:''"Adam Hall" is also a pseudonym of the novelist Elleston Trevor.'' :''For the alpine skier, see Adam Hall (alpine skier).''

team	Tampa Bay Lightning
league	NHL
prospect team
position	Right Wing
shoots	Right
height ft	6
height in	3
weight lb	213
ntl team	USA
birth date	August 12, 1980
birth place	Kalamazoo, MI, USA
draft	52nd overall
former teams	Nashville Predators New York Rangers Minnesota Wild Pittsburgh Penguins
draft year	1999
draft team	Nashville Predators
career start	2002 }}

Adam Hall (born August 14, 1980) is an American professional ice hockey player who is currently playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). A second round selection of the Nashville Predators in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, Hall has played for the New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins in addition to the Predators.

Playing career

Hall was a member of the United States National Development Team Program, and twice represented the United States at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, in 1999 and 2000. He was selected 52nd overall by the Nashville Predators in the second round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. He played four years with the Michigan State Spartans and was named to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's Second All-Star Team in 2000.

He played his first NHL game for the Nashville Predators in 2001–02 after graduating from Michigan State. He scored 16 goals and 12 assists in 2002–03, his rookie season. After four seasons with the Predators, he was dealt to the New York Rangers in exchange for Dominic Moore prior to the 2006–07 NHL season. Hall played only half a season on Broadway, and was dealt to the Minnesota Wild for Pascal Dupuis in February 2007.

On October 1, 2007 he signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins and contributed during the Penguins run to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals. where they lost in six games to the Detroit Red Wings. He left the Penguins following the season, signing a three year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning worth $1.8-million. Hall spent most of the 2009/2010 season with the Lightning's AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. Under Guy Boucher, Hall played in all 82 games with the Lightning last season, recording seven goals and 18 points. He led the Lightning in face-off percentage with 55 percent and ranked fourth overall with 360 face-offs won. Hall also led the team with 152 hits and was third among forwards with 59 blocked shots. He was Tampa Bay’s nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy after battling his way back to the NHL in 2010-11. He was one of four Bolts to play in all 82 games. The 30-year-old veteran also played in all 18 Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Lightning as they made it to within one game of the Stanley Cup Final. He recorded a goal and five points during the postseason. On the 29th of June, Hall was re-signed to a one-year, one-way contract.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				! colspan="5"		Playoffs
Season (sports)>Season	! Team	! League		! GP		Goal (ice hockey)>G	Assist (ice hockey)>A	Point (ice hockey)>Pts	Penalty (ice hockey)>PIM	! GP	! G	! A	! Pts	! PIM
1996–97	Newmarket Hurricanes	OPJHL		1		0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Bramalea Blues	OPJHL		43		9	14	23	92	—	—	—	—	—
1997–98				65		39	21	60	59	—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Michigan State Spartans			36		16	7	23	74	—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Michigan State Spartans	CCHA		40		26	13	39	38	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Michigan State Spartans	CCHA		42		18	12	30	42	—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Michigan State Spartans	CCHA		41		19	15	34	36	—	—	—	—	—
	Milwaukee Admirals			6		2	2	4	4	—	—	—	—	—
	Nashville Predators			1		0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—
	Milwaukee Admirals	AHL		1		0	0	0	2	—	—	—	—	—
	Nashville Predators	NHL		79		16	12	28	31	—	—	—	—	—
	Nashville Predators	NHL		79		13	14	27	37	6	2	1	3	2
2004–05	KalPa			36		23	17	40	28	9	2	3	5	4
	Nashville Predators	NHL		75		14	15	29	40	5	1	0	1	0
	New York Rangers	NHL		49		4	8	12	18	—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Minnesota Wild	NHL		23		2	3	5	8	3	0	0	0	7
	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		46		2	4	6	24	17	3	1	4	8
	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		74		5	5	10	29	—	—	—	—	—
	Norfolk Admirals	AHL		79		16	25	41	47	—	—	—	—	—
	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		82		7	11	18	32	18	1	4	5	8
NHL totals				! 508		! 63	! 73	! 136	! 219	! 49	! 7	! 6	! 13	! 25

