Agnostic Front
Agnostic Front are an American
New York Hardcore band. Formed by
Vinnie Stigma and
Roger Miret in
1982, they soon added
Ray Barbieri and
Adam Moochie to form the original line-up. Their debut EP,
United Blood, was released in
1983 on an indie label. It is widely regarded as pure hardcore and lyrically charged and has since become a collector's item.
The follow-up was
Victim in Pain (
1984) and is regarded as a seminal
NYHC release.
Dave Jones replaced
Ray Barbieri on drums. The album pushed the band to the forefront of New York's fledgling hardcore scene, which was centered around
CBGB's, where they played with bands like
The Cro-Mags and
Murphy's Law.
1986's
Cause for Alarm was a difficult album to record, due to constant line-up changes and personnel problems. Released on
Combat Records,
Cause for Alarm added
thrash metal influences, creating a new genre known as
crossover. Many of Agnostic Front's supporters considered the album a travesty and a sell-out, but it was hailed in other corners, and vastly expanded their audience.
With yet another new lineup, the band soon released
Liberty & Justice in
1987. The hardcore scene had collapsed by this time, and the album featured stripped down punk with a lack of thrash influences, yet it contained many metal-style guitar solos. It was a failure compared to previous records. Sometime later, Miret was arrested on drug charges after releasing a live album, and spent his time in prison writing new songs while Stigma and the band toured Europe for the first time. The lyrics written by Miret formed most of
1992's
One Voice, which featured members of
Madball and
Sick of It All. Not long after its release, the band decided to call it quits. Their last concert was at CBGB's in
1993;
Last Warning, which was also released with
United Blood E.P on the end of the record. Vinnie Stigma apparently remarked that he hated
Last Warning.
Stigma and Miret reformed Agnostic Front in
1997, signing to
Epitaph Records and recruiting Jim Colletti on drums and Rob Kabula on bass. Their latest venture was titled
Something's Gotta Give, although Miret announced in the UK the original title would be
Today, Tomorrow, Forever. In
1999, they followed up with
Riot! Riot! Upstart which was also hailed by critics. Their comeback albums have sold well and been mostly acclaimed by music critics for their pure
hardcore punk/
oi! sound. In
2001 they released the album
Dead Yuppies. Songs from this album were rarely played live, as the band considered it more a product of Loved and Hated, Jim Colletti's side-project bands. In
2002, Miret worked on a side project band,
Roger Miret and the Disasters, looking for a sound akin to old school
punk rock and
Oi!.
Agnostic Front came out in 2005 with their latest album,
Another Voice. The album was regarded mainly as a follow up to
One Voice. The album, however, did receive some criticism from fans and the press for apparently changing their music to fit the current wave of '
tough guy' bands. Musically, the album bears resemblance to bands that were heavily influenced by Agnostic Front, such as
Hatebreed. Miret's vocals on the album particularly seemed to turn off many less
hardcore punk oriented fans.
On March 7th 2006, Agnostic Front released their long-awaited DVD "Live at CBGB's". This follows the efforts of many bands to try and save CBGBs from shutting down.
Albums
*
United Blood (EP) 1983
*
Victim in Pain 1984
*
Cause For Alarm 1986
*
Liberty And Justice For... 1987
*
Live at CBGB 1989
*
One Voice 1992
*
Last Warning 1993
*
Raw Unleashed 1995
*
Something's Gotta Give 1998
*
Riot! Riot! Upstart 1999
*
Dead Yuppies 2001
*
Working Class Heroes 2002
*
Another Voice 2004
DVD/VHS
*
Live at CBGB's DVD 2006
Current members
*
Roger Miret - Vocals
*
Vinnie Stigma - Guitar
* Joe James - Guitar
* Mike Gallo - Bass
* Steve Gallo - Drums
Former members
* Louie Beatto - Drums
*
Ray Beez - Drums
* Jim Colletti - Drums
* Matt Henderson - Guitar
* Dave Jones - Drums
* Rob Kabula - Bass
* Alex Kinon - Guitar
* Steve Martin - Guitar
* Adam Moochie - Bass
* Alan Peters - Bass
* Craig Setari - Bass
* Will Shepler - Drums
*
Official website*
Agnostic Front at
MySpace*
Agnostic Front Music Videos
