Impellitteri (band)
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Impellitteri is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles formed and led by guitarist
Chris Impellitteri Chris Impellitteri (born September 25, 1964) is the American lead guitarist and founder of the heavy metal band Impellitteri. Impellitteri is heralded as one of the greatest guitar shredders. He has won Best Rock Guitarist awards on several ma ...
, vocalist Rob Rock, and bassist James Amelio Pulli. The band has sold millions of albums worldwide.


History

Chris Impellitteri Chris Impellitteri (born September 25, 1964) is the American lead guitarist and founder of the heavy metal band Impellitteri. Impellitteri is heralded as one of the greatest guitar shredders. He has won Best Rock Guitarist awards on several ma ...
formed Impellitteri together with vocalist Rob Rock in Los Angeles, California. They first released an EP simply titled ''Impellitteri'' in 1987. The EP features heavy metal with classically influenced shredding guitar solos, screaming vocals, speed metal drumming and aggressive bass. It features songs like "Lost in the Rain" and "Burning" of which quickly gained the attention of heavy metal fans and musicians around the world. During the release of the EP, many major Media outlets began to cover Impellitteri in their magazines including '' Kerrang!'', ''
Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...
'', '' Circus'', and '' Burrn!''. After the release of the EP, Impellitteri regrouped, this time with British vocalist Graham Bonnet as lead singer, and released an album titled ''
Stand in Line ''Stand in Line'' is the first studio album by heavy metal band Impellitteri, released in 1988 through Relativity Records;Gomes, Whitney Z"Stand in Line - Impellitteri" ''AllMusic''. RhythmOne. Retrieved August 7, 2020. a remastered edition was ...
'' in 1988.
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
played Impellitteri's music video for "Stand in Line" in its rotation, and Chris Impellitteri was a guest host on MTV's ''
Headbangers Ball ''Headbangers Ball'' is a music television program that consisted of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more obs ...
''. Fans voted Impellitteri a "Smash" on MTV's ''Smash or Trash'' show. The album charted in Billboards Top 100 and remained there for over five months. To date, the song "Stand in Line" has become a fan favorite globally. After touring in support of the ''Impellitteri'' EP and "Stand in Line", the band returned to the studio and reunited with original vocalist Rob Rock. They quickly recorded and released another EP titled ''Victim of the System'' (1993), which was produced by Mike Tacci who was the assistant engineer on
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 ...
's Black Album (1991). ''Victim of the System'' was highly influenced by the band Queen. Following ''Victim of the System'', they released ''
Answer to the Master ''Answer to the Master'' (1994) is the third full-length studio album by Impellitteri. Track listing *All lyrics by Rob Rock, except where noted. All music by Chris Impellitteri. # "The Future Is Black" — 3:42 # "Fly Away" — 4:03 # "Warrior" ...
'' in late 1994. To date, this album features many fan-favorite songs like "Warrior", "Fly Away", and the album title track "Answer to the Master". In 1996, Impellitteri released ''Screaming Symphony'', with Chris Impellitteri winning the '' Burrn!'' magazine Readers Poll Award for "Best Rock Guitarist". The record was mixed by Michael Wagener who had produced Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne before. The ''Screaming Symphony'' features songs such as "Rat Race" and "17th Century Chicken Pickin", which are played frequently during live concerts. In 2000, Impellitteri released the album ''Crunch''. Crunch was the first record where the band started to occasionally use
drop tunings Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitches to the open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. Tunings are described by the particular pitches that are made by notes in Western music. B ...
in combination with their brand of shred metal. The album featured songs like "Beware of the Devil", "Slay the Dragon", and "Speed Demon". In addition, the band recorded a ballad titled "Forever Yours". Shortly after ''Crunch'', Rob Rock decided to pursue a solo career. Impellitteri again recruited Graham Bonnet and began working on their next album titled ''System X'', released in 2002. The album was mixed by
Andrew Murdock Andrew Murdock (born January 24, 1962), also known as Mudrock, is an American record producer specializing in rock and metal genres. He is best known for producing Godsmack's ''Godsmack'' and ''Awake'' albums. More recently, Murdock has produc ...
. That year they also released a compilation of hits called ''The Very Best of Impellitteri: Faster Than the Speed of Light'' (2002). In May 2008, it was announced that Rob Rock was, once again, back with Impellitteri. They collaborated on a new album called ''
Wicked Maiden Impellitteri is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles formed and led by guitarist Chris Impellitteri, vocalist Rob Rock, and bassist James Amelio Pulli. The band has sold millions of albums worldwide. History Chris Impellitteri f ...
'' (2009) with a working title of ''Good and Evil''. ''Wicked Maiden'' was released in Japan and Europe on February 24, 2009, with the intent of releasing the new album in the United States in 2011, followed by the Impellitteri Shredfest tour. In 2015, Impellitteri recorded, released, and toured behind their next album '' Venom''. They performed on the headlining stage at Rock Fest Barcelona alongside bands such as Iron Maiden. They also headlined shows such as the Busan Rock Festival in South Korea. In 2018/2019, Impellitteri released their newest album ''The Nature of the Beast''. The album features songs like "Run for Your Life", "Masquerade", and "Wonderworld", as well as two cover songs ( Black Sabbath's "Symptom of the Universe" and
Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...
's " The Phantom of the Opera").


