''All Star United'' is a

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

band that was formed by solo artist

Ian Eskelin Ian Eskelin (born October 17, 1969), is a record producer, songwriter, solo artist, and founding member and lead singer of the Grammy-nominated Christian rock band All Star United, and president of recording and publishing company Radiate Music ...

in 1996. The band is known for clever and sometimes sarcastic lyrics, as they frequently use their songs as vehicles to lampoon perceived excesses in Western culture. Their musical style combines elements of

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

and

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

, anchored by melodically powerful choruses. All Star United has released five full-length albums, a collector's EP, and a "best of" collection that included two previously unreleased songs. Their latest full-length project (''The Good Album'') was released internationally in 2009, but the US release was delayed until early 2010 and includes an additional radio single "Beautiful Way." The band has had several No. 1 charting songs in the United States, including the songs "Smash Hit" and "Superstar". They also had a No. 1 single in Singapore titled "If We Were Lovers". Band leader and founder, Eskelin has also released three solo projects and currently writes and produces for a variety of bands and artists. In 2008 Eskelin received a Dove Award for "Producer of the Year", and was nominated again in the same category in 2009. All Star United's songs have been licensed in recent years for use on ABC's ''The Evidence'', the movie ''

Saved! ''Saved!'' is a 2004 American independent satirical black comedy film directed by Brian Dannelly, and starring Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit, Eva Amurri, Martin Donovan, and Mary-Louise Parker. Its plot follows a teenage ...

'', the trailer for the film ''

Superbad ''Superbad'' is a 2007 American coming-of-age teen buddy comedy film directed by Greg Mottola and produced by Judd Apatow. The film stars Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as Seth and Evan, two teenagers about to graduate from high school. Before grad ...

'', and multiple CBS network imaging campaigns.

Band history

All Star United was formed in 1996 by frontman Ian Eskelin,

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

Christian Crowe,

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

Brian Whitman,

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

Patrick McCallum, and

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

Gary Miller. Shortly after, Miller was replaced by Adrian Walther, and guitarist Dave Clo was added to the line-up. They released their eponymous debut album in 1997 to much critical acclaim. They followed it with '' International Anthems for the Human Race'' in 1998, which received equal praise. The band toured heavily in the United States and internationally during this period. Amidst some line-up changes and label changes, the band released a compilation album titled ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' in 2000. In 2002, the band signed with

Delirious? Delirious? (formerly known as The Cutting Edge Band) were an English contemporary Christian music, contemporary Christian band. For the majority of their career, the lineup featured Martin Smith (English musician), Martin Smith on vocals and gu ...

record label, Furious Records, and released their third studio album titled ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

''. After this, the band retired from heavy touring while Eskelin recorded and released a solo project and produced albums for several other artists. However, in 2007, the original line-up (minus Patrick) reunited and released '' Love and Radiation''. All Star United's most recent project, ''The Good Album'', was released internationally in 2009, with a delayed US release in early January 2010.

Discography

* ''

All Star United ''All Star United'' is a Christian rock band that was formed by solo artist Ian Eskelin in 1996. The band is known for clever and sometimes sarcastic lyrics, as they frequently use their songs as vehicles to lampoon perceived excesses in Western ...

'' (1997) * '' International Anthems for the Human Race'' (1998) * ''

'' (2000) * ''Let's Get Crazy'' (2000) * ''

'' (2002) * '' Love and Radiation'' (2007) * '' The Good Album'' (2009)

Music videos

* "Bright Red Carpet" (1997) * "Weirdo" (2002) * "Sweet Jesus" (2002)

Band members

Current

- Lead Vocals (1996–present) * Adrian Walther - Bass (1997–2002, 2006–present) * Christian Crowe - Drums (1996–2000, 2006–present) * Mike Payne - Guitars (2002–present) * Brian Whitman - Guitar (1996–present)

Former

* Patrick McCallum - Keyboards (1996–1999) * Jeremy Hunter - Bass (2002–2003) * Gary Miller - Bass (1996–1997) * Dave Clo - Guitar (1997–1999) * Troy Daugherty - Guitar (2000) * Stephen Ekstedt - Guitar (1999–2000) * Matt Payne - Drums (2000–2003)

References

External links

* {{Authority control American Christian rock groups Musical groups established in 1997