A II Z
| A II Z | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | Manchester , England |
| Genre (s) | New Wave of British Heavy Metal |
| founding | 1979 |
| resolution | 1982 as Aurora |
| Last occupation | |
| Tony Backhouse | |
| Simon Wright | |
| Dunc Ferguson | |
| Dave Owens | |
| former members | |
Electric guitar |
Gary Owens |
Electric bass |
Cam Campbell |
Drums |
Karl Reti |
A II Z was an English new wave of British heavy metal band from Manchester , which was formed in 1979 and split up in 1982 under the name Aurora .
history
The band was formed in 1979 and consisted of singer Dave Owens, guitarist Gary Owens, bassist Gam Campbell and drummer Karl Reti. According to his own statement, Gary Owens had previously been briefly active at Def Leppard . The first appearances in local pubs followed. Since this did not suit the group, however, they soon organized performances in school halls ; the first had about 400 visitors. For the next appearance, the number increased to 800, before almost 1000 spectators were reached. The band then invited six record companies to a gig. In addition, the group asked a professional management if they could represent them, whereupon they won a record deal with Polydor . The live album The Witch of Berkeley was released in 1980 . The album sold reasonably well and was able to increase the band's popularity again. This was followed by appearances with Girlschool , one of which was recorded by the BBC for a future in-concert radio show, and with Black Sabbath . In early 1981 the musicians of the New Musical Express were accused of being National Socialists , as the name and the band logo would be reminiscent of a Nazi magazine of the 1920s. However, this did not damage their reputation in the long term. In the same year the band took up their first studio work with the single No Fun after Midnight , which was also released in 1981. The B-side of the 7 "single , Treason , was later selected in 1990 by Phonogram for the sampler New Wave of British Heavy Metal '79 Revisited . The maxi single received Valhalla Force as the b-side instead of Treason . Treason , Valhalla Force and No Fun after Midnight differ from the respective album version. Valhalla Force in particular was quite popular in Scandinavia . After that, all members left the line-up except for Dave Owens and his brother Gary Owens (electric guitar). Drummer Simon Wright and bassist Tony Backhouse joined as new members . Towards the end of the year, the second single I'm the One Who Loves You was released , with the song Ringside Seat as the B-side. In early 1982, the band announced the release of further records as well as playing concerts in and outside of Great Britain , as they had recorded previous concerts in other parts of Europe as successful. Because the previous single was hardly successful and hardly advertised, the band slowly disintegrated. Gary Owans joined Tytan and was replaced by Duncan Ferguson. Dave Owens decided to rename the group Aurora in the second half of the year. Wright was only partially active in the band since he had also joined Tytan. Within several weeks, the band recorded a self-financed single. Even before the official release, the band split up due to the lack of media interest. The single was released in late 1982 under the name I'll Be Your Fantasy , with the song If I Really Knew Her as the B-side. The sound carrier was released without a cover , the planned release of an album never took place. The band was never seen live under the name Aurora.
style
According to Malc Macmillan in The NWOBHM Encyclopedia , the group on The Witch of Berkeley plays upbeat music similar to that of Excalibur and Savage . The single version of Valhalla Force is roughly reminiscent of Def Leppard. With the release of I'm the One Who Loves You , the group moved in a more commercial direction. According to Macmillan, Gary Owens always tried, like Boston, to process melodies in the songs. Owens would prefer to see the band as a mixture of Rainbow and Styx . According to Macmillan, the A-side of the single was then considered the "second choice version" of the Rainbow song Since You Been Gone , the B-side, however, is much more reminiscent of the previous single and offers a very strong contrast to the A-side . Under the name Aurora, the group sounded more commercial and the only single is most comparable to Thin Lizzy , especially on the B-side of this single. Otherwise, Aurora is sonically comparable to Meanstrak and Energy.
According to Matthias Mader in NWoBHM New Wave of British Heavy Metal The glory Days , the band on the debut album plays quite staid, occult -inspired heavy metal . On No Fun after Midnight the group got a little more melodic. The songs on the album and the single were composed by the Owens brothers. From the next single, Russ Ballard, a professional songwriter, was hired. Mader also found a strong resemblance to the Rainbow song Since You Been Gone and noted that it was also written by Ballard for the same record company in the same week. According to Jürgen Hegewald in the same book, "melodic NWoBHM with the refrain to hit" can be heard on the Aurora single.
The Ultimate Hard Rock Guide Vol I - Europe describes the music as melodic hard rock .
Martin Popoff wrote in his book The Collector's Guide of Heavy Metal Volume 2: The Eighties in his review of The Witch of Berkeley that the band, like Witchfynde , were at least superficially black metal originals, but without knowing about it, what they were doing there. The album is eccentric and also sounds like a bar band that would also play in a bar. Despite the Black Metal-like presentation, the music has nothing to do with the genre in terms of sound. The single No Fun after Midnight sounded like the early Diamond Head and I'm the One Who Loves You orienting at pop music and have a boogie - Groove .
Discography
- as A II Z
- 1980: The Witch of Berkeley (Live Album, Polydor )
- 1981: No Fun after Midnight (Single, Polydor)
- 1981: I'm the One Who Loves You (Single, Polydor)
- as aurora
- 1982: I'll Be Your Fantasy (Single, Diamond Dog Records)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Matthias Mader, Otger Jeske, Manfred Kerschke: NWoBHM New Wave of British Heavy Metal The glory Days . Iron Pages, Berlin 1995, p. 18th ff .
- ^ A b Garry Sharpe-Young , Horst Odermatt & Friends: The Ultimate Hard Rock Guide Vol I - Europe . Bang Your Head Enterprises Ltd, 1997, p. 43 .
- ^ A b c Malc Macmillan: The NWOBHM Encyclopedia . IP Verlag Jeske / Mader GbR, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-931624-16-3 , p. 48 f .
- ^ A b c Malc Macmillan: The NWOBHM Encyclopedia . IP Verlag Jeske / Mader GbR, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-931624-16-3 , p. 50 .
- ^ A b Matthias Mader, Otger Jeske, Manfred Kerschke: NWoBHM New Wave of British Heavy Metal The glory Days . Iron Pages, Berlin 1995, p. 90 f .
- ↑ Martin Popoff : The Collector's Guide of Heavy Metal Volume 2: The Eighties . Collectors Guide Ltd, Burlington, Ontario, Canada 2005, ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5 , pp. 31 .