Pendulum: The Kings of Electronic Music

Pendulum: The Kings of Electronic Music is a blog dedicated to the Australian band Pendulum. We discuss their music, their live performances, and their impact on the electronic music scene.

Introduction

Pendulum is an Australian-British drum and bass band founded in 2002. The band currently consists of Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen, Paul “El Hornet” Harding, and Peredur ap Gwynedd. Pendulum has released three studio albums, Pendulum (2005), In Silico (2008), and Immersion (2010). The band’s debut album was certified gold in Australia and peaked at number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. In 2010, they won Best British Dance Act at the Brit Awards.

History

Pendulum started in 2002 in Perth, Australia as a metalcore band. They released their first album, Hold Your Colour, in 2005 and it quickly became a hit in the UK. The album reached #1 on the UK Rock Chart and #2 on the UK Indie Chart. Pendulum was the first drum and bass band to ever play at the Download Festival, one of the biggest rock festivals in the world.

The Beginnings (1998-2004)

Pendulum was originally formed in the Perth, Australia in 1998 by Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen, and Paul Harding. The group’s early Soundcloud releases caught the attention of major labels and they were quickly signed to Warner Bros. Records. Pendulum’s debut album, Hold Your Colour, was released in 2005 and reached #1 on the UK Dance Albums Chart. follow-up singles “Slam” and “Granite” both entered the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.

Pendulum followed up their debut album with a series of successful EPs: In Silico (2008), Immersion (2010), and Pendulum Presents: The Island – Pt. 1 (2011). Their second studio album, Immersion, was released in 2010 and entered the UK Albums Chart at #2. It was nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album at the 2011 Grammy Awards. “Watercolour” and “Witchcraft” were both released as singles from Immersion and both charted within the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart.

Pendulum’s third studio album, Atlas, was released in 2013 and debuted at #5 on the UK Albums Chart. The lead single from Atlas, “The Island – Pt. II”, peaked at #4 on the UK Singles Chart making it Pendulum’s highest-charting single to date.

Mainstream Success (2005-2010)

Despite their mainstream success, Pendulum faced scrutiny from long-time fans; Some felt that the band’s new direction was a betrayal of their musical roots, while others simply found the new material to be of poor quality. In February 2008, Pendulum released their fourth single, “Granite”, which peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart. “Granite” was followed by the release of Hold Your Colour in May 2005. The album peaked at number six on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and at number 19 on the UK Albums Chart. It received mixed to positive reviews from music critics.

In March 2006, Pendulum toured Australia as part of the Soundwave festival. They also performed at Lollapalooza in August 2006. In October 2006, Pendulum won five awards at the inauguralUK Drum & Bass Arena Awards. These included “Best Live Act”, “Best Track” for “Blood Sugar”, “Best DJ Set” for their mix album Mixology 101, “Best Album” for Hold Your Colour, and Rob Swire won “Producer of the Year”.

On 11 November 2008, Pendulum performed with The Prodigy and Chase & Status on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. On 12 November 2008 they also performed with Snoop Dogg on Last Call with Carson Daly to perform a mashup of Snoop Dogg’s “Jump Around” and their own song “Propane Nightmares”.
Pendulum’s first live DVD and CD, titled Immersion, was released on 16 May 2010 in Australia and 24 May 2010 in Europe. The DVD features all of Pendulum’s music videos up to that point as well as live concert footage and behind-the-scenes interviews with band members Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen

The Present (2011-present)

After a five-year hiatus, Pendulum returned with their third studio album, Immersion, on May 21, 2010. The album debuted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 4 on the Australian Albums Chart. It also became their first album to chart in the United States, reaching No. 155 on the Billboard 200. The first single from the album, “Watercolour”, was released on April 18 and peaked at No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 15 in Australia; it is their most successful single to date in both countries. The second single, “Witchcraft”, was released on September 12 and peaked at No. 12 in the UK and No. 42 in Australia; it is their second-most successful single in the UK and their third-most successful in Australia. The third single, “Island”, was released on December 5 and peaked at No. 24 in the UK; it is their fourth-most successful single in the UK.

On August 16, 2011, Pendulum announced via Facebook that they would be headlining the 2012 Stereosonic music festival alongside Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia; Pendulum was previously scheduled to headline the 2010 festival but had to pull out due to an injury to Rob Swire’s vocal cords.

Pendulum’s fourth studio album, In Silico, was released on May 5, 2014. The album debuted at No

Music

The first album by Pendulum, Hold Your Colour, was released in 2005 to critical acclaim and commercial success, reaching number 11 on the UK Albums Chart and number one on the UK Dance Chart. The album was a constant presence in the top 40 for over a year.

