Course of Empire was an industrial/alternative rock

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

based in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, from 1988 to 1998. The band's final incarnation consisted of founding members vocalist Vaughn Stevenson, guitarist Mike Graff, and bassist Paul Semrad. The band also consisted of two drummers throughout their existence, with Chad Lovell and Michael Jerome as the final duo. The band released three studio albums over ten years, with one each on the labels Carpe Diem, Zoo Entertainment (who also re-issued the band's debut album), and

TVT Records TVT Records (Tee-Vee Tunes) was an American record label founded by Steve Gottlieb. Over the course of its 24-year history, the label released 25 Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum releases. Its roster included Nine Inch Nails, Ja Rule, Lil Jon, ...

History

First studio album and major label signing (1988–1993)

Guitarist Mike Graff and drummer Anthony Headley had both attended

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

in the 1980s. They had composed ambient music for various film projects. They eventually decided to expand their hobby into a full-fledged band, and by early 1988 the pair had brought in vocalist Vaughn Stevenson (who had moved to Texas from North Carolina) and bassist Paul Semrad. The band named themselves Course of Empire, which was taken from a series of paintings from the 1830s. Overall they were influenced by bands such as

Ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project. ...

, and others from the

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

and

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

scenes. They played their first live show in July 1988. One year later, Headley witnessed a performance by the Kodo Drummers. He then brought back the concept of multiple drummers to Course of Empire; thus, the band enlisted Chad Lovell as their second drummer. Lovell had previously played in various cover bands and was seeking to create original material. Around the same time, the band's local live shows had increased in size. One of the band's trademarks had consisted of passing around

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

and

drumheads A drumhead or drum skin is a membrane stretched over one or both of the open ends of a drum. The drumhead is struck with sticks, mallets, or hands, so that it vibrates and the sound resonates through the drum. Additionally outside of percus ...

to the fans in attendance, but the practice was eventually discontinued since it became dangerous due to the increased fanbase. During the recording sessions for the band's debut album, Lovell had taken a hiatus from the band. Drummer

Dave Abbruzzese David James Abbruzzese () (born May 17, 1968) is an American musician who was the drummer for the American rock band Pearl Jam from 1991 to 1994. He replaced drummer Dave Krusen in 1991, shortly before the release of the band's debut album, '' ...

was brought in to record the song "God's Jig", but then Lovell returned to the band shortly after. The band's debut album, simply titled '' Course of Empire'', was released on Carpe Diem Records in 1990. After touring behind the album, Headley was dismissed from the band and was replaced by Kyle Thomas from

Reverend Horton Heat The Reverend Horton Heat is the stage name of American musician James C. Heath (born 1959) as well as the name of his Dallas, Texas-based psychobilly trio. Heath is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. A ''Prick'' magazine reviewer called Heath ...

. The band then signed with major label Zoo Entertainment, who re-issued the ''Course of Empire'' album nationally in early 1992. "Coming of the Century" was released as the band's first promotional single and music video. After the tours which supported the ''Course of Empire'' re-issue, Thomas left the band and

Michael Jerome Michael Jerome Moore, known as Michael Jerome is an American rock musician and drummer. He is a former member of the Toadies (1990–91), Course of Empire (1994–1998), and James Hall's band Pleasure Club, which was formed in 2002. He was a ...

joined as his replacement. In 1993, Course of Empire released the single "Infested" in anticipation of their second album. The single featured two new songs, "Joy" and "Let's Have a War" (a cover of a song by

Fear Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...

), as well as a "Darwin Goodman" remix of "Infested". The name was taken from Darwin (naturalist/evolutionary scientist

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

) and Goodman (legendary big band clarinetist

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

Continued recording and label shifts (1993–1996)

The band released their second album, ''

Initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...

'', on Zoo Entertainment in 1994. The physical CD had notably featured three

hidden tracks In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as to ...

on various spots of the release. "White Vision Blowout" and the aforementioned "Infested" were released as singles to promote the album. They toured behind the album with the likes of

Prong Prong or Prongs may refer to: * Prong, synonym of tine (structural), a branch or spike of various tools and natural objects * Prong (band), an American metal band * Prong (company), an iPhone accessories company in New York City * Prongs, British ...

, Sister Machine Gun,

Machines of Loving Grace Machines of Loving Grace was an American industrial rock band from Tucson, Arizona, best known for their song "Butterfly Wings". History Formation Named after the Richard Brautigan poem "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace", Machines ...

