Originally operating under the moniker Cryptic Warning, Boston, Massachusetts extreme metal trio Revocation emerged in the mid-2000s armed with a super-technical thrash/death metal-style prizing virtuosity as much as heaviness and aggression. As Cryptic Warning, the band found favor with the metal underground via a pair of well-received demos and a full-length…
Slade may have never truly caught on with American audiences (often narrow-mindedly deemed "too British-sounding"), but the group became a sensation in their homeland with their anthemic brand of glam rock in the early '70s, as they scored a staggering 11 Top Five hits in a four-year span from 1971 to 1974 (five of which topped the charts)…
4 Non Blondes howled their way onto the charts in 1993 with "What's Up?" and then vanished without a whisper. Formed in 1989 with Linda Perry (vocals), Shaunna Hall (guitar), Christa Hillhouse (bass), and Wanda Day (drums), 4 Non Blondes had no problems attracting major labels based on live shows and local radio support from KUSF, but the labels didn't know how to market them. After Day was replaced by Dawn Richardson, the group was eventually signed to Interscope Records and released Bigger, Better, Faster, More? in 1992. Although Hall contributed guitar tracks and some songs, she left before the album was released (replaced by Roger Rocha for the tour). Dominated by Perry's high-pitched singing, "What's Up?" was slowly added to modern rock stations and then crossed over into the mainstream, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Top 200…
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "the Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop rock, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists…
Rainbow (also known as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow or Blackmore's Rainbow) are a British rock band led by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. Estabilished in 1975…
Spock's Beard began in 1992 when brothers Neal (lead vocals) and Al Morse (guitar) teamed up with drummer Nick D'Virgilio. After self-financing their first album, bassist Dave Meros joined, and The Light was recorded in 1994. Consisting of four lengthy songs, this debut album was well received by progressive rock fans, but received little public acclaim…
Life Line Project is a project in the true meaning of the word. It is build around one musician, Erik de Beer, either playing all instruments himself or contracting all the necessary vocalists or players according to the needs of the work in progress. Born in The Hague, Holland Erik started to play the guitar when he was 14 years old and keyboard at the age of 16. Right from the start his preference was symphonic rock. Erik started his studies at the conservatory for music in 1977 and finished them in 1983. He now works as a guitar & keyboard teacher. He started his first symphonic rock band J.S. Quasar in 1975 in which he played both keyboards and lead guitar. After some short stays in several bands Erik founded keyboard-dominated power-rock trio Brancard in 1979…
Although this instrumental fusion band has been around since 1992, they only released their first album eight years later and, my oh my, was it ever worth the wait! Imagine King Crimson, UK, The Mahavisnhu Orchestra and early Jean-Luc Ponty all rolled into one plus some discrete traditional Japanese references. Powered by the violin, KBB's music is dynamic, playful, intense and complex, yet melodic and surprisingly accessible. The band includes an exceptional violinist named Akihisa Tsuboy who also plays cellolin and guitar in addition to composing most of the material. The other members are keyboard player Toshimitsu Takahashi, bassist-guitarist Dani and drummer Shirou Sugano. All four musicians are extremely proficient.
While much of Europe was winding down out of the progressive rock era and heading to safer grounds while the flood of punk and disco sounds were trumpeting around the world, the Swiss band CIRCUS continued to swim upstream by cranking out some of the most complex sounds of the entire 1970s. While forming in 1972 in Basel, the band nurtured its intelligently designed art form to the point the four members of Marco Cerletti (bass, bass pedals, guitar, backing vocals), Andreas Grieder (flute, alto saxophone, backing vocals, tambourine), Roland Frei (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, saxophone) and Fritz Hauser (drums, vibraphone, percussion) succeed in carving out an utterly distinct niche within the prog universe that to this day still sounds like no other.
Originally formed in Yorkshire, England, in 1966, Smokie hit the British pop charts several times during the late '70s with updated psychedelic pop, influenced by the band's stay on Mickie Most's Rak Records as well as the writers of most of the band's hit material, Rak's Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman…