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Silverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Ben Gillies on drums, Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo competition conducted by SBS TV show ''Nomad'' and ABC radio station Triple J. The band was signed by Murmur and were successful in Australia and internationally. Silverchair have sold over 10 million albums worldwide. Silverchair have won more
ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
than any other artist in history, earning 21 wins from 49 nominations. They also received six
APRA Awards APRA Awards may refer to one of two awards ceremonies: *APRA Awards (Australia) *APRA Awards (New Zealand) The APRA Music Awards are several annual and two-yearly award ceremonies run in New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association ...
, with Johns winning three songwriting awards in 2008. All five of their studio albums debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart: '' Frogstomp'' (1995), '' Freak Show'' (1997), '' Neon Ballroom'' (1999), ''
Diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...
'' (2002), and '' Young Modern'' (2007). Three singles reached the number-one slot on the related ARIA Singles Chart: " Tomorrow" (1994), " Freak" (1997), and "
Straight Lines In geometry, a line is an infinitely long object with no width, depth, or curvature. Thus, lines are one-dimensional objects, though they may exist in two, three, or higher dimension spaces. The word ''line'' may also refer to a line segmen ...
" (2007). Silverchair's alternative rock sound evolved throughout their career, with differing styles on specific albums growing more ambitious over the years, from
grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...
on their debut to more recent work displaying orchestral and
art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...
influences. The songwriting and singing of Johns had evolved steadily while the band had developed an increased element of complexity. In 2003, following the release of ''Diorama'', the band announced a hiatus, during which time members recorded with side projects the
Dissociatives Dissociatives, colloquially dissos, are a subclass of hallucinogens which distort perception of sight and sound and produce feelings of detachment – dissociation – from the environment and/or self. Although many kinds of drugs are capable of ...
, the Mess Hall, and Tambalane. Silverchair reunited at the 2005
Wave Aid WaveAid was a fund raising concert held on Saturday, 29 January 2005, as a means for raising funds for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known as the Boxing Day tsunami. It was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground and broadcast on ...
concerts. In 2007, they released their fifth album, '' Young Modern'', and played the Across the Great Divide tour with contemporaries Powderfinger. In May 2011, Silverchair announced an indefinite hiatus.


History


Formation and early releases (1994–1996)

