Life of Agony is an American alternative metal band from Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 1989 by singer Mina Caputo (then known as Keith Caputo), bassist Alan Robert and guitarist Joey Z. The band has released six studio albums to date, most notably their 1993 debut River Runs Red, named by Rolling Stone as one of the Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.
History
Formation and River Runs Red (1989–1994) The band was formed in the summer of 1989 by singer Mina Caputo, bassist Alan Robert, and guitarist Joey Zampella (who used Joey Z. as an alias). The group recorded a handful of demos produced by Josh Silver of Type O Negative. Their initial drummer was Kenny Pedersen, who was replaced by Eric Chan in the latter half of 1990. Chan was then replaced by Mike Palmeri in 1991. Life of Agony performed up and down the East Coast, developing a loyal fan base. The band eventually signed to Roadrunner Records, and Palmeri was replaced by Type O Negative drummer Sal Abruscato to solidify the lineup. Roadrunner released their debut album River Runs Red in 1993. The following year, Life of Agony continued to build a following, and toured with the likes of Carcass, Pro-Pain, God Lives Underwater, KMFDM, Korn, and more.
Music videos and promotional singles would be released for the songs "This Time" and "Through and Through". The music video for "This Time" would be featured in an episode of Beavis and Butt-Head, while both videos would find occasional airplay on Headbangers Ball, which gave the band early exposure.
Ugly (1995–1996)
River Runs Red was followed by the more emotional Ugly album in 1995. It was produced by Steve Thompson, who would become a Grammy winner in later years. The album peaked at No. 153 on the Billboard 200, the band's first appearance on a Billboard chart. "Lost At 22" and "Let's Pretend" were both released as singles, but did not chart.
While touring in 1995 in support of their album, a fan died after falling from the stage while apparently trying to stage-dive. A security guard and, to a lesser extent, the band were implicated in a lawsuit which was eventually dropped with no charges filed. At subsequent concerts the band were mindful of the potential for fans to injure themselves, often trying to cool down the mosh pit between songs if things were rough. An example of this would be seen on the River Runs Again DVD, in which Caputo is heard saying "Everybody watch over each other out in the pit, we already lost a life." and "No lives lost, right?"
Drummer Abruscato left Life of Agony after the accompanying tour. His successor was ex-Pro-Pain and ex-Crumbsuckers drummer Dan Richardson.
Soul Searching Sun, Caputo's departure, and breakup (1997–2002) Life of Agony released their third album Soul Searching Sun in September 1997. It marked a slight change of style for the band. The album charted at No. 157 on the Billboard 200, slightly lower than the band's previous effort; however, the lead single "Weeds" peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, and lingered on the chart for over 3 months. The second single, "Tangerine", would peak at No. 37 on the same chart.
Despite the growing success of "Weeds" and the band's mainstream attention, Caputo departed the band shortly after the release of Soul Searching Sun in September 1997. Caputo was struggling with internalised gender dysphoria and was becoming disillusioned with the masculine image of herself she was faking at the time. "What good is my success if I can't even enjoy my fucking soul and my body?' I wanted to come out then, but failed miserably and didn't have the courage or the knowhow. I didn't know what to do." Caputo decided to distance herself from the band completely; "It took me to quit the band because I wasn't being true to myself. I had to get away from my band, the label, everyone I worked with." At the time, the band did not understand Caputo's reasons for wanting to quit the band, with Alan Robert saying, "She just [told the band] she was in too much pain to continue."
The band then toured with ex-Ugly Kid Joe singer Whitfield Crane, went back into the studio, and kicked Crane out of the band in the span of one year. They contemplated moving Robert to vocals and guitar and adding former Stuck Mojo bassist Corey Lowery, but decided they did not want to continue under the Life of Agony banner without Caputo; thus, they decided to split in 1999. Robert started Among Thieves with former members of Biohazard and the rest of the band started Stereomud with Erik Rogers on vocals, both not straying far from Life of Agony's style. A live CD with the band's unplugged performance at the Dutch Lowlands Festival from 1997 was released in 2000.