 |
Stravaganzza | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Madrid, Spain |
| Genres | Gothic metal, symphonic metal, progressive metal |
| Years active | 2004–2010 2017–present |
| Labels | Avispa |
| Website | Stravaganzza.com |
Stravaganzza is a metal band from Madrid, Spain formed in 2004. The band has released four studio albums and one EP. They combine elements of extreme metal such as gothic metal, death metal, doom metal and black metal with heavily orchestrated symphonic metal and progressive/power metal.
Stravaganzza became a consolidated band in 2003. The first precursor to Stravaganzza is without a doubt the band that Pepe Herrero (guitar) and Leo Jiménez (vocals) founded in 1993 and which later would be joined by Patricio Babasasa as a drummer: Krysálida, with an instrumental group just the same as in Stravaganzza (including violin and keyboards), but adding a second vocalist who sang the guttural parts. With that lineup they had already made a similar style to Stravaganzza, with obscure parts, orchestral passages but perhaps a bit more complex and anti-commercial; maybe this was the cause of it not being very understood and accepted, which would lead to it breaking up about four years later.
After Krysálida, Leo formed with Patricio Babasasa (drums) and Edu Fernández (bass) Azabel, a band with a more aggressive style, close to death, and it was at this time when the idea of making a version of Mecano's song "Hijo de la luna" was brought up, a proposal that Stravaganzza would bring to life ten years later. Azabel dissolved after Leo's departure to well-known heavy metal band Saratoga, in which he would at last get recognition, fame and prestige, and where he would stay for eight years. On his side, Pepe Herrero, after abandoning Krysálida, wouldn't participate in any musical group until 2000, in which he founded Eklectika, a personal project in which, among others, he would compose some of the songs that later would appear on Stravaganzza's first album.
In late 2002 Alejandro Briceño (drums), Edu Fernández, Pepe Herrero and Leo Jiménez decide to unite to make music together; for that they would also count on guitarist Paco Cinta. These five friends united under the temporary name of Dyosh, initially playing Eklectika songs. A few months later, they suggested making something more serious of this band, encouraged by the idea of being able to offer a fresh alternative to the not so varied national band scene. After the departure of Alejandro Briceño and Paco Cinta, Dani Pérez, who at the time played drums for Saratoga, joined the band; at that moment Stravaganzza was born.
A year later, in 2004, the band's first album, Primer Acto, was released under the discographic label Avispa. That was very well accepted by the media, being given the highest ratings on their reviews and assigning it the "revelation band of the year" award. The general public received it with awe and respect, even those who didn't like it accepted that it was a remarkable product with an excellent quality.
To bring the band to the live stage they needed to have musicians who recreated the orchestrations and keyboards that appeared in the recording. For that, they counted on keyboardist Fernando Martín, and violinist Roberto Jabonero, who, a year later, would be replaced by Rodrigo Calderón. The first live show was done at the ViñaRock 2004 stage, with a great reception by the thousands of spectators attending the event.
In 2005, Stravaganzza presented their second act: Sentimientos, a more mature and elaborated work that featured the spectacular production of the late Big Simon and in which each song talks about a different feeling. It's with this work when they achieve a greater recognition and are invited to play in Berlin, at the new trends festival Popkomm. In this year they play again at ViñaRock festival, where they perform for the first time their version of Mecano's "Hijo de la luna", with a great acceptance by the public. They also record their first video clip, for the song "Miedo".
In 2006, they released their EP, Hijo del miedo, also produced by Big Simon, work in which they capture among other songs the Hijo de la luna cover, which led them to the first place in sales on the Afive list. Right in that moment, the band underwent a great change; due to discographic matters, Edu Fernández and Dani Pérez leave the band. After this rough hit, Leo Jiménez and Pepe Herrero mustered up force to not fall and face the tough and apparently impossible task of finding two substitutes for Edu and Dani. However, in a few weeks they found two great musicians and people who incarnate perfectly the band's spirit: Patricio Babasasa on bass, and Carlos Expósito on drums.
Timeline
| International | |
|---|---|
| Artists | |
Mecano was a Spanish pop band formed in 1981 and active until 1992. Mecano became one of the most successful Spanish pop bands of all time. The band is still the best-selling Spanish band, with over 20 million records worldwide. They were considered by some to be avant-garde for their time and part of la Movida Madrileña countercultural movement. They had a brief comeback in 1998.
Wheatus is an American rock band from Northport, New York, formed in 1995. They are known principally for their 2000 single, "Teenage Dirtbag". They also experienced success with their 2001 cover version of Erasure's "A Little Respect", and their self-titled album was certified platinum in the United Kingdom.
El Otro Yo is an Argentinean alternative rock band. They made their debut in the late '80s / early '90s, with a demo tape called Los Hijos de Alien, followed by Traka-Traka. Later on, the group successfully founded its own label, Besotico Records, thus sealing their independent personality. EOY is the independent group with the most albums recorded in the 1990s. The band shared tours and stages with bands such as Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, Marilyn Manson, Incubus, Yo La Tengo, Molotov, Café Tacuba, Todos Tus Muertos, Los Brujos, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Silverchair, Soda Stereo, Robi Draco Rosa, The Offspring and Placebo, among others. They have played extensively all over Latin American and the United States. El Otro Yo is the third band in the world to transform their official website into a social network, which is called Comunidad EOY. They are also the first Latin American band to offer their own application for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users.
Ana Torroja Fungairiño, 3rd Marchioness of Torroja, is a Spanish singer. She was the lead singer of the pop trio Mecano, considered one of the most popular pop bands from Spain during the 1980s and 1990s. Mecano split in 1998 and she embarked on a solo career.