Silverchair's founders, Ben Gillies and Daniel Johns, attended the same primary school in the Newcastle suburb of Merewether. At "age 11 or 12", singer-guitarist Johns and drummer Gillies rapped over an electronic keyboard's demo button under their first band name, The Silly Men. As teenagers, they started playing music together more prominently—in one class, they built a stage out of desks and played rap songs for their schoolmates. When they moved on to Newcastle High School, fellow student Chris Joannou joined the pair on bass guitar. In 1994, they formed Innocent Criminals with Tobin Finnane as a second guitarist, but he soon left.McFarlane
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on 19 April 2004. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
They played numerous shows around the
Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...
in their early teens; their repertoire included cover versions of Led Zeppelin,
Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...
, and Black Sabbath. In 1994, Innocent Criminals, entered YouthRock—a national competition for school-based bands—and placed first ahead of older competition. The band recorded demos of "Acid Rain", "Cicada", "
Pure Massacre "Pure Massacre" is a single released by Australian rock band Silverchair in 1995 and is the second single from their debut album ''Frogstomp'', which was also released in 1995. It was a successful follow-up to the band's debut number-one single ...
", and " Tomorrow" early in the year at Platinum Sound Studios. In April, the band's mainstream breakthrough came when they won a national competition called Pick Me, using their demo of "Tomorrow". The competition was conducted by the SBS TV show ''Nomad'' and Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) alternative radio station Triple J. As part of the prize, Triple J recorded the song and ABC filmed a video, which was aired on 16 June. For the video's broadcast, they had changed their name to Silverchair (styled as silverchair until 2002). In a 1994 interview with Melbourne magazine ''Buzz'', the band claimed the name derived from a radio request for "
Sliver Sliver may refer to: Entertainment *Sliver (novel), ''Sliver'' (novel), a 1991 novel by Ira Levin **Sliver (film), ''Sliver'' (film), a 1993 film adaptation of the novel **Sliver (soundtrack), ''Sliver'' (soundtrack), the soundtrack to the 1993 fi ...
" by Nirvana and " Berlin Chair" by You Am I being mixed up as Silver Chair. It was later revealed they were named for the C. S. Lewis–penned novel '' The Silver Chair'' from '' The Chronicles of Narnia'' series. Aside from Innocent Criminals, the band has used The George Costanza Trio and Short Elvis as aliases. Following a bidding war between rival labels, Silverchair signed a three-album recording contract with Sony Music subsidiary Murmur Records. Initially, the group were managed by their parents. Sony A&R manager John Watson, who was jointly responsible for signing the group, subsequently left the label to become their band manager. In September, their Triple J recording of "Tomorrow" was released as a four-track extended play.Spencer, et al. From late October, it spent six weeks at number-one on the
ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
. In 1995, a re-recorded version of "Tomorrow" (and a new video) was made for the United States market, becoming the most played song on US modern rock radio that year. Silverchair's debut album, '' Frogstomp'', was recorded in nine days, with production by Kevin Shirley ( Lime Spiders, Peter Wells) and released in March 1995. At the time of recording, the band members were 15 years old and still attending high school. ''Frogstomps lyrical concepts were fiction-based, drawing inspiration from television, hometown tragedies, and perceptions of the pain of friends. The album was well received: AllMusic and '' Rolling Stone'' rated it in four and four-and-a-half stars, respectively, praising the intensity of the album, especially "Tomorrow". ''Frogstomp'' was a number-one album in Australia and New Zealand. It reached the ''Billboard'' 200 Top 10, making Silverchair the first Australian band to do so since
INXS INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...
. It was certified as a US double- platinum album by the
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
, triple-platinum in Canada by the CRIA, and multi-platinum in Australia. The album sold more than 4 million copies worldwide.Erlewine, "Silverchair > Biography". ''Paste'' magazine called this album the " last stand" of
grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...
. As ''Frogstomp'' and "Tomorrow" continued to gain popularity through 1995, the group toured the US, where they supported Red Hot Chili Peppers in June, the
Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...
in September, and played on the roof of
Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...
at the MTV Music Awards. In between touring, they continued their secondary education in Newcastle. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1995, the band won five awards out of nine nominations. To collect their awards on the night, they sent Josh Shirley, the young son of the album's producer. At the ceremony, they performed Radio Birdman's "New Race" with Tim Rogers (of You Am I); in 2019, Dan Condon of Double J rated this as one of the "7 great performances from the history of the ARIA Awards." On 9 December 1995, Silverchair played two songs, "Tomorrow" and "Pure Massacre" on Saturday Night Live. In a January 1996 murder case, the defendant counsel for Brian Bassett, 16, and Nicholaus McDonald, 18, of McCleary, Washington, claimed that the pair listened to "
Israel's Son "Israel's Son" is a song by Australian rock band Silverchair, released in 1995. It was the third single released from their debut full-length album, ''Frogstomp'', which was released earlier the same year. It was also released on their '' The Bes ...
", from ''Frogstomp'', which contributed to the 10 August 1995 murders of Bassett's parents and a younger brother. McDonald's lawyer cited the lyrics "Hate is what I feel for you/I want you to know that I want you dead" which were "almost a script. They're relevant to everything that happened". The band's manager, Watson, issued a statement that they did not condone nor intend any such acts of violence. Prosecutors rejected the defence case and convinced the jury that the murder was committed to "steal money and belongings and run off to California."


