Matchbox Twenty
Matchbox Twenty (originally spelled officially, and still sometimes known, as Matchbox 20) is an American rock band, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1995. The group currently comprises Rob Thomas (lead vocals, piano), Paul Doucette (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Kyle Cook (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Ryan Macmillan (drums, percussion).
Matchbox Twenty rose to international fame with their debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You (1996), which was certified diamond in the United States and multi-platinum in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Their second album, Mad Season, released in 2000, charted in the top three on the Billboard 200 and was certified 4× platinum in the United States. Their third album, More Than You Think You Are, released in 2002, was certified double platinum in the United States. However, it was not as successful as the previous two albums, despite its singles receiving significant airplay.
The band then went on hiatus in 2004, and rhythm guitarist Adam Gaynor left the band in 2005, after performing on the first three studio albums. As a result, Paul Doucette took over rhythm guitar, and the band reunited and released a compilation album, Exile on Mainstream, in 2007, which was certified gold in the United States. After the release, former Push Stars drummer Ryan MacMillan filled Doucette's vacated drum spot. Matchbox Twenty then took another hiatus, but reunited again in 2011 and are currently recording their fifth album, which according to Paul Doucette, will be released in 2012. In May 2012 the band announced that the upcoming album would be entitled North, and would release in the fall.
- Yourself or Someone Like You (1996)
- Mad Season (2000)
- More Than You Think You Are (2002)
- Exile On Mainstream (2007)
- North (upcoming) (2012)
- Audience Participation Song: "Push"
- Creator Breakdown: "How Far We've Come"
- Greatest Hits Album: The majority of Exile On Mainstream; the first six songs were new ones.
- Sanity Slippage Song: "Bent", "Unwell", "Real World".
- Love Will Lead You Back: "Bright Lights", "If Your Gone".
- New Sound Album: More Than You Think You Are
- They arguably changed sounds with each album. Yourself was straight-ahead post-grunge with some hints of arena rock, save for a couple of acoustic songs here and there. Mad Season had a lot more pop elements and wider instrumentation, and More Than You Think You Are seemed to fall somewhere in between the two - leaning slightly more toward arena rock.
- Performance Video: "Bright Lights"
- Rockstar Song: "Mad Season"
- Obsession Song: "Disease" passively.
- Signature Song: Arguably, "3 A.M." and "Push".
- Take That Me: The majority of the video for "Bent" lampooned Rob Thomas's sudden fame from his appearance in Santana's "Smooth" by having all manner of misfortune happen to him during the video.
- Vocal Evolution: On Yourself Or Someone Like You, Rob Thomas's vocal style was much less polished and frankly featured a lot of controlled shouting. As his songwriting evolved, his vocal versatility evolved with it.