He rejoined in 2000 and left again eight years later; he was first replaced by Kory Clarke and then by current vocalist Kyle Thomas, who had also filled in for Wagner during his initial absence from Trouble.

[7] Trouble was formed in 1981 by Rick Wartell and was joined by guitarist Bruce Franklin, vocalist Eric Wagner, bassist Tim Ian Brown (not to be confused with lead singer of English band The Stone Roses), and drummer Jeff Olson.

[9] "I was brought up Catholic", vocalist and primary lyric writer Wagner explains in the liner notes of Psalm 9 re-issue (2006), "but you have to remember, back in the early 1980s, all the metal was kind of satanic, and I did not get into that vibe."

But after the album failed to connect with a wider audience, the band was ultimately dropped by their record company, which was experiencing financial problems.

[8] The band issued Plastic Green Head through the Music for Nations label in 1995,[8] with the return of founding drummer Jeff Olson.

On January 26, 2002, Wagner, Franklin, Wartell, Holzner, and Olson performed a short set in Chicago where during their smoking rendition of Black Sabbaths' Children of The Grave with Scott Davidson sitting in on the drums, the P.A.

Since that time, the band has played individual gigs throughout the Chicago area and headlined metal festivals in Europe and the U.S. while working on a new album.

In February 2004, Dave Grohl of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters released a tribute album that paid homage to his metal roots.

[18] In a September 2008 interview with Rock N Roll Experience, guitarist Rick Wartell mentioned that Trouble had written "eight or nine songs" for their next album, and would begin recording it after touring.

Also in February 2012, two original members of Trouble — vocalist Eric Wagner and drummer Jeff Olson — joined forces with the band's longtime bassist Ron Holzner in a new heavy rock/doom metal act called The Skull.

According to a statement on the band's Facebook page, "The Skull is here to do one thing... rock you with the sounds and spirit of Trouble — past, present, future.

Their use of slow tempos was notable at a time when NWOBHM and thrash metal bands were increasingly incorporating fast-picking and speed into their songwriting.

From Manic Frustration onwards, more lyrical references have been made to psychedelia, drugs, and hallucinations;[11] "Hello Strawberry Skies" and "Mr. White" stand out as two examples.

[31] Unlike other metal acts of the 1980s, Trouble's members dress in ripped jeans, tight T-shirts, wear round sunglasses and have fringes and outfit accessories more characteristic of the hippie movement such as bandanas and knee patches.

[32] Problems with both the Metal Blade and Def American labels made it impossible for Trouble to achieve large commercial success.

[33] However, Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic wrote that "their preservation efforts nevertheless rescued metal's original blueprint from disuse, and carved it in granite for subsequent exploration by each new generation of doom bands that followed.

A famous story states that James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett of Metallica entered Trouble's stage after a concert, trying to figure out how their amplifiers were set to produce their unique sound.

[36] The following album Run to the Light, however, was said to be "disappointing",[9] but a different direction was taken during the Def American era, when Rick Rubin helped the band to develop a new, unique style.

[9] The 1995's Plastic Green Head received good reviews and "the album's songs also exuded a palpable sense of wary acceptance.