Critical and commercial success (1997–2001)

Silverchair began recording their second studio album, '' Freak Show'', in May 1996 while experiencing the success of ''Frogstomp'' in Australia and the US. Produced by Nick Launay ( Birthday Party,
Models A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...
,
Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by ...
) and released in February 1997, the album reached number one in Australia and yielded three top-10 singles: " Freak", " Abuse Me", and " Cemetery". Its fourth single, " The Door", reached No. 25. The songs focused on the anger and backlash that the expectations of ''Frogstomp'' brought upon the band. ''Freak Show'' was certified gold in the US, 2× platinum in Australia, and global sales eventually exceeded 1.5 million copies. By late 1997, the trio had completed their secondary education, and, from May 1998, they worked on their third album, '' Neon Ballroom'', with Launay producing again. It was released in March 1999 and peaked at the number-one position in Australia. Australian rock music historian
Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the '' Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...
said, "As well as being the band's best album to date, it was universally acknowledged as one of the best albums of the year." The band originally intended to take a 12-month break, but in the end they decided to devote their time to making music. ''Neon Ballroom'' provided three Australian top-20 singles: "
Anthem for the Year 2000 "Anthem for the Year 2000" is a song by Australian rock band Silverchair, released as the first single from their third album, ''Neon Ballroom''. The song reached number three on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, becoming the band's sixth top- ...
", " Ana's Song (Open Fire)" and " Miss You Love"; a fourth single, "Paint Pastel Princess", did not reach the top 50. The albums charted well internationally: ''Freak Show'' reached No. 2 in Canada, and ''Neon Ballroom'' reached No. 5. Both reached the top 40 on the United Kingdom Albums Chart. "Abuse Me" reached No. 4 on ''Billboards Hot Modern Rock Tracks and
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...
charts. "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" peaked at No. 12 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks. In 1999, Johns announced that he had developed the eating disorder anorexia nervosa due to anxiety. Johns noted that the lyrics to "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" dealt with his disorder, where he would "eat what he needed ... to stay awake." He revealed that his eating problems developed from the time of ''Freak Show'' and when ''Neon Ballroom'' was written he "hated music, really everything about it", but he felt that he "couldn't stop doing it; I felt like a slave to it." Johns sought therapy and medication but felt "It's easier for me to express it through music and lyrics". Silverchair added an auxiliary keyboardist, Sam Holloway (ex- Cordrazine), for the Neon Ballroom Tour. The US leg had the group playing with The Offspring and Red Hot Chili Peppers, while Silverchair's tour of UK and European had The Living End as the support act. ''Rolling Stones Neva Chonin attributed their chart success to the album's more "mature" sound. In Europe and South America it became the group's most successful album to date. The group appeared at festivals in Reading and Edgefest, amongst others. Following the tour, the band announced that they would be taking a 12-month break. Their only live performance in 2000 was at the Falls Festival on New Year's Eve. On 21 January 2001, the band played to 250,000 people at Rock in Rio, a show they described as the highlight of their career until that point. After the release of ''Neon Ballroom'', Silverchair's three-album contract with Sony Music had ended. The group eventually signed with
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
for North and South America, and they formed their own label with Watson, Eleven: A Music Company (distributed by EMI), for Australia and Asia. In November 2000, after the group had left the label, Sony issued ''The Best Of: Volume 1'' without the band's involvement. Johns disavowed the compilation, saying, "We thought about putting out ads in the street press to make people aware that we weren't endorsing it, but that would have blown the whole thing out of proportion ... If people want to buy it, they can buy it but I wouldn't buy it if I was a silverchair fan."


''Diorama'' (2001–2002)

