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Close To The Sun (album)
''Close to the Sun'' is the fourth album of the melodic hard rock project Place Vendome. The songwriting for this album was provided by Magnus Karlsson ( Primal Fear), Jani Liimatainen (Cain's Offering, ex-Sonata Arctica), Olaf Thörsen (Vision Divine, Labyrinth), Fabio Lione (Vision Divine, Angra, ex-Rhapsody of Fire), Simone Mularoni ( DGM), Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Voodoo Circle), Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere) and Mike Palace (Palace). This was the first Place Vendome album to feature guest guitar solos by Gus G (Firewind, Ozzy Osbourne), Kai Hansen (ex-Helloween, Gamma Ray, Unisonic), Mandy Meyer ( Krokus, ex-Asia, Unisonic), Alfred Koffler (Pink Cream 69), Magnus Karlsson, Simone Mularoni and Michael Klein. It was released on 24 February 2017 with cover art credited to Stanis W. Decker. Track listing Personnel Place Vendome * Michael Kiske – vocals * Dennis Ward – bass guitar, rhythm guitars, producer * Dirk Bruinenberg – drums * Gunther Werno – key ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Place Vendome (band)
Place Vendome is a German melodic hard rock / AOR project, founded in 2004 at the direction of Frontiers Records president Serafino Perugino. Place Vendome was formed by Helloween and Unisonic vocalist Michael Kiske, Dennis Ward (bass and production), Kosta Zafiriou (drums) and Uwe Reitenauer (guitars) from the band Pink Cream 69 and Gunther Werno (keyboards) from the band Vanden Plas. The project has released four full-length albums; '' Place Vendome'' in 2005, '' Streets of Fire'' in 2009, '' Thunder in the Distance'' in 2013 and '' Close to the Sun'' in 2017. History Debut album (2004–2005) Serafino Perugino devised the idea for the Place Vendome project during the winter of 2004. He approached both Michael Kiske and Dennis Ward with the proposition of recording a melodic rock/ AOR album. According to Kiske "The whole band was an idea of Serafino Perugino from Frontiers Records...He first got into contact with Dennis Ward of Pink Cream 69 and hired him to oversee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhapsody Of Fire
Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as Rhapsody) is an Italian symphonic power metal band formed by Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli, widely seen as a pioneer of the symphonic power metal subgenre. Since forming in 1993 as Thundercross, the band has released twelve studio albums, two live albums, three EPs, and a Live DVD. Rhapsody of Fire is known for its conceptual lyrics that constitute a fantasy story throughout all of their albums from 1997 to 2011. After using the moniker of Rhapsody for nearly ten years, the band changed its name to Rhapsody of Fire in 2006 due to trademark issues. In 2011, following the release of their album ''From Chaos to Eternity'' which concluded The Dark Secret Saga, and after 18 years as co-leader of the band, Turilli left Rhapsody of Fire (on good terms) to form a new Rhapsody band, Luca Turilli's Rhapsody, along with two other members who left with him, Dominique Leurquin, Patrice Guers. They describe their discography as a parallel continuation o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandy Meyer
Armand "Mandy" Meyer (born August 29 1960) is a Swiss-Canadian guitarist best known for being a member of the hard rock band Gotthard, the progressive rock band Asia, and the heavy metal band Krokus. Meyer has also worked with Cobra, Stealin' Horses and Katmandu. Early years Meyer was born August 29, 1960, in the town of Balcarres, Saskatchewan, Canada. The son of a Swiss dairy farmer and a Canadian mother, Meyer spent his first three years in Canada. After his parents were divorced his father took him back to Switzerland where he grew up in the house of his grandparents in Küssnacht am Rigi. Meyer started to play his first instrument, the marching drums, at the age of 9 becoming a member of the local marching drum club for the next seven years. At age 12, he began to study classical guitar and at the age of 15 formed his first local band Quarry performing at parties and local clubs. By 1978, Meyer was the lead vocalist and guitarist for Swiss group BM-Smith who issued the " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unisonic (band)
