Down to Earth is the fourth studio album by the British hard rock band Rainbow. It is their last album to feature drummer Cozy Powell, their first with bassist Roger Glover and keyboardist Don Airey and their only album with vocalist Graham Bonnet. Released in 1979, it contains Rainbow's first hit single "Since You Been Gone", marking a more commercial direction of the band's sound.
Cozy Powell was an English drummer who made his name with major rock bands and artists such as The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Graham Bonnet, Brian May, Whitesnake, Emerson, Lake & Powell, and Black Sabbath.
King Kobra is an American heavy metal band founded by drummer Carmine Appice after his tenure with Ozzy Osbourne from 1983 to 1984.
Blue Murder were an English hard rock band led by guitarist-vocalist John Sykes. The group was formed in 1987 following Sykes's dismissal from Whitesnake. The initial line-up was rounded out by bassist Tony Franklin and drummer Carmine Appice. In its nascent stage, vocalist Ray Gillen and drummer Cozy Powell were attached to the project. In 1989, Blue Murder released their self-titled debut album, which cracked the Billboard 200 chart and spawned a minor hit with "Jelly Roll". Nevertheless, the record proved to be a financial disappointment for both the band and their label Geffen Records.
Loudness is a Japanese heavy metal band formed in 1981 by guitarist Akira Takasaki and drummer Munetaka Higuchi. They were the first Japanese metal act signed to a major label in the United States. Loudness subsequently released twenty-six studio albums and nine live albums by 2014 and reached the Billboard Top 100 during their heyday as well as charting on Oricon dozens of times. Despite numerous changes in its line-up, leaving Takasaki as the sole constant member, the band continued their activities throughout the 1990s, finally reuniting the original line-up in 2000. This incarnation released a further seven albums until November 30, 2008, when original drummer Munetaka Higuchi died from liver cancer at a hospital in Osaka at age 49. He was replaced with Masayuki Suzuki.
Carmine Appice is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his associations with Vanilla Fudge; Cactus; the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice; Rod Stewart; King Kobra; and Blue Murder. He is also Vinny Appice's older brother. Appice was inducted into the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2014. He is also a more than capable (fretless-) bass player, as can be heard on the "Guitar Zeus" albums, for example.
John Voorhis "Tim" Bogert III was an American musician. As a bass guitarist and vocalist he was best known for his powerful vocal ability and his fast runs, fluid agility and ground-breaking sound on his Fender Precision Bass. He was one of the pioneers of using distortion with his bass to help it cut through the mix with the low-powered amps of his time which also imparted a very sharp-edged sound to it. He was a frequent collaborator with drummer Carmine Appice; the duo performed in such bands as Vanilla Fudge, Cactus and the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice.
Vincent Samson Appice is an American rock and metal drummer best known for his work with the bands Dio, Black Sabbath, and Heaven & Hell. Of Italian descent, he is the younger brother of drummer Carmine Appice.
Philip Neil Murray is a Scottish musician, best known as the former bassist of Whitesnake, the Brian May Band, Black Sabbath, and Gary Moore.
Finyl Vinyl is a live album by the British hard rock band Rainbow and was released in 1986, after the band had already disbanded in 1984. It includes live recordings spanning 1978 to 1984, along with three studio B-sides.
The Sabbath Stones (1996) is a compilation album of Black Sabbath songs taken from albums ranging from 1983's Born Again to 1995's Forbidden. It was never formally released in the US or Canada, and was the last album to be released by Black Sabbath with I.R.S. Records.
Live in Japan is a 1973 release by the rock supergroup power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice. The album, although initially called Beck, Bogert & Appice Live, was only issued in Japan and is also known as Live in Japan. It is generally considered rare due to the fact of it being manufactured in only limited numbers in Japan. Live in Japan was the last LP by Beck, Bogert & Appice and their only live album. Within months of the album's release the band would dissolve after Jeff Beck suddenly decided to leave.
The Soundboard Series is a live box set recorded and released by the band Deep Purple in 2001. The set contains six double CDs featuring recordings from six different concerts. Two of the concerts feature the band's seldom performed Concerto for Group and Orchestra, with Ian Gillan singing Pictured Within.
Munetaka Higuchi was a Japanese musician and record producer. He is best known as the original drummer of the heavy metal band Loudness, but first rose to prominence as a member of Lazy in the 1970s.
The Best of Rainbow is the first compilation album from British hard rock group Rainbow, released in 1981.
Dragon Attack: Tribute to Queen is a Queen tribute album produced in 1997. Like most tribute albums, it features cover versions of many Queen songs by various artists, but uniquely the songs are not performed by established groups. Instead, the album is performed by a group of musicians who normally perform with other groups or artists, in different combinations for each track.
20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Rainbow is a compilation album released by Rainbow. Released on 3 October 2000. The tracks were recorded between 1975–1983, before Rainbow disbanded in 1984.
Tusk of Jaguar is the debut solo studio album by Japanese guitarist Akira Takasaki, renowned for his contributions to the rock bands Loudness and Lazy. Initially released in 1982 exclusively in Japan, it was reissued in 2005. The album represents a collaborative effort between Takasaki and keyboard player Masanori Sasaji, who composed three tracks and played a crucial role in arranging and co-producing the recording. A large contribution was given to the album by Takasaki's bandmates in Loudness, who play on most tracks and collaborated on the musical arrangements. However, the music of Tusk of Jaguar is much more varied than in any Loudness' album, with its music ranging from hard rock to progressive rock to jazz fusion, reminiscing of some Dixie Dregs' and Al Di Meola's works. The precise and fast guitar playing by Takasaki is anyway always present in every track, and he even takes the lead vocal spot in the song "Ebony Eyes".
Temple of Rock is an album by the German guitarist Michael Schenker.
Sly was a Japanese heavy metal supergroup formed in 1994 by former members of popular groups of the Japanese metal scene. The line-up included singer Minoru Niihara and drummer Munetaka Higuchi, guitarist Shinichiro Ishihara (Earthshaker) and bassist Koichi Terasawa (Blizard). Sly disbanded in 1998, with Niihara and Higuchi re-joining Loudness in 2000 and Ishihara taking part in the reformation of his former group Earthshaker in 1999.
