Bullet for My Valentine are a four-piece metalcore band from Bridgend, South Wales. Originally known as Jeff Killed John, the band formed in 1997 and covered songs by Metallica and Nirvana. Financial difficulties marked a change in music direction and name for the band. Bullet for My Valentine were formed in 2003, and were offered a record deal by Roadrunner Records. The offer was turned down, and the band later secured a five album deal with Sony BMG.
Bullet for My Valentine's debut album The Poison was released on October 3, 2005 in the United Kingdom and February 14, 2006 in the United States. The album entered the Billboard 200 at number 128, and the Top Heatseekers chart at number 1, and has sold 375,000 copies in the U.S. as of February 6, 2008. The band made appearances at the Download Festival, Kerrang! XXV, and a United States tour with Rob Zombie, which the band were ultimately kicked off due to vocalist Matthew Tuck's comments on the band's message board. Bullet for My Valentine's second studio album Scream Aim Fire debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 53,000.
Jeff Killed John
Jeff Killed John was formed in 1997 by Matthew Tuck (guitar and vocals), Michael Paget (guitar and background vocals), Nick Crandle (bass guitar) and Michael 'Moose' Thomas (drums), while studying music at Bridgend College. Playing Nirvana and Metallica covers, the band released a two-track CD in 2002 produced by Greg Haver, and was called You/Play with Me. It was financed through the Pynci scheme for new Welsh musicians and the garnered the band radio airplay on live Radio 1's broadcast at Newport's T.J.'s.
Their first name was "12 Pints of my Girlfriend's Blood" and then they changed it to "Jeff Killed John" and then to "Opportunity in Chicago". Jeff Killed John members wanted to follow the nu-metal trend set by bands such as Korn and Limp Bizkit — Bassist Crandle left the band on the eve of entering the recording studio. The band couldn't get it together to record a demo, and subsequently split up. But despite this, they did get back together and they found a new bassist in the shape of Jason 'Jay' James. As nu-metal had started to become less popular, the band gave it one final shot by changing their name to Bullet for My Valentine, a name which refers to the "fictional evil yet loving lyrical content". A change in music direction was agreed on, and the band played what they wanted to rather than follow the influential bands at the time.
For six to ten months, Bullet for My Valentine played at concerts to attract the interest of record labels. At a show in London, Roadrunner Records showed interest and offered the band a deal. The label was ultimately turned down, and the band signed a five record deal with Sony BMG, and a United Kingdom licensing deal with Visible Noise. The choice to choose Sony as said by frontman Tuck was "We thought that a lot more doors would be open to us with the Sony deal, they play at king george street shotton to".
A self-titled EP was released on November 15, 2004 in the U.K., and November 30, 2004 in the United States. Produced by Colin Richardson and mixed by Andy Sneap, the EP featured five tracks and marked the band's first official release. A second EP, titled Hand of Blood was released on August 22, 2005 through Trustkill Records, and was only available in the United States. The EP contained one extra track than the self-titled EP, "4 Words (To Choke Upon)". Decibel Magazine contributor Daniel Lukes responded to the EP negatively stating "The worst part is that the music itself isn’t all that bad, for the genre. "Cries in Pain" ["Cries in Vain"] even threatens to kick some major ass before drowning in vocal sub-Incubusisms"; commenting the band should be embarrassed about the release. Zeromag.com editor Josh Joyce complimented the band on "how technical they can get without confusing the kids".
Nick Crandle
Current Band members