Beliefs

As far as Christian metal ties, Impellitteri (the band) does not consider themselves to be a
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
band. Rob Rock said the following in an interview:


Band members

Current *
Chris Impellitteri Chris Impellitteri (born September 25, 1964) is the American lead guitarist and founder of the heavy metal band Impellitteri. Impellitteri is heralded as one of the greatest guitar shredders. He has won Best Rock Guitarist awards on several ma ...
– guitars (1987–90, 1992–present), bass (1987) *James Amelio Pulli – bass (1992–present) * Rob Rock – lead vocals (1987–1988, 1992–2000, 2008–present) *Patrick Johansson – drums (2018-present, touring 2016) Former * Graham Bonnet – lead vocals (1988–1990, 2000–2002) *Mark Weitz – lead vocals (1990) *Curtis Skelton – lead vocals(2003–2008) *Ted Days – bass (1987–1988) *
Chuck Wright Chuck Wright (born September 13, 1959) is an American bassist, best known as a member of the hard rock/heavy metal band Quiet Riot. He originally joined Quiet Riot in 1982, playing bass on the tracks " Metal Health (Bang Your Head)" and "Don' ...
– bass (1988, 1992) *
Dave Spitz Dave "The Beast" Spitz (born February 22, 1958) is an American musician best known for having played bass guitar for the heavy metal group Black Sabbath from 1985 to 1987, appearing on the albums ''Seventh Star'' and being credited for (but not ...
– bass (1988–1990) *Loni Silva – drums (1987–1988) * Pat Torpey – drums (1988; died 2018) * Stet Howland – drums (1988–1990) * Ken Mary – drums (1992, 1994–1999) *Mark Bistany – drums (1992–1994) *Phil Wolfe – keyboards (1988–1990) * Claude Schnell – keyboards (1990, 1993) *Ed Roth – keyboards (1995–2007) * Glen Sobel – drums (1999–2009) *Brandon Wild – drums (2009–2012) *Jon Dette – drums (2012–2018) Timeline


Discography


References

* *


Footnotes


External links

* Impellitteri biography by Steve Huey, discography, album reviews, credits & releasesat AllMusic.com
Impellitteri discography, album releases & credits
at
Discogs.com Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the l ...

Impellitteri albums to be listened
as stream at Play.Spotify.com {{Authority control Heavy metal musical groups from California Musical groups established in 1987 Musical groups disestablished in 1990 Musical groups reestablished in 1992 Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical quintets Frontiers Records artists