1.
Brooklyn
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Brooklyn is the most populous borough of New York City, with a Census-estimated 2,636,735 residents in 2015. It borders the borough of Queens at the end of Long Island. Today, if New York City dissolved, Brooklyn would rank as the third-most populous city in the U. S. behind Los Angeles, the borough continues, however, to maintain a distinct culture. Many Brooklyn neighborhoods are ethnic enclaves, Brooklyns official motto, displayed on the Borough seal and flag, is Eendraght Maeckt Maght which translates from early modern Dutch as Unity makes strength. Since 2010, Brooklyn has evolved into a hub of entrepreneurship and high technology startup firms. The history of European settlement in Brooklyn spans more than 350 years, the neighborhood of Marine Park was home to North Americas first tidal mill. It was built by the Dutch, and the foundation can be seen today, however, the area was not formally settled as a town. Many incidents and documents relating to this period are in Gabriel Furmans early compilation, what is today Brooklyn left Dutch hands after the final English conquest of New Netherland in 1664, a prelude to the Second Anglo–Dutch War. The English reorganized the six old Dutch towns on southwestern Long Island as Kings County on November 1,1683 and this tract of land was recognized as a political entity for the first time, and the municipal groundwork was laid for a later expansive idea of Brooklyn identity. On August 27,1776 was fought the Battle of Long Island, the first major engagement fought in the American Revolutionary War after independence was declared, and the largest of the entire conflict. British troops forced Continental Army troops under George Washington off the heights near the sites of Green-Wood Cemetery, Prospect Park. The fortified American positions at Brooklyn Heights consequently became untenable and were evacuated a few days later, One result of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 was the evacuation of the British from New York City, celebrated by residents into the 20th century. The New York Navy Yard operated in Wallabout Bay for the entire 19th century, the first center of urbanization sprang up in the Town of Brooklyn, directly across from Lower Manhattan, which saw the incorporation of the Village of Brooklyn in 1817. Reliable steam ferry service across the East River to Fulton Landing converted Brooklyn Heights into a town for Wall Street. Ferry Road to Jamaica Pass became Fulton Street to East New York, Town and Village were combined to form the first, kernel incarnation of the City of Brooklyn in 1834. Industrial deconcentration in mid-century was bringing shipbuilding and other manufacturing to the part of the county. Each of the two cities and six towns in Kings County remained independent municipalities, and purposely created non-aligning street grids with different naming systems and it later became the most popular and highest circulation afternoon paper in America. The publisher changed to L. Van Anden on April 19,1842, on May 14,1849 the name was shortened to The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, on September 5,1938 it was further shortened to Brooklyn Eagle
2.
Hard rock
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Hard rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music that began in the mid-1960s, with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. It is typified by a use of aggressive vocals, distorted electric guitars, bass guitar, drums. Hard rock developed into a form of popular music in the 1970s, with bands such as The Who, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, AC/DC. During the 1980s, some rock bands moved away from their hard rock roots and more towards pop rock. Hard rock began losing popularity with the success of R&B, hip-hop, urban pop, grunge. Out of this movement came garage rock bands like The White Stripes, The Strokes, Interpol and, later on, in the 2000s, only a few hard rock bands from the 1970s and 1980s managed to sustain highly successful recording careers. Hard rock is a form of loud, aggressive rock music, the electric guitar is often emphasised, used with distortion and other effects, both as a rhythm instrument using repetitive riffs with a varying degree of complexity, and as a solo lead instrument. Drumming characteristically focuses on driving rhythms, strong drum and a backbeat on snare. The bass guitar works in conjunction with the drums, occasionally playing riffs, vocals are often growling, raspy, or involve screaming or wailing, sometimes in a high range, or even falsetto voice. In the late 1960s, the heavy metal was used interchangeably with hard rock. Heavy metal took on darker characteristics after Black Sabbaths breakthrough at the beginning of the 1970s, in the 1980s it developed a number of subgenres, often termed extreme metal, some of which were influenced by hardcore punk, and which further differentiated the two styles. Despite this differentiation, hard rock and heavy metal have existed side by side, with bands frequently standing on the boundary of, other antecedents include Link Wrays instrumental Rumble in 1958, and the surf rock instrumentals of Dick Dale, such as Lets Go Trippin and Misirlou. In the 1960s, American and British blues and rock bands began to rock and roll by adding harder sounds, heavier guitar riffs, bombastic drumming. From the late 1960s, it common to divide mainstream rock music that emerged from psychedelia into soft. Soft rock was often derived from rock, using acoustic instruments and putting more emphasis on melody. In contrast, hard rock was most often derived from rock and was played louder. Blues rock acts that pioneered the sound included Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, in songs like I Feel Free combined blues rock with pop and psychedelia, particularly in the riffs and guitar solos of Eric Clapton. Jimi Hendrix produced a form of blues-influenced psychedelic rock, which combined elements of jazz, blues and rock, from 1967 Jeff Beck brought lead guitar to new heights of technical virtuosity and moved blues rock in the direction of heavy rock with his band, The Jeff Beck Group
3.
Heavy metal music
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Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and the United States. Heavy metal lyrics and performance styles are associated with aggression. The first heavy metal such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath. During the mid-1970s, Judas Priest helped spur the evolution by discarding much of its blues influence, Motörhead introduced a punk rock sensibility. Beginning in the late 1970s, bands in the new wave of British heavy metal such as Iron Maiden, before the end of the decade, heavy metal fans became known as metalheads or headbangers. During the 1980s, glam metal became popular with such as Mötley Crüe. Since the mid-1990s popular styles have further expanded the definition of the genre and these include groove metal and nu metal, the latter of which often incorporates elements of grunge and hip hop. Heavy metal is characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound. Metal subgenres variously emphasize, alter, or omit one or more of these attributes, the typical band lineup includes a drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist, and a singer, who may or may not be an instrumentalist. Keyboard instruments are used to enhance the fullness of the sound. Deep Purples Jon Lord played an overdriven Hammond organ, in 1970, John Paul Jones used a Moog synthesizer on Led Zeppelin III, by the 1990s, in. almost every subgenre of heavy metal synthesizers were used. The electric guitar and the power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal. The heavy metal guitar sound comes from a use of high volumes. Guitar solos are an element of the heavy metal code. That underscores the significance of the guitar to the genre, most heavy metal songs featur at least one guitar solo, which is a primary means through which the heavy metal performer expresses virtuosity. One exception is nu metal bands, which tend to omit guitar solos, with rhythm guitar parts, the heavy crunch sound in heavy metal. Palm muting the strings with the hand and using distortion. Palm muting creates a tighter, more sound and it emphasizes the low end
4.
Kiss (band)
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Kiss is an American hard rock group formed in New York City in January 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley. The band has gone through several changes, with Stanley. The original and best-known lineup consisted of Stanley, Simmons, Frehley, with their make-up and costumes, they took on the personae of comic book-style characters, The Starchild, The Demon, The Spaceman or Space Ace, and The Catman. Due to creative differences, both Criss and Frehley had departed the group by 1982, in 1983, Kiss began performing without makeup and costumes, thinking that it was time to leave the makeup behind. The band accordingly experienced a commercial resurgence, and their music videos received regular airplay on MTV. Drummer Eric Carr, who had replaced Criss in 1980, died in 1991 of a type of heart cancer and was replaced by Eric Singer. In response to a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the mid-1990s, the band announced a reunion of the lineup in 1996. The resulting Alive/Worldwide Tour was commercially successful, Criss and Frehley have both since left the band again and have been replaced by Singer and Tommy Thayer, respectively. Kiss has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 25 million RIAA-certified albums, on April 10,2014, Kiss was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kiss traces their roots to Wicked Lester, a New York City-based rock band led by Gene Simmons and they recorded one album, which was shelved by Epic Records, and played a handful of live shows. Simmons and Stanley, feeling a new direction was needed, abandoned Wicked Lester in 1972. Simmons and Stanley met him in a nightclub where he was playing drums, after hearing Criss sing, they thought of him being in the band. Criss then auditioned for and later joined the new version of Wicked Lester, the trio focused on a much harder style of rock than Wicked Lester played. They also began experimenting with their image by wearing makeup and various outfits, in November 1972, the trio played a showcase for Epic Records A&R director Don Ellis, in an effort to secure a record deal. Although the performance went well, Ellis disliked the groups image, in early January 1973, the group added lead guitarist Ace Frehley. Frehley impressed the group with his first audition, although he showed up wearing two different colored sneakers, one red and one orange, a few weeks after Frehley joined, Wicked Lester changed their name to Kiss. Stanley came up with the name while he, Simmons and Criss were driving around New York City, Criss mentioned that he had been in a band called Lips, so Stanley said something to the effect of What about Kiss. Frehley created the logo, making the SS look like lightning bolts
5.
Union (band)
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Union is an American rock group formed in 1997 featuring lead vocalist and guitarist John Corabi, guitarist Bruce Kulick, bassist James Hunting, and drummer Brent Fitz. Union was formed in 1997 when ex-Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick, ex-Mötley Crüe vocalist and guitarist John Corabi, bassist James Hunting, Kulick left Kiss after they decided to go back to their original lineup, and Corabi left Mötley Crüe under similar circumstances. Union released two albums and a live album. Union, recorded in 1997 and released in 1998, which featured two singles, Old Man Wise and October Morning Wind, three versions of this CD were released. The first pressing of the disc omitted Old Man Wise from the cover art, the second version, a Japanese import, included the bonus track For You with Kulick on lead vocals. The third was reissued with the cover track of The Beatles Oh. The CD was co-produced by Corabi, Kulick and Curt Cuomo, in 1998 a grass root effort, The Union Work Force, spread out across the U. S. as the band toured small clubs from coast to coast. Kulick and Corabi took this a further by performing at many of the Kiss Expos doing acoustic versions of their songs. On a few occasions, Fitz and Hunting were able to join them, in 1999, UNION Live in the Galaxy, mixed by Bruce Bouillet and Kulick, was released. Recorded at The Galaxy Club, the CD features songs from the bands first CD, surrender, a Cheap Trick cover, and the added acoustic tracks October Morning Wind and The Beatles Youve Got to Hide Your Love Away proved the bands versatility. The new millennium dawned on Unions second studio CD, The Blue Room, the CD spawned two singles, Do Your Own Thing and Who Do You Think You Are. The Blue Room Tour took the band through the U. S. Europe, Australia, in 2001, both Fitz and Hunting joined original Mötley Crüe vocalist Vince Neil as band members. All the band featured on the Bruce Kulick solo albums Audio Dog and Transformer In 2005. Fitz was unable to attend, so Kulicks former bandmate and friend Eric Singer filled in, also in 2005, Kulick oversaw the release of a Union DVD, Do Your Own Thing Live, containing two full-length live shows plus bonus material. In November and December 2005, Union toured in Europe to promote the DVD, Kulick and Corabi were joined by Chuck Garric and Fred Coury instead of Hunting, Corabi, Kulick, and Singer also played together in the band ESP. Fitz became a member of the Canadian band Econoline Crush in 2008, as well as a drummer for Indigenous, Alice Cooper. Fitz also performed in Las Vegas with Tinnitus, a made up of several touring musicians from Blue Man Group, with Fitz playing keyboards. In 2009, Kulick, Corabi and Fitz all performed in Las Vegas with the show Monster Circus, Fitz was keyboardist/guitarist, Kulick on guitar, and Corabi on vocals and guitar
6.