In June 2001, Silverchair entered a studio in Sydney with producer David Bottrill ( Tool,
Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
, King Crimson) to start work on their fourth album, ''
Diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...
''. Johns formally assumed the role of a co-producer. The album name means "a world within a world". Most tracks came from Johns' new-found method of writing material on a piano, a technique he developed during the band's break after ''Neon Ballroom''. In order to complete the vision for ''Diorama'', several other musicians contributed to the album, including Van Dyke Parks, who provided orchestral arrangements to "Tuna in the Brine", "
Luv Your Life "Luv Your Life" is a song by Australian rock band Silverchair released as the third single from their fourth album, '' Diorama'', on September 2, 2002. The song was composed in the key of C major, and a music video was made in which the band was ...
", and "
Across the Night "Across the Night" was the fourth and final single released by rock band Silverchair from their fourth album, ''Diorama (Silverchair album), Diorama''. It is the first track on ''Diorama'', and is a major departure from their previous, Grunge, g ...
". Paul Mac (from Itch-E and Scratch-E) and Jim Moginie (from Midnight Oil) both on piano also collaborated with the band. While recording ''Diorama'', Johns referred to himself as an artist, rather than simply being in a "rock band". Upon its release, critics commented that the album was more artistic than previous works. Early in December, the first single, " The Greatest View", was released to Australian radio networks. Its physical release in January 2002 coincided with the band's appearance on the Big Day Out tour. Early in 2002, Johns was diagnosed with reactive arthritis, which made it difficult for him to play the guitar, and subsequent performances supporting the album's release were cancelled. In March 2002, ''Diorama'' was issued and topped the ARIA Albums Chart; it became their fourth number-one album and spent 50 weeks in the top 50. Four singles were released from the album: "The Greatest View", " Without You", "Luv Your Life" and "Across the Night"; "The Greatest View" charted highest, reaching No. 3. In October, Silverchair were successful at the ARIA Music Awards of 2002, winning five awards, including 'Best Rock Album' and 'Best Group', and 'Producer of the Year' for Johns. The band played "The Greatest View" at the ceremony; the song was also nominated for 'Best Video'. Two singles (and a related video) were nominated for further ARIA Awards in
2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
. Following the 2002 ARIA Awards, the band announced their first indefinite hiatus. Johns said it was necessary "given the fact the band were together for over a decade and yet were only, on average, 23 years old". From March to June 2003, Silverchair undertook the Across the Night Tour to perform ''Diorama''. Their hometown performance on 19 April was recorded as '' Live from Faraway Stables'' for a 2-CD and 2-DVD release in November. After the tour finished in June, the group announced another indefinite hiatus.


Extended break and side projects (2003–2005)

In 2000, while also working with Silverchair, Johns and Mac released an internet-only EP, ''
I Can't Believe It's Not Rock The Dissociatives were an Australian alternative rock band consisting of Daniel Johns of Silverchair and dance producer and DJ Paul Mac (of Itch-E and Scratch-E), which formed in mid-2003. They were supported by touring members, Julian Hamilt ...
''. In mid-2003, during Silverchair's hiatus, the pair re-united and formed The Dissociatives, releasing a self-titled album in April 2004. The duo provided the theme music for the popular ABC-TV music quiz show '' Spicks and Specks'' by reworking a 1966
Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...
hit of the same name. Johns also collaborated with then-wife Natalie Imbruglia on her ''
Counting Down the Days ''Counting Down the Days'' is the third studio album by Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia. It was released by Brightside Recordings on 4 April 2005 in the United Kingdom. Her debut with the label, Imbruglia reteamed with Gary Clark to work ...
'' album, released in April 2005. Joannou worked with
blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
group
The Mess Hall The Mess Hall were a two-piece drums and guitar combo based in Sydney, Australia, specialising in "raw, edgy bluesy rock." The band consisted of Jed Kurzel (lead vocals/guitar) and Cec Condon (drums/backing vocals) for most of its tenure. The b ...
; he co-produced—with
Matt Lovell Matt Lovell is an Australian audio engineer, record producer and mixer. He has won three ARIA Music Awards for Engineer of the Year: in 2005 for his work on The Mess Hall's' ''Notes from a Ceiling'', in 2006 for ''Black Fingernails, Red Wine'' ...
—their six-track extended play ''
Feeling Sideways Feeling Sideways is a six-track extended play by Australian indie rock duo, the Mess Hall, released in May 2003. It was co-produced by band members, Anthony Johnsen and Jed Kurzel with Chris Joannou (of Silverchair) and Matt Lovell (Something f ...
'', which was released in May 2003. The album was nominated for the ARIA Award for 'Best Independent Release' in 2003. Joannou and Lovell co-produced The Mess Hall's studio album '' Notes from a Ceiling'', which was issued in June 2005. Joannou and Lovell received a nomination at the ARIA Music Awards of 2005 for 'Producer of the Year'. In 2003, Gillies formed Tambalane with Wes Carr, initially as a song-writing project, and they released a self-titled album in 2005 and toured Australia. The
2004 Boxing Day tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+07:00, UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of no ...
resulted in the WaveAid fundraising concert held in January 2005; Silverchair performed to help raise funds for aid organisations working in disaster-affected areas. As a result of WaveAid, the band decided to resume working together. Gillies explained the band's reunion as due to a special "chemistry" between band members, telling the ''
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...
'', "It only took us 15 years, but recently we've realised, 'We've really got something special and we should just go for it.'"