, and Stabbing Westward. In 1995, producer

John Fryer John Fryer may refer to: *John Fryer (physician) (died 1563), English physician, humanist and early reformer *John Fryer (physician, died 1672), English physician *John Fryer (travel writer) (1650–1733), British travel-writer and doctor *Sir John ...

, known for producing acts such as

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

and

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

, was tapped to produce their third record, as it featured more electronic-edged material. Around the same time, Course of Empire received an advance for their next album from Zoo Entertainment, but the band instead used it to build their own recording facility. In 1996, the band's song "Copious" (off of the ''Course of Empire'' album) appeared on the soundtrack to the film ''

The Pompatus of Love ''The Pompatus of Love'' is a 1996 American comedy film that tells the story of four guys discussing women and the meaning of the word "'' pompatus''". This made-up word is found in two Steve Miller songs, "Enter Maurice" and "The Joker", the latt ...

''. Soon after, the band found support in Dallas radio personality and ''

In the Studio ''In the Studio'' is the third studio album by British ska revival band the Specials. It was released under the name the Special AKA in June 1984, their only album under that name. The album took over two years to produce before finally seeing ...

'' host Redbeard, who promoted the band's third album weeks ahead of release on Dallas radio station

Q102 Q102 may refer to: * Quran 102, the 102nd chapter of the Islamic Holy book Transportation * Q102 (New York City bus) Radio stations * Q102 (Pirate Station) in London, United Kingdom; the precursor to XFM London * Q102.9 in Derry, Northern Irelan ...

, including heavy airplay of "New Maps", which was scheduled to be the lead single. After a series of financial struggles, Zoo Entertainment drastically reduced their staff by early 1996. The label subsequently halted their daily operations in July 1996, just one month before Course of Empire's third album was due to be released.

signed the band by December 1996 after working out the licensing terms with BMG for the rights to the then-upcoming album and the previous ''Initiation'' record. At TVT's request, the band recorded additional tracks with Lovell as producer. The new tracks were mixed in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

at Larrabee Studios North with Dave Bianco at the helm. Some previous tracks were also remixed by Bianco.

Final release and disbandment (1996–1998)

Course of Empire's third album ''Telepathic Last Words'', originally mastered by Bob Ludwig for the Zoo Entertainment release, was remastered by

Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album ''Future Shock''. Other m ...

in September 1997 and was finally released in January 1998, almost two years after its original completion. As part of the new deal, the scheduled national lead single was changed from "New Maps" to "The Information". "The Information" was included on the soundtrack for the 1998 film ''Dark City''. A music video was also produced featuring scenes from the movie and was aired on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

at the time of the movie's premiere. The band received favorable press in the form of a two-page cover story in a local alternative weekly news magazine, the ''

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...

'', as well as mentions in ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' and trade publications; however, a lack of promotion by the record company prevented the song from seeing a wide release on modern rock playlists across the United States. "The Information" was picked up by Q102 after the success of "New Maps" on Redbeard's show, but failed to gain traction and was dropped from the playlist by 1998. "Kaptain Kontrol" was also released as a promotional single. The band supported the album by touring with 2wo, an industrial rock project headed by

Rob Halford Robert John Arthur Halford (born 25 August 1951) is an English heavy metal singer. He is the lead vocalist of Judas Priest, which was formed in 1969 and has received accolades such as the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. He has b ...

(

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

) alongside

John 5 John 5 is the fifth chapter of the Gospel of John of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It relates Jesus' healing and teaching in Jerusalem, and begins to evidence the hostility shown him by the Jewish authorities.Plummer, A. (1902)Cambri ...

(

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

), Ray Riendeau (Machines of Loving Grace), and

James Woolley Woolley in the 90's. James Joseph Woolley (September 26, 1966 – August 14, 2016) was an American keyboard and synthesizer player, best known for performing with industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails during the 1991 Lollapalooza Tour and th ...

(Nine Inch Nails). Less than two weeks after the tour started, 2wo had cancelled the remaining dates. Course of Empire also opened for

The Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is an English rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasin ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

that spring. The group disbanded after ten years together due to frustration with the overall label management, the aforementioned tour cancellation, and the lack of a proper A&R representative. Their final show was in July 1998 at

Trees In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are u ...

in the

Deep Ellum Deep Ellum is an American neighborhood composed largely of arts and entertainment venues near downtown in East Dallas, Texas. The name is based on a corruption of the area's principal thoroughfare, Elm Street. Older alternative uses include De ...

area of Dallas, with Caulk and Doosu as the show's openers.

