This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2019) |
Sweet Savage | |
---|---|
Origin | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
Genres | Heavy metal |
Years active | 1979–present |
Labels | Park, Crashed, Neat, SPV |
Members | Ray Haller Marty McCloskey Phil Edgar |
Past members | Vivian Campbell Simon McBride Davy Bates Jules Watson Trev Fleming Robert Casserly aka Rob Cass Ian Wilson |
Sweet Savage are a heavy metal band from Belfast, Northern Ireland, formed in 1979. Future Dio and Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell was an early member. [1] Since forming in 1979, Sweet Savage have released three studio albums, three singles and one demo. Their latest album, Regeneration, was released in 2011. [2]
Considered one of the pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal movement alongside acts such as Iron Maiden, Saxon, Diamond Head, and Def Leppard, due to a handful of songs, most notably, played and recorded live on the BBC Radio One - The Friday Rock Show . [3] [4] The band however, only released two singles in their first incarnation, failed to record a single album [5] and thus success eluded them, leading to their disbandment by 1983.
The band reformed in 1984 with a different line-up, but did not last long. The band reformed for a second time in the 1990s, following Metallica's cover of their song "Killing Time" as a B-side for their "The Unforgiven" single, [6] recording two albums, before disbanding for a third time. They have since reformed and released their third and last album (to date), in 2011. [7]
Sweet Savage began with a line-up of Trev Fleming and Vivian Campbell on guitars, David Bates on drums and Ray Haller on bass and vocals. The band gained a support slot for Thin Lizzy on their Renegade tour [8] and supported acts such as Ozzy Osbourne, Wishbone Ash and Motörhead. [9]
In 1981 the band signed to Park Records and released their first single "Take No Prisoners" which was limited to 1000 copies [10] – this single included the song "Killing Time". A self-released demo known as Demo 81 was released at this time, which contained a BBC session of four songs.
In early 1983, guitarist Campbell accepted an offer to join Dio and subsequently left the band. [9]
After a year long break, Sweet Savage decided to reform, but without Campbell and Fleming. Ian "Speedo" Wilson joined Sweet Savage on guitar and the band recorded a single with vocalist Robert Casserly, "Straight Through the Heart" and was released on Crashed Records. [9] In 1985, the band recorded their third single "The Raid". After this, Sweet Savage disbanded for a second time. [9]
Much later in the late 1990s after Metallica covered "Killing Time" in 1991 as a B-side for "The Unforgiven", there was renewed interest for Sweet Savage. Fuelled by this interest, the band reformed and signed to Neat Records in 1996, releasing their first studio album entitled Killing Time The original lyrics to the track, which Metallica covered, (the original Sweet Savage version and the Metallica cover can both easily be found on YouTube) had racial overtones that have since been removed from all lyrics sheets. The band at this stage were joined by Simon McBride on lead guitar and the return of Trev Fleming on additional guitar. Ian Wilson was concentrating on other projects and was not present on the Killing Time record, with Simon McBride taking over from him. Killing Time contained re-worked and re-recorded versions of songs that were originally released early on in their career.
Two years later in 1998, the band recorded and released an album of completely new material entitled Rune. Following the two albums, the band went on hiatus as each member wanted to follow different musical routes.
In 2008, Maniacal Records from the USA was to release the band's early studio material on vinyl, but the band abruptly cancelled the project, citing lawsuit concerns from a former member. 23 April 2008 saw the long-awaited return to the stage by Sweet Savage, as they supported Saxon on the St. Georges Day concert in London's Shepherds Bush Empire. [11] Bates decided to leave the band and was replaced by Jules Watson. A trip to Germany ensued in early August where they played the Headbangers Festival [12] and the Wacken Festival [13] to great acclaim. Later that month they supported Metallica & Tenacious D in Dublin, Marlay Park, 20 August 2008. [14] On 1 August 2009, again in Marlay Park, Ray Haller joined Metallica on stage for "Killing Time". [15]
The current line-up of Haller, Wilson, Fleming and Watson has been cited as being "the strongest version of the band" by the industry professionals[ which? ] and as frontman Ray Haller explains "All this interest lately, has come out of the blue and it's phenomenal how well the band is being received by everyone. We played Germany for the first time recently and were surprised to hear the kids singing our tunes back to us, we really had no idea how popular the band are."[ citation needed ]
In 2009 Sweet Savage were confirmed as the support along with Doro for Saxon’s Battalions Of Steel World Tour II.
