More are a British heavy metal band who were part of the

new wave of British heavy metal The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...

scene in the early 1980s. They recorded two albums and two singles, and opened the German rock festival 'Golden Summer Night' at Stuttgart and Darmstadt in August 1981, as well as the '

Monsters of Rock Monsters of Rock was an annual hard rock and heavy metal music festival held in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as the Netherlands, Poland, ...

' festival at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...

one week later.

Career

Initially the band More was fronted by vocalist

Paul Mario Day Paul Mario Day (born 19 April 1956) is a British singer, who was the original lead vocalist of Iron Maiden from 1975 to 1976.Wall, Mick, ''Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography'', 2004 (3rd edition), Sanctuary Publishing Furth ...

, who had sung in an early incarnation 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 ...

. By the time of their second album, Frank Darch and Laurie Mansworth had left, the latter going on to form the band Airrace. Andy John Burton was recruited as the new

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

and the band became a four-piece. Bassist Brian Day also left during the recording of the second album, to be replaced by Barry 'Baz' Nicholls. Following Paul Mario Day's subsequent departure from the band, the line-up of Cox, Nicholls, Burton and vocalist Mick Stratton released a 7" single called "Trickster" in 1982, before splitting up. Kenny Cox revived More briefly in 1985, with vocalist Ron Jackson, guitarist Mel Jones, bassist Baz Nicholls, and Paul George on drums. Following that, Kenny Cox moved on to the band Mammoth, with ex- Gillan and

Sun Red Sun Sun Red Sun was an American heavy metal project created by guitarist Al B. Romano. It also featured several prominent musicians: vocalists Ray Gillen of Badlands and Black Sabbath, and John West of Artension and Royal Hunt; drummer Bobby Ro ...

bassist John McCoy and ex-

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

vocalist

Nicky Moore Nicholas Charles Moore (21 June 1947 – 3 August 2022) was an English blues, rock and heavy metal singer, who was best known as a member of the British band Samson. He replaced Bruce Dickinson who left the band to join Iron Maiden in 1982. ...

. A further attempt to reform the band occurred in the spring of 1998, with Mike Freeland featuring on vocals. A track called "My Obsession" was recorded by this incarnation of the band, but they split up shortly afterwards in the year 2000. In 2011, Andy John Burton recruited Baz Nicholls (bass; joined More in 1982), Mike Freeland (vocals; part of More's 1999 line-up), Paul Stickles (guitar; also with the band Dangerous Breed) and special guest

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 ...

to form a More tribute band called Exmore. They performed live at the 'Headbangers Open Air' festival in July 2011, with a warm-up show taking place at the Astor Theatre in

Deal, Kent Deal is a coastal town in Kent, England, which lies where the North Sea and the English Channel meet, north-east of Dover and south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town whose history is closely linked to the anchora ...

, plus a post-festival club show the following Sunday. Following an enthusiastic reaction from the audience at this concert, the bandmembers made the collective decision to continue performing. Exmore played a co-headlining show with

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

at the Sir Robert Peel venue in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

on 15 October 2011. The following year, the band changed their name to More 2012 and scheduled further shows, including: 26 May at the Railway venue in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

, 23 November at the Red Lion pub in

Gravesend, Kent Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is t ...

, and 1 December at the '

Hard Rock Hell Hard Rock Hell is a three day music festival held at Vauxhall Holiday resort, Great Yarmouth. It was previously held at Hafan y Môr Holiday Park, Pwllheli, Gwynedd, North Wales, and up until 2011 at Pontin's Holiday Village, Prestatyn, Wales. ...

VI' festival, with Steve Rix on drums. An appearance at the 'Metalwave UK' festival in

Purfleet Purfleet-on-Thames is a town in the Thurrock unitary authority, Essex, England. It is bordered by the A13 road to the north and the River Thames to the south and is within the easternmost part of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater Lond ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, alongside

Praying Mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They ha ...

Dennis Stratton Dennis Stratton (born 9 October 1952) is an English guitarist who is best known as a former member of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from December 1979 to October 1980. Biography Born in Canning Town, London, Stratton showed early promise a ...

Cloven Hoof A cloven hoof, cleft hoof, divided hoof or split hoof is a hoof split into two toes. This is found on members of the mammalian order Artiodactyla. Examples of mammals that possess this type of hoof are cattle, deer, pigs, antelopes, gazelles, go ...

, Chariot and

Deep Machine Deep Machine were an English heavy metal band from the East London, England, that first came into existence in 1979. Founded by lead guitarist Bob Hooker, the band's music was influenced by other NWOBHM bands such as Iron Maiden and in partic ...

