BETTER THAN EZRA

'Better Than Ezra' is an American alternative rock trio based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The band was formed in 1987 by Kevin Griffin while he and the other original members were attending college at Louisiana State University. By 1988 Better Than Ezra had released a demo cassette tape, ''Chime Street Studio Demo Tape''. In 1989 the band released a cassette-only album, ''Surprise''. They released their first nationally-distributed album ''Deluxe'' in 1993 (Swell Records / 1995 Elektra). It was released on 2 different labels, the independent Swell Records first, in 1993, and later national label Elektra Records, in 1995. That same year, "Good" became a major pop hit, reaching the #1 position on the Billboard chart. Subsequent album releases include ''Friction, Baby'' (Elektra, 1996), ''How Does Your Garden Grow?'' (Elektra, 1998), and ''Closer'', (Beyond Records, 2001). The band also released the B-Sides and rarities collection ''artifakt'' on its own "Ezra Dry Goods/Fudge" label in 2000. Late 2004 saw the band simultaneously releasing an official live concert DVD, as well as an official live album, both entitled ''Live at the House of Blues New Orleans'' (Sanctuary Records). Recent releases include a Greatest Hits collection (Warner Brothers, March 15 2005), and a new album entitled ''Before the Robots'' (Artemis Records, May 31 2005.)
Like many bands in the then-burgeoning alt-rock movement of the mid-'90s, Better Than Ezra enjoyed their period of greatest chart success in the time following their debut major-label release (''Deluxe''), which spawned their highest-charting hits. At least commercially (and in terms of mainstream radio play), the band has experienced slightly diminishing returns with each successive release, but unlike most of their contemporaries, Better Than Ezra has avoided dropping off of the musical map or throwing in the towel. Part of the reason why is that the band has an extremely loyal fan base (who refer to themselves as ''Ezralites'') that have never cared whether radio plays the band or not. Many of their fans follow the band religiously and attend scores of their performances. It is in large part due to this relentless touring schedule and the fan base it engenders that Better Than Ezra has managed to continue to produce new music, and remain extremely viable well past what many critics projected to be their shelf life. Better Than Ezra still maintains a very active touring schedule, primarily through the Southeastern United States.
In addition to vocalist and guitarist Kevin Griffin from Monroe, Louisiana, the current members of Better Than Ezra are bass guitar player Tom Drummond and drummer Travis McNabb. Original drummer, Cary Bonnecaze, left the band after the release of ''Deluxe''. Original lead guitarist, Joel Rundell, committed suicide in 1990. The band does not disclose the origins of its name.
In 2005, ''Desperate Housewives'' creator Marc Cherry used the band's song "Juicy" as the background music for the second season of the show's promotional advertisement. The song "Juicy" has also been heard in the background in commercials by Applebees restaurants.
The band is slated to headline A Taste of Fort Collins in Fort Collins, Colorado. [1]

Contents

Discography

Hit singles

External links

Discography

{| class="wikitable"
!| Year
!| Title
!| Label
!| Other information
|-
||1988
||''Chime Street Studio Demo Tape''
||Swell Records
||Released on cassette only
|-
||1989
||''Surprise''
||Swell Records
||Released on cassette only
|-
||1993
||''Deluxe''
||Swell Records (1993)
Elektra Records (1995)
||Debut album
|-
||1993
||''Empire Records''
||A&M Records
||featured track: "Circle of Friends"
|| 
|-
||1996
||''Friction, Baby''
||Elektra Records
|| 
|-
||1998
||''
||Elektra / Wea
||featured track: "One More Murder"
|| 
|-
||1998
||''How Does Your Garden Grow?''
||Elektra Records
|| 
|-
||2000
||''artifakt''
||Fudge Records
||Collection of previously unreleased rarities
|-
||2001
||''Closer''
||Beyond Music
|| 
|-
||2004
||''Live at the House of Blues New Orleans - Audio CD''
||Sanctuary Records
||Live album
|-
||2004
||''Live at the House of Blues New Orleans - DVD''
||Sanctuary Records
||Live album
|-
||2005
||''Greatest Hits''
||Rhino Records
||Second compilation album
|-
||2005
||''Before the Robots''
||Artemis Records
||Follow-up to ''Closer''
|-

Hit singles

★ "Good" (1995) (#30 US, #1 US Modern Rock, #3 US Mainstream Rock)

★ "In the Blood" (1995) (#4 US Modern Rock, #6 US Mainstream Rock)

★ "Rosealia" (1996) (#71 US, #24 US Modern Rock)

★ "King of New Orleans" (1996) (#5 US Modern Rock, #7 US Mainstream Rock)

★ "Desperately Wanting" (1997) (#48 US, #11 US Modern Rock, #10 US Mainstream Rock)

★ "One More Murder" (1998) (#32 US Modern Rock)

★ "At the Stars" (1999) (#78 US, #17 US Modern Rock)

★ "Extra Ordinary" (2001) (#35 US Modern Rock)

★ "A Lifetime" (2005) (#11 US Adult Top 40)

★ "Our Last Night" (2005)

★ "Juicy" (2006)

External links

★ 'Better Than Ezra (Official Site)'

★ 'Official Better Than Ezra Myspace'

★ All Music Guide entry for Better Than Ezra

★ Better Than Ezra Lyrics