Prime, known in North America as Prime STH (S.T.H. for Stockholm), were a Swedish

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

quartet from

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. The band, which included vocalist Noa Modén, guitarist Martin Påhlsson, bassist Jesper Eksjoo, and drummer Kasper Lindgren, was formed while the members were teenagers. They have released two studio albums: ''Underneath the Surface'' (2001) and ''Beautiful Awakening'' (2004). Their most popular song "I'm Stupid (Don't Worry 'Bout Me)", a single from ''Underneath the Surface'', was written by

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic known professional ...

and reached the top 30 of the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...

and

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

charts.

Career

2001: ''Underneath the Surface''

On 26 June 2001, the band released their debut album, ''Underneath the Surface'', on

Giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

In the United States, it was released the week of 9 July 2001, by

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Green Day, En ...

. The album received generally mixed reviews from music critics, holding a score of 60 out of 100 on review aggregator Album of the Year. A review by Devon Powers of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

praised the album's range and called it "not your little sister’s alternative rock band". ''

Slant Slant can refer to: Bias *Bias or other non- objectivity in journalism, politics, academia or other fields Technical * Slant range, in telecommunications, the line-of-sight distance between two points which are not at the same level * Slant ...

'' critic Aaron Scott awarded the album two stars out of five and criticized the way that the album "straddles the line between pop and hard rock", although praising the album's catchiness. The album also spawned the single "I'm Stupid (Don't Worry 'Bout Me)", which was written by

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic known professional ...

. On the ''Billboard''

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

chart dated 2 June 2001, the single debuted at number 40, while it debuted at number 38 on the

chart the following week. On the chart dated 21 July 2001, the track attained a peak of number 28 on Mainstream Rock, holding the spot for three weeks, while the following week, 28 July 2001, it would peak at 27 on Modern Rock. In March 2003, Prime STH played at

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

's historic

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

club for a two-day showcase of Swedish artists titled "The Swedish Invasion Continues ... 2003".

2004: ''Beautiful Awakening''

The band released their second studio album, ''Beautiful Awakening'', in March 2004 in Scandinavia via Swedish label MVG/Push Music. It was released in the rest of Europe on 4 April via German label

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...

, while it was released in Japan on 5 September via Wood Records. As of October 2004, ''Billboard'' reported that they were looking for distribution for the album in the United States.

Members

Adapted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

and

. * Noa Modén — vocalist, guitarist * Martin Påhlsson — guitarist * Jesper Eksjoo (JSPR) — bassist * Kasper Lindgren (Kaz) — drummer

Discography

Albums

* ''Underneath the Surface'', (26 June 2001 release on

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

) * ''Beautiful Awakening'', (5 April 2004 release on

)

Singles

*2001, "I'm Stupid (Don't Worry 'Bout Me)", U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs No. 28; U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 28

References

External links

Prime STH on MySpace
* Swedish alternative metal musical groups Nuclear Blast artists Musical groups from Stockholm {{Sweden-band-stub