Grand Funk Railroad
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Grand Funk Railroad, sometimes shortened as Grand Funk, is an American popular rock band during the 1970s, touring extensively and playing to packed arenas worldwide. David Fricke of Rolling Stone magazine once said, You cannot talk about rock in the 1970s without talking about Grand Funk Railroad, known for their crowd-pleasing arena rock style, the band was well-regarded by audiences despite a relative lack of critical acclaim. The bands name is a play on words of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, first achieving recognition at the 1969 Atlanta Pop Festival, the band was signed by Capitol Records. After a raucous, well-received set on the first day of the festival, patterned after hard-rock power trios such as Cream, the band, with Terry Knights marketing savvy, developed its own popular style. In August 1969, the band released its first album titled On Time, which sold one million copies. In February 1970, an album, Grand Funk, was awarded gold status. Despite critical pans and a lack of airplay, the groups first six albums were quite successful, the hit single Im Your Captain, from the album Closer to Home, released in 1970, was considered stylistically representative of Terry Knight and the Packs recordings. In 1970, Knight launched an advertising campaign to promote the album Closer to Home. That album was certified multiplatinum despite a lack of critical approval, the band spent $100,000 on a New York City Times Square billboard to advertise Closer to Home. By 1971, Grand Funk equalled the Beatles Shea Stadium attendance record, following Closer to Home, Live Album was also released in 1970, and was another gold disc recipient. Survival and E Pluribus Funk were both released in 1971, E Pluribus Funk celebrated the Shea Stadium show with an embossed depiction of the stadium on the album covers reverse. By late 1971, the band was concerned with Knights managerial style and this growing dissatisfaction led Grand Funk Railroad to fire Knight in early 1972. Knight sued for breach of contract, which resulted in a legal battle. At one point, Knight repossessed the bands gear before a gig at Madison Square Garden, however, at that moment, the band members felt they had no choice but to continue and fight for the rights to their careers and name. In 1972, Grand Funk Railroad added Craig Frost on keyboards full-time, originally, they had attempted to attract Peter Frampton, late of Humble Pie, however, Frampton was not available, due to signing a solo-record deal with A&M Records. The addition of Frost, however, was a shift from Grand Funks original garage-band based rock and roll roots to a more rhythm. With the new lineup, Grand Funk released Phoenix, its album of original music. To refine Grand Funks sound, the band secured veteran musician Todd Rundgren as a producer and their two most successful albums and two number-one hit singles resulted, the Don Brewer-penned Were an American Band and The Loco-Motion
7.
Meat Loaf
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Michael Lee Aday, better known by his stage name Meat Loaf, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is noted for the Bat Out of Hell trilogy of albums, consisting of Bat Out of Hell, Bat Out of Hell II, Back into Hell, Bat Out of Hell has sold more than 43 million copies worldwide. Almost 40 years after its release, it sells a estimated 200,000 copies annually. He is also known for his powerful wide-ranging operatic voice and theatrical live performances and he ranked 96th on VH1s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. He is one of the music artists of all time. He has also appeared in over 50 movies and television shows and his most notable roles include Eddie in the The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Robert Bob Paulson in David Finchers Fight Club and The Lizard in The 51st State. He has also appeared in television shows such as Monk, Glee, South Park, House, M. D. Marvin Lee Aday was born in Dallas, Texas and he was the only child of Wilma Artie, a school teacher and a member of the Vo-di-o-do Girls gospel quartet, and Orvis Wesley Aday, a police officer. His father was an alcoholic who would go on drinking binges for days at a time, Aday and his mother would drive around to all the bars in Dallas, looking for Orvis to take him home. As a result, Aday often stayed with his grandmother, Charlsee Norrod, Meat Loaf relates a story in his autobiography, To Hell and Back, about how he, a friend, and his friends father drove out to Love Field to watch John F. Kennedy land. After watching him leave the airport, they went to Market Hall, in 1965, Aday graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, having already started his acting career via school productions such as Wheres Charley. and The Music Man. After attending college at Lubbock Christian College, he transferred to North Texas State University, after Aday received his inheritance from his mothers death, he rented an apartment in Dallas and isolated himself for three and a half months. A short time later, Aday went to the airport and caught the next flight leaving, the plane took him to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, Aday formed his first band, Meat Loaf Soul, during the recording of their first song, he hit a note so high that he managed to blow a fuse on the recording monitor. He was immediately offered three recording contracts, which he turned down, Meat Loaf Souls first gig was in Huntington Beach at the Cave, opening for Van Morrisons band, Them. While performing their cover of the Howlin Wolf song Smokestack Lightning, the machine they used made too much smoke. Later, the band was the act at Cal State Northridge for Renaissance, Taj Mahal. The band then underwent several changes of lead guitar, changing the name of the each time
8.
Lordi
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Lordi are a Finnish hard rock/heavy metal band, formed in 1992 by the bands lead singer, songwriter and costume maker, Mr Lordi. In addition to their melodic music, Lordi are also known for wearing monster masks and using horror elements with pyrotechnics during concerts. Lordi rose to fame in 2002 with their hit single, Would You Love a Monsterman. The band made history in 2006 by becoming the first, and still today the only, hard rock act and Finnish artist to win the Eurovision Song Contest, Lordi has toured around the world actively since 2002. The band records a new album in 2–3 years cycle and at the same time Mr Lordi upgrades the costumes. Monstereophonic were released in Fall of 2016, the band has gone through several line-up changes, but original members Mr Lordi and guitarist Amen are still active with the band. Members of Lordi have stated their desire for their faces to remain private. However, they have made a number of unmasked appearances in several news outlets, Lordi was formed in 1992 as a solo project by Mr Lordi. Lordis very first demo album Napalm Market was done in 1993, the album included a song Inferno, which also got a music video, all done by Mr Lordi. In the music video Mr Lordi performed unmasked but he had made monster make-up for his friends who played secondary role in the video, after the video was done, Mr Lordi got an idea of a band of monsters. Inferno was later released in Finnish Rockmurskaa compilation album in 1995, in 1996 Mr Lordi organized a Kiss cruise for Finnish Kiss fans from Finland to Sweden. During the cruise he met musicians Amen and G-Stealer, and told them about his project called Lordi. After the cruise they joined the band, One year later Enary joined the band on keyboard and the band recorded their first album, Bend Over And Pray The Lord. At the time when the album was recorded, the band didnt have a drummer, ari Tiainen, the owner of their record company, had originally planned to publish the album, however, the company did not have sufficient resources to market it. Tiainen recommended Lordi to the record label Kimmo Hirvonens Records, owned by Anaconda, the album was planned to release in early 1999, but Anaconda Records went bankrupt shortly before the planned release date and the album was never released. The band never performed with the original line-up, though they had promised a record release gig in 1999. During the same year G-Stealer left the band because of commitments and was replaced by Magnum. In 2000, drummer Kita joined and the band got their first drummer, after several failed attempts at obtaining a recording contract, Lordi signed a record deal with Bertelsmann Music Group Finland in 2002
9.
Alice Cooper
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Alice Cooper is an American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spans over five decades. He has drawn equally from horror films, vaudeville, and garage rock to pioneer a macabre, the band reached their commercial peak with the 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies. Furnier adopted the name as his own name in the 1970s. In 2011, he released Welcome 2 My Nightmare, his 19th album as a solo artist, in 2011, the original Alice Cooper band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Cooper is known for his social and witty persona offstage, with The Rolling Stone Album Guide calling him the worlds most beloved heavy metal entertainer. Away from music, Cooper is an actor, a golfing celebrity, a restaurateur, and, since 2004. Cooper was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Ella Mae and his father was a preacher in The Church of Jesus Christ headquartered in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. He has English, Huguenot French, Irish, Scottish, and he was named after his uncle, Vincent Collier Furnier, and the writer Damon Runyon. His paternal grandfather, Thurman Sylvester Furnier, was an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ, Cooper was active in his church at the ages of 11 and 12. While growing up in Detroit, Cooper attended Washington Elementary School, in 1964, 16-year-old Furnier was eager to participate in the local annual Lettermans talent show, so he gathered fellow cross-country teammates to form a group for the show. Because they did not know how to play any instruments at the time, they dressed up like the Beatles and mimed their performance to Beatles songs. As a result of winning the talent show and loving the experience of being onstage and they soon renamed themselves The Spiders, featuring Furnier on vocals, Glen Buxton on lead guitar, John Tatum on rhythm guitar, Dennis Dunaway on bass guitar, and John Speer on drums. Musically, the group was inspired by such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Kinks, the Doors. For the next year the band performed regularly around the Phoenix area with a huge black spiders web as their backdrop, in 1965, the Spiders recorded their first single, Why Dont You Love Me, with Furnier learning the harmonica for the song. The singles B-side track was the Marvin Gaye Tamla Records hit Hitch Hike, the single was recorded at Copper State Recording Studio and issued by local micro-imprint Santa Cruz Records. By 1967, the band had begun to make regular trips to Los Angeles to play shows. They soon renamed themselves Nazz and released the single Wonder Whos Lovin Her Now, backed with future Alice Cooper track Lay Down and Die, around this time, drummer John Speer was replaced by Neal Smith. By the end of the year, the band had relocated to Los Angeles, in 1968, the band learned that Todd Rundgren also had a band called Nazz, and found themselves in need of another stage name
10.
