Lostprophets were formed in 1997 in the Welsh town of Pontypridd (near Cardiff), initially by 2 members of Public Disturbance, drummer Ian Watkins and guitarist Mike Lewis (neither of whom immediately left Public Disturbance - Watkins quit the following year, and Lewis left in 2000). Watkins reverted to vocals, Lewis took care of bass, and they were joined by Lee Gaze on guitar, Mike Chiplin on drums and DJ Stepzak on turntables. Under the original spelling of their name (Lozt Prophetz), the band started performing on the South Wales hardcore scene, recording 2 demos during this time “Para Todas las Putas Celosas” (which translates as ‘for all the jealous whores’) and “The Fake Sound of Progress”. The band caught the attention of Kerrang! magazine, and were offered a gig in London, with independent label Visible Noise subsequently offering them an opportunity to record a single in 1999. The band spent most of 1999 working on new material with Stuart Richardson, who had joined as a bass player, with Mike Lewis moving to rhythm guitar. First album “Thefakesoundofprogress” was released through the label in November, but shortly after its completion, DJ Stepzak decided he wouldn’t commit to the band and was replaced with Jamie Oliver. Q Prime management (who represent acts such as Metallica) assisted the band in courting America's top major labels, and eventually, they chose to sign with Columbia, though in Europe their records continued to be released through Visible Noise. The band worked with producer Michael Barbiero to remaster the album, and the new version was released in November 2001 (and dedicated to Steve Cookson, a fan who died in a car crash en route to a Lostprophets gig).

After writing new material for second album “Start Something” at Frontline Studios in Caerphilly, Wales, they went to Los Angeles's Bigfoot Studio for a recording process that lasted from March until September 2003, overseen by with producer Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age, Good Charlotte). ”Start Something” was released in the UK in February 2004, achieving number 4 in the UK Albums Chart and selling 2.5 million copies worldwide.

In June 2005, Chiplin left the group to pursue other musical opportunities, has since joined another band called The Unsung, and has also opened up his own practice studio for young people to start bands. The remaining members began working on material for the next album. As with ”Start Something”, the band wrote and recorded demo tracks for the album (with Watkins playing the drums) in a UK recording studio before completing the album in America. “Liberation Transmission” was recorded in Hawaii, with drummer Josh Freese (The Vandals, A Perfect Circle) recording 10 out of the 12 drum tracks for this album (Ilan Rubin recorded “Everybody's Screaming” and “For All These Times Son, For All These Times”).The album itself was released in June 2006, and became their first number 1 in the UK album chart.