Joshua is a

Christian metal Christian metal, also known as white metal, Jesus metal or heavenly metal, is heavy metal music distinguished by its Christian themed song lyrics and the dedication of the band members to Christianity. Christian metal is typically performed by ...

band that formed in 1980. The band has re-formed under three namesJoshua, M Pire, and Joshua Perahiabut has remained centered on guitarist Joshua Perahia. Despite being based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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, they are best known outside of the United States. Their best-known song, "November Is Going Away" (1983), was a No. 1 hit in Japan.

History

The band's first release was entitled ''The Hand Is Quicker Than the Eye'', which referred to Perahia's guitar skills and songwriting ability. Released by

Enigma Records Enigma Records (also known as Enigma Entertainment Corporation) was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. History Enigma Records launched as a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/d ...

in 1983, the single "November Is Going Away" was the band's biggest hit, achieving No. 1 status in Japan. Frontman Perahia had a religious experience at a

Hal Lindsey Harold Lee Lindsey (born November 23, 1929) – known as Hal Lindsey – is a best-selling American evangelical writer. He is a Christian Zionist, a dispensationalist and a television host. He wrote a series of popular apocalyptic books – beg ...

–lead Bible study in 1983, and converted to

Protestant Christianity Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

from his

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...

upbringing. Perahia put together a new band for ''Surrender'' that included singer Jeff Fenholt. ''Surrender'' was released in 1985. Lyrically, the album marked a change in the band's style to lyrics which were evangelical and confrontational in nature.

Rob Rock Robert Rock (born June 29, 1959) is an American heavy metal singer who is best known as the longtime frontman of Impellitteri, a position he has held from 1987 to 1988, 1992 to 2000, and now from 2008 to the present day. Rock has also released ...

was involved with their third RCA Record album as Joshua, ''Intense Defense''. In 1988, ''Intense Defense'', which was recorded at Dierks Studios and produced by Frank Mono, was characterized by the editor of ''HM Magazine'' as being "probably the best AOR melodic metal album in the universe." It sold well worldwide, but not in the United States. Following ''Intense'', Perahia reformed the band as Jaguar. Jaguar included Robert Basauri (Robyn Kyle) on vocals, Joe Tafoya on drums, and Bryan Fleming on bass. The band changed members while entertaining record deals and never released material under this name. In 1995, the group re-formed as M Pire. They released one album under this name, ''Chapter One'', though it was never released in the US. The band then expanded its name, to Joshua Perahia. The addition of Joshua's last name was to avoid confusion as so many bands were using the name Joshua. Perahia states "We went back (from MPire to Joshua) to re-fire.... re-ignite what we had before." The band lacked a permanent vocalist and hired

Alex Ligertwood Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple peop ...

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to fill the spot on ''Something to Say''. However, while in production, the band recruited Jerry Gabriel and re-recorded the vocals. As a result, the album (except four tracks) contains Gabriel's lead vocals, and Ligertwood's vocals are available in the DVD release. One song, "The First and the Last", appeared in the

Larry Buchanan Larry Buchanan (January 31, 1923 − December 2, 2004), born Marcus Larry Seale Jr., was a film director, producer and writer, who proclaimed himself a " schlockmeister". Many of his extremely low-budget films have landed on "worst movie" lists o ...

–directed movie ''The Copper Scroll of Mary Magdalene'' in 2004.

Other projects

Members of Joshua have been involved with various other projects. ''Surrender'' vocalist Jeff Fenholt was the former lead singer of the

broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

''. Beyond his involvement with ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', Fenholt worked briefly with

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...

and Driver and later made regular appearances on the

Trinity Broadcasting Network The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its ...

. Frontman Robyn Kyle Basauri was later in the Christian metal band

Die Happy Die Happy is a German alternative rock band from Ulm. The group was founded in 1993 by Czech singer Marta Jandová and Thorsten Mewes. Even though the band is based in Germany, their songs are written and performed almost exclusively in English. ...

and the

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offshoot Red Sea.

was involved with

Impellitteri 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 for ...

before and after his work with Joshua. The Christian band Shout was formed in 1987 by three members of Joshua - Joseph Galletta, Loren Robinson, and

Ken Tamplin Ken Tamplin (born December 11, 1963) is an American vocal coach, YouTuber, and former Christian rock performer. Founder of Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy, Tamplin is known for his vocal range and vocal training methods. He has contributed to his ...

, who also had a successful solo career. Several members were also in metal bands, mostly based in the LA area. Mahlon Hawk formed Centerfold in 1987 with Kurt Wada. Steve Fontaine briefly replaced Peter Goalby in Uriah Heep, and Rich Ortz later provided vocals for Sixty Nine. Donnie Gougeon joined White Sister in 1985, and Emil Lech appeared on the final

Sound Barrier The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, th ...

album, ''Speed of Light'' (1986). He was also in the band Driver, which at one point also included Rob Rock and Greg Shultz.

Members

Current *Joshua Perahia – guitar (1980–present) *

Mark Boals Mark Robert Boals (born December 5, 1958) is an American heavy metal vocalist and occasional bassist, best known for his vocals with Yngwie Malmsteen. He is currently a member of the band Foundry. Boals' first album with Malmsteen, 1986's '' ...

– vocals (2002–present) *Dino Maddalone – drums (2002–present) *Bryan Fleming – bass (2002–present) *

Scott Warren Scott Warren (born November 3, 1962) is an American musician best known as the keyboardist for the heavy metal band Dio from 1994 until the band's dissolution in 2010. Scott began playing keyboard instruments at six years old. He first taug ...

– keyboards (2002–present) Former * Mahlon Hawk – bass (1980–1984) * Glenn Alsup – keyboards (1980) * Donnie Gougeon – keyboard (1980–1984) * Michael Morris – rhythm guitar (1980–1984) * Anthony Zaccaglin – drums (1980–1984) * Steve Fontaine – vocals (1980–1984) *Patrick Bradley – keyboard (1984–1987) *Joseph Galletta – drums (1984–1987) *

– rhythm guitar, vocals (1984–1987) * Jeff Fenholt – vocals (1984–1987) *Loren Robinson – bass (1984–1987) *

– vocals (1987–1991) *Emil Lech – bass (1987–1991) *Greg Shultz – keyboard (1987–1991) *Tim Gehrt – drums (1987–1991) *Michael O'Mara – vocals (1991–1996) *Erik Norlander – keyboard (1991–1996) *Jerry Gabriel – vocals (1996–2002) *Alex Ligertwood – vocals (1996–2002) *Jason Scheff – vocals (1996–2002) *Joey Rochrich – bass (1991–2002) *Eric Stoskopf – drums (1991–2002) *Richard Baker – keyboards (1996–2002)

Discography

Studio albums * ''Surrender'' (1985) * ''Intense Defense'' (1988) * ''Surrender 1992'' (1992) * ''Chapter One'' (1995) * ''Something to Say'' (2001) * ''Resurrection'' (2012) EP * ''The Hand is Quicker than the Eye'' (1982) Compilation albums * ''Double Trouble: The Hand Is Quicker Than the Eye & Surrender'' (1995)

References

Citations

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joshua American Christian metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1980