John Corabi
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He is the current lead singer for the The Dead Daisies. After Mötley Crüe parted ways with lead singer Vince Neil in February 1992, bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee stated that the band would benefit from the addition of Corabis voice and having another musician contribute to the songwriting. Corabi recorded the self-titled Mötley Crüe album in 1994 and the EP Quaternary, though the music was heavier and more elaborate than the rest of the Mötley Crüe catalog, it did not sell as well as previous releases from the band. Rather than hiring another label, Mötley Crüe acceded to the demand, many of the songs from the early writing session were used on the album and Corabi is credited on the liner notes for co-writing some of the songs. Corabi & the rest of Mötley Crüe made personal appearances at Londons Hard Rock Cafe at a party in February 1994 promoting their self-titled Mötley Crüe album. The evening was also attended by many Mötley Crüe competition winners who were invited into the VIP area to chat to Corabi, in July 2015, Corabi and his band performed at a bar and played all of the songs off of the Mötley Crüe album. Weeks after the performance, Corabi stated The album would have made it if this was under a different band name, Union was formed from recently released musician Bruce Kulick of Kiss, John Corabi, Brent Fitz, and Jamie Hunting. John and Bruce wrote what would become the first Union album and proceeded with an acoustic tour, to promote the album, featuring just Corabi. Soon the full band went on a world tour headlining venues in support of the Union album. The second album Live in the Galaxy was a recording with 2 acoustic tracks recorded in a mobile studio. The third and final Union album, The Blue Room, was a polished sound than the first studio CD. ESP also featured guitarist Bruce Kulick, bassist Karl Cochran, ace Frehley makes a special appearance on the Hendrix cover Foxy Lady. Twenty 4 Seven, a collaboration with Corabi, drummer Bobby Blotzer, Corabi was featured as second guitarist on Brides of Destructions 2004 album Here Comes The Brides. He had multiple reasons for leaving the band, one was the fact that he was told it would be an effort much like the Mötley Crüe album. Secondly, he did not get very well with Tracii Guns. Corabi performed songs on the Karl Cochran solo album Voodooland – Give Me Air released in 2005,2005 also saw the release of the first Union DVD, Do Your Own Thing Live, containing two full-length concerts. Union performed in Tokyo, Japan in January 2005 and toured Europe in November and December 2005, Corabi toured Europe with ESP in May 2005 and the USA with RATT in summer of 2005. In February 2006, Corabi returned to Japan with ESP for live appearances, ESP also performed in Australia in April 2006 for shows in Sydney and Melbourne
11.
W.A.S.P.
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W. A. S. P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982 by Blackie Lawless, who is the only remaining original member of the band. They emerged from the same Los Angeles scene that spawned Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Dokken, Ratt, Quiet Riot, Guns N Roses, Great White, Stryper, L. A. Guns, Leatherwolf and others. The bands popularity peaked in the 1980s, yet continue to record and tour. Gained notoriety for their shock rock themed image, lyrics and live performances and they have sold over 12 million copies of their albums. The band was a prominent target in the mid-1980s of the Parents Music Resource Center, the band immortalized its fight with the PMRC on the song Harder, Faster from their 1987 live album, Live. In the Raw. I Wanna Be Somebody was the most successful single from W. A. S. P. s debut album and their most recent album, Golgotha, was released in 2015. There has been speculation over the origin of the bands name. One possible interpretation is White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, being the meaning of the acronym. The song Show No Mercy, the B-side of the bands first single Animal, contains the repeated lyric, the original U. S. release of the bands debut album W. A. S. P. Had the words We Are Sexual Perverts inscribed on both sides around the label in the center, while Winged Assassins is inscribed on the spine of the first vinyl pressing. When asked about the bands name Lawless has avoided giving an answer, in one interview he answered, We Aint Sure. In another, broadcast on the radio program Metal Shop, Lawless said that if you didnt know what it meant, in a February 2010 interview, Lawless stated the main reason for the name was the periods. He claimed no band had used them before and, in essence. He then went on to say, Look where we are, W. A. S. P. began following the demise of Circus Circus, an L. A. band featuring Blackie Lawless and Randy Piper. The original lineup of W. A. S. P. was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1982 by Lawless, Piper, Rik Fox, the band became notorious for its raunchy and, at times, shocking live shows. Lawless was known to tie semi-naked models to a torture rack, the bands debut single, entitled Animal, and its cover were equally controversial. The first lineup didnt last for long, as Rik Fox was let go and went on to join the band Steeler with vocalist Ron Keel and he was replaced by Don Costa. Shortly afterward, Don Costa also left the band and his position on the bass was filled by Lawless, at the same time, guitarist Chris Holmes joined the band
12.
Cream (band)
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Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup power trio consisting of bassist/singer Jack Bruce, drummer Ginger Baker, and guitarist/singer Eric Clapton. The groups third album, Wheels of Fire, was the worlds first platinum-selling double album, the band is widely regarded as the worlds first successful supergroup. In their career, they more than 15 million copies of their albums worldwide. The bands biggest hits were I Feel Free, Sunshine of Your Love, White Room, Crossroads, and Badge. The band made a significant impact on the music of the time. They also had an impact on American southern rock leading groups The Allman Brothers Band, the bands live performances influenced progressive rock acts such as Rush. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and they were included in both Rolling Stone and VH1s lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, at number 67 and 61 respectively. They were also ranked number 16 on VH1s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock, by July 1966, Eric Claptons career with The Yardbirds and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers had earned him a reputation as the premier blues guitarist in Britain. Clapton, however, found the environment of Mayalls band confining, in 1966, Clapton met Ginger Baker, then the leader of the Graham Bond Organisation, which at one point featured Jack Bruce on bass guitar, harmonica and piano. Baker felt stifled in the Graham Bond Organisation and had tired of Graham Bonds drug addictions. I had always liked Ginger, explained Clapton, Ginger had come to see me play with the Bluesbreakers. After the gig he drove me back to London in his Rover, I was very impressed with his car and driving. He was telling me that he wanted to start a band, each was impressed with the others playing abilities, prompting Baker to ask Clapton to join his new, then-unnamed group. Clapton immediately agreed, on the condition that Baker hire Bruce as the groups bassist, according to Clapton, Clapton had met Bruce when the bassist/vocalist briefly played with the Bluesbreakers in November 1965, the two also had worked together as part of a one-shot band called Powerhouse. Impressed with Bruces vocals and technical prowess, Clapton wanted to work with him on an ongoing basis, in contrast, while Bruce was in Bonds band, he and Baker had been notorious for their quarrelling. Their volatile relationship included on-stage fights and the sabotage of one anothers instruments, after Baker fired Bruce from the band, Bruce continued to arrive for gigs, ultimately, Bruce was driven away from the band after Baker threatened him at knifepoint. Baker and Bruce put aside their differences for the good of Bakers new trio, the band was named Cream, as Clapton, Bruce, and Baker were already considered the cream of the crop amongst blues and jazz musicians in the exploding British music scene. Initially, the group were referred to and billed as The Cream, but starting officially with its first record releases, before deciding upon Cream, the band considered calling themselves Sweet n Sour Rock n Roll
13.
Star Wars
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Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of characters a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars and it was followed by the successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy. A prequel trilogy was released between 1999 and 2005, which received mixed-to-negative reactions, a sequel trilogy began in 2015 with the release of Star Wars, The Force Awakens. All seven films were nominated for Academy Awards and have been successes, with a combined box office revenue of over $7.5 billion. Spin-off films include Star Wars, The Clone Wars and Rogue One, Star Wars also holds a Guinness World Records title for the Most successful film merchandising franchise. In 2015, the value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $42 billion. In 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion and earned the rights to all subsequent Star Wars films. Walt Disney Studios owns digital distribution rights to all the Star Wars films, the events depicted in the Star Wars franchise take place in an unnamed fictional galaxy at an undetermined point in the distant past. Many species of creatures are depicted. Robotic droids are also commonplace and are built to serve their owners. Space travel is common, and many planets in the galaxy are members of a single galactic government. In the prequel trilogy, this is depicted in the form of the Galactic Republic, at the end of the trilogy and throughout the original trilogy. Preceding and during the trilogy, this government is the New Republic. One of the prominent elements of Star Wars is the Force and it is described in the first produced film as an energy field created by all living things surrounds us, penetrates us, binds the galaxy together. While the Force can be used for good, known as the side, it also has a dark side that, when pursued, imbues users with hatred, aggression. The sequel trilogy introduces the Knights of Ren, an order of practitioners of the side of the Force aligned with the First Order. The first film in the series, Star Wars, was released on May 25,1977 and this was followed by two sequels, The Empire Strikes Back, released on May 21,1980, and Return of the Jedi, released on May 25,1983
14.