International

}}

! Year	! Team	! Comp		! GP	! G	! A	! Pts	! PIM
				6	0	1	1	2
	United States	WJC		7	2	0	2	4
				6	3	1	4	0
	United States	WC		9	0	2	2	0
	United States	WC		7	1	0	1	2
	United States	WC		7	0	0	0	0
	United States	WC		7	0	1	1	2
!	! Totals	!		! 49	! 6	! 5	! 11	! 10

References

External links

Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:American ice hockey right wingers Category:Ice hockey people from Michigan Category:KalPa players Category:Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey players Category:Milwaukee Admirals players Category:Minnesota Wild players Category:Nashville Predators draft picks Category:Nashville Predators players Category:Norfolk Admirals players Category:New York Rangers players Category:People from Kalamazoo, Michigan Category:Pittsburgh Penguins players Category:Tampa Bay Lightning players

cs:Adam Hall de:Adam Hall fr:Adam Hall sk:Adam Hall fi:Adam Hall

name	Santiago Calatrava Valls
Nationality	Spanish
Birth date	July 28, 1951
Birth place	Benimàmet, Valencia, Spain
Education	Polytechnic University of ValenciaSwiss Federal Institute of Technology
Discipline	Structural engineer, Architect, Sculptor
Institutions	Institution of Structural Engineers
Practice name	Santiago Calatrava
Significant projects	Athens Olympic Sports ComplexAuditorio de TenerifeAlamillo bridgeChords BridgeCiutat de les Arts i les Ciències
Significant awards	AIA Gold MedalIStructE Gold MedalEugene McDermott AwardPrince of Asturias AwardAuguste Perret Prize }}

Santiago Calatrava Valls (, born 28 July 1951) is a Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zürich, Switzerland. Classed now among the elite designers of the world, he has offices in Zürich, Paris, Valencia, and New York City.

Early life and education

Calatrava was born in Benimàmet, an old municipality now integrated as an urban part of Valencia, Spain, where he pursued his undergraduate architecture degree at the Polytechnic University of Valencia along with a post-graduate course in urbanism. During his schooldays, he also undertook independent projects with a group of fellow students, bringing out two books on the vernacular architecture of Valencia and Ibiza Following graduation in 1975, he enrolled in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland, for graduate work in civil engineering. In 1981, after completing his doctoral thesis, "On the Foldability of Space Frames", he started his architecture and engineering practice.

Career

Calatrava's early career was largely dedicated to bridges and train stations, with designs that elevated the status of civil engineering projects to new heights. His Montjuic Communications Tower in Barcelona, Spain (1991) in the heart of the 1992 Olympics site, as well as the Allen Lambert Galleria in Toronto, Canada (1992), were important works and turning points in his career, leading to a wide range of commissions. The Quadracci Pavilion (2001) of the Milwaukee Art Museum was his first building in the United States. Calatrava's entry into high-rise design began with an innovative 54-story-high twisting tower called Turning Torso (2005), located in Malmö, Sweden.

Calatrava has designed a futurisitc train station, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, at the rebuilt World Trade Center in New York City.

Calatrava's style has been heralded as bridging the division between structural engineering and architecture. In the projects, he continues a tradition of Spanish modernist engineering that included Félix Candela, Antonio Gaudí, and Rafael Guastavino. Nonetheless, his style is also very personal, and derives from numerous studies of the human body and the natural world.

On 10 December 2011 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture for a five year renewable term by Pope Benedict XVI.

Recent projects

80 South Street

One of his newest projects was a residential skyscraper, 80 South Street, located at that address in New York City's financial district facing the East River. It was composed of ten townhouses in the shape of cubes stacked on top of one another. The townhouses move up a main beam and follow a staggered ladder-like pattern, providing each townhouse with its own roof. The "townhouse in the sky" design was supposed to attract a high-profile clientele willing to pay a hefty US$30 million for each cube. As of 2008, this project had been canceled; the Manhattan real estate market had gone soft, and none of the ten multimillion-dollar townhouses had been sold.

