Black Sabbath Biography

Formed 1967, Birmingham, England 

Mixing equal parts of bone-crushing volume, catatonic tempos, and ominous pronouncements of gloom and doom delivered in Ozzy Osbourne’s keening voice, Black Sabbath was the heavy-metal king of the Seventies. Despised by rock critics and ignored by radio programmers, the group sold over eight million albums before Osbourne departed for a solo career in 1979 [see entry].

Deep Purple

Deep Purple are an English hard rock band formed in Hertfordshire in 1968.[4] Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock,[5] although the members of the band have always refused to label themselves as heavy metal[6]. The band has also incorporated pop and progressive rock elements [5]. It was once listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's loudest band,[5][7][8] and it has sold over 100 million albums worldwide.[9][10][11][12] Deep Purple was ranked #22 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock program.[13]





The band has gone through many line-up changes and an eight-year hiatus. The 1968-76 line-ups are commonly labelled Mark I, II, III and IV. [14][15] Their second and most commercially successful line-up featured: Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), Roger Glover (bass guitar) and Ian Paice (drums).[8] This line-up was revived from 1984-89 and again in 1993 before the rift between Blackmore and other members became unbridgeable. The current line-up including guitarist Steve Morse has been much more stable, though Lord's retirement in 2002 has left Paice as the only original member.[16]

Alice Cooper

ALICE COOPER

Formed 1968, U.S.A.

Albums:
1969 Pretties For You
1970 Easy Action
1971 Love It To Death
1971 Killer
1972 School's Out
1973 Billion Dollar Babies
1974 Muscle Of Love
1974 Greatest Hits
1975 Welcome To My Nightmare
1976 Alice Cooper Goes To Hell
1977 Lace And Whiskey
1977 The Alice Cooper Show
1978 From The Inside
1980 Flush The Fashion
1981 Special Forces
1982 Zipper Catches Skin
1983 DaDa
1986 Constrictor
1987 Raise Your Fist And Yell
1989 Prince Of Darkness
1989 Trash
1991 Hey Stoopid
1994 The Last Temptation
1995 Classicks
1997 A Fistful Of Alice
1998 Freedom For Frankenstein: Hits & Pieces 1984-91
1999 The Life And Crimes Of Alice Cooper
2000 Brutal Planet
2001 Dragontown
2003 The Eyes Of Alice Cooper
2005 Dirty Diamonds

History:
Without a doubt, Alice Cooper is one of rock's few living legends. He is a pioneer of heavy metal, shock rock, glam rock, punk and almost every conceivable form of hard rock. Enraging parents, media, and even the love generation the band was able to juggle scorn and admiration as their outrageous theatrics and stage show pushed them to the top of the charts.
Playing under several different names in the Phoenix, Arizona area during the late 60s, it wouldn't be long before the Alice Cooper moniker was adopted as the name of the band and the lead vocalist. The original group was rounded out by school chums Glen Buxton (guitar), Michael Bruce (guitar), Dennis Dunaway (bass) and Neal Smith (drums). The band came into their own with the help of producer Bob Ezrin and the breakthrough album Love It To Death in 1971. The group made waves with an outrageous stage show that included decapitations, electric chairs and hangings while songs like "Dead Babies" and "I Love The Dead" drove their message home. The band would top the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with masterpieces such as School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies, and consistently be one of the top drawing live bands of the day. Alcohol dependency and solo aspirations would separate the band in 1974 with Bruce, Dunaway and Smith becoming the Billion Dollar Babies for one album while Alice Cooper would take the band name with him for even more success.

Welcome To My Nightmare would prove to be one of the most theatrical live shows in modern history, and propel the album of the same name to huge sales. Proving how huge Cooper was at the time, an autobiography called Me, Alice was published in 1976, and Alice started popping up on TV shows such as Hollywood Squares and The Muppet Show. Surrounded by an array of session musicians including Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, Cooper would continue to release albums throughout the late 70s with diminishing results. A full blown alcoholic, Cooper would release albums in a haze that to this day that he has little recollection of recording. From The Inside was a concept album based on Cooper's stay in a mental hospital trying to get clean. It wouldn't be until a three year hiatus that he finally sobered up and played Alice for the first time sober in 1986.