Andrea True
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Andrea Marie Truden, better known by her pseudonym Andrea True, was an American pornographic actress and singer from the disco era. In addition to her name, she had multiple stage names, including Inger Kissin, Singe Low, Sandra Lips, Andrea Travis. As a singer, she is best known for the 1976 disco tune, More, More, More, Andrea Marie Truden was born in Nashville, Tennessee, where she attended Saint Cecilia Academy, a Catholic school for girls. True moved to New York City as a teenager, to fame as a mainstream film star. While she did manage to get some roles in mainstream movies from time to time, including The Way We Were. She performed in films in Scandinavia in the 1960s, and by the end of the decade. Eventually, she performed in more than fifty hardcore porn films throughout the 1970s, in an interview in 1977, she described her activity in adult films as being important because our first amendment was in great danger because of censorship from our government. She also said “I think it was a fad”, during her heyday as a porn actress, around 1975, True was hired by a real estate business in Jamaica to appear in their commercials. During her stay in Jamaica, a crisis gripped the island. True collaborated with record producer Gregg Diamond to compose the song More, More, More, ultimately remixed by recording engineer Tom Moulton, More, More, More became a favorite in discos and nightclubs. It ultimately reached No.4 on the US Billboard Hot 100, the single also reached the charts in the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. I just want to record and perform, in early 1977, True released the single N. Y. You Got Me Dancing, from her album, White Witch. The single became Trues second biggest hit, reaching No.27 on Billboards pop chart, in 1978, she had a second hit in the UK with Whats Your Name, Whats Your Number, which peaked at No.34 in the UK. Both albums included studio musicians with a new band assembled for the tour, the second line-up, in 1980, she released her third and final album, War Machine. A more hard rock-oriented album, it was released only in Europe, after her third album failed, True briefly attempted returning to porn, but at nearly 40, she was too old for a comeback. She also could not return to music because a goiter that developed on her vocal cords required surgery and she then lived in Los Angeles for some time and subsequently moved to New York. During the early 1990s, Andrea lived in an apartment on Manhattans east side, and was known for cooking gourmet meals for her friends
15.
Bat Out of Hell
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It is one of the best-selling albums of all time, having sold over 43 million copies worldwide. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked it at number 343 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2003 and its musical style is influenced by Steinmans appreciation of Richard Wagner, Phil Spector, Bruce Springsteen and The Who. Bat Out of Hell has been certified 14 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, as of May 2015, it has spent 485 weeks in the UK Charts. The album went on to one of the most influential and iconic albums of all time. This albums title became the title for two more Meat Loaf albums. Steinman produced the album Bat Out of Hell II, Back into Hell, desmond Child produced the album Bat Out of Hell III, The Monster Is Loose. A musical based on the album, staged by Jay Scheib, opened at the Manchester Opera House on 17 February 2017 and will transfer to the London Coliseum that same year. The album developed from a musical, Neverland, a rock version of Peter Pan, which Steinman wrote for a workshop in 1974. The three songs were Bat Out of Hell, Heaven Can Wait and The Formation of the Pack, Bat Out of Hell is often compared to the music of Bruce Springsteen, particularly the album Born to Run. Steinman says that he finds that puzzling, musically, although they share influences, a BBC article added, that Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan from Springsteens E Street Band played on the album only helped reinforce the comparison. Steinman and Meat Loaf had immense difficulty finding a company willing to sign them. According to Meat Loafs autobiography, the band spent most of 1975 writing and recording material, manager David Sonenberg jokes that they were creating record companies just so they could be rejected. They performed the live in 1976, with Steinman on piano, Meat Loaf singing. Steinman says that it was a medley of the most brutal rejections you could imagine, Meat Loaf almost cracked when CBS executive Clive Davis rejected the project. The singer recounts the incident in his autobiography, not only did Davis, according to Meat Loaf, say that actors dont make records, the executive challenged Steinmans writing abilities and knowledge of rock music, Do you know how to write a song. Do you know anything about writing, if youre going to write for records, it goes like this, A, B, C, B, C, C. I dont know youre doing. Youre doing A, D, F, G, B, D, C and you dont know how to write a song
16.
Michael Bolton
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Michael Bolotin, known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the rock and heavy metal genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He became better known for his series of pop rock ballads, Bolton was born Michael Bolotin in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Helen and George Bolotin. He has a brother, Orrin, and a sister, Sandra and his family was Jewish, and all of his grandparents had been immigrants from Russia. His parents were divorced when he was very young and this first album was self-titled using his original family name of Bolotin. Early in his career he focused on hard rock, with his band Blackjack once opening for heavy metal artist Ozzy Osbourne on tour. Indeed, in 1983, Bolton auditioned for, but was denied, narrowly missing the Top 10 on the US pop chart, Branigan took the song to number one on the Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks in 1983. The two sought to work each other again, and their next collaboration was when Bolton co-wrote I Found Someone for Branigan in 1985. Her version was only a hit, but two years later, Cher resurrected the song, and with it her own singing career. Bolton co-wrote several other songs for both singers, Bolton would achieve his greatest success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a singer on the adult contemporary/easy listening charts. One of his first major hits was his 1987 interpretation of the Otis Redding classic the Dock of the Bay, reddings widow, Zelma Redding, said she was so moved by Boltons performance that it brought tears to my eyes. It reminded me so much of my husband that I know if he heard it, always interested in soul and Motown classics, Boltons success with that song encouraged him to tackle the standard Georgia on My Mind, with which he had another hit. In 1991, Bolton released the album Time, Love & Tenderness which featured his Grammy Award-winning cover version of When a Man Loves a Woman, as a songwriter, he has written and collaborated on several songs for other artists as well. Boltons last Top 40 single in the US in his own right was the 1997 hit Go the Distance and he hired conductor Larry Baird for his 2001 tour. In 2006, Bolton and his then fiancee Nicollette Sheridan sang a duet, The Second Time Around, in March 2007, Bolton toured South Africa for the first time. He was the act at Jacaranda 94.2 FMs two-day concert. For Over the Rainbow, an album which was recorded in five days, Bolton recorded the song New York, New York and this was for an episode of the TV series, Challenge Anneka. The proceeds from the album went to childrens hospices across the UK, Bolton performed a duet entitled Il Mio Amico with the Italian singer Anna Tatangelo at the Sanremo Music Festival 2008
17.
Forever (Kiss song)
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Forever is a song by the American rock band Kiss. It was released as the single from the 1989 album Hot in the Shade. The track was co-written by guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley and singer/songwriter Michael Bolton, Bolton was then at the peak of his commercial popularity, and Bruce Kulick had performed with him prior to joining Kiss. Musically, Forever is a power ballad and it begins with Stanley singing over an acoustic guitar intro, with the rest of the band joining during the first chorus. The song was remixed at Electric Lady Recording Studios in New York, by Michael Barbiero, a music video was released to promote the song. It received heavy airplay on MTV, attaining the #1 position on the channels Most Requested Videos show several times, the clip is perhaps the most understated video Kiss has released, as it shows the band playing the song in an empty room. Forever peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and it was the bands seventh and, to date, last Top 20 American single. It also reached number 17 on Billboards Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks
18.
Hot in the Shade
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Hot in the Shade is the 15th studio album by Kiss, released in 1989. It is also the final Kiss album to feature Carr in its entirety before his death in November 1991, hot in the Shade contains the most songs of any Kiss studio album with 15. The album is one of the bands longest, with a time of nearly an hour. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley appeared in Kiss make-up for the first time since their 1983 unmasking for the video for Rise to It. Although the scene with Simmons and Stanley in make-up took place in 1975, the album showcases a more heavy rock sound after the keyboard-centered pop rock in Crazy Nights and even flirts with speed metal in Boomerang. Tommy Thayer, who co-wrote Betrayed and The Street Giveth And The Street Taketh Away, became Kiss permanent lead guitarist in 2002, of the 15 tracks on the album, only five were performed live. Forever, co-written by Michael Bolton, was a pop hit and became a part of the live setlist. Hot in the Shade was certified Gold on December 20,1989 by the RIAA. However and its most successful single, Forever reached #8 on the Billboard charts, the bands highest charting single in the US since Beth,13 years earlier
19.
Jay-Z
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Shawn Corey Carter, known professionally as Jay Z, is an American rapper, businessman, and investor. He is one of the musicians of all time, having sold more than 100 million records. MTV ranked him the Greatest MC of all time in 2006, Rolling Stone ranked three of his albums—Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, and The Black Album —among the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2014, Forbes estimated his net worth at nearly $520 million, Jay Z co-owns the New York 40/40 Club sports bar, and is the co-creator of the clothing line Rocawear. He is the president of Def Jam Recordings, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records. He also founded the sports agency Roc Nation Sports and is a certified NBA, as an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 with 13. He has also had four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, in 2009, he was ranked the tenth-most successful artist of the 2000s by Billboard as well as the fifth top solo male artist and fourth top rapper behind Eminem, Nelly, and 50 Cent. He was also ranked the 88th-greatest artist of all time by Rolling Stone, Jay Z married Singer-Songwriter Beyoncé in 2008. Shawn Carter was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Marcy Houses and he and his three siblings were raised by their mother, Gloria Carter after their father, Adness Reeves abandoned the family. Reeves would later meet and reconcile with Jay Z before dying from liver failure in 2003, Jay Z claims in his lyrics that in 1982, at the age of 12, he shot his older brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry. Along with future rapper AZ, Carter attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn until it was closed down, according to his interviews and lyrics, during this period he sold crack cocaine and was shot at three times. According to his mother, Carter used to wake up his siblings at night banging out drum patterns on the kitchen table and she bought him a boom box for his birthday, sparking his interest in music. He began freestyling and writing lyrics, known as Jazzy around the neighborhood, Carter later adopted the showbiz/stage name Jay-Z in homage to his mentor Jaz-O. He would drop the hyphen in 2013, Jay Z can be briefly heard on several of Jaz-Os early recordings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including The Originators and Hawaiian Sophie. Jay Z became embroiled in several battles with rapper LL Cool J in the early 1990s and he first became known to a wide audience on the posse cut Show and Prove on the 1994 Big Daddy Kane album Daddys Home. When I would leave the stage to go change outfits, I would bring out Jay Z and Positive K and let them freestyle until I came back to the stage. The young Jay Z appeared on a song by Big L, Da Graveyard, and on Mic Geronimos Time to Build. His first official rap single was called In My Lifetime, for which he released a music video, an unreleased music video was also produced for the B-side I Cant Get with That
20.
