U.P.O. was an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from Los Angeles, formed in 1997. The band's line-up originally included Shawn Albro (lead vocals),

Chris Weber Christopher Garrison Weber (born October 16, 1966) is an American musician best known as the guitarist and founder of the groups U.P.O. and Hollywood Rose (which featured future Guns N' Roses members Axl Rose, Slash (musician), Slash, Izzy Stradl ...

(guitar), Ben Shirley (bass) and Tommy Holt (drums). Shirley and Holt left and were replaced by

Zoltan Bathory Zoltan Bathory (born in 1978) is a Hungarian-American musician and martial artist. He is the founder and rhythm guitarist of Las Vegas-based heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch. In 2010, he was named Golden God's "Best Shredder" by ''Meta ...

(now in

Five Finger Death Punch Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead gui ...

) and Philippe Mathys shortly before the band's breakup in 2004. U.P.O. released two studio albums – ''

No Pleasantries ''No Pleasantries'' is the debut album of American post-grunge band U.P.O. Released on May 30, 2000, the album broke U.P.O. into the mainstream rock scene and was their most successful release. It was made available on iTunes on September 22, 200 ...

'' (2000) and '' The Heavy'' (2004).

History

Both frontman Shawn Albro and guitarist

began their careers as a part of the mid-1980s

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

scene. Weber was actually a founding member of the band

Hollywood Rose Hollywood Rose was an American glam metal group formed in 1983. They are best known as the precursor for what would eventually become Guns N' Roses. The group was founded by Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin and Chris Weber, while they were aided during l ...

, which served as the precursor to the legendary band

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

, while Albro sang lead for the band Wicked Teaze.

Formation and ''No Pleasantries'' (1997–2001)

After meeting in the mid '90s, at the

Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Weber and singer Shawn Albro began working on material that eventually gained some major label interest. They recruited bassist Ben Shirley and drummer Tommy Holt, forming U.P.O., and going on to sign a record deal with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. They released their debut album, titled ''

'', in 2000, produced by

Rick Parashar Rakesh "Rick" Parashar (December 13, 1963 – August 14, 2014) was an American record producer, recording engineer and musician. Along with his brother Raj, he founded London Bridge Studio in Seattle, Washington, in 1985. During his career he wo ...

, with the album peaking at number 19 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Heatseekers Chart while the singles "Godless" and "Feel Alive" peaked at number 6 and 25 on the

Mainstream Rock Chart 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 i ...

respectively. "Feel Alive" appeared on the soundtrack to the film '' Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2'' while the group toured with the likes of Slipknot,

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

Mudvayne Mudvayne is an American heavy metal band formed in Peoria, Illinois in 1996. Known for their sonic experimentation, face and body paint, masks and uniforms, the band has sold over six million records worldwide, including nearly three millio ...

and

Sepultura Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte. Formed in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera,Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. the band was a major force in the groove metal, thra ...

as part of the Tattoo The Earth tour with the song "Dust" being included on the live album ''Tattoo The Earth: The First Crusade''. After further touring in support of the album, the group went on hiatus with Albro auditioning for "The Project" (later known as

Velvet Revolver Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup consisting of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of punk b ...

) during this time.

''The Heavy'' and Hiatus (2004–present)

The group returned in 2004, recording and releasing '' The Heavy'', working again with producer Rick Parashar, the same year through

DRT Entertainment DRT Entertainment was a New York City based independent record label founded in 2003 by Derek Shulman, Ron Urban, and Theodore "Ted" Green. The label is defunct. The label advertised itself as an "artist friendly hard rock music company for ban ...

/Nitrus Records. Following this, a second guitarist, Logan, joined the band, and Shirley and Holt left due to creative differences and were replaced by

and Philippe Mathys respectively. The group toured in support of the album, however, after an October concert later that year, Weber suffered a seizure before being rushed to a hospital. It was soon revealed that he had a

meningioma Meningioma, also known as meningeal tumor, is typically a slow-growing tumor that forms from the meninges, the membranous layers surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms depend on the location and occur as a result of the tumor pressing o ...

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

for which Weber underwent successful surgery on November 17, 2004. The group disbanded soon afterwards with Bathory going on to form

and Mathys joining Hydrovibe.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (2000) *'' The Heavy'' (2004)

Members

* Shawn Albro – vocals (1997-2004) *

– guitar (1997-2004) * Ben Shirley – bass (1997-2004) * Tommy Holt – drums (1997-2004) *

– bass (2004) * Logan – guitars, backing vocals (2004) * Philippe Mathys – drums (2004)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1997 establishments in California 2004 disestablishments in California Alternative rock groups from California American post-grunge musical groups Hard rock musical groups from California Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical quartets