Smash Mouth is an alternative band from San Jose, California. Formed around 1994, the band is comprised of Steven Harwell (lead vocalist), Greg Camp (guitarist/songwriter), Paul De Lisle (bassist) and Kevin Coleman (drummer).

Every now and again known as "neo-ska" music, the band hwhen adopted retro styles covering many decades of popular music, besides as performing actual remaking of popular songs rather The Monkees' "I'm a Believer" and War's "Why Can't We Be Friends". Their 1999 release Astro Lounge is considered their most critically & commercially successful album up to now.

Brief History
Smash Mouth foremost formed withinside 1994 in San Jose, California. Steven Harwell was the veteran of a disbanded rap class action known as F.O.S. (who only released one single, only available on vinyl "Big Black Boots"). His previous manager was Kevin Coleman. Harwell wanted for the rock band together, therefore Coleman introduced him to friends; guitar player Greg Camp and bassist Paul De Lisle, both veterans of the local cheap band known as Lackadaddy. A band experienced a 1st rehearsal late, by owning Coleman in drums. It known as themselves Smash Mouth when a football play, & played mostly the so somewhat popular ska-punk, although Harwell claims the band is multifariously influenced.

Smash Mouth had their break inside 1996 when San Jose rock station KOME played a demonstration of their song "Nervous In The Alley". Sure enough, it became somewhat popular. It were signed by Interscope Records after a indicate, & Smash Mouth freed their number one album Fush Yu Mang a next month.

"Walkin' on the Sun" was Smash Mouth's 1st major lone, freed 1997. the song was thought by a select few to become loosely according to a comparatively obscure song from either 1966, "Swan's Splashdown" by Perrey and Kingsley. A lyrics within "Walking on the Sun" present an ironic & silent Generation X view of a hippie movement, extolling ideals of peace & love, & the subsequent conversion of people ideals into elementary commercial fads.

A song was a lead lone from either Smash Mouth's Fush Yu Mang album, with the title & font suggesting Oriental characters. the album combined weak-light-hearted fun by owning songs exposing a darker side, like "Disconnect the Dots" & a aforesaid "Nervous in the Alley,". "Let's Rock" did moderately easily when a third & final only, & a album went double atomic number 78.

Around 1999 Smash Mouth released their 2nd album, Astro Lounge. This album taking part lot less of the band's last skthe influence, & was critically considered extra placed-mellow, sophisticated & retro-sounding, & to a point, poppy. This was as well a merely Smash Mouth album that did non contain at least 1 swear word to any degree, which was particularly strange therein Fush Yu Mang was Parental Advisory. A band wasted lot of their orignal fan base by switching to this style, however gained numbers of further freshly ones.

A Astro Lounge lone "All Star" became popular around mid-1999, & it was featured on the soundtracks for the movies Mystery Men and later Shrek and, Rat Race; "All Star" was followed by another only, "Then the Morning Comes", "Come On Come On" & "Waste" did moderately easily when singles, & Astro Lounge sold triple atomic number 78, proving the band wwhen non a 1 hit question as it experienced been antecedently tagged by critics for "Walkin' On The Sun".

Kevin Coleman quit a band when Astro Lounge's release due to lower back problems. He was replaced by studio drummer Michael Urbano, who recorded in a lot of their subsequent albums.

Within 2001 Smash Mouth covered The Monkees hit "I'm A Believer"; featured on the Shrek movie soundtrack. This was followed per release of the self-titled album Smash Mouth.

Commercially, Smash Mouth did highly easily due mayhap merely to "I'm a Believer", the smash lone that possibly virtually all critics say was better than The Monkees original. Yet, because Shrek featured this song on the soundtrack, this caused numbers of population to bargain that album all over Smash Mouth's have. (Smash Mouth was non freed until November, & a Shrek soundtrack wwhen retired when soon as a song was freed as a individual.) Notwithstanding, Smash Mouth experienced moderate singles: "Holiday In My Head", "Pacific Coast Party" & "Shoes N' Hats" to trend lines it, & a album managed to last gold despite this.

Around 2003 Smash Mouth released Acquire A Picture?, which it potential to become their comeback album due to somewhat unsatisfying sales in Smash Mouth. Alas, a album (especially in comparison a way Smash Mouth has sold it used to be that), did miserably & however has however to possibly last gold. Moderately popular singles "You Are My Number One", "Hang On", & a mildly popular "Always Gets Her Way" merely managed to attract a few attention, & Quaternion more singles flopped.

Smash Mouth's fifth studio album, Old Habits, is due for the 2005 holiday year release.

Musical Influence/Style
Smash Mouth style & musical influence occurs as matter of debate by fans. Virtually all population world health organization just understand a elastic hit singles typically label the children as a Sixty's chisel popular band, nevertheless, the material on the elastic albums is great deal further musically diverse.

Virtually all fans assume the children to exist as one of victims "change" elastic world health organization vary styles from either album to album. Fush Yu Mang, within virtually all peoples eyes, was super stictly ska/hardcore using a exception of "Walkin' on The Sun", which earned a band their traitorously reputation as a "60's ripoff band".

Astro Lounge was far and away Smash Mouth's easy release, & experienced much of space age/techno influences besides when sticking to the Sixty's atavistic style. It too experienced occasionally breaker influences.

Their self-titled Video was au fond a mix of all about the band experienced antecedently done, a bit of poppy songs, a select few retro, a few space agey, also as a rebuff go to to their bum influences in "Shoes N' Hats" & "Your Man", but, "I'm A Believer" furthered the false belief that it were a Sixty's ripoff band.

Grok was largely the breakers-pop/rock album, using virtually all songs getting surf influences to degrees there is no former Smash Mouth album got, "New Planet" was somewhat no-see-um, & a band bordered heavily metal by using "Hot", however Become A Picture? was considered the elastic virtually all breaker influenced album & experienced Greg Camp swimming within a Dick Dale esque guitar style for most of the songs.

Overall, a band points much of their influence to virtually all classic rock, likewise when Elvis Presley, Van Halen, The Beatles, punk acts like The Buzzcocks and The Clash, and breakers acts such as The Beach Boys and Dick Dale. Even so, Steve Harwell claims "I don't care what you call us, I just want to be considered Smash Mouth."

Members
Current
Steven Harwell - Lead vocals Greg Camp - Guitar, additional keyboards, independent songwriting, backing vocals Paul De Lisle - Bass, backing vocals Michael Urbano - Drums (joined in 1999). A band as well contains members that are non exactly "in" the band, like Keyboardist Michael Klooster and Percussionist Mark Cervantes

Past
Kevin Coleman - Drums (left in 1999) Mitch Marine - Drums (joined and left within 1999, played on Astro Lounge tour)

Discography