The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse
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The Blueprint², The Gift & The Curse is the seventh studio album by American rapper Jay Z. It was released on November 12,2002, by Roc-A-Fella Records, the album serves as a sequel to his sixth album The Blueprint. Parts of the album were reissued for his compilation album. Unlike this project than his four previous albums, it debuted at number one. As of February 2012, the album has sold 2,117,000 units in the United States, the three-month recording sessions took place after Jay-Zs critically acclaimed and commercially successful sixth album The Blueprint, at the age of 32. D. Darrell Digga Branch, Charlemagne, Big Chuck, Dr. Dre, Jimmy Kendrick, Heavy D, unlike The Blueprint which was almost void of guest appearances, The Blueprint² features many featured guests, even out-of-genre artists that include Lenny Kravitz and Sean Paul. Other features include West Coast rapper and producer Dr. Dre, Rakim, Beyoncé, Faith Evans, Beanie Sigel, the album also includes an uncredited verse from Kanye West on the Timbaland-produced track The Bounce. Pharrell also provides vocals and hooks of many of his tracks, for example Excuse Me Miss. Though the album has no strict concept, the album contains two discs, the first disc entitled The Gift features mainstream, pop-oriented music. The Blueprint 2 received lukewarm reviews from critics, at Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 64, based on 19 reviews. According to Nathan Rabin, the record led many to claim that lost his grip on rap music. In his review for The A. V, club, Rabin deemed it overreaching but surprisingly solid, featuring a first disc of clever pop-rap jams and a second that was darker and more erratic. AllMusics John Bush believed Jay-Z showcased some exceptional songs but could not carry the 110-minute double album as consistently as its predecessor, soren Baker was more critical in the Chicago Tribune. He felt Jay-Zs reworking of other music was unimaginative while the rest of the album lacked his usual enthusiasm. It reminds me of nearly every other double CD, David Browne wrote in Entertainment Weekly and it could have been a good single disc. Rollie Pemberton was more enthusiastic in his review for Pitchfork, writing that Jay-Z weaves his way through every imaginable style, billboard hailed it as the most ambitious and most fully realized album of his career, while Q felt it surpassed his previous album. In the opinion of Spin critic Chris Ryan, The Blueprint 2 found Jay-Z tightening the screws of his delivery, List of number-one albums of 2002 List of number-one R&B albums of 2002 The Blueprint 2, The Gift & The Curse at Discogs
21.
Billboard 200
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The Billboard 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists, often, a recording act will be remembered by its number ones, those of their albums that outperformed all others during at least one week. The chart is based mostly on sales of albums in the United States, the weekly sales period was originally Monday to Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but since July 2015, tracking week begins on Friday and ends on Thursday. A new chart is published the following Tuesday with an issue post-dated to the Saturday of the following week, the charts streaming schedule is also tracked from Friday to Thursday. Example, Friday January 1 – sales tracking week begins Thursday January 7 – sales tracking week ends Tuesday January 12 – new chart published, New product is released to the American market on Fridays. Digital downloads of albums are included in Billboard 200 tabulation. Albums that are not licensed for sale in the United States are not eligible to chart. As of the issue dated April 15,2017, the album on the Billboard 200 is More Life by Drake. Billboard began an album chart in 1945, initially only five positions long, the album chart was not published on a weekly basis, sometimes three to seven weeks passing before it was updated. A biweekly, 15-position Best-Selling Popular Albums chart appeared in 1955, the position count varied anywhere from 10 to 30 albums. The first number-one album on the new weekly list was Belafonte by Harry Belafonte, the chart was renamed to Best-Selling Pop Albums later in 1956, and then to Best-Selling Pop LPs in 1957. Beginning on May 25,1959, Billboard split the ranking into two charts Best-Selling Stereophonic LPs for stereo albums and Best-Selling Monophonic LPs for mono albums and these were renamed to Stereo Action Charts and Mono Action Charts in 1960. In January 1961, they became Action Albums—Stereophonic and Action Albums—Monophonic, three months later, they became Top LPs—Stereo and Top LPs—Monaural. On August 17,1963 the stereo and mono charts were combined into a 150-position chart called Top LPs, on April 1,1967, the chart was expanded to 175 positions, then finally to 200 positions on May 13,1967. In 1960, Billboard began concurrently publishing album charts which ranked sales of older or mid-priced titles and these Essential Inventory charts were divided by stereo and mono albums, and featured titles that had already appeared on the main stereo and mono album charts. In January 1961, the Action Charts became Action Albums—Monophonic, Albums appeared on either chart for up to nine weeks, then were moved to an Essential Inventory list of approximately 200 titles, with no numerical ranking. This list continued to be published until the consolidated Top LPs chart debuted in 1963, in 1982, Billboard began publishing a Midline Albums chart which ranked older or mid-priced titles. The chart held 50 positions and was published on a bi-weekly basis, on May 25,1991, Billboard premiered the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart
22.
Long Island
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Long Island is an island located just off the northeast coast of the United States and a region within the U. S. state of New York. Stretching east-northeast from New York Harbor into the Atlantic Ocean, the island comprises four counties, Kings and Queens to the west, then Nassau, more generally, Long Island may also refer collectively both to the main Island as well as its nearby, surrounding outer barrier islands. North of the island is the Long Island Sound, across from which lie the states of Connecticut, across the Sound, to the northwest, lies Westchester County on mainland New York. To the west, Long Island is separated from the Bronx and the island of Manhattan by the East River. To the extreme southwest, it is separated from the New York City borough of Staten Island and the U. S. state of New Jersey by Upper New York Bay, the Narrows, to the east lie Block Island and numerous smaller islands. Its population density is 5,595.1 inhabitants per square mile, Long Island is culturally and ethnically diverse. Some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the Western Hemisphere are located on Long Island, nine bridges and 13 tunnels connect Brooklyn and Queens to the three other boroughs of New York City. Ferries connect Suffolk County northward across Long Island Sound to the state of Connecticut, the Long Island Rail Road is the busiest commuter railroad in North America and operates 24/7. At the time of European contact, the Lenape people inhabited the western end of Long Island, giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to record an encounter with the Lenapes, after entering what is now New York Bay in 1524. In 1609, the English navigator Henry Hudson explored the harbor, adriaen Block followed in 1615 and is credited as the first European to determine that both Manhattan and Long Island are islands. Native American land deeds recorded by the Dutch from 1636 state that the Indians referred to Long Island as Sewanhaka, sewan was one of the terms for wampum, and is also translated as loose or scattered, which may refer either to the wampum or to Long Island. The name t Lange Eylandt alias Matouwacs appears in Dutch maps from the 1650s, later, the English referred to the land as Nassau Island, after the Dutch Prince William of Nassau, Prince of Orange. It is unclear when the name Nassau Island was discontinued, the very first settlements on Long Island were by settlers from England and its colonies in present-day New England. Lion Gardiner settled nearby Gardiners Island, the first settlement on the geographic Long Island itself was on October 21,1640, when Southold was established by the Rev. John Youngs and settlers from New Haven, Connecticut. Peter Hallock, one of the settlers, drew the long straw and was granted the honor to step ashore first and he is considered the first New World settler on Long Island. Southampton was settled in the same year, Hempstead followed in 1644, East Hampton in 1648, Huntington in 1653, and Brookhaven in 1655. While the eastern region of Long Island was first settled by the English, until 1664, the jurisdiction of Long Island was split, roughly at the present border between Nassau County and Suffolk County. The Dutch founded six towns in present-day Brooklyn beginning in 1645 and these included, Brooklyn, Gravesend, Flatlands, Flatbush, New Utrecht, and Bushwick
23.
Mark St. John
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Mark Leslie Norton, better known as Mark St. John, was a guitarist best known for his brief work with the rock band Kiss from April to November 1984. He played on the bands Animalize album and a few dates on the subsequent tour before being replaced by Bruce Kulick, before joining Kiss, St. John was a well known and respected teacher and guitarist for the Southern California cover band Front Page. After leaving Kiss, he formed a band called White Tiger, featuring David Donato, his brother Michael Norton, and Brian James Fox. Demos that the band had recorded with producer Andy Johns and guitarist Neil Citron, prior to Mark joining, apparently led to Donatos equally short tenure with another legendary band, Black Sabbath. St. John was only with Kiss a short time, but he was featured on the album Animalize and this turned out to be one of Kisss most successful studio albums, aside from those made by the original lineup. St. Johns only video appearance with Kiss is in the video for the hit single Heavens on Fire, paul also said that he had to dub in certain parts during Marks solos to make them work better with the song. He also developed arthritis, which caused his hands and arms to swell and he was all but unable to perform live as a member of Kiss, and only played two full shows and one partial show during the Animalize tour, with Bruce Kulick playing the rest. Mark St. John was officially replaced by Bruce Kulick on December 8,1984 and he is also the only Kiss member not to appear on any album front cover, since the Animalize cover only features a tapestry of animal prints. However, he is posing with the rest of the band on the back cover. In January 1985 St. John teamed up with vocalist David Donato, by March he was playing live again, appearing at an all-star jam session at the FM Station Club. The lineup included Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge, St. John also performed at a sold-out audience at a benefit jazz concert for Greenpeace. Some of the jazz musicians playing alongside St. John included the Steve Hooks Band, Stu Nevitt, Slyde Hyde, Al Aarons. St. John and Donato soon formed White Tiger and they had written most of the material for the album by mid-1985 and set out to complete a lineup with which to record. The band also included St. Johns younger brother, Michael, on bass, St. John and Lane became good friends meeting for a second time at Trojan Studios in Garden Grove, California. The band didnt manage to break and split while working on demos for an album in 1988. St. John teamed up with Jeff Scott Soto in 1988 to make a demo, St. John also did some session work performing lead guitar on Livin for My Lord on Ken Tamplins 1990 album, Axe to Grind. Tamplin is an inspirational Christian rocker more famed for his involvement in the band Shout, tamplin has also co-written material with Gene Simmons of Kiss. St. John also worked with former Knight Rider star David Hasselhoff, even appearing in his video, St. John made a demo in 1990 with fellow former Kiss member Peter Criss
24.
Asylum (Kiss album)
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Asylum is the 13th studio album by the American rock band Kiss. It is the first with lead guitarist Bruce Kulick as a band member. He was the third lead guitarist since the departure of Ace Frehley in late 1982. The lineup of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Carr, in contrast to the heavy sound of Kisss previous three albums, Asylum features a lighter glam rock sound. On the album cover, the members are shown with colored lips, mirroring the colors of the 1978 solo releases, red for Simmons, purple for Stanley, blue for Kulick. The tour for the featured the largest Kiss logo the band has ever used. No concert footage of the tour was used in the Kissology II DVD release, the three music videos for the album were filmed on set in London, England, for the songs Who Wants to Be Lonely, Uh. All Night and Tears Are Falling, only Tears Are Falling was released for retail sales as a single. DVD and 2014s Kiss Rocks Vegas live release, fan reaction to Asylum was mixed. The album was certified Gold and platinum in November,1985 by the RIAA, all Night Allan Schwartzberg - additional drum overdubs
25.