Chicago Spire

Calatrava designed the now-canceled skyscraper, the Chicago Spire, in Chicago. Originally commissioned by Chicagoan Christopher Carley, the building site for the project was purchased by Irish developer Garrett Kelleher in July 2006 when Carley's financing plans fell through. Construction of the building was to begin in August 2007, for intended completion in 2011. The Chicago Spire would have been the tallest building in North America. The project was canceled in early 2010.

Trinity River Bridges

Calatrava's work includes three bridges that will eventually span the Trinity River in Dallas, Texas. The first bridge, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, named after donor Margaret Hunt Hill, was planned to open for traffic in March 2012. If the remaining bridges are completed, Dallas will join the Dutch county of Haarlemmermeer in having three Calatrava bridges.

Peace Bridge

Calatrava's design for the Peace Bridge, a 130m pedestrian bridge to span the Bow River in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada, will cost approximately $24.5 million. The project was approved by city council in early January 2009 and was scheduled for completion in fall 2010, but had not been completed as of the end of November, 2011, it is now estimated to be done in Spring of 2012. Public disclosure of Peace Bridge plans was made on 28 July 2009, and it was described as a sleek, elegant contribution to downtown Calgary. However, there was an uproar from Calgarians, since there was a bridge very similar to Calatrava's design built in Toronto, at a much lesser cost. The design model showed a sleek, tubular, single-span red-and-white trestle, offering separate pathways for cyclists and pedestrians. The bridge is expected to serve up to 5,000 pedestrians and cyclists daily.

University of South Florida

On 16 June 2009, it was announced that Calatrava would be designing the first building of the new University of South Florida Polytechnic campus in Lakeland, Florida. This will be his first work in the southeastern United States.

Calatrava as sculptor

Calatrava is also a prolific sculptor and painter, claiming that the practice of architecture combines all the arts into one. In 2003, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City held an exhibition of his artistic and architectural work, entitled "Santiago Calatrava: Sculpture Into Architecture." Exhibitions of his work have also taken place in Germany, England, Spain, Italy and elsewhere.

Notable works

Completed

Alameda Bridge and metro station, Valencia, Spain

1983–1984, Jakem Steel Warehouse, Munchwilen, Switzerland

1983–1985, Ernsting Warehouse, Coesfeld, Germany

1983–1988, Wohlen High School, Wohlen, Switzerland

1983–1990, Stadelhofen Railway Station, Zürich, Switzerland

1983–1989, Lucerne Station Hall, Lucerne, Switzerland

1984–1987, Bac de Roda Bridge, Barcelona, Spain

1984–1988, Barenmatte Community Center, Suhr, Switzerland,

1986–1987, Tabourettli Theater, Basel, Switzerland,

1987–1992, Allen Lambert Galleria (in Brookfield Place), Toronto, Canada,

1989–1994, TGV Station, Lyon, France

1992, ''Puente del Alamillo'', Seville, Spain

1992, ''Puente de Lusitania'', Mérida, Spain

1992, Montjuic Communications Tower at the Olympic Ring, Barcelona, Spain

1992, World's Fair, Kuwaiti Pavilion, Seville, Spain

1994, Mimico Creek Bridge, Humber Bay Parks, Toronto, Ontario

1994, Oberbaumbrücke, Berlin, Germany (1896) rebuilt and opened on November 9

1994–1997, Campo Volantin Footbridge, Bilbao, Spain

1995, Trinity Bridge, footbridge over River Irwell in Manchester and Salford, Greater Manchester, England

1996–2009, ''Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències'', Valencia, Spain

1996, Centro Internacional de Ferias y Congresos de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, Canary island, Spain

1998, Gare do Oriente, Lisbon, Portugal

2000, New terminal at Bilbao Airport, Bilbao, Spain

2001, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.

