Viva Saturn | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genres | Alternative rock |
| Years active | 1989–1998 |
| Labels | HeyDay, World Service/Rough Trade, DiDi, Normal, Restless |
| Past members |
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Viva Saturn was an alternative/neo-psychedelic rock group from Los Angeles, California, founded by Steven Roback of Rain Parade. The band was active from 1989 to 1998.
When Rain Parade decided to take a break in 1988, Steven Roback formed a new project, Viva Saturn, with fellow Rain Paraders John Thoman and Will Glenn. [1] [2] The band's first release, a mini-LP called Viva Saturn, was released on Pat Thomas' San Francisco-based Heyday Records and World Service/Rough Trade UK in 1989.
The following year, after Glenn left to join David Roback's Mazzy Star, the band relocated to San Francisco, where Rain Parade co-founder Matt Piucci joined to play guitar and assist with studio production.
Over the next few years the band used various musicians, including Ross Inden (bass guitar) and Carlo Nuccio (drums) [2] to record a series of acclaimed neo-psychedelic albums, including Soundmind (1992), featuring guest appearances from Green on Red's Jack Waterson and Chris Cacavas, and Barbara Manning of 28th Day.
This was followed in 1995 with the more pop, but still electro-acoustic psychedelia-rooted album, Brightside . [3]
The band recorded a final album, Ships of Heaven, in 1998, but this has not been released. [2]
After Viva Saturn, Roback embarked on solo recording projects, joined by his former Rain Parade bandmantes Piucci and Thoman. [3]
In 2012, Steven Roback and Matt Piucci reformed Rain Parade and resumed touring and recording new studio material.
The Psychedelic Furs are an English rock band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk scene.
The Dream Syndicate is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California, originally active from 1981 to 1989, and reunited since 2012. The band is associated with neo-psychedelia and the Paisley Underground music movement; of the bands in that movement, according to the Los Angeles Times, the Dream Syndicate "rocked with the highest degree of unbridled passion and conviction." Though never commercially successful, the band met with considerable acclaim, especially for its songwriting and guitar playing. Bandleader Steve Wynn reformed the band in 2012, and four studio albums have been released since 2017.
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Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Santa Monica, California, from remnants of the group Opal. Founding member David Roback's friend Hope Sandoval became the group's vocalist when Kendra Smith left Opal. The band's current lineup consists of Sandoval, Colm Ó Cíosóig, Suki Ewers (keyboards), and Josh Yenne.
Strung Out in Heaven is the seventh full-length album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. It was released in June 1998 and was the band's first and only recording with the large independent label, TVT Records.
The Rain Parade is a band that was originally active in the Paisley Underground scene in Los Angeles in the 1980s, and that reunited and resumed touring in 2012.
David Edward Roback was an American guitarist, songwriter and producer, best known as a founding member of the alternative rock band Mazzy Star.
Opal was an American rock band in the 1980s. They were part of the Paisley Underground musical style. The band's name is derived from "Opel", a song by Syd Barrett.
Kendra Smith is an American musician who was a founding member of The Dream Syndicate, a member of Opal, and later recorded as a solo artist.
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Can't Get Lost When You're Goin' Nowhere is an album by Gone Fishin', a band featuring Matt Piucci from Rain Parade and Tim Lee from The Windbreakers.
Heyday Records is an independent record label founded in 1988 by Pat Thomas. Rolling Stone has called Heyday "one of the ten most adventurous small labels in the world."
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Emergency Third Rail Power Trip is the debut album by American rock band Rain Parade, released in 1983. It is one of the most prominent records in the Paisley Underground movement of the 1980s.
George Gilbert "Gil" Ray was an American rock drummer, guitarist, and vocalist, best known for his recordings in the 1980s and 1990s as a member of the bands Game Theory and The Loud Family. In late 2012, he joined Rain Parade as drummer for a series of reunion performances.
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Thomas Howard Stevens was an American bassist, guitarist, singer, and songwriter, often associated with the Paisley Underground and alternative country movements as bassist for roots rock band the Long Ryders. He was a member of Magi and Danny & Dusty, and recorded as a solo artist. In his solo work, Stevens incorporated elements of folk rock, country, psychedelia and garage rock into his music, and released what music reviewer Stewart Lee calls "fascinatingly different solo albums." Stevens was based in Los Angeles in the 1980s, but later returned to his native Indiana.
Brightside is an album by the American band Viva Saturn, released in 1995. It was the band's final album, as Restless Records chose not to release 1998's Ships of Heaven.
Alejandro "Alec" Palao is a British musician, music historian, writer, and reissue producer. In addition to his musical output with groups like the Sting-rays, the Sneetches, and Mushroom, his works include hundreds of production credits and liner notes on important compilations of vintage rock and soul from Ace Records, Rhino Records, and others, plus a wide array of music-related print and film credits. Palao is unusual in that he normally supervises each aspect of the projects he compiles, including audio transfers and restoration as well as research and liner notes. Honors include five Grammy Award nominations for historical albums and liner notes.
Last Rays of a Dying Sun is the third studio album by American band Rain Parade, released through Flatiron Recordings and Label 51 on August 4, 2023. It is their first studio album since their reformation in 2012, and their first in 38 years, following Crashing Dream (1985). It includes guest appearances by Debbi Peterson and Vicki Peterson of the Bangles, and the Moore Brothers.
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