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Jim Gillette | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | James Gillette |
| Also known as | Jimmy Jill |
| Born | November 10, 1967 |
| Origin | Beatrice, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Genres | Heavy metal, glam metal, progressive metal, hard rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1986–present |
James "Jim" Gillette (born November 10, 1967) is an American singer, notable for being the frontman of glam metal band Nitro. Originally a member of the band Tuff, Gillette released a solo album in 1987 and then formed Nitro with guitarist Michael Angelo Batio.
Gillette began singing as a teen, having been exposed to heavy metal through a local skating rink. His goal was to have a higher range than Rob Halford. He went through extensive opera training and developed his own method. He started his career in Phoenix, Arizona with a band called Slut, singing on their demo tape titled "Perversion for a Price". Gillette heard about a band called Tuff that needed a singer, so he immediately auditioned and then joined the band. Tuff released two demos, "Knock Yourself Out", and "J'lamour Demo". It was during this time that Gillette also dabbled at guitar and harmonica, though he never pursued them seriously, rather working on improving his singing.
Gillette left Tuff to go to Hollywood. At a beach party, he met guitar virtuoso Michael Angelo Batio and they soon formed the band Nitro. They recorded Proud To Be Loud in 1987. Nitro's first live show led to their record deal with Rhino Records.
In 2001, Gillette formed Organ Donor with Chris Campise, James Johnson, and Jesse Mendez. Their first album, The Ultra-Violent, featured Gillette on vocals with guest appearances by Lita Ford, who was his wife at the time, guitarist Michael Angelo Batio, and David Ezrin. Following the release of The Ultra-Violent in 2001, Gillette left the band. Chris Campise took over on vocals and the band recorded Better Off Dead in 2003.
In 2009, Gillette appeared as a back-up vocalist and producer on Lita Ford's new album, Wicked Wonderland .
Jimmy Jill – Lead Singer Rich Kid – Guitarist Ttam Silver – Bassist Guy Dolly – Drummer
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Freight Train" | Michael Angelo, Jim Gillette | Nitro | 3:58 |
| 2. | "Shot Heard 'Round the World" | Angelo, Gillette | Nitro | 4:05 |
| 3. | "Long Way from Home" | Angelo, Gillette | Nitro | 4:58 |
| 4. | "Prisoner of Paradise" | Angelo, Gillette | Nitro | 4:18 |
| 8. | "Nasty Reputation" | Angelo, Gillette | Nitro | 4:45 |
| 9. | "Heaven's Just a Heartbeat Away" | Angelo, Gillette | Nitro | 3:55 |
| 10. | "Gunnin' for Glory" | Angelo, Gillette | Nitro | 3:36 |
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| Artists | |
Lita Rossana Ford is an English-born American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, and then embarked on a successful glam metal solo career that hit its peak in the late 1980s. The 1989 single "Close My Eyes Forever", a duet with Ozzy Osbourne, remains Ford's most successful song, reaching No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Amy Christine Dumas, known professionally as Lita, is an American retired professional wrestler and musician. She is best known for her time in WWE. She was also the lead singer of the band, The Luchagors. Often regarded as one of the greatest women's performers and considered one of the icons of WWE's Attitude Era, she is one of the most popular female wrestlers in the company's history and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014.
Chris Poland is an American guitarist, best known as the former guitarist of the thrash metal band Megadeth. Since 2002, Poland has been the guitarist of the instrumental rock/jazz fusion bands OHM and OHMphrey, among others, and has appeared on several projects and albums from a variety of different genres.
Michael Angelo Batio, also known as Michael Angelo, Mike Batio or MAB, is an American heavy metal guitarist and columnist from Chicago, Illinois. He was the lead guitarist for the Los Angeles-based glam metal band Nitro in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is currently serving as the touring guitarist for the American heavy metal band Manowar.
Keri Kelli is an American hard rock guitarist who has played with artists and groups including Alice Cooper, Slash, Jani Lane, Vince Neil and John Waite. In March 2013 he formed Project Rock together with James Kottak from the Scorpions. Project Rock consisted of Keri Kelli, James Kottak, Tim 'Ripper' Owens, Rudy Sarzo & Teddy Zig-Zag. Kelli is currently in the band Night Ranger.
Pretty Boy Floyd is a glam metal band from Hollywood, California, formed in 1987. They are most famous for their 1989 debut album Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz and the two singles from it; "Rock and Roll " and "I Wanna Be with You". The band broke up in 1994 but reformed in 1995, releasing several new records since that time, and continue to the present.
A Wilhelm Scream is a melodic hardcore band from New Bedford, Massachusetts formed in 1999. Their music has been compared to Strung Out, Hot Water Music, Propagandhi, and Strike Anywhere as the band's similar artists. Their name is a reference to the Wilhelm scream, a famous stock sound effect mainly used in films. The band previously went by the names Koen, Adam's Crack, and Smackin' Isaiah, though the last was the only name to be used in any major releases. "The reason for the name changes from Koen to Smackin' Isaiah, then to A Wilhelm Scream was really a matter of them adding new members, and progressing/maturing as a band".