2001, Puente de la Mujer, in the Puerto Madero barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina

2001, Bodegas Ysios, Laguardia, Spain

2002, Wave, in Dallas, Texas at the Southern Methodist University Meadows Museum

2003, James Joyce Bridge, bridge over River Liffey, Dublin, Ireland

2003, Auditorio de Tenerife, the architect's first performing arts facility, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

2004, redesign of Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece

2004, Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Redding, California, USA

2004, Three bridges (called Harp, Cittern and Lute) spanning the main canal of the Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands

2004, University of Zurich, "Bibliothekseinbau" library remodelling, Zürich, Switzerland

2005, The bridge connecting the Ovnat shopping mall and the Rabin Medical Center (Beilinson) in Petah Tikva, Israel

2005, Turning Torso, Malmö, Sweden

2007, 3 Bridges on the A1 Motorway and TAV Railway, Reggio Emilia, Italy

2007-2012 Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, Dallas, Texas, U.S.

2008, Chords Bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem, Israel, a light rail bridge

2008, Ponte della Costituzione footbridge from Piazzale Roma over the Grand Canal, Venice, Italy

2008-2009, Technion Obelisk, monument on the Technion campus in Haifa, Israel

2009, Liège-Guillemins TGV Railway Station, Liège, Belgium

2009, Samuel Beckett Bridge, bridge over River Liffey, Dublin, Ireland

2009, Caja Madrid Obelisk, Madrid, Spain

2011, Palacio de Congresos de Oviedo, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain, [Spanish wiki: :es:Palacio de Congresos de Oviedo

2012, Peace Bridge, Calgary, Canada [pictures]

Under construction/proposed

World Trade Center Transportation Hub, New York City, U.S.

University of South Florida Polytechnic, Lakeland, FL, U.S.

Atlanta Symphony Center, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos, Oviedo, Spain

Medio Padana TAV Station, Reggio Emilia, Italy

Maastricht University Campus, Maastricht, Netherlands

Palma de Mallorca's Opera, Spain

High-rise buildings on stilts on the River Liffey in Dublin

New railway station in Mons, Belgium

Hotel, Train Station and Two Bridges at Denver International Airport

Museu do Amanhã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Calatrava has also submitted designs for a number of notable projects which were eventually awarded to other designers, including the Reichstag in Berlin and the East London River Crossing.

Unbuilt projects

Collserola communications tower in Barcelona (1991). A tower shaped like a big white spaceship was proposed, but Norman Foster ultimately designed the tower.

A bridge in Toronto to the Toronto Island Airport. Locals did not support the airport.

A campus building for Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. His design was dropped for a less expensive design.

New cathedral for the Diocese of Oakland, California, USA. Preliminary design dropped in favor of that by local architect Craig Hartman (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, San Francisco).

New bridge across Cávado River, Barcelos, Portugal. It was dropped due to lack of funds.

Substitute bridge (''Wettstein Bridge'') across Rhine River, Basel, Switzerland. It did not pass the cantonal referendum. A less expensive bridge was built instead.

80 South Street, stack of 10 condominium units on New York City's East River, starting at $27 Million each.

Chicago Spire Chicago IL. Lack of funding

Recognition

Calatrava has received numerous recognitions. In 1988, he was awarded with the Fazlur Khan International Fellowship by the SOM Foundation. In 1990, he received the "Médaille d'Argent de la Recherche et de la Technique", in Paris. In 1992 he received the prestigious Gold Medal from the Institution of Structural Engineers. In 1993, the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a major exhibition of his work called "Structure and Expression". In 1998 he was elected to become a member of "Les Arts et Lettres", in Paris. In 2004, he received the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

In 2005, Calatrava was awarded the Eugene McDermott Award by the Council for the Arts of MIT. The award is among the most esteemed arts awards in the US.

He is also a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council.

Awards

1979 August Perret Award

1992 London Institution of Structural Engineers Gold Medal

1993 Toronto Municipality Urban Design Award

1996 Gold Medal for Excellence in the Fine Arts from the Granada Ministry of Culture

1997 Honoris Causa degree awarded by Delft University of Technology

1999 Prince of Asturias Award in Arts

2000 Algur H. Meadows Award for Excellence in the Arts from the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University

2004 James Parks Morton Interfaith Award from the Interfaith Center of New York

2005 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal

2006 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts from the Council for the Arts at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

2006 Honorary Engineering Degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Designation as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in Davos

