Anvil is a Canadian heavy metal band from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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, formed in 1978. The band currently consists of founding members

Steve "Lips" Kudlow Steven Barry "Lips" Kudlow (born March 2, 1956) is a Canadian musician, who is the guitarist and lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Anvil. He co-founded the band with drummer Robb Reiner in 1978, having played together since 1973. Early l ...

(vocals, guitar), Robb Reiner (drums), and Chris Robertson (bass). As of 2022, the band has released nineteen studio albums, and has been cited as having influenced many notable heavy metal groups, including

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

, Slayer, Anthrax, and

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

. Reviewers have described Anvil as a pioneering heavy metal band that was popular in the 1980s but then faded into obscurity in the 1990s, while refusing to stop playing, recording, and gigging. Anvil's antics on and off stage, the setbacks they suffered, and their determination to keep going have been compared to the fictional band Spinal Tap.

History

Formation (1973–1981)

Anvil began in April 1973 in

, when high school friends Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner began playing music together. They met through a friend, guitarist and neighbour Marty Hoffman, but "musical differences" caused his departure after their first show. In 1978, the first full line-up of the band included Kudlow (lead vocals, lead guitar), Reiner (drums), Dave "Squirrely" Allison (rhythm guitar), backing vocals), and Ian "Dix" Dickson (bass). At this point, the band was called Lips.

Success in the 1980s (1981–1989)

In 1981, the band released an independent album called '' Hard 'N' Heavy''. Shortly after, they were signed by

Attic Records Attic Records was a Canadian independent record label,Lemmy asked Kudlow to play guitar for

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

, to replace "Fast" Eddie Clarke, but Kudlow declined. By 1983, Aerosmith manager David Krebs and assistant Paul O'Neill had signed a managing contract with Anvil and convinced Attic to release the band from its contract, so the band could sign with a major label. However, after initial interest, Krebs eventually stopped returning phone calls and did not get the band a major label recording contract; he released the band in mid-1986. In 1987 the band was signed by American label

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

by William Howell, a fan who would become a DJ with

KNAC KBUE (105.5 FM, "Que Buena 105.5/94.3 FM") is a commercial radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In te ...

radio. The band released three records with Metal Blade, starting with ''

Strength of Steel ''Strength of Steel'' is the fourth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. It was released by Metal Blade and Enigma Records on May 21, 1987. It is the group's sole charting album in the United States, peaking at No. 191 on the ''Bi ...

'', which was the group's most commercially successful record in the United States, peaking at No. 191 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Obscurity (1990–2006)

In 1991, Anvil was signed by Mausoleum Records which, in 1992, released their sixth album ''

Worth the Weight ''Worth the Weight'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. It is Anvil's only release on Mausoleum Records and their only release with Sebastian Marino on guitar, replacing Dave Allison. Track listing Personnel ;Anvi ...

''. In 1996, they were signed by

Hypnotic Records Hypnotic Records is an American independent record label specializing in electronic music. History Hypnotic Records is the sub-label to Cleopatra Records Massacre Records Massacre Records is an independent record label based in Abstatt, Germany, that specializes in bands of the heavier genres of metal. The label was founded in 1991 by Torsten Hartmann. Connected to Massacre Records is the marketing and music w ...

in Germany. Hypnotic and Massacre released the albums, ''

Plugged in Permanent ''Plugged in Permanent'' is the seventh studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Anvil, released in 1996. The new official bass player was Glenn Gyorffy but studio bass tracks are credited to Mike Duncan, in his first and only release, replaci ...

'' (1996), ''

Absolutely No Alternative ''Absolutely No Alternative'' is the eighth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Anvil, released in 1997. It is the first release with Glenn "Five" Gyorffy on bass replacing Michael Duncan. Track listing Personnel ;Anvil * Steve "Lips ...

'' (1997), ''

Speed of Sound The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. At , the speed of sound in air is about , or one kilometre in or one mile in . It depends strongly on temperature as w ...

'' (1999), ''

Plenty of Power ''Plenty of Power'' is the tenth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Anvil, released in 2001. Track listing Personnel ;Anvil *Steve "Lips" Kudlow – vocals, lead guitar *Ivan Hurd – lead guitar *Glenn Five – bass *Robb Reiner – ...

'' (2001) and ''

Still Going Strong ''Still Going Strong'' is the eleventh studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Anvil, released in 2002. Track listing Personnel ;Anvil *Steve "Lips" Kudlow – vocals, lead guitar *Ivan Hurd – lead guitar *Glenn Five – bass *Robb Rein ...

'' (2002). These albums were not particularly well-received, and Kudlow stated that Anvil would not have continued had it not been for the German fans and the German contract, adding "We'll play gigs sometimes where there's no one there". In 1995, guitarist Sebastian Marino left the band to join Overkill. He was replaced by Ivan Hurd.

''Anvil! The Story of Anvil'' documentary, and ''This Is Thirteen'' (2006–2009)

In 2006, the band recorded with

Chris Tsangarides Christopher Andrew Tsangarides (17 August 1956 – 6 January 2018) was a British Grammy-nominated record producer, sound engineer, and mixer of Greek Cypriot origin. He was best known for his work with many heavy metal artists, including G ...

, who produced their acclaimed 1982 album ''

Metal on Metal ''Metal on Metal'' is the second studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Anvil, released in 1982. Reception In 2005, ''Metal on Metal'' was ranked number 441 in '' Rock Hard'' magazine's book of ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of A ...

''. After failing to find a new label, the album, ''

This Is Thirteen ''This Is Thirteen'' is the thirteenth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. The original release of ''This Is Thirteen'' has 13 tracks to coincide with the album title. Some tracks are included in the movie ''Anvil! The Story of ...

'', was self-released in 2007, and was available exclusively from the band's

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

. Guitarist Ivan Hurd left the band at this point to settle down with his new wife, Anvil's former tour manager Tiziana Arrigoni. In 2008, the band was the subject of the

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

Anvil! The Story of Anvil ''Anvil! The Story of Anvil'' is a 2008 Canadian rockumentary film about the Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. The film is directed by screenwriter Sacha Gervasi, in his directorial debut, and features interviews with other musicians who have be ...

'', directed by the screenwriter and former Anvil roadie

Sacha Gervasi Alexander Simon "Sacha" Gervasi''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (; born 1966) is a British director, screenwriter and former journalist. Early life Gervasi was born in London. His mother ...

. The film garnered critical acclaim from many major publications; ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' called it "the year's most praised rock doc." At the film's premiere, which took place at the 2008

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

, the band played "

Cat Scratch Fever ''Cat Scratch Fever'' is the third studio album by American rock musician Ted Nugent. It was released on May 13, 1977, by Epic Records. Vocalist Derek St. Holmes, who had left the band during the recording of the album ''Free-for-All'', had com ...

" with

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

and Anthrax's

Scott Ian Scott Ian (born Scott Ian Rosenfeld, December 31, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the thrash metal band Anthrax. Ian is the guitarist and a founding member of the crossover thrash band Stormtroo ...

. The high praise for the movie put Anvil back into the public consciousness, and brought the band opening slots with

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

and

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

, plus appearances at major festivals, including the

Download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...

Hellfest Hellfest (), also called Hellfest Summer Open Air, is a rock festival focusing on heavy metal music, held annually in June in Clisson, France. Its high attendance makes it the French music festival with the largest turnover. It is also one o ...

, Bumbershoot and

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

. Following the success of the Anvil documentary,

VH1 Classic MTV Classic (formerly VH1 Smooth, VH1 Classic Rock, and VH1 Classic) is an American pay television network owned by Paramount Media Networks. It was originally launched in 1998 as VH1 Smooth, an adult contemporary and smooth jazz channel. It w ...

Records re-released ''This Is Thirteen'' on CD and vinyl on September 15, 2009, with a newly recorded song, "Thumb Hang", which had been written by the band during the 1980s. The double-vinyl LP contains re-recorded versions of Anvil classics "Metal on Metal" and "666". In 2009,

Bantam Press Bantam Press is an imprint of Transworld Publishers which is a British publishing division of Penguin Random House. It is based on Uxbridge Road in Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the ...

released the book ''Anvil: The Story of Anvil'', authored by Kudlow and Reiner with a foreword by

. On March 28, 2009, Kudlow and Reiner were the featured guests on

That Metal Show ''That Metal Show'' is a talk show that premiered on VH1 Classic on November 15, 2008 and ended on May 9, 2015 with a span of 14 seasons. Hosted by Eddie Trunk, Don Jamieson and Jim Florentine, the series features three hosts interviewing musi ...

. Anvil played the Rocklahoma festival in

Pryor, Oklahoma Pryor Creek or Pryor''Oklahoma Atlas & Gazeteer,'' DeLorme, 1st Edition, 1998, p. 36 is a city in and county seat of Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 8,659 at the 2000 census and 9,539 in the 2010 census. Originally ...

in 2009, and opened for

at their first few summer

Black Ice World Tour The Black Ice World Tour was a 2008–2010 concert tour by Australian rock band AC/DC, in support of their fifteenth studio album ''Black Ice'', which was released on 20 October 2008. This tour had 8 legs around the world lasting more than 20 m ...

shows (North American leg II). They also supported

on a leg of UK shows in November. Anvil appeared on ''

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, as part of NBC's ''Tonight Show'' franchise. O'Brien had previously hosted NBC's ''Late N ...

'' on October 6, 2009, the first network television appearance of their career, to coincide with the release of ''Anvil! The Story Of Anvil'' on DVD in North America; on the show, the band performed "Metal on Metal". On October 8, 2009, Anvil filmed a cameo performance in a rock club for ''

The Green Hornet The Green Hornet is a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell. Since his 1930s radio debut, the character has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of med ...

''.

2010–present

From June to July 2010, Anvil went on a tour of Europe, selling out venues in the UK, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands, as well as festivals in Finland, Sweden, France, Italy and Germany. The band released '' Juggernaut of Justice'', their 14th studio album, on May 10, 2011, care of

The End Records The End Records is a record label in Manhattan that specializes in rock, heavy metal, indie, and electronic music. Early years (1998–2005) The End Records was founded by Andreas Katsambas in Pasadena, California, with the goal of helping ...

. Following the release of the album the band completed yet more tours in Europe and North America, often playing alongside artists such as

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

and

. The band released a new greatest hits album '' Monument of Metal: The Very Best of Anvil''. Anvil also started re-releasing their old material, starting with ''

'', ''

Pound For Pound Pound for pound is a ranking used in combat sports, such as boxing, wrestling, or mixed martial arts, of who the better fighters are irrespective of their weight, i.e. adjusted to compensate for weight class. As these fighters do not compete direc ...

'', and ''

'' later that same year. In January 2012, bassist Glenn Gyorffy quit Anvil, citing creative differences. He was replaced by Sal Italiano, late of

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

tribute band

Live After Death ''Live After Death'' is a live album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, originally released in October 1985 on EMI in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in the US (it was re-released by Sanctuary/Columbia Records in the US in 200 ...

. Anvil embarked on a 2012 Winter Tour of the US and, in May 2013, released ''

Hope in Hell ''Hope in Hell'' is the fifteenth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. It was released in 2013 on May 24 in Germany, May 27 in the rest of Europe, and May 28 in North America. The album was produced by Bob Marlette, who, according t ...

'', a studio recording produced by

Bob Marlette Robert Roy Marlette (born December 7, 1955) is an American record producer, recording engineer, mixer, and songwriter. His production, writing and mixing credits include David Lee Roth, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Sebastian Bach, R ...

. Kudlow said that in some songs he was inspired by his love of heavy rock'n'roll, which made him feel he "found his way home", to the time when they did their first record. In an interview with The Drummer's Journal, Lips outlined how the record was written "as if it was 1983 again." At this point, the band had signed with Steamhammer, which would release its next two albums. Anvil toured to promote the new album; they opened for

in Singapore, played

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...

in Germany, swung through Australia and, in 2014, went on an extensive US tour. In 2014, Raven Banner Entertainment released ''Louder Than Hell: Wacken, The Movie'', a collector's edition DVD of the Wacken concert, featuring

, Anthrax, Anvil, Annihilator,

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Roll ...

, Lamb of God,

Rammstein Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, ...

and

Trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but t ...

. Also in 2014, Anvil parted ways with Sal Italiano and replaced him with Chris Robertson, who was already acting as the band's rehearsal bassist and a member of their road crew. The album ''

Anvil Is Anvil ''Anvil Is Anvil'' is the sixteenth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. It was produced by Martin Pfeiffer and was released on February 26, 2016. It is the first Anvil album to feature bassist Chris Robertson. Track listing ...

'' was released on February 26, 2016; the band toured Europe and Japan in support of it. Anvil continued touring as its seventeenth album, ''

Pounding the Pavement ''Pounding the Pavement'' is the seventeenth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. It was released on January 19, 2018, through Steamhammer. Track listing Personnel Musicians * Steve "Lips" Kudlow Steven Barry "Lips" Kudl ...

,'' was released on January 19, 2018. Anvil's 18th album, ''Legal at Last'', was released on February 14, 2020, by

AFM Records AFM Records GmbH is a music label based in Schwalmstadt, Germany. They focus on the heavy metal musical genre, signing bands such as U.D.O., Doro, Lordi, Kotipelto, Masterplan, Nostradameus, and Annihilator. In 2005, Candlelight Records si ...

. On May 20th 2022, Anvil's 19th album ''Impact Is Imminent'' was released''.''

Members

Current

– guitars, lead vocals (1978–present) * Robb "Robbo" Reiner – drums (1978–present) * Chris Robertson – bass, backing vocals (2014–present)

Former

* Dave "Squirrely" Allison – guitars, backing vocals (1978–1989) * Ian "Dix" Dickson – bass (1978–1993) * Sebastian Marino – guitars (1989–1995) * Mike Duncan – bass (1993–1996) * Ivan Hurd – guitars (1995–2007) * Glenn "Glenn Five" Gyorffy – bass, backing vocals (1996–2012) * Sal Italiano – bass (2012–2014)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Hard 'n' Heavy'' (1981, Attic Records) * ''

'' (1982, Attic Records) * '' Forged in Fire'' (1983, Attic Records) * ''

'' (1987, Metal Blade Records, Enigma Records) * ''

Pound for Pound Pound for pound is a ranking used in combat sports, such as boxing, wrestling, or mixed martial arts, of who the better fighters are irrespective of their weight, i.e. adjusted to compensate for weight class. As these fighters do not compete direc ...

'' (1988, Metal Blade Records, Enigma Records) * ''

'' (1992, Maximum Records) * ''

'' (1996, Hypnotic Records) * ''

'' (1997, Massacre Records) * ''

'' (1999, Massacre Records) * ''

'' (2001, Massacre Records) * ''

'' (2002, Massacre Records) * '' Back to Basics'' (2004, Massacre Records) * ''

'' (2007, self-released) * '' Juggernaut of Justice'' (2011, The End Records) * ''

'' (2013, Steamhammer) * ''

'' (2016, Steamhammer) * ''

'' (2018, Steamhammer) * '' Legal at Last'' (2020, AFM Records) * ''Impact Is Imminent'' (2022, AFM Records)

Live albums

* ''

Past and Present – Live in Concert ''Past and Present – Live in Concert'' is the first live album by Canadian heavy metal band Anvil, released in 1989. Track listing Personnel ;Anvil *Steve "Lips" Kudlow – vocals, lead guitar *Dave Allison – rhythm guitar *Ian Dickson � ...

'' (1989, Metal Blade Records, Roadracer Records)

Compilation albums

* ''

Backwaxed ''Backwaxed'' is a compilation album by the Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. It is a compilation which features five unreleased tracks recorded during sessions for previous albums on side one, and five previously released tracks on side two. I ...

'' (1985, Viper Records) * ''Molten Masterpieces'' (1989, Attic Records) * ''Massacre's Classix Shape Edition'' (1999, Massacre Records) * '' Anthology of Anvil'' (2000, Hypnotic Records) * '' Monument of Metal'' (2011, The End Records)

Singles & EPs

* ''School Love'' (1981, Polydor Records) * ''Anvil'' (1982, self-produced) * ''Stop Me/Tease Me, Please Me'' (1982, Attic Records) * ''Metal on Metal'' (1982, Attic Records) * ''Forged in Fire'' (1983, Attic Records) * ''Make It Up to You'' (1983, Attic Records) * ''Blood on the Ice'' (1988, Metal Blade Records, Enigma Records) * ''Juggernaut of Justice'' (2011, The End Records) * ''Daytrotter Session'' (2012, Daytrotter) * ''Hope in Hell'' (2013, Steamhammer) * ''Flying'' (2013, Steamhammer) * ''Mankind Machine'' (2013, Steamhammer) * ''Nabbed in Nebraska'' (2019, AFM Records) * ''Legal at Last'' (2019, AFM Records)

Other media

;Books * ''Anvil: The Story of Anvil'' by Steve Kudlow and Robb Reiner (Foreword by

) Bantam Press (March 13, 2009) ;Film * ''

'', a documentary by

, filmed from late 2005 to 2007.

References

External links

* *
2013 Anvil interview
with The Drummer's Journal {{DEFAULTSORT:Anvil Canadian heavy metal musical groups Canadian speed metal musical groups Musical groups from Toronto Musical groups established in 1978 Attic Records (Canada) artists Articles which contain graphical timelines 1978 establishments in Ontario Canadian thrash metal musical groups