N' Roses album. They had recorded twelve songs by 1994, the same year that Guns N' Roses went on hiatus.

Slash decided to record the Snakepit demos with Sorum, Clarke and Inez, later adding former Jellyfish live guitarist Eric Dover as lead vocalist. The decision to record with Dover led to a disagreement between Slash and Sorum, due to Slash not seeking Sorum's approval before hiring Dover.

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere and breakup (1994–1996)

Slash and Dover wrote the lyrics to all twelve songs with Slash using the songwriting to vent his frustrations at Guns N' Roses singer Rose. Clarke contributed the song "Monkey Chow" to the album while "Jizz da Pit" is an instrumental by Slash and Inez. They recorded the album at Conway Recording Studios and The Record Plant with Mike Clink and Slash co-producing and Steven Thompson and Michael Barbiero mixing, all of whom had worked with Guns N' Roses on their debut album Appetite for Destruction. The album featured contributions by Duff McKagan (who co-wrote "Beggars & Hangers-On"), Dizzy Reed on keyboards, Teddy Andreadis on harmonica, and Paulinho da Costa on percussion. Slash's brother, Ash Hudson, designed the album's cover.

The resulting album, titled It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, was released in February 1995 through Geffen Records. The album's title was taken from a phrase Slash overheard at an airport. At the insistence of the record label, the album was released under the name Slash's Snakepit, instead of The Snakepit, despite Slash not wanting his name used. Upon release, the album charted at number 70 on the Billboard 200 and number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. "Beggars & Hangers-On" was released as the first, and only, single from the album; while a music video was also shot for "Good to Be Alive", directed by August Jakobsson.

Critically, the album received mainly positive reviews. Metal Hammer stated that "the sleazy, downtrodden blues hard rock [...] breaks new ground." AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Slash's contributions "quite amazing", though criticised the song-writing, stating "it's too bad that nobody in the band bothered to write any songs." Devon Jackson of Entertainment Weekly described the album as "relaxed headbanging and Southern-tinged blues-rock" while Classic Rock reviewer Malcolm Dome stated "musically, it's a loose-limbed record that has a lot of heavy guitar-led punk-style pop-rock." Slash's Snakepit toured in support of the album, with bassist James LoMenzo and drummer Brian Tichy, of Pride & Glory, replacing Inez and Sorum, who had opted out of touring, with Sorum returning to Guns N' Roses. They toured the US, Europe, Japan and Australia with Slash stating that "for the first time in years, touring was easy, [his] band mates were loads of fun and low on drama, and every gig was about playing rock and roll." While booking another leg of the tour, Slash was informed by Geffen that Rose was ready to begin work on the new Guns N' Roses album and that he was to return to Los Angeles. Geffen pulled financial support for the band's tour with Slash's Snakepit disbanding soon after.

Slash's Blues Ball and reformation (1996–1999)

Slash departed Guns N' Roses in 1996, due to musical differences between himself and singer Axl Rose. Following his departure, Slash toured Japan for two weeks with Chic, and worked on the soundtrack to the film Curdled. He later began touring in a blues cover band that eventually became Slash's Blues Ball. Aside from Slash, the band consisted of Teddy Andreadis, guitarist Bobby Schneck, bassist Johnny Griparic, saxophonist Dave McClarem and drummer Alvino Bennett. The band toured on and off until 1998, which included a headline slot at a jazz festival in Budapest. They covered various artists and bands such as B.B. King, Steppenwolf, Otis Redding, as well as Guns N' Roses and early Slash's Snakepit material.

Following a tour in 1997, Slash approached Griparic about forming a new lineup of Slash's Snakepit They began looking for a singer, receiving over 300 audition tapes from mostly unknown singers. Jon Stevens of Noiseworks, who had been recording with Slash, was seen as a potential singer in early 1998. However, he returned to Australia to continue his solo career. They eventually chose Rod Jackson (earlier of Virginia based band Ragdoll) after Griparic played a tape of him for Slash. Completing the lineup were guitarist Ryan Roxie, formerly of Alice Cooper, and drummer Matt Laug, also from Alice Cooper and the band Venice. They began rehearsing at Mates Studio before rehearsing and recording in Slash's new home studio in Beverly Hills.