2007 Honorary Engineering Degree from Columbia University

2007 Awarded with the Spanish National Architecture Award

Design Futures Council Senior Fellow

Criticism

Calatrava's work in Bilbao has been criticized for impracticality. The airport lacks facilities and the bridge's glass tiles are prone to break and get slippery under the local weather, which impelled the local administration to add anti-slip treads to its decking, altering the appearance of the bridge. In 2007, Calatrava sued Bilbao for allowing Arata Isozaki to remove a bar from the bridge to connect it to the Isozaki Atea towers. The judge ruled against Calatrava, on the grounds that, although the building design is protected by intellectual property law, public safety is more important than intellectual property. In a 2009 appeal, he received €30,000 in compensation. The Isozaki joint has been cited as both bold and destructive.

Calatrava gifted the Municipality of Venice with the project of a new bridge on the "Canal Grande" in 1996. As of 2007, the project was still under construction and has gone through numerous structural changes, because of the mechanical instability of the structure and the excessive weight of the bridge, which would cause the banks of the canal to fail. In 10 years the project had been inspected by more than 8 different consultants and the cost had risen to three times the original expectations. The work was finally completed in August 2008. The bridge has been criticized for its impractical design; it has many steps embedded in its relatively steep pavement, which makes it uncomfortable to walk on, especially for the elderly. Moreover, it does not have a ramp, so that it cannot be used by wheelchair users.

Some of Calatrava's works have been plagued with cost overruns, secrecy, and construction problems. For example, Calgary's Peace Bridge, which was slated to open in 2010, has been delayed due to faulty welding. As of June 2011, the bridge remained uncompleted.

Exhibits

A special exhibition was presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in March 2006.

Personal life

Calatrava's nephew Álex Calatrava is a professional tennis player. Two of Calatrava's sons have completed or are in the process of completing advanced degrees in Engineering from the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University in New York City. His other son has just finished law school at Columbia University.

References

Further reading

External links

Official Website

Gallery of works

Santiago Calatrava News Aggregator

Great Buildings On-Line: Santiago Calatrava

Unofficial website

Calatrava's projects on the map

Extended profile of the architect in the NYRB, December 2006

''The New Yorker'', 31 October 2005, "The Sculptor"

''The Guardian'', 17 January 2006, "The Gaudí Effect"

Pictures and profile at Specifier

Many pictures of Calatrava's Art on Trekearth

Calatrava's 80 South Street condo design for New York

CNN interview with Santiago Calatrava

Proposed design for south terminal expansion at Denver International Airport

Category:1951 births *Santiago Calatrava Category:Bridge engineers Category:Columbia Engineering alumni Category:ETH Zurich alumni Category:High-tech architecture Category:IStructE Gold Medal winners Category:Living people Category:People from Valencia Category:Spanish architects Category:Spanish engineers Category:Structural engineers Category:Valencian architects Category:Valencian engineers Category:Members of the Pontifical Council for Culture

af:Santiago Calatrava ar:سنتياغو كالاترافا zh-min-nan:Santiago Calatrava be:Сант'яга Калатрава bg:Сантяго Калатрава bs:Santiago Calatrava ca:Santiago Calatrava Valls cs:Santiago Calatrava de:Santiago Calatrava el:Σαντιάγο Καλατράβα es:Santiago Calatrava eo:Santiago Calatrava eu:Santiago Calatrava fa:سانتیاگو کالاتراوا fr:Santiago Calatrava Valls gl:Santiago Calatrava hr:Santiago Calatrava io:Santiago Calatrava it:Santiago Calatrava he:סנטיאגו קלטרווה ka:სანტიაგო კალატრავა sw:Santiago Calatrava lv:Santjago Kalatrava lb:Santiago Calatrava lt:Santiago Calatrava li:Santiago Calatrava hu:Santiago Calatrava mi:Santiago Calatrava ms:Santiago Calatrava nah:Santiago Calatrava nl:Santiago Calatrava ja:サンティアゴ・カラトラバ no:Santiago Calatrava nn:Santiago Calatrava pl:Santiago Calatrava pt:Santiago Calatrava ro:Santiago Calatrava ru:Калатрава, Сантьяго sk:Santiago Calatrava sr:Сантијаго Калатрава fi:Santiago Calatrava sv:Santiago Calatrava ta:சந்தியாகோ கலத்ராவா th:ซานเตียโก กาลาตราบา tr:Santiago Calatrava uk:Сантьяго Калатрава vep:Sant'jago Kalatrava vi:Santiago Calatrava zh:聖地牙哥·卡拉特拉瓦