, took place on 5 October 2013, followed by a performance at the 'Heavy Metal Maniacs' festival in

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands with a population of 92.353 as of 2022. It is a suburban part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the historical villages o ...

on 19 October 2013. In May 2014, Dave John Ross replaced Paul Stickles on guitar. Further concert appearances were then scheduled for the '

Bang Your Head!!! Bang Your Head!!! is a heavy metal and hard rock festival held annually in Germany. First held in 1996 as a one-day indoor event in the Stefan-Hartmann-Halle in Tübingen with a crowd of 600 people, Bang Your Head!!! has since moved to Balingen ...

' festival in

Balingen Balingen (; Swabian: ''Balenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, capital of the district of Zollernalbkreis. It is located near the Swabian Jura, approx. 35 km to the south of Tübingen, 35 km northeast of Villingen-Schwenn ...

on 12 July 2014, and the '

VII' festival in

Pwllheli Pwllheli () is a market town and community of the Llŷn Peninsula ( cy, Penrhyn Llŷn) in Gwynedd, north-western Wales. It had a population of 4,076 in 2011 of whom a large proportion, 81%, are Welsh language, Welsh speaking. Pwllheli is the pl ...

on 15 November 2014. In 2015, the band played at the 'Legends of Rock' festival in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

and the '

VIII' festival in

. In November and December 2016, the band undertook a short European tour as special guests of German band

Bonfire A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used either for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration. Etymology The earliest recorded uses of the word date back to the late 15th century, with the Catho ...

, taking in shows in Belgium, Germany and Holland. Chris Tsangarides passed away on 6 January 2018, and Andy John Burton died on 7 November 2021. In March 2022, a revamped More announced the recruitment of Polish vocalist Roman Kańtoch (ex-Kruk), who replaced Mike Freeland in the new line-up.

Line-ups

First line-up (1980–1981) *Paul Mario Day - Vocals *Kenny Cox - Guitar *Paul Todd - Guitar *Brian Day - Bass *Frank Darch - Drums Second line-up (1981–1982) *Paul Mario Day - Vocals *Kenny Cox - Guitar *Laurie Mansworth - Guitar *Brian Day - Bass *Andy John Burton - Drums Third line-up (1982) *Mick Stratton - Vocals *Kenny Cox - Guitar *Brian Day - Bass *Andy John Burton - Drums Fourth line-up (1982) *Mick Stratton - Vocals *Kenny Cox - Guitar *Baz Nicholls - Bass *Andy John Burton - Drums Fifth line-up (1985) *Ron Jackson - Vocals *Kenny Cox - Guitar *Mel Jones - Guitar *Baz Nicholls - Bass *Paul George - Drums Sixth line-up (1998–2000) *Mike Freeland - Vocals *Kenny Cox - Guitar *Baz Nicholls - Bass *Rick Dyat / Andy Robinson - Drums Exmore line-up (2011–2012) *Mike Freeland - Vocals *Chris Tsangarides - Guitar *Paul Stickles - Guitar *Baz Nicholls - Bass *Andy John Burton - Drums More 2012 line-up (2012-2018) *Mike Freeland - Vocals *Chris Tsangarides - Guitar *Paul Stickles / Dave John Ross - Guitar *Baz Nicholls - Bass *Steve Rix - Drums Ninth line-up (2022-present) *Roman Kańtoch - Vocals *Dave John Ross - Guitar *Baz Nicholls - Bass *Steve Rix - Drums

Discography

Albums

''Warhead'' (

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, 1981) #"Warhead" - 3:47 #"Fire" (

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English rock band formed by singer Arthur Brown in 1967. The original band included Vincent Crane (Hammond organ and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwood (bass). This early incarnation were ...

cover) - 3:31 #"Soldier" - 4:52 #"Depression" - 5:00 #"Road Rocket" - 3:54 #"Lord of Twilight" - 4:48 #"Way of the World" - 3:42 #"We are the Band" - 4:30 #"I Have No Answers" - 5:42 Total length: 39:46 ''Blood & Thunder'' (Atlantic Records, 1982) #"Killer on the Prowl" - 5:11 #"Blood & Thunder" - 3:46 #"I Just Can't Believe It" - 4:16 #"I've Been Waiting" - 3:21 #"Traitors Gate" - 4:11 #"Rock and Roll" - 4:30 #"I Wanna Take You" - 3:15 #"Go Home" - 3:15 #"The Eye" - 2:40 #"Nightmare" - 6:10 Total length: 40:35

Singles

*"We Are the Band" / "Atomic Rock" (Atlantic Records, 1981) - UK No. 59 *"Trickster" / "

Hey Joe "Hey Joe" is an American song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and has been performed in many musical styles by hundreds of different artists. The lyrics tell of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico after shooting ...

" (Atlantic Records, 1982)

References

External links

Official Facebook page

Unofficial Myspace

An extended biography of More
{{Authority control English rock music groups English heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1980 Musical quartets New Wave of British Heavy Metal musical groups Musical groups from London