Galahad (band)

Last updated

Galahad
Galahad headlining DanFest at The Musician, Leicester 1st December 2018 - 31256238417.jpg
Galahad performing live, December 2018
Background information
OriginEngland
Genres Neo-prog, progressive rock
Years active1985–present
LabelsAvalon, Voiceprint/Gonzo Multimedia, Oskar Productions/Independent Music Market, Blue Stone, PRM, Pony Canyon International
MembersStuart Nicholson
Spencer Luckman
Dean Baker
Mark Spencer
Lee Abraham
Past membersMark Andrews
Tim Ashton
Karl Garrett
Mike Hewetson
Nick Hodgson
Mike Hooker
Roy Keyworth
Mike Kneller
Pat McCann
John O'Callaghan
Paddy O'Callaghan
Steve Pearson
Neil Pepper
Peter Wallbridge
Paul Watts
Craig Wilson
Website galahadonline.com

Galahad are an English progressive rock band formed in 1985 in Bournemouth. [1] They have released 12 studio albums, six live albums and three rarities collections, as well as two offshoot project albums under the names Galahad Acoustic Quintet and the Galahad Electric Company. Over the past 38 years they have played with the likes of Pendragon, IQ and Twelfth Night. Galahad have performed their own shows and at festivals in Europe and North America, and have sold tens of thousands of albums despite never having had a major record deal.

Contents

History

The band's vocalist Stuart Nicholson described Galahad's early days as follows: "...the band was formed just after the so called second wave of 'Prog' bands such as Marillion, Pallas, IQ, Twelfth Night, Pendragon etc. of Prog bands came to the fore in the early Eighties. They all started around 1978–1981 and we started in 1985 after the bubble had effectively burst, but didn't really get going seriously until 1990 onwards. To be honest we really did play just for fun in the early days and weren't really that concerned about record deals etc. It was only after playing with some of the bigger bands when we thought. Actually, we are just as good as these guys so why not give it a go..." [2]

In 2012, Galahad released their first ever vinyl LP 'Battle Scars' in conjunction with Ritual Echo Records, on high quality 180-gram vinyl, in a gatefold sleeve, as a limited edition pressing of 300. [3] Since then the band has released several more albums on vinyl i.e. 'Beyond the Realms of Euphoria' (a double LP/EP album available on red/orange vinyl), 'Empires never Last' (double LP including an 'orchestral' version of the title track, available on blue or black vinyl), 'Seas of Change' (Standard single LP on black or turquoise blue vinyl and also on limited edition picture disc in a die cut sleeve) and in 2020 'Sleepers' on a double gatefold LP (available on standard black or white vinyl). All releases are on their own 'Avalon Records' imprint other than some re-issues which are released in association with Polish label 'Oskar Productions'.

Founder member Roy Keyworth left the band in March 2017. Producer Karl Groom filled in for Keyworth on the band's Quiet Storms album released in May 2017, [4] but did not join the band full-time.

Lee Abraham was officially announced as the new Galahad guitarist on 23 October 2017 after having already recorded all the guitar parts for their 2018 Seas of Change album, which was released in January 2018.

In 2020 Galahad released a 21st anniversary edition of 'Following Ghosts'. The expansive release brings together all of the 'Following Ghosts' related material and consists of a three-CD package: a newly mixed version of 'Following Ghosts' taken from original tapes, 'Alternative Ghosts' featuring alternate versions of original album tracks, and the experimental 'De-Constructing Ghosts' which had accompanied the main album. [5]

2020 also saw the re-release of 'Sleepers' on vinyl for the first time, 25 years after the original CD release, in conjunction with Oskar Records in Poland and including several extra tracks. The album was released as a double gatefold 2X LP on standard black or white vinyl.

October 2020 saw the release of the first 'Galahad Electric Company' album in 21 years, which was effectively a 'Covid lockdown' album written and recorded by Dean and Stu at their respective homes. Entitled 'When the Battle Is Over', it is one of the fastest Galahad-related albums to have been written, recorded and released, as writing only started in late April 2020. A second GEC album, 'Soul Therapy', was released on 20 October 2021.

Galahad's eleventh studio album 'The Last Great Adventurer' features the band's longest-lasting line-up and was released on 24 October 2022. Another new studio album 'The Long Goodbye' was released in October 2023 on CD and November 2023 on LP and digital platforms.

Members

Current members

Occasional member on recordings only: Sarah Bolter – Flute, clarinet, alto and tenor sax, vocals (1994–present)

Former members

Timeline

Galahad (band)

Discography

Tapes

LPs

Singles

Studio CDs

Live CDs

EPs

Compilation CDs

Downloads/Streams

Spin-off projects

DVDs

Other recordings

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bal-Sagoth</span> Symphonic black metal band

Bal-Sagoth are a symphonic black metal band from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, formed in 1993.

<i>Long Live Rock n Roll</i> 1978 studio album by Rainbow

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll is the third studio album by the British heavy metal band Rainbow, released on 14 April 1978 and the last to feature original lead vocalist Ronnie James Dio.

<i>Ummagumma</i> 1969 album by Pink Floyd

Ummagumma is the fourth album by English rock band Pink Floyd. It is a double album and was released on 7 November 1969 by Harvest Records. The first disc consists of live recordings from concerts at Mothers Club in Birmingham and the College of Commerce in Manchester that contained part of their normal set list of the time, while the second contains solo compositions by each member of the band recorded at EMI Studios. The artwork was designed by regular Pink Floyd collaborators Hipgnosis and features a number of pictures of the band combined to give a Droste effect. It was the last album cover to feature the band.

