"One of many bands to capitalize on the nu-metal genre at the tail end of the ‘90s and start of the ‘00s, Alien Ant Farm turned out an impressive number of hits at the height of the craze, most notably their cover of Michael Jackson's ""Smooth Criminal."" Though they found a dedicated audience in college and high school listeners, nu-metal was on its decline not long after their debut, ANThology, was issued, and they quickly dropped below the radar.The band formed in Riverside in 1995, with singer and songwriter Dryden Mitchell becoming their charismatic frontman, Terry Corso providing guitar, Tye Zamora playing bass and Mike Cosgrove pounding the skins. At first, the band was just a hobby, something to tie the friends together and let them blow off some steam at the end of the day. But they found themselves gathering steam instead-their songs were attracting attention, and an independent debut release, audaciously titled Greatest Hits, was issued at the end of the ‘90s. It won Best Independent Album at the Los Angeles Music Awards, earning them exposure and a new friend in the form of another nu-metal band named after an insect, Papa Roach. Through Roach's label they earned a major label release entitled ANThology, which rocketed up to a peak position of 11 on the Billboard 200 and scored a major hit with ""Smooth Criminal."" The cover was a number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, and earned airplay that canvassed MTV.A string of bad fortune dampened their success. The band was involved in a horrible car accident while touring in Spain, suffering injuries but surviving the crash. Their label, Dreamworks, fell apart just as they released a 2003 follow-up, meaning it received little promotion and was largely ignored.In 2006, their third record, Up in the Attic, peaked at 114 on the Billboard charts, proof the band's popularity had faded."