MACHINE HEAD HISTORY

PRE-MACHINE HEAD.

ADAM MET ROBB AT A PARTY, THESE ARE HIS COMMENTS "WE WERE AT A PARTY IN CASTRO VALLEY, AND I WAS THERE WITH LOGAN. LOGAN KNEW ROBB ALREADY, SO HE INTRODUCED ME. I WAS DRUNK ALREADY AND I SPILLED MY BEER ON HIM AS I SHOOK HIS HAND. I HAD NO IDEA I'D DONE THAT. SO HE LOOKED AT ME, THOUGHT 'OH MY GOD, WHAT AN ASSHOLE', AND WIPED HIS BEER OFF INTO MY HAIR! WE'VE BEEN FRIENDS EVER SINCE.”
ROBB WAS PREVIOUSLY IN A BAND CALLED VIO-LENCE, ANOTHER BAY AREA THRASH BAND. HAVING DIFFICULT TIMES, WITH LITTLE MONEY THAT ROBB AND ADAM CONTEMPLATED ROBBING A DOMINO’S PIZZA GUY, AS THEY WERE SO HUNGARY. MACHINE HEAD STARTED OUT AS ROBB FLYNN (GUITARIST/VOCALS), LOGAN MADER (GUITARIST), ADAM DUCE (BASSIST/BACKING VOCALS) AND CHRIS KONTOS (DRUMMER). THEY FINALLY SORTED THEM SELVES OUT AND BEGAN DOING SHOWS, WITH A COUPLE OF THEIR OWN SONGS AND A FEW COVERS. THEY WERE SIGNED BY MONTE CONNER TO ROAD RUNNER RECORDS.

THE FIRST ALBUM ‘BURN MY EYES’ WAS RELEASED IN 1994, IT WAS A STUNNING ALBUM THAT TOOK THE METAL SCENE TO A NEW LEVEL. MACHINE HEAD ALREADY HAD A DEVELOPED STYLE OF WRITING AND THEY WROTE A CRUSHING ALBUM. THEY INSTANTLY GOT THEIR ‘SOUND’ BEING HEAVILY DISTORTED WITH A DROPPED D. MACHINE HEAD THEN DECIDED THE BEST WAY TO GET NOTICED WAS TO TOUR, TOUR AND TOUR SOME MORE. SOME TIME AFTER BURN MY EYES, CHRIS KONTOS WAS REPLACED BY DAVE McCLAIN.

THE SECOND ALBUM WAS ‘THE MORE THINGS CHANGE… , WHICH HAD TO BE AS GOOD AS THE FIRST GROUND BREAKING ALBUM. THERE WAS A LOT OF DELAYS IN THE RECORDING PROCESS INCLUDING DAVE AND ADAM BEING IN A CAR ACCIDENT. APPARENTLY THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE RECORDING STUDIO WAS REALLY TENSE, WITH THE PRE-LOGAN SPLIT. THE ALBUM WAS AS HEAVY AS THE FIRST WITH CLASSIC SONGS ON SUCH AS ‘TAKE MY SCARS’, TEN TON HAMMER’ AND ‘STRUCK A NERVE’, BUT THE ALBUM AS A WHOLE FELL SHORT OF BURN MY EYES. THE ALBUM WAS MUCH MORE DESIGNED FOR PLAYING LIVE.

THERE WAS MORE EXTENSIVE TOURING ON THE BACK OF THE ALBUM. LOGAN PARTED COMPANY WITH MACHINE HEAD, TO JOIN SOULFLY WITH MAX CAVALERA, WHICH HE LATER LEFT TO FORM HIS OWN BAND MYSTISS. THIS LEFT THE REST OF THE BAND FEELING BETRAYED, HENCE ‘THE DEVIL WITH THE KINGS CARD’ ON THE BURNING RED. THEY ALSO NEED ANOTHER GUITARIST AND THIS EVENTUALLY FELL ON TO AHRUE LUSTER.

THE THIRD ALBUM ‘THE BURNING RED’ WAS WHAT ROBB WANTED TO BE THEIR DEFINING ALBUM, PRODUCED BY ROSS ROBINSON. ROSS WORKED WITH OTHER ARTISTS SUCH AS KORN, SEPULTURA, SLIPKNOT AND SOULFLY. HE APPARENTLY TOOK THE ALBUM IN A TOTALLY NEW DIRECTION, BUY IT AND JUDGE FOR YOURSELF.

MACHINE HEAD IS:-

ROBB FLYNN - VOCALS/GUITAR
AHRUE LUSTER - GUITAR
ADAM DUCE – BASS/BACKING VOCALS
DAVE MCCLAIN – DRUMS

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