2009 also saw the release of their newest studio effort entitled Warbird, on SPV Records. The album features Vivian Campbell making a guest appearance on a cover of Thin Lizzy's "Whiskey in the Jar". [16]
At the band's support show with Motörhead, lead singer Ray Haller confirmed that the new record Warbird would have been released in early 2010 and not 2009 as planned.
On 7 July 2010 Sweet Savage were announced as replacement support for the first date of Iron Maiden's Final Frontier European Tour at the O2 in Dublin on 30 July 2010. Heaven & Hell were originally announced as support, but were forced to cancel all of their summer dates due to Ronnie James Dio's death. At the show, Sweet Savage introduced a packed Dublin crowd to new drummer Marty McCloskey who would be taking over from Jules Watson. Watson went on to drum for Conjuring Fate. The band revealed that the record Warbird, which had been postponed due to the current economic climatic in the music business, would be seeing a full release in late 2010. As of late 2019, it remains unreleased.
On 2 October 2010, guitarist and songwriter Trev Fleming died after treatment for a recent illness, he had been missing from the band's line-up since February 2010 and was not present for support slots with Deep Purple and Iron Maiden or for Sweet Savage's performance at Sonisphere Festival.
Ray Haller joined Metallica onstage on 7 December 2011 at The Fillmore in San Francisco, CA for Metallica's 30th Anniversary show. Ray sang "Killing Time" with Metallica and also backing vocals on their track "Seek & Destroy". This was the second of four shows that Metallica played.
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. Guitarist Dave Mustaine, who formed Megadeth after being fired from Metallica, and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted are former members of the band.
Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wrixon left after a few months. Bell left at the end of 1973 and was briefly replaced by Gary Moore, who himself was replaced in mid-1974 by twin lead guitarists: Scott Gorham, who remained with the band until their break-up in 1983, and Brian Robertson, who remained with the band until 1978 when Moore re-joined. Moore left a second time and was replaced by Snowy White in 1980, who was himself replaced by John Sykes in 1982. The line-up was augmented by keyboardist Darren Wharton in 1980.
Kill 'Em All is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 25, 1983, through the independent label Megaforce Records. After forming in 1981, Metallica began by playing shows in local clubs in Los Angeles. They recorded several demos to gain attention from club owners and eventually relocated to San Francisco to secure the services of bassist Cliff Burton. The group's No Life 'til Leather demo tape (1982) was noticed by Megaforce label head Jon Zazula, who signed them and provided a budget of $15,000 for recording. The album was recorded in May with producer Paul Curcio at the Music America Studios in Rochester, New York. It was originally intended to be titled Metal Up Your Ass, with cover art featuring a hand clutching a dagger emerging from a toilet bowl. Zazula convinced the band to change the name because distributors feared that releasing an album with such an offensive title and artwork would diminish its chances of commercial success.
Kai Michael Hansen is a German musician who is the founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray. He is also one of the co-founders of another power metal band Helloween, which he was a part of from 1983 to 1989 and rejoined in 2016. He is a prominent figure in power metal and has sold millions of albums worldwide. He is regarded as "the godfather of power metal", having founded two seminal bands in the genre. In 2011, he joined the band Unisonic featuring former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske. Hansen and Kiske reunited with Helloween in 2017 for a world tour with all current members, celebrating the 30-year anniversary of release of the albums Keeper of the Seven Keys Parts I and II.
X is the eighth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 30 July 2002 by Island Records in the US and sister label Mercury worldwide. Much like 1996's Slang, it featured another departure from their signature sound by moving into the pop genre. The album charted at No. 11 on The Billboard 200 and No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart. Most of the album was produced by Pete Woodroffe and the band, with remaining tracks produced by either Marti Frederiksen or Per Aldeheim and Andreas Carlsson.
Holy Diver is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Dio, released in 1983. The album was acclaimed by the music press and is the band's most successful album.
