Manowar (band)
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Manowar is an American heavy metal/power metal band from Auburn, New York, which formed in 1980.
Biography
Joey DeMaio was working as a bass tech / pyrotechnic for Black Sabbath when he met with guitarist Ross the Boss, playing for a group called Shakin Street; a Black Sabbath support band. They later recruited Eric Adams for vocals and Donnie Hamzik for the drums, to create Manowar — a band with an unusual epic sound. Manowar recorded Battle Hymns, their debut album, which featured "Dark Avenger", a slow epic track with narration by Orson Welles (Welles later returned on the Fighting the World album and did the narration on another slow track called "Defender").Their second album, Into Glory Ride, was the first to feature Scott Columbus as drummer. Because of his viciousness behind the drums, standard kits simply collapsed. Custom stainless steel kits had to be built just for him. Their third album, titled Hail to England, was mixed and recorded in only six days. The band's "Spectacle of Might" tour of Great Britain is subject to claims that the loudness of one of the band's performances was measured at 129.5 decibels. Their following albums were Sign of the Hammer, Fighting the World, Kings of Metal, The Triumph of Steel, Louder Than Hell, Hell on Wheels (live), Hell on Stage (live), Warriors of the World and Dawn of Battle single. Meanwhile DeMaio started his own label, Magic Circle Music, including symphonic epic metallers (e.g. Rhapsody) in their roster.
In 1984, Manowar found themselves in the book Guinness World Records as the "loudest band in the world," following the release, and during the supporting tour, of their fourth album Sign of the Hammer. The 1992 release of The Triumph of Steel, and its subsequent tour, saw Manowar break their own Guinness record, again being named "Loudest Band in the World."
The latest Manowar recordings are the songs "King of Kings" and "The Ascension", released in 2005 with their latest DVD Hell on Earth Part IV. A new single was planned for release on February 27 2006, containing the ten-minute unreleased epic "Sons of Odin" as well as a rerecording of "King of Kings". This single seems to have been postponed for an undecided date, however, as no release has taken place yet. No information has of yet been posted on their official website concerning this delay.
The release of their next album, which was scheduled for April 3, 2006, will be delayed due to severe left arm injuries sustained by guitarist Karl Logan during a motorcycle accident on January 24, 2006. He will be unable to perform for an unknown period of time, but is expected to recover.
Members
Current members
- Eric Adams - vocals
- Joey DeMaio - bass guitar / guitars / keyboards / classical guitar
- Karl Logan - guitars / keyboards / classical guitar
- Scott Columbus - drums
Former members
- Guitars:
- *Ross The Boss (1980-1988)
- *David Shankle (1989-1993) played for a while in Chicago (the city, not the band), before he was chosen from about 150 guitarists to replace Ross The Boss. Eric and Joey met him while recording "Kings Of Metal" in Chicago
- Drums:
- *carl Kennedy (no relation with Carl Cannedy, formerly of The Rods) (1980)
- *Donny Hamzik (1981-1982)
- *Rhino (real name Kenny Earl Edwards) (1992-1995)
Discography
Albums
- Battle Hymns (1982)
- Into Glory Ride (1983)
- Hail to England (1984)
- Sign of the Hammer (1984)
- Fighting the World (1987)
- Kings of Metal (1988)
- The Triumph of Steel (1992)
- Louder Than Hell (1996)
- Hell on Wheels (Live, 1997)
- Hell on Stage (Live, 1999)
- Warriors of the World (2002)
Compilations
- [[The Hell of Steel: Best of Manowar]] (1994)
- [[The Kingdom of Steel: The Very Best of Manowar]] (1996)
- Anthology (1997)
- Steel Warriors (1998)
Singles
- Dawn of Battle (2003)
- King of Kings (2005)
VHS/DVDs
- Secrets of Steel (VHS) (1993)
- Hell on Earth Part I (DVD) (2001)
- Fire and Blood (DVD) (2002)
- Hell on Earth Part III (DVD) (2003)
- Hell on Earth Part IV (DVD) (2005)
Quotes
- "It's a shame that future musicians growing up now are being influenced by trash; it's really upsetting. You are basically formed by what your influences are and if you've got losers for influences, you're going to have a hard time overcoming that." -Eric Adams in an interview conducted in 1988
- "I believe in the fans, I believe in metal more than anybody you've ever met. And you've known me a long time. I've never pissed on you even though you constantly do it to me. And I don't stab the fan in the back. And another thing, I'm prepared to die for metal. Are you?" -Joey DeMaio during a 2006 interview with the Rock Hard magazine.
- "If you're not into Metal - you are not my friend!" -Joey DeMaio
- "Each day, you wake up and get out of bed knowing that there is shit waiting for you. Each day is a struggle, a battle and you must prepare for these battles, these wars. You have to be prepared. That is where the spirit of MANOWAR comes in. It is for everybody, both men and women, who have the fighting spirit. You either fight to win or your throw up your hands and admit that you are fucked"" -Joey DeMaio
External links
- [Official Website]
- [Czech fansite]
- [Massive history and full discography at Rockdetector]
- [Entire Manowar Lyrics Collection]
- [Manowar Quotes]
- [Manowar news, lyrics, reviews and info]
- [Manowar Sweden]
- [Manowar Russia]
- [Manowar Brazil]
- [Ross-the-Boss.com]
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