Return from hiatus (2006–2010)

After performing at Wave Aid, Silverchair reunited, and by late 2005 began preparations for their next studio album, '' Young Modern''. Johns had written about 50 songs during the hiatus for a possible solo album or other project but decided to use them for Silverchair. In 2006, after five weeks' practice, the group demoed tracks in the
Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...
before recording at Los Angeles' Seedy Underbelly Studios with Launay as producer. Parks again arranged orchestral tracks for the band—they travelled to Prague to record with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. The group also used Mac, Luke Steele ( The Sleepy Jackson, Empire of the Sun) and Julian Hamilton ( The Presets, The Dissociatives). Hamilton also co-wrote songs with Johns. Silverchair self-funded the album's production to ease the pressures they faced when working with a record label. The band toured extensively before releasing the album, performing at
Homebake Homebake was an annual Australian rock festival, featuring an all-Australian lineup (with the occasional artist from New Zealand). The festival was first held on 3 January 1996 at Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, on the far north coast of New Sou ...
and numerous other shows. Both Mac and Hamilton joined the tour as auxiliary members providing keyboards. In October, they performed a cover of
Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by ...
's 1981 single "
Don't Wanna Be the One "Don't Wanna Be the One" is a song by Australian rock band Midnight Oil, released in October 1981 as the lead single from the band's third studio album, '' Place without a Postcard''. The song peaked at no. 40 in Australia. Track listing # "Don' ...
" at the
ARIA Music Awards of 2006 The 20th annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) were held on 29 October 2006 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. Presenters on the night includ ...
as part of that band's induction into the
ARIA Hall of Fame In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
. During the performance, Johns spray-painted "PG 4 PM" ( Peter Garrett for Prime Minister) on a stage wall, paying tribute to that band's frontman, who was at that time a Federal Member of Parliament and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. ''Young Modern'' was released in March 2007, as was the first single, "
Straight Lines In geometry, a line is an infinitely long object with no width, depth, or curvature. Thus, lines are one-dimensional objects, though they may exist in two, three, or higher dimension spaces. The word ''line'' may also refer to a line segmen ...
". Three more singles—"
Reflections of a Sound "Reflections of a Sound" is a song by Australian rock band Silverchair and is the fourth track on their fifth studio album ''Young Modern'', released in March 2007. The song was released on 14 July 2007 as the second single from that album.
", "
If You Keep Losing Sleep "If You Keep Losing Sleep" is a song by Australian band Silverchair from their fifth album ''Young Modern'', released on 9 October 2007. It was the third single in Australia to be released from the album. It was released worldwide as the second s ...
", and " Mind Reader"—were released later. ''Young Modern'' became the fifth Silverchair album to top the ARIA Albums chart; they became the first artists to have five number-one albums on the ARIA Albums chart. "Straight Lines" also became the band's third number-one single in Australia. In June 2007, Silverchair and fellow rock group Powderfinger announced the Across the Great Divide Tour. The tour promoted the efforts of Reconciliation Australia in mending the 17-year gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. Support acts on the tour were John Butler,
Missy Higgins Melissa Morrison Higgins (born 19 August 1983), known professionally as Missy Higgins, is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Her Australian number-one albums are ''The Sound of White'' (2004), ''On a Clear Night'' (2007) and ''The Ol ...
,
Kev Carmody Kevin Daniel Carmody (born 1946), better known by his stage name Kev Carmody, is an Aboriginal Australian singer-songwriter and musician, a Murri people, Murri man from northern Queensland. He is best known for the song "From Little Things Big T ...
, Troy Cassar-Daley, Clare Bowditch and Deborah Conway. ''Young Modern'' and "Straight Lines" each won three awards at the ARIA Music Awards of 2007, taking Silverchair's total to 20. The group also won three
APRA Awards APRA Awards may refer to one of two awards ceremonies: *APRA Awards (Australia) *APRA Awards (New Zealand) The APRA Music Awards are several annual and two-yearly award ceremonies run in New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association ...
for their song "Straight Lines", including Songwriter of the Year, which Johns was awarded for a record third time. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2008, Silverchair and Powderfinger each won Best Music DVD for '' Across the Great Divide'', for Silverchair this was their 21st win from 49 nominations. According to Silverchair's website, as of June 2009, the group had begun work on the follow-up to ''Young Modern''; they had spent three weeks recording in Australia with future sessions earmarked for later that year. No release date was set, but the band uploaded in-studio videos of them working on several tracks to their official website. In December, Johns called in to Triple J's breakfast show, ''Robbie, Marieke and The Doctor'', and discussed the band's new album which they were working on in Newcastle. He told them, "the main difference is there's a lot of experimentation with instruments and synths... I think there's only guitar on four songs out of fifty so far," but added the new material is "surprisingly rocky given there's no guitar." In April 2010, via the band's website, Joannou announced they would perform two new songs called "16" and "Machina Collecta" at May's Groovin' the Moo festival. He said work was progressing well and confirmed there was, as yet, no title for the proposed album and that they were simply referring to it as ''Album No. 6''. The final concert of the festival was at Bunbury on 15 May. By year's end, work on the album had stopped because each member had pursued other interests.