Crazy Nights
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Crazy Nights is the fourteenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, recorded from March to June 1987 and released on September 18,1987 by Mercury and Vertigo in Europe. This was the album to feature the new line-up of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Bruce Kulick. It featured keyboards, which was departure in their music style. It was re-released in 1998 as part of the Kiss Remasters series and this makes the album one of the least represented in the bands entire catalog over the course of their career in their setlists, behind only their 1981 album commercial flop Music from The Elder. The band had a lot to prove after their decrease of success. After the Asylum Tour had ended, Kiss went on a couple of months due to Gene Simmonss career as an actor and a producer. Its not fair for me to put in this kind of time, and Gene looked at me and said, Thats fair. I could have used Genes input, but my attitude at that point was that I certainly wasnt going to listen to a guy whos off managing cabaret singers and producing five bands, while I was trying to make an album. Simmonss temporary departure gave space to Eric Carr and Bruce Kulick, Kulick had four co-writing credits and Carr one, but almost got other material on the album. As Kisss previous two albums had been self-produced, the felt it needed to bring in an outside producer who would help the album achieve more commercial success. Producer Ron Nevison was hired to produce the album, but because of Nevisons filled schedule, Nevison was chosen in part from his recent commercial success in producing platinum albums for Heart and Ozzy Osbourne. In the Crazy Nights, its 25 years strong KissFAQ interview, Ron Nevison describes the band members put in to the album, “Well. I do know that Gene wasn’t there all the time, obviously Bruce was and, to some extent, Eric. Mostly, a majority of the work on that album I did with Bruce, the bass tracks were cut initially, and Gene was only needed for lead vocals. I must say that most of the time he was there, the albums Crazy Nights and Asylum were also under new management representation with Larry Mazur, a consultant. The album was at first called Who Dares Wins, which was Carrs idea. According to him, During a photo session, our wardrobe girl had this commando patch lying around with Who Dares Wins on it, then she brought it over to Paul who said the same thing. We ended up not using it because it didnt look good in print, the idea was dropped in June, but managed to appear on some Japanese advertisements for the upcoming album
26.
Revenge (Kiss album)
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Revenge is the 16th studio album by American rock band Kiss, released on May 19,1992. It was the bands first album after the death of longtime drummer Eric Carr in November 1991, Carr was replaced by Eric Singer. It was Kisss first album since 1979s Dynasty to reach the Top 10 in the United States, the album was a worldwide success, reaching the Top 20 in seven other countries. It was certified gold by the RIAA on July 20,1992, the album marks a return to a heavier sound as opposed the glam rock sound on their 2 previous records. The album was dedicated to Carr, and the last track, one modification to the song was the dubbing of Bruce Kulicks guitar over Ace Frehleys, which originally appeared. The main riff of the song was used as the basis for the Frehleys Comet song Breakout, God Gave Rock N Roll to You II and Unholy have remained regular Kiss live staples. The songs Domino and Take It Off were performed during the Revenge Tour, I Just Wanna was only performed during the Revenge Tour, while Every Time I Look at You and Spit were, along with Domino, performed during the MTV Unplugged show. In February 1991, Kiss was asked by the producers of the film Bill & Teds Bogus Journey to record the song God Gave Rock n Roll to You, the band agreed and reunited with Ezrin after 10 years. and the debacle they had with Music from The Elder. Gene Simmons was not sure it was the move, especially after the bad experience of The Elder. The song was featured in the sequel Bill & Teds Bogus Journey with a 40-second-long Steve Vai solo instead of the Kiss intro found on the album and it was a major success, breaking the Top 30 in seven countries, including United States, United Kingdom and Australia. It was good enough for the band to continue with Ezrin on a Hot in the Shade follow-up, Carr went to the hospital and was diagnosed with heart cancer. He underwent open-heart surgery in April 1991 to remove tumors, shortly after the surgery, Carr joined the band to perform in the God Gave Rock N Roll to You II music video. According to Simmons, Carr had lost all his hair due to chemotherapy and had to wear a wig for the shoot, after the shoot, Paul and Gene persuaded Carr to take care of his health and not worry about the band. Kisss original plan was for Singer to play drums with the band until Carr was healthy enough to return, unfortunately, Carrs health continued to decline--and he died in November 1991. Kiss brought in Singer as their new drummer, in December 1991, Kiss and Ezrin returned to the studio to work on a new album. In a surprising move, they sought help from former guitarist Vinnie Vincent, according to Simmons, Vinnie Vincent came up to me and apologized for causing the band all the grief while he was a member. He wanted to patch things up and wondered if I would consider writing some songs with him, I wanted to let bygones be bygones. I called Paul and told him that Vinnie had apparently changed, Paul wrote songs with him as well
27.
Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions
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Carnival of Souls, The Final Sessions is the 17th studio album from American rock band Kiss. Originally slated for a 1996 release, it was not released until 1997. It was the final album with lead guitarist Bruce Kulick. The album is a departure from the classic hard rock style, in favor of a dark. Recorded in late 1995/early 1996, Kiss cancelled the original release as they instead committed to a reunion tour with the bands original lineup. Bootleg copies were circulated by fans, prompting the band to release the material in 1997. Because of this, there was no tour to support the album, two former members of the band Black N Blue co-wrote songs on Carnival of Souls, vocalist Jaime St. James co-wrote In My Head, and guitarist Tommy Thayer collaborated on Childhoods End. Perhaps coincidentally, Thayer would join Kiss as the permanent lead guitarist in 2002. The albums closing track, I Walk Alone, features vocals from the bands then-lead guitarist Bruce Kulick. The only single released from the album was Jungle, which was a minor success, no music video was made for the single, but it won a 1997 Metal Edge Readers Choice Award for Song of the Year. Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine criticized the album, writing, In some ways, it should have stayed unreleased, since Carnival of Souls hardly captures Kiss at their best
28.
Alive III
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Alive III is a live album released by the American hard rock band Kiss in 1993, and certified gold in 1994. The recording of Alive III took place over multiple dates during the bands 1992 tour in support of Revenge and it was the first live album the band had released since 1977s Alive II, and the first live recordings released since 1984s Animalize Live Uncensored concert film. This is evidenced by unmixed bootleg videos from two of the Auburn Hills concerts, the band has been very secretive about having side keyboard players on possibly many of their tours through the 1980s and early 1990s. The album is the only live Kiss album released during the groups non-makeup era, during the recording of Alive II, Kiss did not want to duplicate songs from Alive. Although some songs from Alive III are duplicate songs from their previous live albums, for example, Rock and Roll All Nite was performed on Alive. and again on Alive III, but was not featured on Alive II. It is also the first Kiss live album to feature a different lineup to the two, which featured the original lineup. The liner notes of Alive III include a tree showing the various Kiss lineups from 1973–1993, as well as bands that the then-current. It was designed by the bands Japanese fan club, black Sabbaths Tony Iommi, for whom Eric Singer drummed in 1986–87, is misnamed Tommy. The notes also mistakenly claim that Watchin You is from Kiss, the re-release of Alive III contains an additional track, Take It Off, matching the original international CD and US vinyl versions of the album. Alive III was certified Gold by the RIAA on October 27,1994, canny power pop given a merciless headbanging, decided Jeremy Clarke in Q. Magazine listed Alive III eleventh best album of 1993, Take It Off was a bonus track on the Japanese, European and South American CD releases and the US vinyl release. This version of the album would later be included in the Kiss Alive
29.
Kiss Unplugged
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Kiss Unplugged is an MTV Unplugged album by American rock band Kiss. On August 9,1995, the band performed on MTV Unplugged, paul Stanley and Gene Simmons contacted former members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley and invited them to participate. Fan reaction to Criss and Frehley at the show was so positive that, in 1996, the original lineup of Kiss reunited, with all four original members together for the first time since 1979. The sound was deafening, the sound of rock n roll history coming full circle in a TV studio, wrote Kerrang. s Don Kaye in a review of the taping at New Yorks Sony Music Studios. Complete pandemonium ensued as they struck the opening chords to 2,000 Man and it marked the only time the original lineup performed publicly without their trademark makeup, and was also the only time Frehley and Criss shared a stage with Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick. It was the first time Singer had part of a vocal on an album. On March 12,1996, the concert was released on CD and, on December 18,2007, on the Kissology Volume Three, the LP version of the album includes a poster and some were pressed on yellow marbled vinyl. A stand-alone VHS and DVD documentary was produced around the time as the CD release. It also shows the first KISS Konvention appearance with Peter Criss joining the members on stage to sing a few tunes earlier in the year. According to Criss, this invite gave Simmons the idea of reaching out to him and Ace to be a part of the Unplugged taping in an unannounced reunion. Because of the split, the worldwide fan base never thought this would happen. The track listing including Got to Choose is only available on vinyl and on CD releases in Japan
30.
Eric Singer
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Eric Singer is an American hard rock and heavy metal drummer, best known as a member of Kiss, portraying The Catman originally played by Peter Criss. He has also performed with such as Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Lita Ford, Badlands. In his career, Singer has appeared on over 75 albums and 11 EPs, Singer was born Eric Doyle Mensinger in Cleveland, Ohio. He grew up in Euclid, Ohio and his father, Johnny Mensinger, was of German descent and was a local big band leader who played around the area as well as on cruise ships from the States to Europe and back. Eric worked at King Musical instruments before becoming a professional drummer, singers first professional drumming job was in the Cleveland band Beau Coup then as Lita Fords touring drummer in 1984. In 1985 he joined Black Sabbath, replacing original drummer Bill Ward, Singer would participate in the recording of the albums Seventh Star and The Eternal Idol and was invited by his Black Sabbath colleague Ray Gillen to join the latters new formed band Badlands. Singer accepted and played on the bands self-titled debut album, Singer left the group in 1989 as he would join Paul Stanley as his touring drummer on his solo tour of the United States and Canada. Singer played with Olivia Newton-John in the video for Culture Shock. He later revealed in an interview that he obtained that gig because he was working for Lita Ford at the time, in December 1991, Singer officially became the drummer for Kiss after the death of Eric Carr. Singer debuted in full Catman makeup and costume for the first time on the tour, Singer was replaced again by Criss in 2003 but returned to the band by the end of the year after Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley opted not to renew Criss contract. Since then, Singer has been playing drums in Kiss as their permanent drummer, in 2009, Singer, along with lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, played and sang on the KISS album Sonic Boom, the first studio album to feature the new line-up. It included the track All for the Glory with vocals by Singer, in October 2012, KISS released their 20th studio album Monster which includes a track called All for the Love of Rock & Roll sung by Singer. In a 2008 interview, Peter Criss stated that he thought Singer was a great drummer, when not touring with Kiss, Singer performed with Alice Cooper. Singer had been a member of Coopers band since the release of the album Brutal Planet in 2000, Singer had already performed with Cooper years earlier, during the tour for the album Hey Stoopid. Singer has been featured on three Alice Cooper albums to date, namely, Brutal Planet, The Eyes of Alice Cooper, due to his growing commitments with Kiss as well as with the Eric Singer Project, he has not played in Alice Coopers band since 2008. He has also performed and recorded with his own ESP, featuring, among others, his former Kiss bandmate Bruce Kulick. Singer has also played in the band Avantasia, replacing drummer Alex Holzwarth after a guest performance in the song Into the Unknown from the album The Metal Opera Part II, in 1987, he served as Gary Moores drummer on the Wild Frontier tour. In 1989, he made a appearance in the Wes Craven film Shocker
31.
Ace Frehley
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Paul Daniel Ace Frehley is an American musician and songwriter best known as the former lead guitarist and founding member of the rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of the Spaceman or Space Ace and played with the group from its inception in 1973 until his departure in 1982. After leaving Kiss, Frehley embarked on a career, which was put on hold when he rejoined Kiss in 1996 for a highly successful reunion tour. His second tenure with Kiss lasted until 2002, when he left at the conclusion of what was purported to be the bands Farewell Tour. His most recent solo album, Origins, Vol.1, was released on April 15,2016, Guitar World magazine ranked him as the 14th Greatest Metal Guitarist of All Time. His solos often incorporate the minor scale and the use of vibratos. Outside of Kiss, Frehley had commercial success, with his first solo album going platinum and his first album with his Frehleys Comet band was also a big seller. Frehley was born and raised in The Bronx, the youngest of three children of Esther Anna and Carl Daniel Frehley and his father, from Pennsylvania, was the son of Dutch immigrants, and his mother is originally from North Carolina. He has a sister Nancy and a brother Charles, a classical guitarist, as a youth, Frehley was part of the Ducky Boys street gang. The Frehleys were a family, and when Frehley received an electric guitar as a Christmas present in 1964. I never went to school, I never took a guitar lesson. My mother and father played piano, his father was the church organist, and my brother and sister both played piano and acoustic guitar. Frehley was always surrounded by music, Frehley started playing guitar at age 13. He lists Jimi Hendrix, Albert Lee, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, B. B. King, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, however, he was thrown out of two high schools and dropped out of the third. Two of the schools he attended were DeWitt Clinton High School on Mosholu Parkway. He got the nickname Ace in high school friends who said he was a real ace for his ability to get dates. Also in his school years, a guidance counselor encouraged him to get into graphic arts. His family did not have money, and in his teen years
32.
Tommy Thayer
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Thomas Cunningham Thayer was born on November 7,1960, in Portland, Oregon, and grew up in the nearby suburb of Beaverton, Oregon. His mother Patricia Thayer was a trained violinist and singer. Early on, Thayer was raised in a family with three brothers and a sister amidst sounds that ranged from classical to The Beatles and other classic 1960s pop music. Thayers passion for early 1970s hard rock bands drove his desire to pick up guitar at age 13. Formed in November 1981, Black n Blue played gigs in the Portland area for over a year making a move to Southern California in early 1983. Black n Blue had immediate success as a top draw in Hollywoods rock clubs, the follow-up Bruce Fairbairn-produced album, Without Love was released in 1985 with Thayer, St. James and Jim Vallance co-writing the single Miss Mystery. Geffen subsequently dropped the band in late 1988, although no longer a permanent member of the band, Thayer has performed periodically with the other original members of Black n Blue for several one-off reunion and benefit concerts. In October 2010, the band was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in Portland and that same year, Thayer recorded guitar tracks for singer-songwriter Teresa Straley and producer Pat Regans record deal with Reprise Records. Thayer co-produced and played guitar on Doro Peschs 1991 Polygram Records release, in 1992, Thayer joined Los Angeles rock band Shake the Faith and recorded the album America the Violent, which was released in Japan in 1994. Thayer persuaded journalist Hunter S. Thompson to create the artwork for the album cover. In 1994, Kiss Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley hired Thayer to work part-time on their forthcoming book Kisstory, thayers work for Stanley & Simmons began by performing such tasks as painting Stanleys house and cleaning out Simmons gutters. Thayer managed the 1995 Worldwide Kiss Convention tour and the Kiss MTV Unplugged concert, in preparation for 1996s Kiss Alive/Worldwide Tour, Thayer worked with guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss, to help them relearn their original guitar and drum parts from the 1970s. One month later Thayer got the call and donned the Spaceman makeup for the first time, filling in and performing onstage with Kiss at a concert in Trelawny. Several TV appearances followed in 2002 including ABCs Dick Clarks American Bandstand 50th Anniversary Show, Thayer became the lead guitarist for Kiss in 2002, performing on stage with Kiss for the first time at a private concert in Trelawny, Jamaica. In 2003 Thayer with Kiss joined forces with the 70-piece Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for a concert at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne Australia. Recorded and filmed in front of 40,000 fans, a pay-per-view, Kiss Symphony, Alive IV CD, in 2004 Thayer produced the RIAA double-platinum selling DVD set, Rock the Nation Live. Kiss kicked off their Alive 35 tour in Melbourne, Australia in March 2008 to a crowd of 60,000 fans celebrating the 35-year history of the band. Hailed as the Spectacular of the Year, the tour ran through Australasia, Europe, South America and North America in 2009, cumulating 100 concerts in 29 countries
33.
You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!!
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You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best. is a live hits album released by American hard rock band Kiss. The album was issued to coincide with the groups 1996–97 Alive/Worldwide Tour, all of the songs on the album are live versions. Most were taken from Alive. or Alive II but four recordings had previously unreleased. The liner notes report the tracks are outtakes from Alive, the final track is an interview of the reunited group conducted by Jay Leno. The album received negative reviews. Allmusics Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the one star out of five and said, Its a rip-off album, pure. There is simply no reason for this to exist and you may have wanted the best, but you didnt get it – you just got exploited. Rolling Stones 1996 review was negative, calling it a shameless reunion-promotion biscuit. The 2004 album guide by the magazine gave the album three stars out of five. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on May 21,1997, the Japanese CD/ US vinyl release had another live track, featuring Eric Carr on drums rather than Peter Criss, which was also released as a promotional single at Blockbuster
34.
Psycho Circus
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Psycho Circus is the 18th studio album by American rock band Kiss. The album features the four members back together and in full make-up. You Wanted the Best is the only Kiss song in lead vocals are shared by the entire lineup. Following the highly successful 1996-97 reunion tour, Psycho Circus was marketed as the first studio album by the original lineup since 1979s Dynasty. As with Dynasty and Unmasked, however, many of the songs were recorded by uncredited players, Ace Frehley and Criss were used sparingly, with Criss only playing drums on Into the Void. Frehley played on two songs from the album, in 2011, in Frehleys book No Regrets, he says that he wrote a lot of songs for the album, one of those songs being titled Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Rock n Roll. He mentions that the title and song were deemed very similar to the song I Pledge Allegiance to the State of Rock n Roll. Into the Void was originally titled Shakin Sharp Shooter, but Simmons and Stanley were unhappy with the lyrics and title, so Ace went up to a separate room and rewrote it. In a radio interview with Eddie Trunk following his departure, Criss stated that only Into the Void featured instrumental contributions from all four members. and we didnt have it. In 2014, Stanley later revealed that Criss and Frehley were trying to renegotiate deals and get to more songs when he. Although the subsequent Kiss Farewell Tour was meant to put Kiss out of its misery, afterwards it was mixed by Mick Guzauski in his New York studio, and mastered by Fairbarn and Kisss longtime partner George Marino at Sterling Sound NY. Fairbairn complimented the band for being collaborative, declaring that it had the potential to be a nightmare because theyre all disparate and strong characters, musically and as people. Psycho Circus debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200, selling 110,000 copies in its first week of release, entertainment Weekly said, This is rock with a capital R, captured in all its cheesy glory. This new effort proves that in the circus of hard-rock dinosaurs, well up to the bands usual standards of corny hoopla, wrote Clark Collis in The Daily Telegraph. The album was voted Album of the Year in the 1998 Metal Edge Readers Choice Awards, while the track won Song of the Year. Tommy Thayer – lead guitar Kevin Valentine – drums Album Singles
35.