birth name	Isaac Edward Slade
background	solo_singer
birth date	May 26, 1981
origin	Boulder, Colorado, U.S.
spouse	Anna Slade
genre	Piano rock, pop rock, alternative rock light rock adult contemporary
occupation	Vocalist, Musician
years active	2002–present
religion	Christian
label	Epic, Sony
associated acts	Ember, The Fray
website	thefray.net
notable instruments	Piano, Guitar }}

Isaac Edward Slade (born May 26, 1981) is the lead vocalist, main songwriter, pianist, and co-founder of Denver-based piano rock band The Fray.

Life and career

Early years

Slade was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in the Denver area with his family, which included both parents—who were missionaries from the same family—and two younger brothers, Caleb and Micah. He also lived for a time in Guatemala due to his parents' profession. The Slade family are of Slovakian descent. He attended Faith Christian Academy in Arvada, Colorado and later attended the University of Colorado Denver as a Music and Entertainment Industries Studies major he received a Bachelor of Music.

Slade started singing when he was 2 years old, and began playing the piano at 11, after temporarily losing his voice. He wrote his first song when he was 16, and learned to play guitar when he was in high school.

The Fray

Formation and early stages

Slade joined ''Ember'', a band which consisted of Slade and his future ''The Fray'' band-mates Dave Welsh and Ben Wysocki. The band soon dissolved, and later, in the spring of 2002, Slade ran into former school-mate and vocalist/guitarist Joe King in a record store. The two began regular jam sessions, which led to writing songs. They later added Slade's younger brother, Caleb, on bass and Zach Johnson on drums. Johnson soon left to attend an art school in New York, while Caleb was fired. This caused a rift in Slade's relationship with his brother. A new found love and Isaac's first kiss at the ripe age of 21 helped inspired the future hit single, "Over My Head (Cable Car)".

Dave Welsh and Ben Wysocki re-joined Slade and King, to form ''The Fray''. In the same year, the newly-formed band released ''Movement EP'', and in 2003, they released ''Reason EP'' to some local critical acclaim, particularly by Denver's ''Westword'' alternative newsweekly. Despite these reviews, the band struggled to launch a single. Denver radio station KTCL rejected eight of their songs before the band decided to submit "Cable Car". The song found airplay on a KTCL radio show highlighting local bands, and the radio station received a large number of requests for it soon thereafter. The band changed the name of the song to "Over My Head (Cable Car)", and by the end of 2005, it had become KTCL's most played song of the year.

Mainstream success

The band signed onto Epic, and the band's debut album, ''How to Save a Life'' was released in September 2005. The album brought the band mainstream success, and was certified double platinum by the RIAA. It was also certified platinum in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and in the UK.

Apart from lead vocals and playing the piano, Slade wrote the lyrics to the album based primarily on his real-life experiences, most notably the first two singles, "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and "How to Save a Life" which were responsible for launching the band into the mainstream.

"Over My Head (Cable Car)", the first single from the album, was written by Slade based on his rift with Caleb:

"It is about a fight I got in with my brother, Caleb. After he graduated high school, we drifted apart and really hadn't spoken in a long time. One day we both realized that we needed to fight it out. We'd been friends for twenty years. That's a long time when you're only 23 years old. We fought it out, and he's one of my best friends today."

While the song did modestly internationally (it charted in the top 25 in several countries), it hit big in the band's native USA, charting in the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and helping the band gain national recognition.

The second single and title track from the album, "How to Save a Life" was written by Slade based on an experience he had had while working as a mentor at a camp for troubled teens, called ''Shelterwood'' in Denver:

"One of the youngsters I was paired up with was a musician. Here I was, a protected suburbanite, and he was just 17 and had all these problems. He was a recovering addict, coming out of a really tough teenage life. Thankfully, he was on his way out of that life, so he was able to really look back with some objectivity. The song is more of a memoir about his slow motion descent and all the relationships he lost along the way."

