Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. Grindcore is considered a more noise-filled style of hardcore punk while using hardcore's trademark characteristics such as heavily distorted, down-tuned guitars, grinding overdriven bass, high-speed tempo, blast beats, and vocals which consist of growls, shouts and high-pitched shrieks. Early groups like Napalm Death are credited with laying the groundwork for the style. It is most prevalent today in North America and Europe, with popular contributors such as Brutal Truth and Nasum. Lyrical themes range from a primary focus on social and political concerns, to gory subject matter and black humor.
REO Speedwagon is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. The group's best-selling album, Hi Infidelity (1980), contained four US top 40 hits and sold more than 10 million copies.
Brian Harold May is an English guitarist, singer, composer, and astrophysicist who achieved fame as lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor. His songwriting contributions helped Queen become one of the most successful bands in rock history.
A supergroup is a musical group whose members are successful as solo artists or as members of other successful groups. The term became popular in the late 1960s when members of already successful rock groups recorded albums together, after which they normally disband. Charity supergroups, in which prominent musicians perform or record together in support of a particular cause, have been common since the 1980s. The term is most common context of rock and pop music, but it has occasionally been applied to other musical genres. For example, opera superstars The Three Tenors have been called a supergroup.
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. While none of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris, drummer Danny Herrera and lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway has remained consistent through most of the band's career since 1992's Utopia Banished. From 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they added Jesse Pintado as the replacement of one-time guitarist Bill Steer; following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece rather than replacing him.
Blood, Sweat & Tears is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura Nyro, James Taylor, Carole King, the Band, the Rolling Stones, Billie Holiday and many others. The group has also adapted music from Erik Satie, Thelonious Monk and Sergei Prokofiev into their arrangements.
The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on guitars, Horace Panter on bass, Jerry Dammers on keyboards, John Bradbury on drums, and Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez on horn. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude". Lyrically, they present a "more focused and informed political and social stance".
Joseph Fidler Walsh is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. He was also part of the New Zealand band Herbs. In the 1990s, he was a member of the short-lived supergroup The Best.
The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band, formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar in the United States and across the world during the 1960s. While their popularity in the United States waned in the 1970s, the group remains especially revered in Japan, where they tour regularly to this day. The classic lineup of the band consisted of Wilson, Bogle, Nokie Edwards, and Mel Taylor (drums).
Roger Glover is a British bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2016.
The Amboy Dukes were an American rock band formed in 1964 in Chicago, Illinois, and later based in Detroit, Michigan. They are known for their only hit single "Journey to the Center of the Mind". The band's name comes from the title of a novel by Irving Shulman. In the UK, the group's records were released under the name of The American Amboy Dukes, because of the existence of a British group with the same name. The band went through a number of personnel changes during its active years, the only constant being lead guitarist and composer Ted Nugent. The band transitioned to being Nugent's backing band before he discontinued the name in 1975.
Riva was a Croatian pop band formed in Zadar in 1986.
Macau is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. It was formerly a colony of Portugal, which left a legacy of linguistic and other cultural elements. The music is called Macanese music, a mixture of Cantonese and Portuguese music.
The Michael Schenker Group are a guitar-oriented hard rock band, formed in London in 1979 by former Scorpions and UFO guitarist Michael Schenker. In 1986, Schenker and vocalist Robin McAuley formed the McAuley Schenker Group, which lasted until 1993. After that, in 1996 the Michael Schenker Group was reformed. After the release of their second live album Rock Will Never Die (1984), its members began to have serious discussions that caused a two-year hiatus, until in 1986 Michael decided to end the band.
Cross Purposes Live is a boxed set released by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath in 4 April 1995. The set comprised a live album on CD and a VHS tape of a concert recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on Wednesday 13 April 1994, recorded on the band's tour for their Cross Purposes album. The tour was notable for being the first time The Wizard had been played since early 1971, when Ozzy Osbourne was still lead vocalist. It is Black Sabbath's only live album with singer Tony Martin. The CD was housed within an oversized videotape case but had its own inserts and jewel case.
Test Icicles were a short-lived rock band that formed in England, primarily influenced by post-hardcore, dance-punk and indie rock but containing musical elements from a variety of genres. The band was formed in 2004 by Rory Attwell and Sam Mehran, who were later joined by Devonte Hynes. Hynes and Mehran were both 18 years old at the time of the band's inception. The group has since become notable due to the later success of its members.
"Symptom of the Universe" is a song by the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, from their 1975 album Sabotage. The song was an influence on the development of thrash metal.
Six Pack is a collection of seven-inch singles released by rock group The Police in 1980.
The Sidewinders were a rock band from Tucson, Arizona, who released two major-label albums and scored two radio hits in the US before a lawsuit forced a change of name. Another album was released on a major label but by that time the band had nearly broken up. Since then the band has reunited and dissolved several times.
A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer. Another common formation is a vocalist who does not play an instrument, electric guitarist, bass guitarist, and a drummer. Instrumentally, these bands can be considered as trios. Sometimes, in addition to electric guitars, electric bass, and drums, also a keyboardist plays.
