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Sick of It All

Sick of It All (SOIA) is a New York hardcore band formed by brothers Lou Koller (vocals) and Pete Koller (guitar), Armand Majidi (drums) and Rich Capriano (bass) in 1986.

History

Early career (1986-1992)

Hailing from Queens, New York, Sick of It All was formed alongside New York hardcore bands Straight Ahead, and Rest In Pieces which both featured Majidi and current Sick of It All bass player Craig Setari. Majidi joined up with the Koller brothers and Rich Capriano to record the Sick of It All demo in 1986, after original bass player Mark McNielly and drummer David Lamb left. The band began to play Sunday afternoon matinees at renowned venue CBGB's, and soon after released a self-titled 7" on Revelation Records (which was later re-issued on the tenth anniversary of its release, in 1997).

In 1988, Sick of It All signed to Relativity Records and recorded their first full-length, Blood, Sweat and No Tears, which was released in the following year. The album's follow-up, Just Look Around, was released in 1992.

Increasing popularity (1993-1997)

Sick of It All released their record Scratch the Surface on major label EastWest Records. They also recorded a video for "Step Down" and the title track "Scratch The Surface". The record was the first recorded with long-time friend and former Straight Ahead, Rest In Pieces, Youth of Today and Agnostic Front bass player Craig Setari, who had replaced Rich Capriano in early 1993.

The band received bad publicity in December 1992 when Wayne Lo, a young student, shot and killed two people and wounded several others at Simon's Rock College in Massachusetts. Widely-circulated photos of him at his arrest showed him wearing a Sick of It All t-shirt. After being inundated with claims that they initiated violence at shows and through their music, the band defended themselves in the press (particularly The New York Times).

The fair success of Scratch the Surface allowed the band to tour worldwide. In 1997 they released their second record on the EastWest label, Built to Last. More punk-inspired than their previous effort, Built to Last produced a number of live staples for the band, including "Us vs. Them," "Busted" and "Good Lookin' Out." The album also marked the end of Sick of It All's contractual agreement with EastWest.

The Fat Wreck Chords years (1998-2004)

In 1998, Sick of It All signed to independent record label Fat Wreck Chords, owned and run by Fat Mike of NOFX. After releasing the "Potential For A Fall" single - for which another video was filmed, Call To Arms was released in February 1999.

The 2000 follow-up Yours Truly was less critically acclaimed. Despite containing some of the bands favored live tracks, including "Blown Away," "The Bland Within," "District" and "America," some fans felt alienated by the album's progressive nature and in a recent interview, frontman Lou Koller claimed that the album's cover art probably contributed to its poor reception. 1

In 2001, Sick of It All released their home video The Story So Far, and a year later a live record was released as part of Fat Wreck Chords' Live In A Dive series. The album showcased tracks from Sick of It All's entire career up to that point in time.

2003 saw Sick of It All release their seventh studio album: Life on the Ropes. In 2004, the band also released an album of b-sides, covers and rare tracks entitled Outtakes for the Outcast, which contains some Sick of It All recordings.

Recent activity and the future of the band (2005-present)

In early 2005, Sick of It All signed to Abacus Recordings to record the follow-up to Fat Wreck Chords' Life on the Ropes. The new album, titled Death to Tyrants, was released on April 18, 2006. The band has recently toured with AFI and The Dear & Departed in early 2007.

A tribute to the band, titled Our Impact Will Be Felt, was released on April 24, 2007, and includes covers from artists such as Bane, Bleeding Through, The Bouncing Souls, Hatebreed, Himsa, Madball, Most Precious Blood, Napalm Death, Pennywise, Rise Against, Sepultura, Stretch Arm Strong, Unearth, and Walls of Jericho.

Sick of It All is currently working on a new album, which is due for release in 2009, based on the three year gaps between the last three studio albums. Drummer Armand Majidi mentioned in a June 2008 interview that the band would start writing the album as soon as they finish touring in August, then return to the studio in the fall to begin recording it for an early to mid 2009 release.

Miscellaneous

In 1995, the somewhat dubious German label Lost And Found Records released in Europe only, Spreading The Hardcore Reality and Live In A World Full Of Hate, the latter of which was supposedly recorded live in New Jersey in 1993, but was actually recorded at a chaotic show in Berlin in 1994. This bootleg ruse was created because of the band's contractual obligations at the time.

Numerous Sick of It All fans have tattoos of the "Alleyway Dragon", the band's official logo. The Dragon is from a sheet of Greg Irons flash. It is not, as some people have claimed, a misappropriated gang symbol, but then the Alleyway Crew was never a gang to begin with. It was, and is, a group of friends. The dragon is a symbol of friendship as well as a way that members would relate who was hanging out at a particular gathering. The "Alleyway" is in a school yard in Flushing, Queens, where the band and all of their friends would gather.

The band is credited with the "wall of death" (also known as the "Braveheart") in which the crowd would split into two sides and charge the other at the start of selected songs.

Toby Morse, a former Sick of It All roadie from suburban Maryland, went on to form the band H₂O.