Following years

In 2004, Graff and Martin Baird at Verge Music Works recording studio mixed the still-existing 24 tracks of the final performance at Trees and personally financed and self-released the tracks, titled ''Phone Calls From the Dead''. A DVD of the band was also self-released that same year, titled ''Hiss''. In 2008, a double-album of demos was self-released, simply titled ''Initiation Demos''. In 2013, ''Early C.O.E. & Telepathic Last Show'' was self-released, which consisted of demos from the band's early years and also the remainder of the aforementioned Trees live show from 1998. After Course of Empire split in 1998, Jerome and Graff collaborated with Van Eric Martin to form the group Halls of the Machine, who released their debut album, ''Atmospheres for Lovers and Sleepers'', in 2001. The band released their second album ''All Tribal Dignitaries'' in 2017. In 2019, it was revealed that Lovell had experienced a fall that left him with a traumatic brain injury. To help with medical costs, his former bandmates in Course of Empire decided to release a compilation entitled ''Fields of Discipline'', which consisted of two-track demos recorded by the band in 1989. The material was previously unreleased up to that point. A Dallas listening party and drum jam occurred on October 25, 2021 in support of Lovell. Another benefit for Lovell commenced on November 11, 2022 in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

Toadies Toadies are an American rock band formed in 1989 in Fort Worth, Texas, best known for the song " Possum Kingdom". The band's classic lineup consisted of Vaden Todd Lewis (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Lisa Umbarger (bass guitar), Darrel Herb ...

had headlined the event while an auction was held as a fundraiser. Around the same time, it was announced that there were plans to issue Course of Empire's second album ''Initiation'' on vinyl for the first time, with a tentative release date of May 2023.

Members

*Vaughn Stevenson – vocals (1988–1998) *Mike Graff – guitar (1988–1998) *Paul Semrad – bass (1988–1998) *Anthony Headley – drums (1988–1991) *Chad Lovell – drums (1989–1998) *Kyle Thomas – drums (1991–1993) *

– drums (1993–1998)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:0 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:07/04/1988 till:07/04/1998 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitars id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:brightgreen legend:Drums id:album value:black legend:Album id:bars value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bars Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:01/01/1989 LineData = layer:back color:album width:2 at:11/11/1990 at:01/08/1994 at:01/20/1998 BarData = bar:Stevenson text:"Vaughn Stevenson" bar:Graff text:"Mike Graff" bar:Semrad text:"Paul Semrad" bar:Headley text:"Anthony Headley" bar:Lovell text:"Chad Lovell" bar:Thomas text:"Kyle Thomas" bar:Jerome text:"Michael Jerome" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:green align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Stevenson from:07/04/1988 till:07/04/1998 color:Vocals bar:Graff from:07/04/1988 till:07/04/1998 color:Guitar bar:Semrad from:07/04/1988 till:07/04/1998 color:Bass bar:Headley from:07/04/1988 till:02/01/1991 color:Drums bar:Lovell from:03/01/1989 till:07/04/1998 color:Drums bar:Thomas from:02/01/1991 till:02/01/1993 color:Drums bar:Jerome from:02/01/1993 till:07/04/1998 color:Drums

Discography

Albums

*1990: '' Course of Empire'' (Carpe Diem Records) *1994: ''

'' ( Zoo Entertainment) *1998: ''Telepathic Last Words'' (

)

Compilations

*2004: ''Phone Calls From the Dead'' (Live album/released on Lust) *2004: ''Hiss'' (DVD/Self-released) *2008: ''Initiation Demos'' (Demo album/Self-released) *2013: ''Early C.O.E. & Telepathic Last Show'' (Live album and studio tracks/Self-released) *2021: ''Fields of Discipline'' (Previously unreleased 1989 album/released on IDBLM)

Singles

*1992: "Coming of the Century" *1993: "Infested" *1994: "White Vision Blowout" *1997: "The Information" *1998: "Kaptain Kontrol" *2021: "Thrust"

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Musical groups from Dallas Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 1998 Zoo Entertainment (record label) artists TVT Records artists Industrial rock musical groups