Unisonic was a German hard rock/power metal supergroup, founded on 10 November 2009 by Helloween singer Michael Kiske alongside Dennis Ward and Kosta Zafiriou from Pink Cream 69 and Mandy Meyer, formerly in Asia and Gotthard. In 2011 the band was joined by Gamma Ray leader and Helloween co-founder, Kai Hansen. The band released the EP ''Ignition'' and their first studio album '' Unisonic'' in 2012. The EP '' For The Kingdom'' and the second album '' Light of Dawn'' came out in 2014. Both studio albums have scored high entries in several international music charts. Unisonic is the first full studio collaboration between Kiske and Hansen since Helloween's albums '' Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I'' and ''Part II''. History Vocalist Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween), bassist Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69) and drummer Kosta Zafiriou (ex-Pink Cream 69) had already worked together in the AOR project Place Vendome. After the release of Place Vendome's second album, '' Streets of Fire'' in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamma Ray (band)
Gamma Ray is a German power metal band from Hamburg, founded and fronted by Kai Hansen after his departure from power metal band Helloween, in 1989. He is the band's lead vocalist, guitarist and chief songwriter. Between 1990 and 2014, Gamma Ray recorded eleven studio albums. Biography Formation In 1988, after four years with the German power metal band Helloween, guitarist and songwriter Kai Hansen decided to leave the group. Hansen claimed that Helloween had become too big for him to handle, although the group's troubles with financial issues and their record company, Noise Records, most likely played a part as well. He proceeded to do some studio work with German power metal band Blind Guardian and, in 1989, decided to form his own project with long-time friend Ralf Scheepers, former vocalist of the band Tyran Pace. This two-man project grew into a four-man band with the addition of Uwe Wessel on bass and Mathias Burchardt on drums. This was the first line-up of Gamma Ray, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helloween
Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Weikath and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. By the time Hansen quit Helloween in 1989 to form Gamma Ray, the band had evolved into a five-piece, with Michael Kiske taking over as lead vocalist. Schwichtenberg and Kiske both parted ways with Helloween in 1993; Schwichtenberg died two years later as the result of suicide. Between then and 2016, there had been numerous line-up changes, leaving Grosskopf and Weikath as the only remaining original members. As a septet, their current lineup includes four-fifths of the '' Keeper of the Seven Keys: Parts I'' and '' II''-era (1987–1988) lineup, featuring three additional members, vocalist Andi Deris (who had replaced Kiske in 1994), guitarist Sascha Gerstner and drummer Daniel Löble. Since its incepti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kai Hansen
Kai Michael Hansen (born 17 January 1963) is a German musician who is the founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray. He is also one of the co-founders of metal band Helloween, which he rejoined in 2016. He is a prominent figure in power metal and has sold millions of albums worldwide. He is regarded as "the godfather of power metal", having founded two seminal bands in the genre. In 2011, he joined the band Unisonic featuring former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske. Hansen and Kiske reunited with Helloween in 2017 for a world tour with all current members, celebrating the 30-year anniversary of release of the albums ''Keeper of the Seven Keys'' Parts I and II. Early life Kai Hansen was born in Hamburg in 1963. At the age of ten, Kai got interested in music and started playing wash-drums. His parents however, didn't like the noise and bought him an acoustic guitar instead. He took a six-months course in classical guitar and following it, formed his first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adopted the nickname "Prince of Darkness". Born and raised in Birmingham, Osbourne became a founding member of Black Sabbath in 1967, and sang on every album from their debut in 1970 to ''Never Say Die!'' in 1978. The band was highly influential on the development of heavy metal music, in particular their critically acclaimed releases ''Paranoid'', ''Master of Reality'' and ''Sabbath Bloody Sabbath''. Osbourne was fired from Black Sabbath in 1979 due to alcohol and drug problems, but went on to have a successful solo career, releasing 13 studio albums, the first seven of which received multi-platinum certifications in the US. Osbourne has since reunited with Black Sabbath on several occasions. He rejoined in 1997 and helped record the group ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firewind