The song charted in the top three on the Hot 100 chart, and was a massive hit worldwide, charting in the top 5 in several countries. The song is the band's most well-known and critically acclaimed song to date, and brought the Fray worldwide fame.

Apart from "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and "How to Save a Life", Slade also wrote "Look After You", the third single, for his then girlfriend and future wife Anna, when she was living in Australia.

Following the success of ''How to Save a Life'', the band released their second record, ''The Fray'' in 2009. The album was again written by Slade based on personal experiences, most notably the lead single "You Found Me". He explained the meaning of the song in an interview:

“You Found Me is a tough song for me. It started from just a song with a lot of hate towards God. More of questions, "why" It's about the disappointment, the heartache, the let down that comes with life. Sometimes you’re let down, sometimes you’re the one who lets someone else down. It gets hard to know who you can trust, who you can count on. This song came out of a tough time, and I’m still right in the thick of it. There’s some difficult circumstances my family and friends have been going through over the past year or so and can be overwhelming. It wears on me. It demands so much of my faith to keep believing, keep hoping in the unseen. Sometimes the tunnel has a light at the end, but usually they just look black as night. This song is about that feeling, and the hope that I still have, buried deep in my chest.”

The song reached the number-one spot in Australia, and hit the top ten on the Hot 100 chart. "You Found Me" was one of 2009's most successful singles, and became the band's third song to sell over 2 million digital downloads in the United States, after "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and "How to Save a Life".

Work outside The Fray

Slade performed on the 2010 remake of the 1985 charity single, "We Are the World". He joined 74 other artists to record the track for the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Musical Approach

Vocal characteristics and songwriting

Slade often uses falsetto in his vocals, and is recognizable by his strong American accent. While his vocals on ''How to Save a Life'' were quite simple and straightforward, he gave strong performances on the second album, adapting a slightly edgier and more aggressive style of singing, most notably on the songs "We Build Then We Break" and "Say When".

While the band has been lyrically spearheaded by Slade, he co-writes all songs with King (only "Hundred", "Say When" and "Happiness" have been written entirely by Slade). As noted above, Slade's lyrics are mainly personal. His first songs contained lyrics with strong religious beliefs and Christian messages. However, he later gave up on writing religious songs, and decided not to form a Christian rock band. He started writing songs based on emotions and experiences he had had while touring and performing with the band. When asked on his approach to songwriting, he said: "''I just love getting an emotion in my head out on paper. It helps me make sense of life. It's the same way people write in journals so they can look back in years. I basically just put my journals to music.''"

He stated in an interview: "''We're not like real rocking rockers; we'd rather write about feeling and emotions.''" In another interview with respect to the lyrics on the second album, he stated, "''We wanted to make the songs count. I'm happy with this record because the songs feel like they count. They really connect to us.''"

The lyrics on both albums revolve on issues of troubled relationships, growing up, life and its accompanying problems. Slade's lyrics often express anger, disappointment and hope towards life. AbsolutePunk, commenting on the lyrics on the band's second album, stated, "Clearly there are issues unresolved within Slade's psyche, and the heavy dose of unhappiness and disappointment is indicative of that".

Influences

Slade stated in an interview that one of the first songs that inspired him was "Swallowed" by Bush, and that the lyrics and tune had moved him enough to pursue his career . In a post on AOL Radio Blog, he wrote:

"As a boy 'Swallowed' was my siren's song. I was a sheltered church child and here's this man talking about living the life his way, doing whatever he felt like doing. Bush wasn't allowed in my house either, which made it that much more mysterious."

His other musical influences include Counting Crows, Better Than Ezra, U2 and Radiohead.

See also

The Fray

Joe King

Dave Welsh

Ben Wysocki

References

External links

The Fray website

Category:Living people Category:1981 births Category:American rock singers Category:American rock pianists Category:Musicians from Colorado Category:The Fray members Category:People from Denver, Colorado Category:American Christians

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