Ain't Life Grand and second breakup (1999–2002)

The band began recording material with producer Jack Douglas at Slash's home studio as well as Ocean Way Recording. The recording featured contributions by Teddy Andreadis, Jimmy Zavala and Lee Thornburg, amongst others. Initially, the label was positive about the album, setting a release date for February 22, 2000. However, when Slash was informed by Geffen, who had folded into Interscope Records, that the album was not the type of music the label produced, he bought the album back and signed a deal with Koch Records.  Following the completion of the album, Roxie departed the band with former Big Bang Babies, Warrant and Ratt guitarist Keri Kelli joining in his place.

Ain't Life Grand was released on October 20, 2000 through Koch with "Mean Bone" released as the first single. The album did not sell as well as its predecessor, and critical reception to it was mixed. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tony Scherman stated that "Slash's playing is as flashily incendiary as ever, but the songs and arrangements recycle hard-rock cliches worthier of Ratt than of a bona fide guitar god". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone noted that "great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons". Steve Huey of Allmusic noted that "the new Snakepit does kick up a lot of noise as the album rushes by, and the strong chemistry between the members is immediately obvious". However, he stated that songwriting was the main problem, and that "it never rises above the level of solid, and too many tracks are by-the-numbers hard rock at best (and pedestrian at worst)". The band were dropped by Koch two months following the album's release.

Prior to the album's release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour from August to September, followed by their own headlining tour of theatres. They played only the first two shows on the winter leg of AC/DC's tour. After falling ill and checking into a hospital in Pittsburgh, Slash was ordered by his doctor to stay at home to recuperate, reportedly from pneumonia. Due to this, Slash's Snakepit pulled out of supporting AC/DC in early 2001. Slash later revealed in his self-titled biography that he had actually suffered cardiac myopathy caused by years of alcohol and drug abuse, with his heart swelling to the point of rupture. After being fitted with a defibrillator and undergoing physical therapy, Slash returned to the group to continue touring. They later rescheduled their US tour, performing shows from June 16 – July 6, co-headlining three shows  with Billy Idol. Following the tour, Jackson had developed a serious addiction to heroin. According to Slash, he was "unmotivated and a junkie" and that it was "hard to get creative with him". As a result, Slash disbanded Slash's Snakepit in an announcement made in early 2002.

Post–breakup activities
Following the breakup of Slash's Snakepit, Slash announced he was to begin working on a solo album. Instead he later worked with The Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman and an unnamed bassist on a new project. Together with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, they formed The Project, that eventually became the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver following the addition of former Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner, and then-former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. They released their debut album Contraband, in 2004, followed by Libertad in 2007, before they parted ways with Weiland and went on hiatus in 2008. With Velvet Revolver on hiatus, Slash began work on his debut solo album. Slash was released on March 31, 2010, and featured a number of guests such as Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother, M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, Kid Rock, Ozzy Osbourne, Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, and Fergie. His band for the tour in support of the album consisted of Kennedy, bassist Todd Kerns, and drummer Brent Fitz. It also included guitarist Bobby Schneck, formerly of Slash's Blues Ball.

Musical style
Slash's Snakepit's music was often described as hard rock and blues rock with elements of southern rock. The band were also often described as Slash's solo or side project though Slash maintained that they were a band, stating "everybody wrote, everybody had equal input even though I had my name on it." Rolling Stone reviewer J.D. Considine noted the differences between Guns N' Roses and Slash's Snakepit on their first album, stating that "Guns [N]' Roses typically treat the melody as the most important part of the song, most of what slithers out of the Snakepit emphasizes the playing." He noted that singer Eric Dover "conveys the raw-throated intensity of a hard-rock frontman" and "he avoids the genre's most obvious excesses." The riff to "Good to Be Alive" drew a comparison to Chuck Berry while the musicianship on the album was praised. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic stated that "there's little argument that Slash is a great guitarist" who is "capable of making rock and blues clichés sound fresh". Reviewing Ain't Life Grand for Allmusic, Steve Huey described second singer Rod Jackson as "a combination of '80s pop-metal bluster and Faces-era Rod Stewart" with a "touch of Aerosmith", a description that he felt also fitted the band as a whole. He noted, though, that Slash's guitar playing was "tame" and stated that the main problem of the album was the songwriting, though it was "still a passable, workmanlike record that will definitely appeal to fans of grimy, old-school hard rock." Malcolm Dome of Classic Rock stated that "from the moment that "Been There Lately" opens, there's a vibe here that was missing before" and that Ain't Life Grand showed "purpose, direction and individuality."

