Spreading the Disease is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Anthrax, released in October 1985 by Megaforce Records and Island Records. It was the band's first album to feature vocalist Joey Belladonna and bassist Frank Bello. A special two-disc edition of the album was released in 2015, celebrating its 30th anniversary.
Stephen Percy Harris is an English musician, best known as the bassist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, primary songwriter and founder/leader of heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He has been the band's only constant member since their inception in 1975 and, along with guitarist Dave Murray, the only member to appear on every album.
Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey. Founded in 1994, the band consists of guitarist Michael Romeo, keyboardist Michael Pinnella, drummer Jason Rullo, lead vocalist Russell Allen and bassist Michael LePond.
Kittie is a Canadian heavy metal band from London, Ontario, formed in 1996 by lead guitarist Fallon Bowman and the Lander sisters, drummer Mercedes and lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Morgan. Tanya Candler completed the band's early line-up on bass. The Lander sisters have remained the band's sole constant members. Collectively, their material released via independent record labels has sold over two million copies worldwide.
Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of progressive metal band Opeth. A former vocalist of death metal supergroup Bloodbath, he was also guitarist for the "one-off" band Steel, and part of the collaboration Storm Corrosion with Steven Wilson.
Blue Murder were an English hard rock band led by guitarist-vocalist John Sykes. The group was formed in 1987 following Sykes's dismissal from Whitesnake. The initial line-up was rounded out by bassist Tony Franklin and drummer Carmine Appice. In its nascent stage, vocalist Ray Gillen and drummer Cozy Powell were attached to the project. In 1989, Blue Murder released their self-titled debut album, which cracked the Billboard 200 chart and spawned a minor hit with "Jelly Roll". Nevertheless, the record proved to be a financial disappointment for both the band and their label Geffen Records.
Tesla is an American rock band from Sacramento, California. In late 1981, bassist Brian Wheat and guitarist Frank Hannon formed a band named City Kidd, which evolved into Tesla. By 1984, vocalist Jeff Keith, guitarist Tommy Skeoch, and drummer Troy Luccketta had joined the band, forming their classic lineup that appeared on all of the albums and live shows during their initial run. The band adopted the Tesla moniker shortly before recording their first album, as another band with a name similar to City Kidd already existed.
Marko Tapani "Marco" Hietala is a Finnish heavy metal vocalist, bassist and songwriter. Internationally, he is best known as the former bassist, male vocalist and secondary composer to Tuomas Holopainen, of the symphonic metal band Nightwish. He is also the vocalist and bassist as well as composer and lyricist for the heavy metal band Tarot.
Crowbar is an American sludge metal band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1990. The band is fronted by vocalist/guitarist Kirk Windstein, Crowbar's sole constant member. Through infusing a slow, low-keyed, brooding doom metal sound with the aggression of hardcore punk, they pioneered a style known as sludge metal – albeit Windstein admitted a mild dislike to the term – alongside other bands of the New Orleans heavy metal scene such as Eyehategod, Soilent Green, Acid Bath, and Down.
Kix was an American glam metal and hard rock band formed in 1976, that achieved popularity during the 1980s. The band's classic lineup consisted of guitarists Ronnie "10/10" Younkins and Brian "Damage" Forsythe, bassist Donnie Purnell and frontman Steve Whiteman and drummer Jimmy "Chocolate" Chalfant. Kix covered AC/DC, Aerosmith, April Wine, Led Zeppelin, and others before signing with Atlantic Records in 1981. Since peaking in the late 1980s, band members continued to record and tour until their disbandment in 2023.
Mats Levén is a Swedish singer. Some of his most notable collaborations have been with guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, symphonic metallers Therion and doom metallers Candlemass. In 2011, due to family issues on the part of Firewind's lead singer Apollo, Levén was called in to substitute for the rest of their European tour. He also started touring with Trans-Siberian Orchestra in 2016. In 2019, he released his first solo album under the name Skyblood. In 2022, he became a member of Vandenberg which is led by the well known guitarist, Adrian Vandenberg.
Tigertailz are a Welsh glam metal band from Cardiff. Their 1990 album Bezerk made the Top 40 on the UK Albums Chart and contained the hit singles "Love Bomb Baby" and "Heaven". The band reformed in 2005.
Shy were a British hard rock band from Birmingham, formed in 1982 under the name "Trojan".
Elegy are a Dutch power metal band, founded in 1986 in Eindhoven. Their music is characterized by the fusion of power and progressive metal, which made them the pioneers of the 'progressive power metal' subgenre. The band was plagued by a continuing changing roster, which counts in the current line-up only one founding member. Elegy have currently suspended any recording or live activity.
Bonham was a British/Canadian hard rock and heavy metal band founded in 1988 by drummer Jason Bonham, the son of late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. The band's most successful line-up was also its initial one which included late singer Daniel MacMaster, bassist/keyboardist John Smithson, and guitarist Ian Hatton. The band had released four studio albums between 1989 and 1997.
Bezerk is the second studio album by Welsh glam metal band Tigertailz. It was released on the Music for Nations record label and is still the band's most successful and well known album, having reached the UK top 40 at number 36. It is the first album to feature new lead vocalist Kim Hooker. The album takes a strongly pop influenced approach to the genre, typical of Tigertailz's sound.
Banzai! is a 1991 album by Tigertailz. It is a collection of B sides and singles originally for Japan only. It includes a remake version of "Livin' without you", and a live version of "She'z too hot" from their first album Young and Crazy, and two covers: "Creeping Death" by Metallica and "Peace Sells" by Megadeth which hint at the direction they would take for the next album.
Operation: Mindcrime was a progressive metal band that was fronted by the former lead singer of Queensrÿche, Geoff Tate. It is named after Queensrÿche's 1988 album of the same name. Various musicians have contributed to the band, both live and in studio and it features members such as John Moyer and Simon Wright. The group signed a worldwide deal in December 2014 with Frontiers Music Srl for its coming releases. Their debut album, The Key, which is part one of a trilogy, was released in 2015. The second, Resurrection, was released in 2016, and the third and final album of the trilogy, The New Reality, was released in 2017.
Esprit D'Air is a British-Japanese progressive metal band formed in London in 2010 with members from Japan and England. In 2013, the band increased in popularity as their single "Shizuku" became the first playable song in the J-rock category in the video game Rock Band 3 but disbanded in the same year as members went back to Japan. Since reforming in 2016, Kai appoints session musicians and support members, which included some of the original line-up to perform with him on tour.
Kai is a rock singer, musician, producer, and leader of the British-Japanese rock and alternative metal group Esprit D'Air as a multi-instrumentalist. He is also one of the current guitarists for English rock band The Sisters of Mercy.