Firewind is a Greek power metal band formed in Thessaloniki in 1998. The group is currently signed to Century Media Records and was originally a small project created by guitarist Gus G. to showcase his demo, ''Nocturnal Symphony'', in 1998. Firewind later became a full band over three years later when they recorded their debut album, '' Between Heaven and Hell''. To date, the band has released nine studio albums and has been met with international success. History Early history The band began in 1998 when the young Greek Gus G. decided to record a demo on a 4-track recorder with some close musician friends in the United States as Gus "briefly attended Berklee College of Music in Boston". The project was entitled Firewind, and was used as a showcase for Gus' guitar skills in an attempt to earn a professional recording deal. Gus G. was quoted as saying, "Firewind, the second Electric Sun album, that's where I got the band name fromR.Y.A.N. - Season 2, Episode 4: Gus G. The demo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gus G
Kostas Karamitroudis (born 12 September 1980), better known as Gus G, is a Greek heavy metal guitarist. He currently plays with his band Firewind. He has also played in Mystic Prophecy, Nightrage, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and Ozzy Osbourne's band. Biography Early life Konstantinos was born on 12 September 1980 in Thessaloniki. His father was a part-time singer who sang Greek folk music at bars and taverns. He was also a fan of rock music. He was introduced to bands like Pink Floyd, Santana and the Eagles by his father's album collections. Gus G was inspired to start playing guitar after listening to his father's copy of Peter Frampton's album ''Frampton Comes Alive''. Gus has stated, "Frampton Comes Alive, specifically, was the reason why I picked up the guitar and started playing He was drawn in particular by Frampton's use of the Talkbox. Gus stated, "I was like 8 or 9 years old and my dad had the vinyl at home and was playing that song 'Do You Feel Like We Do,' and w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secret Sphere
Secret Sphere is an Italian symphonic power metal band from Alessandria, formed by guitarist Aldo Lonobile in July 1997. History Early Years (1997–2011) Guitarist Aldo Lonobile formed Secret Sphere in July 1997. Early on, the band was influenced by hard rock, heavy metal, and classical music. After some lineup changes in December 1997, the band recorded their first demo, ''Between Story and Legend'', in September 1998. The style of the demo was firmly in the symphonic power metal genre that was expanding in Italy at that time. The demo caught the attention of the Italian progressive/power metal label Elevate Records, who signed the band to a two-album deal. In June 1999, Secret Sphere recorded the first full-length album, ''Mistress of the Shadowlight''. The album continued in the stylistic direction shown on ''Between Story and Legend'', and included re-recordings of a few songs from that demo. In October 2001, the band returned to New Sin studios (where the first alb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voodoo Circle
Voodoo Circle, also known as Alex Beyrodt's Voodoo Circle, is a German hard rock band founded in 2008, as a project of Silent Force guitarist Alex Beyrodt (currently also playing with heavy metal band Primal Fear) who had the idea to re-think his personal vision of music, making songs more based on his early influences, such as Whitesnake, Yngwie Malmsteen, Deep Purple and Rainbow. After the debut album called ''Alex Beyrodt's Voodoo Circle'', the project became a collaborative band, composed mainly of Alex Beyrodt on guitar together with vocalist David Readman (Pink Cream 69) and bassist Mat Sinner (Beyrodt's bandmate on bands Primal Fear, Sinner and Silent Force) with the addition of a keyboard player and a drummer. On 5 May 2016, after doing 4 albums and tours, it was announced that original vocalist David Readman was leaving the band to focus on other activities. He was replaced by Herbie Langhans (Beyond the Bridge, ex-Sinbreed, ex- Seventh Avenue). The band has gained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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