<i>Phantasmagoria</i> (The Damned album) 1985 studio album by the Damned

Phantasmagoria is the sixth album by U.K. punk rock band the Damned, released by MCA in July 1985. Special editions were available on white vinyl or picture disc; some versions included a free 12-inch of their No. 3 hit "Eloise". It is the first album by the band without original member Captain Sensible, and was a style shift to gothic rock compared to the band's punk sound of its early and later career.

<i>Zoot Allures</i> 1976 studio album by Frank Zappa

Zoot Allures is the 22nd album by the American rock musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1976 and his only release on the Warner Bros. Records label. Due to a lawsuit with his former manager, Herb Cohen, Zappa's recording contract was temporarily reassigned from DiscReet Records to Warner Bros.

<i>Deep Purple in Concert</i> 1980 live album by Deep Purple

Deep Purple in Concert is a live album by the English hard rock band Deep Purple, recorded by the BBC for their "In Concert" live series in 1970 and 1972. First released in 1980 in the UK, with the current US edition being made available in 2001.

<i>Double Platinum</i> (Kiss album) 1978 greatest hits album by Kiss

Double Platinum is the first greatest hits album by the American hard rock band Kiss, released in 1978. Many of the songs on Double Platinum were remixed and differed from their original versions: in the case of "Strutter," it was re-recorded with a slight disco beat and dubbed "Strutter '78." Other songs had sections completely removed, while the beginning of "Black Diamond" was repeated at the end, fading out at the start of the first verse and giving the song a "wrap around" feel.

Blue Orchids are an English post-punk band formed in Manchester in 1979, when Martin Bramah left the Fall, after playing on the band's debut album Live at the Witch Trials. Christened by Salford-based punk poet John Cooper Clarke the band recorded for Rough Trade and acted as backing band for the Velvet Underground's Nico before a 25-year period of intermittent activity and fluctuating line-ups.

<i>Atlantis Ascendant</i> 2001 studio album by Bal-Sagoth

Atlantis Ascendant is the fifth studio album by English metal band Bal-Sagoth. It was released in April 2001 through Nuclear Blast. This was the first Bal-Sagoth album to be recorded with digital recording technology.

<i>The Power Cosmic</i> 1999 studio album by Bal-Sagoth

The Power Cosmic is Bal-Sagoth's fourth album, released in 1999. The album was Bal-Sagoth's first recording for Nuclear Blast.

<i>The Chthonic Chronicles</i> 2006 studio album by Bal-Sagoth

The Chthonic Chronicles is the sixth studio album by English metal band Bal-Sagoth. The first in five years since 2001's Atlantis Ascendant, it is rumoured to be their last album. This album was released in Europe on 10 March 2006 through Nuclear Blast and in the US on 16 May through Candlelight Records. A remastered digipak edition from Metal Mind Productions followed in October 2011, while a second digipak release from Dissonance Productions and a limited edition gatefold vinyl version from Night of the Vinyl Dead were issued in October 2020, with a subsequent double vinyl gatefold edition being issued by Back on Black in 2022.

<i>A Black Moon Broods Over Lemuria</i> 1995 studio album by Bal-Sagoth

A Black Moon Broods Over Lemuria, is Bal-Sagoth's 1995 debut album after their 1993 demo. The album was recorded in a two-week period in June 1994, but due to label problems the album was released almost a year later. The name Lemuria comes from a hypothetical land mass in the Indian Ocean. The keyboard intro on this album was written and performed by Keith Appleton, the proprietor of Academy Music Studio, the studio where the album was recorded.

<i>Snaz</i> 1981 live album by Nazareth

IT'SNAZ is a double live album by the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, released in September 1981.

The Heads are an English psychedelic rock band formed in Bristol in 1990 consisting of Paul Allen (vocals/guitar), H. O. Morgan (bass), Wayne Maskell (drums), and Simon Price (vocals/guitar).

<i>Chase the Dragon</i> 1982 studio album by Magnum

Chase the Dragon is the third studio album by English rock band Magnum. It was released in 1982 on Jet Records. Overseen by the Kansas producer Jeff Glixman, Chase the Dragon was the first recorded appearance by the new keyboard player Mark Stanway, although he had made his live debut at Magnum's appearance at the Reading Festival in 1980. The album was recorded over 13 days at Town House Studios in London, and the following year Tony Clarkin flew to Axis Studios in Atlanta to mix it. However, there was a two-year delay before the album's release in 1982. Many of the tracks have remained in Magnum's live set for many years, including "Soldier of the Line", "The Spirit" and "Sacred Hour".

<i>Oh, by the Way</i> 2007 box set by Pink Floyd

Oh, by the Way is a compilation boxed set by Pink Floyd released on 10 December 2007, by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States through Capitol Records.

Steel Prophet is an American power metal band led by the founder and main writer Steve Kachinsky.

Indian Summer were a British progressive rock band in the early 1970s.

<i>Rising</i> (Rainbow album) 1976 studio album by Rainbow

Rising is the second studio album by the British-American rock band Rainbow. It was released on 17 May 1976.

Live at the Empire Pool is a live concert recording by the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, recorded by BBC Radio 1.

References

  1. "Bournemouth band Galahad release 12th studio album".
  2. Interview with Stu Nicholson, by Grande Rock.
  3. One For The Record, The Official Biography of Galahad, Ministry of Prog, 2011
  4. "31.03.2017 – AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM THE BAND". Galahadonline.com. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  5. "Following Ghosts - 2020 Expanded Edition, by GALAHAD". GALAHAD. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  6. "Galahad welcome back Lee Abraham | Louder". Teamrock.com. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2020.