Nitro was an American heavy metal band from Hollywood, California. Formed in 1988, the group originally featured vocalist Jim Gillette, guitarist Michael Angelo Batio, bassist T. J. Racer and drummer Bobby Rock. Nitro released its debut album O.F.R. in 1989, which reached number 140 on the US Billboard 200. Rock was replaced by K. C. Comet for the album's tour and Racer would leave the band thereafter. Nitro II: H.W.D.W.S., released in 1992, featured Ralph Carter on bass and Johnny Thunder on drums. The group broke up in 1993, with a number of previously unreleased demo recordings issued on the 1999 album Gunnin' for Glory.
Christopher James Adler is an American musician, best known as the founder and longtime drummer of heavy metal band Lamb of God from 1994 to 2019, and of Megadeth from 2015 to 2016.
O.F.R. (Out-Fucking-Rageous) is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Nitro. Recorded at Front Page Productions in Costa Mesa, California, it was produced by the band's vocalist Jim Gillette and guitarist Michael Angelo Batio alongside engineer Charlie Watts and executive producer Bob Cahill. The album was released on May 30, 1989 by Rampage Records, a division of Rhino Entertainment, and peaked at number 140 on the US Billboard 200.
Porn Stars is a studio album by the band Pretty Boy Floyd. It features re-recordings of six tracks from their debut album Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz, a re-recording of one track from Tonight Belongs To The Young, and a re-recording of one track from their EP A Tale of Sex, Designer Drugs, and the Death of Rock N Roll. The production on this recording is notably far more raw than their debut.
T.J. Racer is a bassist born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
No Boundaries is the debut solo studio album by American heavy metal musician Michael Angelo Batio. Recorded at M.A.C.E. Studios in Chicago, Illinois, it was released on September 1, 1995 by his own label M.A.C.E. Music. Batio performed the majority of instruments on the release, as well as producing, engineering and mixing the album.
"Freight Train" is a song by Nitro from their 1989 album O.F.R.. In the video for the song, Michael Angelo Batio uses the one-of-a-kind quad guitar, which is a guitar with four necks. The top two necks have seven strings and the bottom two have six strings. The guitar was stolen after the second performance of the "Nitro O.F.R" tour in El Paso, Texas. Then, in 2004, a fan showed up to one of Batio's performances with a guitar case. The fan opened up the case to reveal two of the four guitars that had made up the famous quad guitar.
Tuff is an American glam metal band, formed in 1985 in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, by guitarist Jorge Manos (DeSaint), bassist Todd Chaisson (Chase), and included guitarist David Janssen, drummer Chris Louthan, and vocalist Michael Meyers (Cordet). This incarnation of Tuff was prior to taking on its "Glam" image, and the music was significantly "heavier". This little documented line-up actually played in the local Phoenix market for roughly a year, at such clubs as opening for various National Acts, including Flotsam and Jetsam.
M.A.C.E. Music, Inc. is an American record label founded by Michael Angelo Batio in April 1993. Currently based in Gurnee, Illinois, the label's main job is that of selling material and merchandise of Batio's, including his albums, videos and accessories such as the "MAB String Dampener". The label also releases material by other artists, including Batio's side-project C4, T. D. Clark, Tom Kopyto and The Flyin' Ryan Brothers. M.A.C.E. distributes material both directly and through other labels, to over 40 countries worldwide including the United States, the United Kingdom, all throughout Europe, Canada, Japan, Qatar, South Africa, Australia, Mexico and Brazil.
DeathRiders is an American heavy metal band based in Los Angeles, California. The band was formed in 2001 to support lead vocalist Neil Turbin's solo album Threatcon Delta and is named after Neil's song lyric "Deathrider" which was the first song on the album 'Fistful of Metal' which Turbin wrote in his time as the lead singer of Anthrax.
Jacky Vincent is a British musician who was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Falling in Reverse from its formation until his departure in 2015 and was the guitarist of the power metal band Cry Venom. Since then, he has concentrated on his solo career and teaching. Vincent has two solo albums: Star X Speed Story, released in 2013 through Shrapnel Records that came third in the Guitar World 2013 readers poll for Best Shred album, and Life Imitating Art released in 2018. Vincent won the Alternative Press Guitarist of the Year award in 2012 and came third in the Guitar World "Best Shredder" readers pool awards in 2013.
Maxxxwell Carlisle is an American Heavy Metal guitarist, songwriter, producer, YouTube host, and bodybuilder from Los Angeles, California. He was a guitarist in the American Heavy Metal bands Hellion and Society 1. He is also known for his work as a solo artist, as the keyboardist/guitarist of Raptor Command, as a former member of the American Thrash band Deathriders, as the host of the weekly Maxed-Out Metal Hour Show on internet radio station Metal Express Radio, and for his collaborations with other notable musicians such as Michael Angelo Batio, Tina Guo, Nita Strauss, and Ethan Brosh. Carlisle also is the host of two YouTube channels: Guitar Max, devoted to music gear and related topics, and Heavy Metal Horizons, which chronicles Carlisle's training as a pilot and explores other topics including airplanes and automobiles.
Shred Force 1: The Essential MAB is a compilation album by American heavy metal musician Michael Angelo Batio. Released on April 14, 2015, by Rat Pak Records, it is a career retrospective featuring songs from many of Batio's previously released studio albums. Shred Force 1 was produced by Batio and features a wide range of guest musicians. The album registered on several Billboard charts.
