bullet for my valentine

Early days

They initially struggled to find success, and tensions arose when other Welsh bands such as lostprophets and Funeral For A Friend were getting noticed and became more popular. When it came to the band recording a demo, things didn't go as well as planned and the original bass player, Nik Cradle, quit the band a day before they were due to record. The band couldn't get it together to record a demo, and subsequently split up. But despite this, they did get back together and they found a new bassist in the shape of Jason 'Jay' James. They changed their name from "Jeff Killed John" to "Opportunity in Chicago", then subsequently to "Bullet For My Valentine".
The band later signed a deal with Sony Records via Visible Noise Records UK in October 2004.

Rise to Fame

They released their first 5 track EP, self-titled Bullet For My Valentine, on November 15, 2004, on UK label Visible Noise. The mini-album was later released in the US on Trustkill records including an extra track - "4 Words (To Choke Upon)" - as well as the 5 songs on the UK album.

The song "Hand of Blood", from their EP of the same name, landed itself onto a Trustkill compilation record entitled Trustkill Takeover.

The band also released "4 Words (To Choke Upon)" on March 28, 2005. The Vinyl was limited to 1000 copies. The CD/Vinyl was deleted on day of release, so no new copies are available.

Their debut album 'The Poison' was released in the UK on October 3, 2005. The first single from "The Poison", called "Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow (What Can I Do)", was released on September 19, 2005. Trustkill Records (the US label for the band) released The Poison in the United States on February 14, 2006.

The song "4 Words (To Choke Upon)" is used in NHL 06 and Madden NFL 06 by EA Sports and "Hand of Blood" is used in Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Burnout Revenge. In Need for Speed: Most Wanted as well as Burnout Revenge, the second verse of Hand of Blood is edited out due to content.

The band recently completed a headline run on the Kerrang! XXV tour at which on the final night in Brixton Academy they filmed footage for their new DVD.

Bullet For My Valentine have played at the Download Festival in Donington Park three years running, alongside hugely popular bands including Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Trivium and Tool. They first appeared at Download Festival 2004, playing the Barfly stage. In 2005, with their increased popularity, Bullet For My Valentine played on the much larger Snickers stage. By 2006, the band had been moved to near the top of the main stage bill, playing on the Sunday night below Guns And Roses and Funeral For A Friend.

They opened for Guns N' Roses at 4 shows in New York City, at the Hammerstein Ballroom, on May 12th, 14th, 15th, and 17th. They were also the warmup band for Metallica on 13.06.2006.
Bullet For My Valentine joined Guns N’ Roses' first full UK tour since 1993 as the support act, as well as Sebastian Bach, whilst also doing several instore signings in Birmingham, Nottingham and London.

Matt Tuck (frontman) has told Kerrang! Magazine "We've written eight new songs already, we're going to be recording the new record at the end of the year so we're just trying to get a big head start." Their next album is loosely scheduled for an early 2007 release.

Bullet for My Valentine performed at the 2006 Van's Warped Tour.

Members

• Matt Tuck - Guitar/Vocals
• Michael Paget - Guitar/Background Vocals
• Jason James - Bass/Background Vocals
• Michael Thomas - Drums

Discography

Albums

On Monday July 24 2006 their debut album "The Poison" was re-released by Visible Noise Records in the UK with 4 extra tracks and a Bonus DVD including exclusive live tracks from Tokyo, Japan.

The extras include a DVD side that has the promo videos for ‘Hand of Blood’, ‘4 Words To Choke Upon’ and ‘Suffocating Under words of Sorrow’ as well as live footage and 3 songs taken from the Club Quattro, Shibuya in Tokyo show earlier in the year. Audio wise, the extras include B-sides ‘Seven Days’, ‘My Fist, Your Mouth, Her Scars’ as well as two live tracks from the sold out Brixton Academy show, ‘Spit you out’ and ‘All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)’.

EPs

• Bullet For My Valentine - November 15, 2004
• Bullet For My Valentine (Japan Import) - September 26, 2005
• Hand Of Blood - August 23, 2005

Vinyl

• Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do) (Part 1) 7" - September 19, 2005
• Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do) (Part 2) 7" - September 19, 2005
• The Poison 12" - October 3, 2005
• Four Words (to Choke Upon) 7" - March 28, 2005
• All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me) 7" - February 6, 2006
• All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me) (UK Limited Edition) 7" - February 6, 2006

Singles

Covers

• Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne
• Welcome Home (Sanitarium) - Metallica
• Domination - Pantera

Awards

• They won the 2005 Kerrang! award for 'Best British Newcomer', and decided to accept an offer from Kerrang! to headline their 25th anniversary tour of the UK.
• They won the 2006 Metal Hammer Golden God Award award for 'Best British Band'.
• They won the 2006 Kerrang! award for 'Best UK single' for their track 'Tears Don't Fall', taken from the album 'The Poison'

Trivia

• Bullet For My Valentine fans are called 'Bullets'
• While on stage members of the band have been seen wearing, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe, Metallica, Trivium, Aiden, Megadeth and The Punisher t-shirts.
• Bullet For My Valentine and Aiden are now "drinking buddies" after there first encounters together and were getting drunk together most of the Kerrang Awards afterparty.
• During live shows Bullet For My Valentine encourage fans to take part in "moshpits".

External links

• Bullet For My Valentine's homepage
• Bullet For My Valentine fan site
• Bullet For My Valentine Biography, Discography and Lyrics — All the information you need about Bullet For My Valentine
• Download Festival Website
• Bullet For My Valentine Live Videos
• Bullet For My Valentine interview with Rock Sound
• Bullet for My Valentine's Official MySpace profile