U.P.O. was an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1997. The band's line-up originally included Shawn Albro (lead vocals), Chris Weber (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 g ...

) and Philippe Mathys shortly before the band's breakup in 2004. U.P.O. released two studio albums – '' No Pleasantries'' (2000) and '' The Heavy'' (2004).

History

Both frontman Shawn Albro and guitarist Chris Weber 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 div ...

scene. Weber was actually a founding member of the band Hollywood Rose, 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 ...

, 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 Fest ...

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 ...

, 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. They released their debut album, titled '' No Pleasantries'', 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 w ...

, 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 advertis ...

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while the singles "Godless" and "Feel Alive" peaked at number 6 and 25 on the Mainstream Rock Chart 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,

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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, thras ...

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 ...

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 secon ...

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

*'' No Pleasantries'' (2000) *'' The Heavy'' (2004)

Members

* Shawn Albro – vocals (1997-2004) * Chris Weber – 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