Breaking Benjamin

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Breaking Benjamin is an American Post-Grunge band formed in 1998.

Current members: Benjamin Burnley (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Chad Szeliga (drums)

Former members:, Aaron Fincke (lead guitar), Mark Klepaski (bass), Jeremy Hummel (drums)

The band had released four albums to date and were considered one of the major Post-Grunge successes of the 2000s. In the summer of 2010, they went on hiatus so Ben could address his health. In August 2011, it was revealed that Ben fired Fincke and Klepaski over the planned release of a remix for "Blow Me Away" to be included on a greatest hits album. In September 2011, Szeliga was hired as the drummer for Black Label Society; whether or not he continues with Breaking Benjamin is not certain.

Breaking Benjamin provides examples of the following tropes:
  • The Alcoholic: Ben Burnley was one early in the band's career.
  • Alliterative Name: The band and the lead singer (Ben Burnley).
  • The Atoner: The soldier in "Blow Me Away" ("I will stay in the mess I made")
  • Breakaway Pop Hit: "Blow Me Away" from the Halo 2 soundtrack.
  • Creator Breakdown: Dear Agony was written during the time that Ben Burnley began to suffer from numerous health issues. The title track was written about his ailments.
  • Dead All Along: The music video for "Diary of Jane."
  • Determinator: "Until The End" and "I Will Not Bow" are pretty good examples.
    • "Until the End" is arguably a subversion of this: the character has actually given up, yet continues on because he doesn't know how to stop.
    • Arguably Ben himself. He and the band continued to tour in '08 and '09 despite Ben's laundry list of health problems, one of them a lung infection.
  • It Always Rains At Funerals: Heavily implied in "Rain" if you pay attention to the lyrics:

Rain, rain, go away...
Come again another day...
All the world is waiting for the sun...
To lie here, under you...
Was all that I could ever do...

You must be out of your mind
This was a simple design
You fuck it up every time
How could you leave me behind?