Albums

Pendulum is an Australian-British drum and bass and rock band founded in 2002. Pendulum originally formed in the Perth suburb of Greenwood, Western Australia. The band consists of Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen, Paul Harding, Kemble Walters and the newest member Ben Mount.

The group’s musical style is mainly electronic rock and drum and bass with heavy metal guitar riffs and breakdowns. They have released five studio albums to date: Hold Your Colour (2005), In Silico (2008), Immersion (2010), Oblivion (2012) and The Reworks (2017).

Pendulum’s debut album Hold Your Colour was released in Australia on 16 May 2005 by V2 Records, peaking at No. 17 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 May 2005. The album includes the singles “Spirals”, “Hold Your Colour” and “Vault”. Upon its release, Hold Your Colour received positive reviews from music critics. Rock Sound magazine gave it 8 out of 10 stars and said it “takes the classic Pendulum sound – huge breakbeats, white-hot riffs, pristine production values – but stretches it into new areas.”

In Silico is the second studio album by Pendulum, released on 12 May 2008 by Warner Bros. Records. It debuted at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and number 1 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart. In Silico features the singles ” propane nightmares”, “granite”, “showdowns”  and “9,000 Miles”. The first single from In Silico was “Granite”, which was released for digital download on 9 March 2008 and CD single on 17 March 2008; it peaked at number 39 in Australia  and number 15 in New Zealand .The second single from In Silico was Propane Nightmares which was released for digital download 6 April and CD single 13 April 2008; it peaked at number 2 on both Australian airplay chart  and New Zealand airplay chart

The third single Showdowns was given a limited release as a digital download only available through iTunes stores in Australia & New Zealand on 4 July 2008; however no CD single or 7″ vinyl was pressed to support this release due to time constraints regarding the Pushing Daisies soundtrack release also featuring this track which took precedent over promoting Showdowns as a stand alone commercial single . Despite not having an official commercial release Showdowns peaked at #82 on ARIA charts & #33 NZZ airplay charts . This made Pendrium one of 3 groups along with Silverchair & Hilltop Hoods who’ve had 3 songs enter Triple J Hottest 100 who’ve never had an official stand alone commercial single release (ie not part of an EP or album).

Singles

Pendulum is an Australian-British drum and bass and electronic rock band founded in 2002. The group Pendulum originally formed in the City of Perth, Western Australia. Members Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen, and Paul Harding had a shared passion for music. The three members used to spend hours in their bedrooms making and producing music on their laptops. In 2003, the group released their first EP, Hold Your Colour, through independent labelBreakbeat Kaos. This release allowed them to sign to Ear Storm/Interscope Records in the United States and Warner Bros. Records for Europe and Australia/New Zealand.

In 2005, Pendulum released their debut album Hold Your Colour, which peaked at number 11 on the ARIA Albums Chartand received a Gold certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The album featured five singles, “Slam”, “Hold Your Colour”, “Vault”, ” axwound”, and “Granite”. “Slam” was Pendulum’s first single to appear on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 28. In 2009, the group released their second album In Silico which debuted at number 2 in both Australia and the United Kingdom. The album was preceded by three singles; “Propane Nightmares”, “Showdown”, and “Genesis”.

Pendulum’s third studio album Immersion was released on 21 May 2011. It debuted at number 1 in Australia, making it Pendulum’s first number-one album. It also reached number 1 in New Zealand and number 2 in both the United Kingdom and Ireland! The first single from Immersion, entitled “Watercolour”, was released on 17 April 2011 as a digital download. On 23 May 2011, a second single was announced called “Witchcraft” which was released on 16 June 2011(UK) / 5 July 2011(US).

Tours

Pendulum is an Australian drum and bass and electronic rock band founded in 2002 by Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen, and Paul Kodish. The band was rated as the number-one live act of 2010 by Drum&Bass Arena. In 2013, they won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronica Album for their album Immersion.

Pendulum has headlined multiple world tours, including the Inception Tour in 2010, which visited five continents and 37 countries. The tour featured over 150 shows and was seen by over one million people. The Immersion World Tour was even bigger, spanning six continents and 58 countries.

The band has also performed at numerous festivals, including Coachella, Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Rock am Ring, Rock im Park, EDC Las Vegas, EDC Orlando, Lollapalooza Berlin, Tomorrowland Belgium, Creamfields UK & Australia, Stereosonic Australia & South Africa among many others.

Conclusion

Pendulum is one of the most influential electronic music groups of all time. With a unique sound that fuses elements of drum and bass, rock, and metal, the group has inspired generations of musicians. Though they disbanded in 2012, their legacy continues to live on through their music.