Jose Antonio Aguilar Jiménez, better known as Pepe Aguilar, is an American singer.
Saratoga is a Spanish heavy metal band established in Madrid in 1992 by bassist Niko del Hierro and guitarist Jero Ramiro. Since March 2023, the band's lineup has consisted of del Hierro, Ramiro, Tete Novoa (vocals), and Arnau Martí (drums). The band experienced their biggest success during the tenure of vocalist Leo Jiménez (1999–2006). Since 2014, with the arrival of Novoa, they have seen a resurgence in popularity. Saratoga has released fourteen studio albums, five live records, and four compilations, as well as numerous singles.
V Empire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein is the first EP by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, and the first release following their 1994 debut studio album The Principle of Evil Made Flesh. It was released on 22 April 1996, and was the band's final release for Cacophonous Records.
"Hijo de la Luna" is a song written by José María Cano performed originally by the Spanish band Mecano with lead singer Ana Torroja. It appeared on their 1986 album, Entre el cielo y el suelo, and had great success all over the Spanish-speaking world, as did the album. From 28 December 1998 to 16 January 1999, a cover version by Loona topped the German charts, and reached number two on the Swiss singles' chart.
El Ángel Caído is the third studio album by the Spanish Power metal band Avalanch and the last one featuring Víctor García, released in 2001. It features the collaboration of Leo Jiménez.
"Une femme avec une femme" is a 1990 song by Spanish pop band Mecano. In late 1990, it was released as a single from the band's seventh album, released in 1988, Descanso dominical, on which it appears as the third track. It became a hit in France, hitting number one for seven weeks. Also in 1990, the song was notably covered by the pop duo formed by Argentine singers Sandra Mihanovich and Celeste Carballo as the title track of their studio album Mujer contra mujer, which is regarded as a landmark by the country's lesbian community. In 2003, the song was covered by Saya, becoming a top-10 hit in France.
El Lado Oscuro is the second studio album by power metal band DarkSun, released in 2004. The band entered the studios at the end of 2003. Just like El Legado, this album was recorded in Germany, with Ingo Cjavkoski in the production. This time the band had Dennis Ward on mixings., and Lars Ratz assisted on the vocals production. Once again the reviews were as good as they could possibly be, like "...it's a varied work, where power and heavy metal alternate and mi", and "El Lado Oscuro is a really good power metal album". Peavy Wagner performed vocals on a song, which was released as a bonus track on the album, entitled "Prisoners of Fate".
The Dark Side is the third studio album by power metal band DarkSun, which is the English version of El Lado Oscuro, the album was released in September 2007. The Dark Side and was released in September 2007 through FC Metal Recordings. The critics were as good as the Spanish version, like "the album can be defined with one word: brilliant!". The band collaborated on Rage's album Speak of the Dead, with a Spanish version of the song "Full Moon" entitled "La Luna Reine," which appeared as a bonus track. Just after the release of The Dark Side drummer Rafael Yugueros left DarkSun to form part of power metal band WarCry replacing former drummer Alberto Ardines. Yugueros had already worked with WarCry on their 1997's demo Demon 97. The band re-recruited Daniel Cabal who worked on what would become the band's new album Libera Me. On the summer of 2008 DarkSun announced that Cabalwas leaving the band, all these occurred in a professional and friendly way from both parties. On the same announcement the band presented new drummer Jose Ojeda, who had performed drums on Spanish bands like Rivendel Lords, Killian, among others.
DarkSun is a Spanish power metal band from Asturias. Formed in 2002 after the split of Nörthwind, the band has since released six studio albums. DarkSun has often cited Blind Guardian, Helloween, Angra, and Rage as their biggest and most important influences.
Libera Me is the third album by Spanish power metal band DarkSun, released on September 29, 2008.
Nathan Peter Hachero Azarcon is a Filipino musician, nationalist, songwriter, and producer. He is currently the bassist, vocalist and one of the founding members of Filipino rock band Rivermaya. He was also a member of the rock bands Pinikpikan, Kapatid and a founding member of Bamboo and Hijo.
Entre el cielo y el suelo is the fourth studio album by the Spanish synth-pop band Mecano, released on June 16, 1986 by Ariola. The album's title is taken from one of the lines of the single "Me cuesta tanto olvidarte".
Descanso dominical is the fifth studio album by Spanish pop band Mecano. It was released on May 24, 1988, in Spain and Spanish America, 1989 in Italy and 1990 in France under Ariola Records. This was the album that reaffirmed their stardom as worldwide artists. Before its release, this album was intended to be a 2-disc album due to the large amount of material, but that intent was cancelled. The album is also known in France as Une Femme Avec Une Femme and as Figlio della Luna in Italy. The title of the album was taken from a line in the fifth single "El blues del eslavo".
The 11th Annual Latin Grammy Awards were held on Thursday, November 11, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the third time the annual event had taken place at this location. The eligibility period for recordings to be nominated was July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. Nominations were announced on September 8, 2010. On September 14, 2010, it was announced that the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honoree would be Plácido Domingo. The big winners of the night were Camila, Juan Luis Guerra and Gustavo Cerati with three awards.
Devilment are a British gothic metal band originally formed in late 2011 by guitarist Daniel Finch. The band experienced problems finding a stable vocalist until Dani Filth from the extreme metal band Cradle of Filth joined. They released their first studio album, The Great and Secret Show, in November 2014.
The 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards were held on November 19, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise. This is the second time that Latin Grammys will be held at this location, will be broadcast live on the Univision Network from 8–11 p.m. ET/PT.
