Thumb (band)

Not to be confused with The Thumbs.

Thumb was a German Hardcore/Nu Metal band formed in November 1993 in Gütersloh. According to the band's official website they appear to have ceased in 2005 into various side projects; Steffen has joined H-Blockx, Jens is in Taetowier Studio, Jan-Hendrik is in Hudson, Claus is in Alternative Allstars and Axel is in Waterdown.

Biography

The first home-made tapes were recorded and copied in 1994. Lupe was the last to join the band in October scratching his way to create a new version of Thumb. Record companies began to show an interest and EMI signed a deal in March 1995. Six months later on 14 September Thumb’s debut was in the shops. A new star had entered the crossover arena. Genre-related bands Bad Religion, Dog Eat Dog, Henry Rollins and Foo Fighters kept the band company in the next two years at live gigs in Germany. Then it was time for the five to set to work in January 1997 and write the songs of their second album Exposure.

The album duly appeared on 5 May that year and proved to be a great surprise, because Thumb had changed direction. Their path even led them to America where they played in front of nearly 180,000 during the 1998 Vans Warped Tour. They played alongside greats like the Deftones, Bad Religion, NOFX and many more at thirteen shows in three weeks.

Preparations for the third album slowly got underway at the start of 2000 but were abruptly interrupted when guitarist Axel Hilgenstöhler left the band half way through the year, the shock was compounded by the band's creative crisis. The band was on the brink of disintegrating, however, they were saved when new guitarist Axel Pralat along with the new blood coursing through the band's veins took things upwards again. Everything written and recorded up to that point was axed.

Discography

Albums

• Thumb (1995)
  1. Haunted
  2. Victim Of Your Lies
  3. Red Alert
  4. Fascism Sucks
  5. No More Blood
  6. Fed Up
  7. Skin Deep
  8. Deny
  9. Consumer's Rap-Sody
  10. It Ain't What You See
  11. Boredom
  12. (All The Way) Down

• Thumb Encore (1996)
  1. Red Alert ´96
  2. Aside
  3. Haunted
  4. Victim Of Your Lies
  5. Red Alert
  6. Fascism Sucks
  7. No More Blood
  8. Fed Up
  9. Skin Deep
  10. Deny
  11. Consumer's Rap-Sody
  12. It Ain't What You See
  13. Boredom
  14. (All The Way) Down
  15. I Don't Wanna Hear It
  16. Victim Of Your Lies
  17. It Ain't What You See (Live)
  18. Skindeep (Live)
  19. Fascism Sucks (Live)
  20. Haunted (Live)

• Exposure (1997)
  1. Break Me
  2. Sell Myself
  3. Seize The Day
  4. Values
  5. Thank You
  6. Remember
  7. Dad
  8. Reality
  9. This Life
  10. Exposure
  11. Cavemen In Disguise
  12. Aside

• Maximum Exposure (1998)
  1. Break Me
  2. Sell Myself
  3. Seize The Day
  4. Values
  5. Thank You
  6. Remember
  7. Dad
  8. Reality
  9. This Life
  10. Exposure
  11. Cavemen In Disguise
  12. Dad (Live)
  13. Red Alert (Live)
  14. Exposure (Live)
  15. Thank You (Live)
  16. No More Blood (Live)

• 3 (2001)
  1. Upside & Down
  2. Down Like Me
  3. Stupid
  4. Lie To You
  5. Youth
  6. Thumbtune
  7. Break My Back
  8. Fade Away
  9. Migraine
  10. Suck Me Dry
  11. Shorty
  12. More
  13. Confidence

Singles

• Red Alert (1995)
  1.  ?

• No More Blood (1996)
  1. No More Blood (Intro)
  2. No More Blood

• Red Alert '96 (1996)
  1. Red Alert '96
  2. Haunted (Live)
  3. I Don't Wanna Hear It

• Aside (1996)
  1. Aside
  2. It Ain't What You See
  3. Boredom

• Sell Myself (1997)
  1. Sell Myself
  2. Dad
  3. Thank You For Hating Me

• Seize The Day (1997)
  1. Seize The Day
  2. Sell Myself (Recorded Live At ROCK AM RING '97)
  3. Values (Recorded Live At ROCKPALAST, E-Werk, Cologne '97)
  4. Cavemen In Disguise (Recorded Live At Colosseum, Munich, Support Rollins Tour '97)
  5. Dad (Recorded Live At Colosseum, Munich, Support Rollins Tour '97)

• Break Me (1998)
  1. Break Me
  2. Die Welt ist Eins (Featuring Thomas D)
  3. Red Alert (Live at Roskilde Festival '97)
  4. Exposure (Live at Roskilde Festival '97)
  5. Thank You For Hating Me (Live at Roskilde Festival '97)
  6. No More Blood (Live at Roskilde Festival '97)

• Down Like Me (2001)
  1. Down Like Me
  2. Break My Back

• Youth (2001)
  1. Youth (Radio Edit)
  2. Upside & Down
  3. Down Like Me (Steddybeats Remix)
  4. Youth (Extended Version)
  5. Stupid (Music Video)
  6. Down Like Me (Music Video)

Members

• Axel Pralat (Guitar), since 2000
• Jens Gössling (DJ)
• Steffen Wilmking (Drums)
• Jan-Hendrik Meyer (Bass)
• Claus Grabke (Vocals)

Former Members

• Axel Hilgenstöhler (Guitar), left in 2000

External links

• Official Website