"Indefinite hibernation" (2011–present)

On 25 May 2011, Silverchair announced another indefinite hiatus: ''Sydney Morning Herald''s music writer, Bernard Zuel, said the band's use of "indefinite hibernation" was a way to soften the blow of the group's break-up for fans; he expected future reunions and performances for worthy causes. By June, Gillies was in the final stages of about 12 months of working on his solo album, and he said that it was not a continuation of his earlier work with Tambalane. In October, Johns was working on the soundtrack for ''My Mind's Own Melody''—a short film. In May 2012, Johns recorded the new anthem for Qantas, titled "Atlas". It is the first piece of commercial music Johns has composed. A remastered version of ''Frogstomp,'' which included bonus content, was released on 27 March 2015. The members of Silverchair have occasionally stated that they have not ruled out a reunion. Gillies has said that there are plans to release a new Silverchair album, which was almost finished before the hiatus. On 17 November 2017, the Silverchair tribute
compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
'' Spawn (Again): A Tribute to Silverchair'' was released by UNFD, with Johns saying he came to "appreciate" the experience. The album is composed of cover songs by Australian bands signed onto UNFD as a tribute to Silverchair, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their album '' Freak Show''. Speaking to ''The Daily Telegraph'' in 2018, Daniel Johns expressed his love for the band—and appreciation of what the band had produced—but said he had no desire to reform the band. In May 2020, a picture of Johns playing electric guitar appeared online, leading to the ''
Newcastle Herald The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and ...
'' speculating that a reunion was possible. However, in October 2021, when Johns was interviewed by Carrie Bickmore on the Australian news-current affairs and talk show ''The Project'', he once again affirmed that the band will not reunite, while also stating that he still plans to work on new music but has no intentions to perform live again. In a separate interview with Carrie Bickmore, Johns elaborated further, stating that during his time with Silverchair, he had been the victim of sustained verbal abuse from the public because of his association with the band. This impacted his mental health greatly. Johns was open to musical collaboration with his former bandmates but not as a continuation of Silverchair as a band.


