He formed the biggest thrash metal band in Canada and leads it with a high hand to this day.
He's an excellent guitarist and not a bad singer, but he also plays bass on some of his band's albums.
He's a little hyperactive and crazy, but that's why we love him so much.
(Photo: musicradar.com)
Let's tell you a few facts about Jeff Waters:
1. He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on February 13, 1966.
2. His father was a military man and his mother was a teacher who played the piano.
3. He started playing guitar at age 7. He was a kid with ADHD and had tantrums. His mother tried to make him play the piano thinking it would help him, but eventually realized he was more attracted to the guitar.
4. Waters immediately began taking guitar lessons that initially focused on Jazz and Classical music.
5. In his youth he would listen to artists like: Elton John, "Kiss", "Sweet", and "AC/DC". He later opened up to other artists including: "Van Halen", "Judas Priest", "Iron Maiden", "Black Sabbath", "Loudness" and also to heavier ensembles: "Razor" and "Exciter".
6. The most influential guitarists on him were Randy Rhoads, Michael Schenker, and Eddie Van Halen, but he noted in one of his interviews that, unlike other guitarists who are influenced solely by the Rock and Metal genres, he listens, researches, and learns from guitarists in a variety of genres.
7. He formed "Annihilator" in 1984. It's considered one of the second wave of thrash metal bands.
8. He based the band's name "Annihilator", on the name of the tank on which actor Eddie Murphy rode in the 1984 film "Best Defense".
9. He added singer John Bates, drummer Paul Malek and bassist Dave Scott, and the quartet recorded the demo "Welcome To Your Death".
10. However, even before the band managed to get a recording contract, Dave Scott and John Bates left the band and the two remaining members recorded another demo called "Phantasmagoria", which was released in 1986. This demo became highly sought after. However, John Bates will continue to collaborate with Waters down the road.
11. In 1987 Malek and Waters recorded their third demo and after that Malek also left "The Band". Waters moved to Vancouver and began recording on his own, what would become the band's amazing debut album - "Alice In Hell", which was released in 1989.
12. The songs from the three demos recorded by the band, which include songs written by Waters and Bates, will find their way to the first two albums that "Annihilator" will release.
13. Waters recorded all the guitar and bass roles for the debut album "Alice In Hell" and also sang background vocals and produced it. Only after recording Randy Rampage's vocal parts, did Waters recruit bassist Wayne Darley and rhythm guitarist Anthony Brian Greenham, who received credit on the album but were not part of its recording.
14. "Alice In Hell" received good reviews and brought the band and Waters into the consciousness of the world metal scene.
15. The theme song is based on a true story about a girl who grew up in Montreal Canada and suffered from nightmares. She would wake up at night screaming and her parents did not give much importance to her and instead of helping her, they locked her in her room. This led her to a mental institution.
15. Waters will continue to release three more excellent albums with some lineup changes. The 1990's "Never, Neverland" which competes with the band's debut for best album, 1993's more melodic "Set the World On Fire" and 1994's "King Of The Kill", which has already combined the heaviness of the first albums with the melodic side of The third album.
16. The album "King Of The Kill" was the first in which Jeff took on the role of a singer, exclusively. He plays on this album on all the instruments, except the drums on which Randy Black plays.
(Photo: annihilatormetal.com)
17. Waters will continue to lead the band as a vocalist for two more albums "Refresh the Demon" from 1996 and "Remains" from 1997.
18. In the album "Remains" Waters introduced alternative influences while the drumming parts were being performed by a drum machine.
19. Waters will return to lead vocals only in 2015, with the album "Suicide Society". Overall he serves as the lead singer on 6 of the band's 17 studio albums.
20. The band's last album "Ballistic, Sadistic" from 2020 marked the band's return to the roots of the fast and melodic Thrash Metal. Waters served as the lead singer in the album and he built around him a line-up of young and talented musicians, who accompanied him during their performance in Israel in 2019.
For listening to the band's last album, Click Here:
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