Former roadie, Tim Shaw, joined New Jersey's Ensign in 1995 and has been singing for them since.

Former roadie Danny Singer a.k.a Lord Ezec a.k.a. Danny Diablo, went on to form Crown of Thornz, Skarhead, and Icepick and now has started his solo rap career.

Former Sick of It All, Social Distortion, and L7 roadie Umbar died in early 1995 while on tour with L7.

Members

Discography

Full-lengths

Year	Title	Label	Format	Other information
1989	Blood, Sweat and No Tears	Relativity Records	CD/LP	Debut full-length album. Contains material from their [[Sick of It All (EP)\|first EP]]. \|- \|1992 \|''[[Just Look Around]]'' \|[[Relativity Records]] \|CD/LP \|Last album released on [[Relativity Records]]. \|- \|1994 \|''[[Scratch the Surface]]'' \|[[East West Records]] \|CD/LP \|First major label release. \|- \|1997 \|''[[Built to Last (Sick of It All album)\|Built to Last]]'' \|[[East West Records]] \|CD/LP \|Second and last major label release. \|- \|1999 \|''[[Call to Arms (album)\|Call to Arms]]'' \|[[Fat Wreck Chords]] \|CD/LP \|First album released on [[Fat Wreck Chords]]. \|- \|2000 \|''[[Yours Truly (Sick of It All album)\|Yours Truly]]'' \|[[Fat Wreck Chords]] \|CD/LP \| \|- \|2003 \|''[[Life on the Ropes]]'' \|[[Fat Wreck Chords]] \|CD/LP \|Last album released on [[Fat Wreck Chords]]. \|- \|2006 \|''[[Death to Tyrants]]'' \|[[Century Media Records\|Abacus Recordings]] \|CD/LP \|First album released on [[Century Media Records\|Abacus Recordings]]. \|- \|2009 \|Untitled studio album \|[[Century Media Records\|Abacus Recordings]] \|CD/LP \|Currently in writing/recording. \|- \|} ===EPs/Singles=== {\| class="wikitable" !Year !Title !Label !Format !Other information \|- \|1987 \|''[[Sick of It All (EP)\|Sick of It All]]'' \|[[Revelation Records]] \|CD/LP \| Originally released in 1987 as a 7" EP. A CD release of this EP did not surface until 1997, ten years after its release.
1991	We Stand Alone	Relativity Records	CD/7"	Currently out of print. Contains versions of ''We Stand Alone'' and ''What's Going On'' recorded previous to the Just Look Around sessions and a studio cover of Minor Threat's ''Betray''. *Contains live material from ''[[Blood, Sweat and No Tears]]'' and the [[Sick of It All (EP)\|self-titled EP]]. \|- \|1994 \|''[[Step Down]]'' \|[[East West Records]] \|CD \| Promo single that came out shortly before Scratch The Surface album. Contains tracks: Step Down, Borstal Breakout, Straight Ahead. They were later released on Outtakes for the Outcast).
1996	Cool as a Mustache	East West Records	CD	Single given away for radios containing one unreleased track called 86 (later released on Outtakes for the Outcast.
1999	Potential for a Fall	Fat Wreck Chords	CD	Single
2000	Us Vs. Them	East West Records	CD	Single given away on Warped Tour and other Sick of It All shows; contains Us Vs. Them (version as on Built to Last) and 7 live songs.
2000	Maladjusted	Mercury Records	CD	Single released only in Germany. Contains Maladjusted (version as on Built to Last) and 3 live songs.
2003	Relentless	Bridge Nine	7"	Single

Other releases

Year	Title	Label	Format	Other information
1995	Live in a World Full of Hate	Lost & Found	CD	Live album.
1997	Spreading the Hardcore Reality	Lost & Found	CD	Compilation album, cointaining early material.
2002	Live in a Dive	Fat Wreck Chords	CD	This release is part of the Fat Wreck Chords series of Live in a Dive albums.
2004	Outtakes for the Outcast	Fat Wreck Chords	CD	Compilation album, containing unreleased original songs, B-sides, and cover versions. Last release on Fat Wreck Chords.
2007	Our Impact Will Be Felt	Abacus Recordings	CD	Tribute album by various artists dedicated to Sick of It All.

Guest appearances

Barcode - Course Of Action (ft. Lou Koller)
Bones, The - I Wanna Be Sedated (Ramones cover) (ft. Lou Koller & Roger Miret of Agnostic Front)
Born From Pain - Doomsday Clock (ft. Lou Koller)
CIV - Can't Wait One Minute More (ft. Lou Koller)
Devil In Me - Back Against The Wall (ft. Lou Koller & Craig Setari) /both on vocals/
Ensign - 15 Years (ft. Lou Koller)
Haunted, The - Who Will Decide (ft. Lou Koller)
Most Precious Blood - It Runs In The Blood (ft. Lou Koller)
Warriors, The - Mankind Screams (ft. Lou Koller)
H₂O - Fairweather Friend (ft. Lou Koller & Kevin Seconds of 7 Seconds)
H₂O - What Happened? (ft. Lou Koller & Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio)