Strange Advance is a Canadian new wave band formed in 1982 in Vancouver, British Columbia. They were nominated for a 1983 Juno Award as Most Promising Group of the Year and again in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

as Group of the Year. Their first two albums, 1982's ''Worlds Away'''''' and 1985's ''

2WO ''2WO'' is the second studio album by Canadian new wave band Strange Advance released in February, 1985. It featured two hit Canadian singles, "We Run" and "The Second That I Saw You". Along with their first album, this was a Canadian gold re ...

'', were Canadian gold selling records.

History

1982–1995: Formation and Canadian popularity

Strange Advance was initially made up of Drew Arnott (keyboards, percussion, vocals), Darryl Kromm (lead vocals, guitars), and Paul Iverson (bass). The three met in Vancouver and founded the group in 1980. Initially called Metropolis, they changed their name after discovering a band in Germany using " Metropolis". The group's first album, '' Worlds Away'' featured the title track, "Worlds Away", which saw modest airplay in North American markets in 1983. The album was produced by

Bruce Fairbairn Bruce Earl Fairbairn (December 30, 1949 – May 17, 1999) was a Canadian record producer. He was active as a producer from 1976 to 1999, and is considered one of the best of his era. His most successful productions are ''Slippery When Wet'' an ...

, known for his work with

Loverboy Loverboy is a Canadian rock band formed in 1979 in Calgary, Alberta. Loverboy's hit singles, particularly " Turn Me Loose" and "Working for the Weekend", have become arena rock staples and are still heard on many classic rock and classic hits r ...

and Prism, but featured a very different sound from those groups. Rather than commercial

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

, Strange Advance's music was a fusion of progressive rock and new wave, with a heavy reliance on synthesizers and keyboards. Iverson left the group after the first album and was not replaced. The group's 1985 album ''

'' also went gold in Canada and was produced by Arnott, using an extensive array of session players, and brought the band their first big Canadian hit with "We Run". Strange Advance had never played a live gig prior to 1985, so Arnott and Kromm added musicians Ric deGroot (keyboards), Ian Cameron (guitar, violin), Joey Alvero (bass) and David Quinton (drums) to the line-up as session players, and supported the first two albums with a tour of Eastern Canada. Strange Advance's third album, 1988's '' The Distance Between'' also used well-known session musicians (including Randy Bachman and

Allan Holdsworth Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British jazz fusion and progressive rock guitarist and composer. Holdsworth was known for his esoteric and idiosyncratic usage of advanced music theory concepts, especially with respe ...

), and produced the top 20 single "Love Becomes Electric". Following this album's release, the group became essentially inactive. Arnott stated in 2021 that other music genres such as

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

were gaining popularity, and he wasn't interested in changing the group's sound. In 1995, the Strange Advance compilation album ''Worlds Away & Back'' featured a mix of previously released material, outtakes, remixes, demos, and three newly recorded tracks—one from 1991, and two from 1995.

2016–present: Remastering and reunion

On 24 June 2016, '' The Distance Between'' was remastered and re-released on CD with two bonus tracks, an extended club mix of "Love Becomes Electric" and the previously unreleased song, "Flow My Tears". In December 2018, '' Worlds Away'' was remastered and re-released on CD with two bonus tracks, the UK Dance Mix of "Love Games" (transferred from vinyl) and the b-side to "She Controls Me" – "Lost in Your Eyes". This marked the first time their debut has seen a CD release of any kind, despite the albums' popularity. This release is only available in the Philippines, on the Sound Philosophy label, which is a new boutique label for titles not released on CD. This version appears to be sourced from the master tapes. On 17 September 2018, Drew Arnott announced a crowdfunding campaign on Facebook to finance a summer 2019 Strange Advance reunion tour. The fundraising was successful, and the band (minus Kromm) planned to perform in 2019 for the Radical Orbits Tour. Unfortunately, due to cancellations and delays, the tour was rescheduled to 2021.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Worlds Away'' (1982) *''

'' (1985) *'' The Distance Between'' (1988) *''4'' (2021)

Compilation albums

*''Over 60 Minutes with... Strange Advance'' (1987) *''Worlds Away & Back'' (1995)

Music video compilations

*''Strange Advance'' (1985)

Singles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strange Advance 1982 establishments in British Columbia 1995 disestablishments in British Columbia Canadian new wave musical groups Canadian synthpop groups Capitol Records artists Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups disestablished in 1995 Musical groups from Vancouver Musical groups reestablished in 2019