With the help of Ozzy Osbourne's son Jack, Taproot landed a spot on the second stage of the 20 Ozzfest tour.Р”Р„fter spending seven months in Los Angeles, the band released their second album Welcome on October 15, 2002. With the album's lead single 'Again & Again' gaining heavy exposure through MTV2, the band's mainstream rise gained momentum. The band released their debut album Gift on June 27, 2000. Something More Than Nothing (1998), Mentobe (1998) and Upon Us (1999). Taproot later went on to independently release three albums. In retaliation, Durst also kicked System of a Down off the 1999 Family Values Tour, replacing them with Staind. He also put some blame on System of a Down, who assisted Taproot in securing the Atlantic deal.

Durst heavily cursed the band on vocalist Stephen Richards' answering machine. However, after extended negotiations, Taproot looked elsewhere, where they finally landed a lucrative record deal with Atlantic Records. Impressed with their material, he offered to get them a recording contract through Interscope Records. In 1997, Taproot sent their demo to Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. The second single from the album, 'Birthday,' received minimal radio airtime on the East Coast. Their song 'Calling' was the official theme song of WWE's Unforgiven pay-per-view event in September 2005. Taproot's album 'Blue Sky Research' was released on 16 August 2005. Rating: 2/5 :( (plus one half point in mind for the effort to evolve.Hailing from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Taproot formed in late 1997, and has toured with Deftones, Sevendust, Incubus, and Korn. Suggestions (or songs I liked): Poem, Art Im pretty disappointed, as I still like to listen to 'Gift' every now and then. It sounds like a bad 'Make yourself' copy, without a real own unique sound. Normally, I know the lyrics to a song inside out after hearing it about 3 or 4 times. But could not remember one melody of the song, or much worse: one part of the lyrics. Before thinking about doing this review, I tried to remember what songs are on that record. I enjoyed 'Gift', but this a weak record. But on 'Welcome' there is little to no chance to recognise a song by the sound of the vocals IMO. No real variations, what is not that bad if you make music like Hatebreed for example. He sounds pretty much the same all the time. The instruments are not that bad, but Steven Richards vocals are somehow.boring. Or worse, Hoobastank (meaning a copy of a copy). About 95% of the time I'm reminded of Incubus. The downside this is, that this record sounds like a copy of 'Make yourself'. And in that special way, 'Welcome' is a good record. And to be honest: I'm always happy when a band tries something new. Like I mentioned before, the use of strings on 'Art' is not bad either. (Best example: Killswitch engage- Alive or just breathing?) And on some songs on this record, it is done not bad. Generally, I'm a fan of screamed and shouted vocals with melodic vocals. 'Art' has an interesting chorus, which I realy like, as well as experiments with string arrangements. 'Poem' is nothing special, but a solid headbanger. If it wasn't for the voice of Richards, the songs could be mistaken for songs of the bands mentioned above. The heaviness and their own sound has been gone. But this seems like a pathetic attempt to be like them. After that, I'm reminded of Incubus' 'Make yourself' or Hoobastanks 'Self-titled' albums.Р”Вon't get me wrong, I kinda like both bands. But only for the first couple of seconds. Some songs still remind one of the old days of 'Gift', like 'Myself', 'Fault' or 'Sometimes'. Very early it get's clear that Taproot try to explore different musical territories. no more screaming and shouting (which does not have to be negative). Ok, this was the voice of Stephen Richards, but. Why not?'Р”Р„fter listening to the record the first time, I was kinda confused. I heard the first single 'Poem', and thought 'Different style, but not bad. I enjoyed 'Gift' actually, but 'Welcome' was pretty poor to me.

Taproot gift lyrics