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Failure Play First Show in 16 Years

02/14/2014
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(Radio.com) Failure reunited for their first show in almost 16 years, last night (Feb 13) at Los Angeles' intimate El Rey Theatre. Failure could have been one of the most innovative bands to come out of the '90s. That is, if they would have made it out of the decade intact. Personal conflicts, stalled sales and label politics resulted in their separation in 1997. But since then, former bandmates Ken Andrews and Greg Edwards have quietly watched their music rise to near cult status among older fans and those too young to have heard them the first time around.

The alt rock band's first two records resulted in a small dedicated following, but it was their third (and final album), Fantastic Planet, that has continued to bring in new fans and earned the title of the "most underrated album of the '90s" from Ultimate Guitar.

Produced solely by the band with little or no outside help, critics and fellow artists agreed that the album was a sheer masterpiece. Later, after disbanding, Paramore would famously cover Failure's biting ballad about drug addiction, "Stuck On You" for their 2006 EP Summer Tic, a line the young band borrowed from the song itself.

The L.A. band faced an uphill battle from day one. Their 1990 debut got lost in a sea of flannel and two albums later, the Los Angeles locals found themselves caught in the transition from grunge to n�-metal. Moody Seattle bands and personalities like Fred Durst monopolized the airwaves leaving little room for experimental bands like Failure to break through.

"When we came out it was all about grunge and Pearl Jam and Nirvana and I think our sound didn't check all the boxes for grunge so it was a bit of a problem," singer Ken Andrews told Radio.com. It's true that their metaphorical lyrics and heavy pop song structures may have been too heady at a time when fans were clamoring for in-your-face, easy-to-digest headbangers.

Despite having a minor MTV hit with "Stuck On You," and press being overwhelmingly positive, the band and record label were unable to create a sustained buzz. "That's why this whole thing feels good for us now," continued Andrews. "It didn't end well for us in the '90s. We never felt like the album got the recognition, we had drug problems, the label was ambivalent." more on this story

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Copyright Radio.com/CBS Local - Excerpted here with permission.

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