Musical style

Silverchair are generally classified as an alternative rock and
grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...
band, although their loyalty to specific genres has changed as they have matured. Much of the band's early grunge and post-grunge work was inspired by Nirvana,
Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Black Sabbath. According to Ian McFarlane, "''frogstomp'' captured the tempo of the times with its mix of Soundgarden/Pearl Jam/Bush post-grunge noise and teenage lyrical angst." In their early years, the perceived stylistic similarities led to Silverchair being derisively dubbed as 'Silverhighchair', 'not Soundgarden but ' and 'Nirvana in Pyjamas' by the Australian media. The latter is a sarcastic conflated reference to the band's youth and the popular Australian children's TV series '' Bananas in Pyjamas''. McFarlane stated, "''Freak Show'' and tracks like 'Freak' were firmly in Nirvana territory with a hint of Led Zeppelin's Eastern mysticism". Gillies noted that the band were inspired by the
Seattle Sound Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of ...
, as well as The Beatles and The Doors, and were highly impressionable in their youth. Johns admitted that "We were always influenced a lot by Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin it just so happened that we weren't very good at playing that style of music. So we were put in the whole grunge category because it was such a garage-y, heavy music term." Australian rock music journalist Ed Nimmervoll felt that Johns "had never intended to use his problems for inspiration, but in the end the music was the best way to unburden himself. ''Neon Ballroom'' took six months to record. The album's passion and musical sophistication proved to the world that silverchair were a force to be reckoned with". According to ''
100 Best Australian Albums 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
'', by three fellow journalists— John O'Donnell, Toby Creswell and
Craig Mathieson Craig Mathieson (born 1971) is an Australian music journalist and writer. His books include, '' Hi Fi Days'' (1996), ''The Sell-In'' in (2000) and the 100 Best Australian Albums in 2010, with Toby Creswell and John O'Donnell Biography Craig ...
—''Neon Ballroom''s lead-in track, "Emotion Sickness", described Johns' life in the 1990s and "addressed isdesire to move beyond the imitative sounds of Silverchair's first two albums ... and create something new and original". "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" directly focussed on his eating disorder; " tbecame a hit all over the world and opened up for discussion the fact that males could also be affected by anorexia." AllMusic's
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
felt ''Diorama'' "was a shockingly creative and impressive step forward that showed the band shedding its grunge past and adding horns, strings, and mature lyrics to its arsenal." Fellow AllMusic reviewer Bradley Torreano noted that "they somehow kept going and kept improving ... Silverchair has grown up and put together a fine mix of orchestral pop and rock on Diorama." Bernard Zuel described how the ''Diorama'' concert tour marked a move from hard rock towards
art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...
: "they stepped out of the arenas and barns and 'got classy' ... finally having admitted to harbouring artistic ambition (a very un-Australian band thing to do), they've proved they have the ability". In writing ''Young Modern'', Johns tried to make the music sound very simple despite a complex musical structure. The lyrics were written after the music was created, sometimes as late as the day of recording. As Johns dreads writing lyrics, he suggested that the band could produce an instrumental album at some stage in the future. Johns is the band's primary songwriter, and notes that while Joannou and Gillies do not have significant influence on what he writes, they are key to the band's overall sound. For that album, Hamilton co-wrote four songs with Johns including the APRA Award-winning "Straight Lines". Joannou believed that ''Young Modern'' was simpler than ''Diorama'' but "still as complex underneath with simple pop song elements". He said that much of the band's success resulted from trying to push themselves harder in recording and writing. Self-producing has allowed the band to do so without the pressures of a record label. Gillies notes that Silverchair will often "run the risk of losing fans" with their work, and this was evident in the changes in musical direction in ''Diorama'' and ''Young Modern''. However, he described this as a good thing, describing the fact "that we haven't been pigeonholed, and people really don't know what to expect" as one of the attractive elements of the band. Despite the ups and downs of success at a young age, Gillies says that he and the band "appreciate what we've achieved and what we've got" in their careers. The band have received six
APRA Awards APRA Awards may refer to one of two awards ceremonies: *APRA Awards (Australia) *APRA Awards (New Zealand) The APRA Music Awards are several annual and two-yearly award ceremonies run in New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association ...
, with Johns winning three songwriting awards at the 2008 ceremony.