Alice Cooper would have one of his biggest selling albums of his career in 1989, when hard rock was once again considered hip. His backing bands have included some of the biggest young names in the rock world, with members either coming from or joining such bands as Kiss, Badlands, Winger, Electric Angels, Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth and Dream Theater to name but a few. Original member Glen Buxton passed away on October 19, 1997 and members have patched up any differences they once had. Brutal Planet was Alice's heaviest yet, and the tour to promote it was a full blown return to the theatrics he made so popular. Since then he has released three more well received albums, with the last two returning to his garage rock roots, showing that this rock God has no plans to retire anytime soon. Branching out into movies, radio and restaurant ownership, Alice has shown no signs of slowing down.

Links:
The Official Alice Cooper Page

AC/DC

AC/DC
Formed 1973, Australia

Albums:
1975 High Voltage
1975 T.N.T.
1976 High Voltage
1976 Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
1977 Let There Be Rock
1978 Powerage
1978 If You Want Blood You've Got It
1979 Highway To Hell
1980 Back In Black
1981 For Those About To Rock We Salute You
1983 Flick Of The Switch
1984 '74 Jailbreak
1985 Fly On The Wall
1986 Who Made Who
1988 Blow Up Your Video
1990 The Razors Edge
1992 Live: Special Collectors Edition
1992 Live
1995 Ballbreaker
1997 Bonfire
2000 Stiff Upper Lip

DVDs:
1992 Live At Donington
1996 No Bull
2000 Stiff Upper Lip Live
2005 Family Jewels


History:
AC/DC are, without a doubt, one of the most influential and consistently successful heavy metal bands in the world. Three-chord blues based boogie songs about sex, booze and damnation has been their recipe for success over the years, but guitarist Angus Young (in his knee-high school boy's uniform) gives the band its identity.

Brothers Angus and Malcolm Young formed AC/DC in Sydney, Australia in 1973 and had a revolving door membership in their formative years. Their debut single, "Can I Sit Next To You Girl" featured Dave Evans on vocals but it wouldn't be until the band solidified with Mark Evans (bass), Phil Rudd (drums) and petty criminal Bon Scott on vocals that AC/DC began to get noticed. When Cliff Williams replaced Mark Evans due to fatigue in 1977 chart success wasn't far behind, as Highway To Hell cracked the Top 20 in America. However just as the band was about to take the world by storm they almost disintegrated. It was February 19, 1980 when famed front-man Bon Scott died from choking on his own vomit after an all night drinking binge - the official coroner's report called it "death by misadventure". Upon losing their charismatic singer it was unsure if AC/DC would be able to continue or not, and even if they did return would fans accept a new vocalist?



Those questions were answered when a mere two months later the band had recruited ex-Geordie vocalist Brian Johnson and went on to record one of the best selling albums in rock history, Back In Black. The album shot up to #4 on the Billboard charts with the help of AC/DC staples such as "You Shook Me All Night Long" and the Bon Scott tribute "Hells Bells". Despite riding the wave of their first (and so far only) #1 album, For Those About To Rock, non-stop touring and drug abuse led to Phil Rudd's departure during the recording of 1983's Flick Of The Switch - Simon Wright was soon named as his replacement. By 1988 years of partying forced Malcolm to withdraw from the Blow Up Your Video tour to get a handle on his alcohol abuse. During the group's 1989 layoff Simon Wright got restless and defected to Dio, leaving room for former Firm member Chris Slade to take the drum stool. The resulting album, The Razors Edge, would once again give the Aussie rockers a hit album, reaching #2 on the U.S. charts.

Phil Rudd was back in the band for the Ballbreaker album and the boys continued to churn out their signature brand of hard rock. In 2004 Back In Black was certified as selling over 20 million copies in the U.S.A. alone, making it one of the ten best selling albums in the history of music. Countless tours, countless albums, and countless indulges in drug and alcohol have yet to sway AC/DC from their path and the band's rabid fan base continues to support whatever they do. Society changes, new fads come and go, but one thing always remains certain and untouched by time, and that is AC/DC - one of music's finest bands.

Links:
The Official AC/DC Page