Battle of the Bands 38

Hello, fellow 4W faithfuls! Welcome to Battle of the Bands! Each week, two musical acts (see note) will compete for your votes to become the BotB champion!

At BotB 37, the band that insists a lightning bolt is equivalent to a forward slash (AC/DC), retained their title against arguably one of the most dramatic bands in metal history (Nightwish). Now, it's time for another BotB challenger to step up to the plate!

When you vote, please request a musical act for the challenger list. Each act will be added to the list in the order they are requested. (Only one request at a time per person, please.) Battles will be usually be posted on Mondays, with the voting period lasting for about one week. I will try to post a heads-up as voting nears an end. When a band loses, it will be unable to re-challenge for 10 rounds. For the sake of variety, I'm adding the stipulation that if an act achieves 10 straight victories, they will be retired from champion status and the next two challengers in the request list will duke it out for supremacy!

Note: The term "musical act" denotes any band, solo artist, vocal group... whatever you like. Basically, this is an all-inclusive popularity contest.

Voters are encouraged to include their opinions of the bands/artists in the battle, or at least a few short words about the act they voted for. Not a requirement, of course!

Let's get THUNNN-DA-STRUUUCK!!

Battle of the Bands Championship History
1. The Rolling Stones (Won @ BotB 1)
2. Pink Floyd (Won @ BotB 2)
3. Metallica (Won @ BotB 5)
4. David Bowie (Won @ BotB 8)
5. Johnny Cash (Won @ BotB 13)
6. The Smiths (Won @ BotB 16)
7. Deep Purple (Won @ BotB 18)
8. Blue Öyster Cult (Won @ BotB 20)
9. Led Zeppelin (Won @ BotB 21)
10. Nirvana—BotB Hall of Fame (Won @ BotB 24)
11. Meat Loaf (Won @ BotB 34)
12. AC/DC (Won at BotB 36)

Battle of the Bands 38

The champion...

AC/DC

AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. A hard rock/blues rock band, they have also been considered a heavy metal band, although they have always dubbed their music simply "rock and roll".

AC/DC underwent several line-up changes before releasing their first album, High Voltage, in 1975. Membership subsequently stabilised until bassist Mark Evans was replaced by Cliff Williams in 1977 for the album Powerage. Within months of recording the album Highway to Hell, lead singer and co-songwriter Bon Scott died on 19 February 1980 after a night of heavy alcohol consumption. The group considered disbanding, but buoyed by support from Scott's parents, decided to continue and set about finding a new vocalist. Ex-Geordie singer Brian Johnson was auditioned and selected to replace Scott. Later that year, the band released the new album, Back in Black, which was made as a tribute to Bon Scott. The album launched them to new heights of success and became their all-time best-seller.

The band's next album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You, was their first album to reach number one in the United States. Drummer Phil Rudd was fired in 1983 and replaced by ex-A II Z drummer Simon Wright, who left to join Dio in 1989. The band experienced a resurgence in the early 1990s with the release of The Razors Edge. Phil Rudd returned in 1994 after Chris Slade, who was with the band from 1989 to 1994, was asked to leave in favour of him, and contributed to the band's 1995 album Ballbreaker. Stiff Upper Lip, released in 2000, was well received by critics. The band's studio album, Black Ice, released in 2008, was the second-highest-selling album of that year, and their biggest chart hit since For Those About to Rock, eventually reaching No.1 on all charts worldwide. The band's line-up remained the same until 2014 with Malcolm Young's retirement due to early-onset dementia and Rudd's legal troubles. In 2016, Johnson was advised to stop touring on account of worsening hearing loss and Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose stepped in as the band's vocalist for the remainder of that year's dates. Long-term bass player Cliff Williams retired from the band at the end of their 2016 Rock Or Bust world tour.

AC/DC have sold more than 200 million records worldwide, including 71.5 million albums in the United States, adding them to the list of highest-certified music artists in the United States and the list of best-selling music artists. Back in Black has sold an estimated 50 million units worldwide, making it the second-highest-selling album by any artist – and the highest-selling album by any band. The album has sold 22 million units in the US, where it is the sixth-highest-selling album of all time. AC/DC ranked fourth on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" and were named the seventh "Greatest Heavy Metal Band of All Time" by MTV. In 2004, AC/DC ranked No. 72 on the Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Producer Rick Rubin, who wrote an essay on the band for the Rolling Stone list, referred to AC/DC as "the greatest rock and roll band of all time". In 2010, AC/DC were ranked number 23 in the VH1 list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".

The challenger...

Killswitch Engage

Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, bassist Mike D'Antonio, and drummer Justin Foley. The band has released seven studio albums and one DVD. Their latest album, Incarnate, was released on March 11, 2016.

Killswitch Engage rose to fame with its 2004 release The End of Heartache, which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold by the RIAA in December 2007 for over 500,000 shipments in the United States. The title track, "The End of Heartache", was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005 for Best Metal Performance, and a live DVD titled (Set This) World Ablaze was released in 2005. Killswitch Engage has performed at festivals such as Soundwave Festival, Wacken Open Air, Reading and Leeds Festivals, Ozzfest, Download Festival, Rock on the Range, Rock Am Ring, Mayhem Festival, Monsters of Rock, Pointfest, Knotfest and Heavy MTL. The band has sold over four million records in the U.S. and has been considered notable within the New Wave of American Heavy Metal.

Challenger List (requester's name in brackets)
Ronnie James Dio (Gorgrim)
Def Leppard (Snake!)
Rammstein (Paige)
Praying Mantis (Benjawi)
Coldplay (Rhys)

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Don't forget to request a challenger!

Last edited by Pilgrim Paige (Sat-9-Sep-2017 21:27:14)