Reception

''Frogstomp'' was described as similar to Nirvana and Pearl Jam; Erlewine noted that it followed in "the alternative rock tradition" of those bands. Erlewine also stated that "their songwriting abilities aren't as strong" as those of their peers. Contrarily, '' Rolling Stone'' claimed that the band had risen above their peers, applauding Johns' "ragged vocals". ''
Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...
'' journalist Nue Te Koha praised ''Frogstomp'' for "breaking the drought of Australian music making an impact overseas". However, he felt "It is highly debatable whether the three teens have gone to the world with a new sound or something identifiably Australian ... Silverchair's image and sound are blatantly ... Nirvana meets Pearl Jam". Nimmervoll disputed Te Koha's view, "It's not original, it's not Australian. Bah, humbug ... It's just as well Britain didn't say the same thing when The Beatles reinvented American R&B". ''Freak Show'' saw the band show more of their own musical style rather than copying others, and thus received more praise for its songwriting than its predecessor. Yahoo! Music's Sandy Masuo described the lyrics as "moving" and "emotional". Johns' vocal delivery was complimented: " isbittersweet, crackly voice tops the ample power chordage ... ehits shivery, emotional notes that convey both sweet idealism and disappointment". Zuel felt that with this album, the band "have outgrown the jokes, predictions and their own understated teenage ambitions to find they have become (gasp!) career musicians." In ''100 Best Australian Albums'' (2010), their third album, ''Neon Ballroom'', was placed at No. 25, according to its authors. '' Entertainment Weekly'' approved of the further advancement in ''Neon Ballroom'', commenting on "plush strings on these adult arrangements". There were once again significant advancements in songwriting; Johns was described as "furious, motivated, and all grown up". However, ''Rolling Stone'' said the album seemed confused, commenting that Silverchair "can't decide what they want to do" with their music. Meanwhile, ''Diorama'' was seen as an extension of the band's originality, with its " avy orchestration, unpredictable melodic shifts and a whimsical pop sensibility". According to PopMatters' Nikki Tranter, the album stood out in an otherwise dull Australian music market. AllMusic's Clayton Bolger described ''Young Modern'' as an improvement by the band, praising "catchy melodic hooks, inspired lyrical themes, and stunning string arrangements". He claimed the album was the pinnacle of the band's development. PopMatters' Nick Pearson saw the opposite, claiming that " ce you reach the level of intellectual maturity where you can tell the difference between cryptic but poetic lyrics and nonsensical crap, you have outgrown Silverchair". Pearson called the album an attempt to secure a safer territory and assure sales, after the success of past works, calling it more boring than its predecessors. Other reviewers noted influences from cult British band XTC. In July 2009, "Tomorrow" was voted number 33 by the Australian public in Triple J's Hottest 100 of all time. As of January 2018, the group have sold 9 million albums worldwide. At the annual
ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
, Silverchair holds the record for the most nominated artist, with 49, and the most awards won, with 21. Their breakthrough year was in
1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
, when they won five out of nine nominations, including 'Best New Talent', and 'Breakthrough Artist' for both album and single categories. Their most successful year was at the 2007 ceremony, where they won six of eight nominations.


Members

* Ben Gillies – drums, percussion * Chris Joannou – bass guitar * Daniel Johns – lead vocals, lead guitar, piano, harpsichord, orchestral arrangements Auxiliary members * Tobin Finane – rhythm guitar (1992, only in Innocent Criminals) * Sam Holloway – keyboards, samples (1999–2001) * Paul Mac – keyboards, piano, remixing, programming (2001–2003, 2006–2007) * Julian Hamilton – keyboards, backing vocals (2001–2003, 2007)


Discography

;Studio albums *'' Frogstomp'' (1995) *'' Freak Show'' (1997) *'' Neon Ballroom'' (1999) *''
Diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...
'' (2002) *'' Young Modern'' (2007)


See also

*
List of awards and nominations received by Silverchair This is a list of awards and nominations received by Silverchair. The Australian rock band formed in 1994 in Newcastle, New South Wales, consisting of Daniel Johns (vocals and guitar), Chris Joannou (bass guitar) and Ben Gillies (drums). One ...
* Music of Australia


References

General * * * * Note: Archived n-linecopy has limited functionality. * Specific


External links

* * * {{Authority control 1992 establishments in Australia 2011 disestablishments in Australia ARIA Award winners Australian post-grunge groups Australian grunge groups Musical groups disestablished in 2011 Musical groups established in 1992 Australian musical trios New South Wales musical groups Newcastle, New South Wales World Music Awards winners Australian alternative metal musical groups