Personnel
Slash – lead guitar, backing vocals (1994–1995, 1998–2002)
Gilby Clarke – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1994–1995)
Eric Dover – vocals (1994–1995)
Mike Inez – bass, backing vocals (1994–1995)
Matt Sorum – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1994–1995)
James LoMenzo – bass, backing vocals (1995)
Brian Tichy – drums, backing vocals (1995)
Johnny Griparic – bass, backing vocals (1998–2002)
Rod Jackson – vocals (1998–2002)
Matt Laug – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1998–2002)
Ryan Roxie – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1998–2000)
Keri Kelli – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2000–2002)

Timeline

Discography
Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

American blues rock musical groups
American supergroups
Geffen Records artists
Guns N' Roses
Hard rock musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1993
Musical groups disestablished in 1995
Musical groups reestablished in 1998
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Slash (musician)
Travel III EP is the sixth album by the Christian rock band Future of Forestry, and the third in the "Travel Series." The recording of the album “officially” started on February 11. It was released on June 29, 2010. Frontman Eric Owyoung wrote all of the songs for this EP and his wife, Tamara Owyoung, painted the cover art for the album. The band subsequently departed on what was called "The 3 Tour" to go along with the release. The tour was self-booked and took place in the West and Midwest regions of the United States starting on June 27, 2010 and ending on July 13, 2010.

Track listing
The names (and respective order) of the songs were released on the band's Myspace page leading up to the release of the CD, as they did for the rest of the Travel Series EPs. However, on Travel III, for the first time, Future of Forestry released the tracks out-of-order.

 "Bold and Underlined" - 4:04
 "Working to Be Loved" - 3:48
 "Did You Lose Yourself" - 4:47
 "Protection" - 4:14
 "Horizon Rainfall" - 2:53
 "Your Day's Not Over" - 5:00

Awards
The album was nominated for a Dove Award for Rock Album of the Year at the 42nd GMA Dove Awards.

References 

2010 EPs
Future of Forestry albums Not by Choice is a Canadian punk rock band from Ajax.  They have released two albums, Maybe One Day in 2002 (Linus Records/Warner Music Canada), and Secondhand Opinions (Maple Music Recordings/Universal Music Canada) in 2004.

History

2002-2003: Debut album and acclaim
In 2002, Not By Choice signed with Linus Entertainment. That same year, the band released their debut album, Maybe One Day. The band earned a MuchMusic Video Award for "Best Independent Video" ("Now That You Are Leaving"), a CASBY award for "Best Independent Album", and inclusion on two Big Shiny Tunes compilations (Now That You Are Leaving and Standing All Alone). In 2003, the band signed with MapleMusic Recordings. Maybe One Day was released in Japan in December 2003, selling over 25,000 records in the country.

2004-2005: Second album, Bovaird departure
The band's October 2004 release of their second album, Secondhand Opinions, presented a different direction from the pop-punk roots of Maybe One Day with a more mature-sounding musical approach.  The album was not well received by commercial radio, and did not meet the expectations set by the success of their first album.  Despite a heavy push from Much Music with their video for the first single Days Go By, the band did not tour outside of Southern Ontario for more than a handful of sporadic dates.  They were given the opening band slot for Avril Lavigne's 2005 summer tour in Southern Ontario, but the effort came almost 8 months after the release of Secondhand Opinions.

The band did prove to have a faithful following in Japan, and Secondhand Opinions did manage to receive a great deal of attention.  The band was able to tour Japan in March 2005, performing a week of headlining shows followed by a week as the opening band for Simple Plan.

After the departure of bassist AJ Bovaird during the summer of 2005, Not by Choice took a break from touring and began writing songs for a new album. However, the band later stopped progress on their third studio album and took an indefinite hiatus.

2017-present: reunion
On April 10, 2017, Not By Choice announced that the classic lineup would be reuniting to play live as the main support for Simple Plan's No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls 15th anniversary tour stop in Toronto. This show occurred on September 16, 2017.

In 2018, Not By Choice performed at the Sound of Music Festival in Burlington, Ontario.

Discography

Albums
2002: Maybe One Day
2004: Secondhand Opinions

Music videos

Members
 Mike Bilcox – guitar, lead vocals
 Glenn "Chico" Dunning – guitar, backing vocals
 Liam Killeen – drums
 AJ Bovaird – bass, backing vocals

Singles
2002: "Standing All Alone"
2002: "Now That You Are Leaving"
2004: "Days Go By"

References

Musical groups established in 1997
Musical groups reestablished in 2017
Musical groups from the Regional Municipality of Durham
Canadian pop punk groups
MapleMusic Recordings artists
1997 establishments in Ontario