Neljä Ruusua (''Four Roses'') is a Finnish

rock group A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, ...

formed in the city of

Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. Th ...

in 1982. The group consists of guitarist-singer

Ilkka Alanko Ilkka Tapani Alanko (born 21 November 1969) is a Finland, Finnish musician. He is a lead vocalist, co-founder, songwriter, and guitarist for the Finnish rock band Neljä Ruusua. Alanko's debut solo album ''Elektra (Ilkka Alanko album), Elektra'' w ...

, guitarist Petteri Koistinen, bass guitarist Jari Laakkonen and drummer Kari Kämäräinen. Their style of music was influenced by

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

in their earlier years, but changed over time to more conventional Finnish rock and pop music. The most popular albums of the band are ''Haloo'' (1992, ''Hello'') and ''Pop-uskonto'' (1993, ''Pop Religion''), which bought the band to a great popularity. The band has released 12 studio albums, with two English albums, ''Mood'' (1996) and ''Not for Sale'' (1998), which were the band's attempt to break the English language market. After these two unsuccessful albums, the band returned to their native language and released their so-called comeback album ''Uusi aalto'' (1999, ''New Wave''). On August 13, 2007, it was announced on the band's official website that the group retreats to spend a quiet life for an indefinite period, and they made their so far last public appearance on August 17. The band's future is completely open, any plans for recordings, concerts or other activities has not been established. In 2011 they played in the

Ilosaarirock The Ilosaarirock Festival is an annual rock festival held on the second weekend of July in Joensuu, Eastern Finland. Founded in 1971, Ilosaarirock is the second oldest rock festival in Finland still active, and one of the oldest in Europe. In 2 ...

festival in

. On January 4, 2012, it was announced on the band's Facebook fan page that the group started recording their 13th album.

History

The group formed in 1982 under the name Talouskukkaro, and changed their name in 1985; in the late 1990s, they made an attempt to break the English language market, and released some albums under the name 4R. The band's guitarist/vocalist Ilkka Alanko is brother of famous Finnish singer-songwriter

Ismo Alanko Ismo Kullervo Alanko (; born November 12, 1960) is a Finnish musician. He is known as the frontman of several bands, most famously Hassisen Kone, Sielun Veljet and Ismo Alanko Säätiö, as well as a successful solo artist. Alanko is known f ...

History

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

EPs

Singles

References