Paul Stanley
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He is the writer or co-writer of many of the bands highest-charting hits. Stanley established The Starchild character for his Kiss persona, hit Parader ranked him 18th on their list of Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time. Gibson. com Readers Poll also named him 13th on their list of Top 25 Frontmen, Stanley Bert Eisen was born January 20,1952, in upper Manhattan, near 211th Street and Broadway, the Inwood neighborhood near Inwood Hill Park. He was the second of two children, and born two years after his sister Julia and his mother came from a family that fled Nazi Germany to Amsterdam, Netherlands, and then to New York City. His fathers parents were from Poland, Stanley was raised Jewish, although he did not consider his family very observant and did not celebrate his bar mitzvah. His parents listened to music and light opera, Stanley was greatly moved by Beethovens works. Attending PS98, he was taunted by children for his deformed ear. Despite his hearing problem, Stanley enjoyed listening to music, and his favorite musical artists included Eddie Cochran, Dion and the Belmonts, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. Stanley learned to sing harmony with his family, and he was given a guitar at age seven. Stanleys family relocated to the Kew Gardens neighborhood in Queens in 1960. He listened to a lot of music, but when The Beatles and The Rolling Stones played on U. S. television he was inspired by the performance aspect. Stanley received his first real guitar at age 13, a one that he would have preferred to be electric. He played tunes by Bob Dylan, The Byrds, The Lovin Spoonful, All through his childhood Stanley had been recognized for his talent at graphic arts, so he attended the High School of Music & Art in New York City and graduated in 1970. Despite his skill as a graphic artist, he abandoned that as a career, before Kiss, Stanley was in a local band, Rainbow and was also a member of Uncle Joe and Post War Baby Boom. Through a mutual friend of Gene Simmons, Stanley joined Simmons band Wicked Lester in the early 1970s, the band recorded an album in 1972, but it has not been officially released. Wicked Lester soon fell apart and Stanley and Simmons answered Peter Crisss advertisement in Rolling Stone, Rock & Roll drummer looking for orig. grp. doing soft & hard music. Soon after recruiting Criss, they held auditions for a lead guitarist, Kiss released their self-titled debut album in February 1974. Stanleys persona in Kiss is The Starchild utilizing one star over his right eye, for a brief time, Stanley changed his make-up character to The Bandit, with a Lone Ranger style mask design make-up pattern
36.
Brent Fitz
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Brent Fitz is a Canadian American multi-instrumentalist and recording artist. Brent is a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada where he grew up with his parents Mervyn and Audrey Fitz and a sister, Brenda and he attended and graduated from John Taylor Collegiate in 1988. His parents continue to take a keen interest in his career, with his mother Audrey cited as saying we get to look at his tour schedule and follow him across the world. After leaving Winnipeg in the mid 90s, he lived for time in Los Angeles, California and currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fitz started piano lessons at the age of five and drums at the age of ten, playing percussion in his school and high school jazz. He received piano and theory training through The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Ontario and graduated in 1994. In 1985, Brent answered an ad for a job at a local drum shop in Winnipeg. Fitz got his start at age 15, playing in various Winnipeg clubs. After graduating high school, he formed the band Seventh Heaven with two musicians and two Los Angeles natives that had recently relocated to Winnipeg. After several years of touring, Brent formed another band with Seventh Heavens guitarist, of this period, his father related that we used to go to every gig he played in Winnipeg bars, ladies of the night would pass us, going through to go to the bathroom. Schedules with Seventh Heaven and Shake Naked were much more extensive, in 1993, Fitz joined Kenny Shields from the band Streetheart and toured across Canada for the next three years. That band would become known as Union and would also include John Corabi on vocals, James Hunting of David Lee Roth on bass and this four-piece released their self-titled debut in 1998. A live record titled Live In The Galaxy was released in 1999, soon after, he also toured and recorded with Gilby Clarke, and recorded drum tracks for the Slimmer Twins album Lack Of Luxury, featuring Kix guitarist Ronnie Younkins. In early 2001, Fitz received an invitation to tour with Vince Neil who re-released his two solo-records that summer, performing on several international tours, and recorded the album Live At The Whisky in 2002. In the same year he joined Neil for the Rock Never Stops Tour from may through to July and he continued to feature with Neil on tour, although the imminent Mötley Crüe reunion at the end of 2004 put the band on hiatus. In the first half of 2005 Fitz joined the Canadian band Theory of a Deadman as the band embarked on tour to support the album Gasoline, the band had fired their original drummer Tim Hart, while Robin Diaz played the parts on the album. According to guitarist David Brenner, Fitz is a music theory nut who also contributed backing vocals and he was able to come in and play these other guys parts and really make them his own. Fitz appeared in four music videos with the band, and made several TV appearances including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
37.
Union (Union album)
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Union is the debut album of the rock band Union. The album did well for a lower profile release. It peaked at #36th on the Heatseekers Billboard Chart in 1998, alex Henderson of AMG called it superb and one 1998s strongest rock releases. All tracks written by Bruce Kulick, John Corabi and Curt Cuomo, only available on the Japanese bonus track version of the album Adapted from the AllMusic credits
38.
Ratt
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Ratt is an American heavy metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is perhaps best known for hit singles such as Round and Round and Lay It Down, tracks that ranked on Billboards top 40 at No.12,40, respectively, as well as other songs such as Wanted Man, Youre in Love and Dance. The band has continued to tour and record following extended hiatuses and line-up changes, released their latest studio album, the origins of Ratt go as far back as 1973 in Hollywood, with a band called Firedome, founded by singer Stephen Pearcy with a few friends. In 1974 the band broke up, with Pearcy forming Crystal Pystal, the name Crystal Pystal was later changed to Buster Cherry, which turned into Mickey Ratt in 1976. Guitarist Robbin Crosby in those years had been a member of the bands Metropolis with Tommy Asakawa and Parramore McCarty, Xcalibur, Phenomenon, Secret Service. Mickey Ratt went through various line-up changes, members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, Paul DeNisco, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, Mike New and Dave Jellison, and drummers John Turner, and Bob Eisenberg. The various Mickey Ratt line-ups released several compilations and a live concert recording. In 1981, the name was shortened to Ratt. Crosby played with the later in the year. Guitarist Warren DeMartini, recommended by Lee, joined the band in January 1982, bassist Gene Hunter and drummer Khurt Maier temporarily played in Ratt before the arrival of Bobby Blotzer and Juan Croucier. DeMartini was only 18 years old when he was called up to Los Angeles to join Ratt, at the time he was attending college in San Diego and was reluctant to drop out to join a band that had, so far, had only limited success. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though he returned in time for the recording of their first EP, in July 1983, Ratt signed with independent Los Angeles recording label Time Coast Music. Later that same year, Time Coast released in the United States the bands 6-track debut EP, newly formed independent UK label Music for Nations released a 7-track version of the EP in Europe, which included the additional track Youre in Trouble. The self-titled independent EP was well-received and brought the band to the attention of Atlantic Records which signed them, Ratt immediately started writing and recording their first full-length album. Out of the Cellar was released in March 1984 and was praised by fans and critics. Tawny Kitaen, high school sweetheart of Crosby, whod graced the cover of the bands EP from the previous year and she also appeared in their video for Back for More as the girl in the 1950s skirt at the jukebox. The album scored much radio and MTV play with songs like Round and Round, Wanted Man, Back for More and their music videos exposed them to an excited teen audience first tuning into the then fledgling MTV cable network. Milton Berles guest appearance, dressed in his Uncle Miltie drag character, Out of the Cellar became a commercial success, going platinum many times over in the United States, as well as making Ratt stars at home and in the Far East
39.
Hallandale Beach, Florida
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Hallandale Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is named after Luther Halland, the son of a Swedish worker for Henry Flaglers Florida East Coast Railroad, as of the 2010 census, the population was 37,113. The city is known as the home of Gulfstream Park and Mardi Gras Casino and it also has a sizable financial district, with offices for a number of banks and brokerage houses. Due to the number of tourists who eventually retire in the city, Hallandale Beach has one of the fastest-growing populations in Broward County. Hallandale Beach, like most of Broward County, had no permanent European-descended population until the end of the 19th century, seminole Indians, in settlements that lay inland of the Atlantic shore, hunted in the area and gathered coontie roots to produce arrowroot starch. Railroad magnate Henry Flagler, owner of the Florida East Coast Railway, recruited Luther Halland, Halland and Swedish immigrant Olaf Zetterlund touted the frost-free climate and cheap land of the settlement. Halland constructed a trading post and became the first postmaster of the small community. By 1900, the community had grown to a dozen families—seven of Swedish. In 1904 the first school was built, and the first church followed two years later, Hallandale was primarily a farming community, the beach was undeveloped and used by the residents only for recreational purposes. Hallandale was incorporated on 14 May 1927, by that time, a thriving community of 1,500 residents, with electricity and street lights, was in place. In 1947, Hallandale was reincorporated as a city, allowing it to expand its borders through annexation of unincorporated land lying adjacent to the Atlantic shore. In August 1999, the city changed its name to Hallandale Beach. Hurricane Katrina first made landfall between Hallandale and Aventura, Florida, Hallandale Beach is located at 25°59′12″N 80°08′46″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area 4.55 square miles,4.21 square miles of it is land and.34 square miles of it is water. Hollywood is located north of Hallandale Beach, Aventura in Miami-Dade County is south of the city, the Atlantic Ocean is to the east, and Pembroke Park is located west. 45. 2% of all households were made up of individuals and 25. 8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 1.88 and the average family size was 2.60. In the city, the population was out with 13. 2% under the age of 18,5. 3% from 18 to 24,22. 9% from 25 to 44,22. 8% from 45 to 64. The median age was 53 years, for every 100 females there were 85.6 males
40.
The Arockalypse
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The Arockalypse is the third studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Lordi. It includes the hit single Hard Rock Hallelujah, which won the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 for Finland, the album has sold triple platinum in Finland and gold in Sweden. Although the album cover shows OX, it was Kalma who played guitar on the album. The Arockalypse has many guest-stars on its tracks, Dee Snider and Jay Jay French from Twisted Sister, Udo Dirkschneider from Accept/U. D. O. and Bruce Kulick from Kiss. In reality, only Sebastian Bach and Alice Cooper were ever asked to be guests on the album, but neither were able to make it. SCG3 Special Report –3,46 Bringing Back the Balls to Rock –3,31 The Deadite Girls Gone Wild –3,45 The Kids Who Wanna Play with the Dead –4,07 It Snows In Hell –3,37 Whos Your Daddy. This version was also the first Lordi album to be released in the United States and it Snows In Hell was slightly remixed for this version, using instead the music video version, which had a different set of vocals in the opening. Bonus tracks, Would You Love a Monsterman, mr. Hard Rock Hallelujah, and Would You Love a Monsterman. In 2007, an edition of The Arockalypse was released on vinyl in the US, available in four versions, black, clear. Mr Lordi - vocals Amen - guitar Kita - drums, backing vocals Kalma - bass guitar Awa - keyboards Bruce Kulick - guitar solo on It Snows In Hell