Vivian Patrick Campbell is a Northern Irish musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the guitarist of Dio. He has also been the guitarist of Def Leppard since 1992. Campbell has also worked with Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Sweet Savage, Trinity, Riverdogs and Shadow King.
"The Unforgiven" is a power ballad by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the second single from their eponymous fifth album Metallica. The song deals with the theme of the struggle of the individual against the efforts of those who would subjugate him.
Mortal Sin were an Australian thrash metal band that formed in 1985 and existed over three distinct periods until 2012. The band released five albums and were the first Australian thrash metal band to tour internationally. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, they were one of "two leading lights... [of] a small, but fervent underground thrash/speed metal scene."
Marco Mendoza is an American bass guitarist who has worked in diverse genres. He became a professional rock musician in 1989 and debuted on Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward's solo album Along the Way. He has performed on a number of notable releases throughout his career, including Live... in the Still of the Night by Whitesnake, One Night Only by Thin Lizzy and Live in Concert at Lollapalooza by Journey.
The discography of Motörhead, an English rock band, consists of 23 studio albums, 16 live albums, 16 compilation albums, five extended plays (EPs), three box sets, 29 singles, 10 video albums and 34 music videos. Motörhead were originally formed in 1975 in London by bassist and vocalist Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, after his departure from Hawkwind, who drafted in guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox to complete the band's initial lineup. The trio recorded their debut album for release on United Artists, although it was not released until 1979 as On Parole. "Fast" Eddie Clarke joined the band as a second guitarist soon after this recording was completed, but as it was shelved by United Artists and even though On Parole is chronologically the band's first album, Clarke would instead replace Wallis who left soon after Clarke joined for unspecified reasons. It is this trio who would go on to record the band's first released album, the self-titled Motörhead, as a three-piece. Thus, beginning the band's classic line-up and initially issued by Chiswick Records in 1977, reaching number 43 on the UK Albums Chart.
"Breadfan" is a song by Welsh Blues Rock heavy metal power trio Budgie, appearing on their 1973 album Never Turn Your Back on a Friend. The title of the song refers to a person's relationship to money, with "bread" being a slang term for money. The lyrics further highlight the moral dilemmas on what to do with money; keep it, give it away, spend it and to be ultimately free of it and not to let it rule a life. The song is featured in the video game Brütal Legend and its introduction used in Brazilian television sports news programme Globo Esporte.
Savage Messiah are an English thrash metal/heavy metal band formed in May 2007 in London. The band was formed by guitarist and lead vocalist Dave Silver and also consists of guitarist Joff Bailey, bassist Míra Sláma, keyboardist Carlos Alcalde De Lema and drummer Charly Carretón.
Long Distance Calling is a post-rock band from Münster, Germany, formed in 2006. The majority of their tracks are extended instrumentals.
Dezperadoz is a German "Western metal" band and is the side project of Onkel Tom guitarist Alex Kraft. Formed in 2000, the band plays heavy metal music that is heavily influenced by the soundtracks of the 1960s and 1970s Spaghetti Western movies. Dezperadoz has released four albums, two on the German heavy metal label AFM. They have also had guest appearances by many notable heavy metal musicians including Michael Weikath, Tobias Sammet, Joacim Cans, and Doro Pesch.
Simon McBride is a Northern Irish singer and guitarist, who has played with other artists, including Deep Purple and Snakecharmer, as well as recording and touring his own band, and teaching at BIMM in Dublin.
Last in Line is a British rock band formed in 2012 by former members of Dio's original lineup. Their name comes from the 1984 Dio album, The Last in Line. Following the death of frontman Ronnie James Dio in 2010, drummer Vinny Appice, bassist Jimmy Bain, guitarist Vivian Campbell and keyboardist Claude Schnell reunited and added vocalist Andrew Freeman to perform the Dio songs they originally recorded. They released three studio albums of original material without Schnell between February 2016 and March 2023.
Infanteria is a South African progressive thrash metal band from Cape Town formed in 2005.
And There Will Be a Next Time... Live from Detroit is the third live album and fourth live release from the band Def Leppard. Released in 2017, it was recorded at the DTE Music Theatre in Clarkston, MI on 15 July 2016.