Queen

Queen are an English rock band formed in 1969 in London by guitarist Brian May, lead vocalist Freddie Mercury, and drummer Roger Taylor, with bass guitarist John Deacon joining the following year. Queen rose to prominence during the 1970s and are Britain's most successful band of the past three decades.[1]

The band is noted for their musical diversity, multi-layered arrangements, vocal harmonies and incorporation of audience participation into their live performances.[2] Their 1985 Live Aid performance was voted the best live rock performance of all time in an industry poll.[3]

Queen had moderate success in the early 1970s, with the albums Queen and Queen II, but it was with the release of Sheer Heart Attack in 1974 and A Night at the Opera the following year that the band gained international success. Since 1975, eighteen of the band's albums have reached number one on numerous charts around the world. Since 1973, they have released fifteen studio albums, five live albums, and numerous compilation albums.





Following Mercury's death in 1991 and Deacon's retirement later in the decade,[4] May and Taylor have performed infrequently under the Queen name. Since 2005, they have been collaborating with Paul Rodgers, under the moniker Queen + Paul Rodgers, which has led to Queen recording their first studio album in 13 years.

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]

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band that formed in September 1968. Led Zeppelin consisted of Jimmy Page (guitar), Robert Plant (vocals, harmonica), John Paul Jones (bass guitar, keyboards) and John Bonham (drums, percussion). With their heavy, guitar-driven sound, Led Zeppelin is regarded as one of the first heavy metal bands.[1][2] Their rock-infused interpretation of the blues and folk genres[3] also incorporated rockabilly,[4] reggae,[5] soul,[6] funk,[7] classical, Celtic, Indian, Arabic, pop, Latin, and country. The band did not release the popular songs from their albums as singles in the UK, as they preferred to develop the concept of album-oriented rock.[8]



Close to 30 years after disbanding following Bonham's death in 1980, Led Zeppelin continue to be held in high regard for their artistic achievements, commercial success, and broad influence. The band have sold more than 300 million albums worldwide,[9][10][11][12][13] including 111.5 million sales in the United States[14] and they have had all their non-compilation studio albums reach the U.S. Billboard Top 10.[15] Led Zeppelin are ranked No. 1 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.[16] Rolling Stone magazine has described Led Zeppelin as "the heaviest band of all time" and "the biggest band of the 70s".[17]



On December 10, 2007 the surviving members of Led Zeppelin reunited (along with deceased drummer John Bonham's son Jason) for the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert at The O2 in London.

Ratt

RATT
Formed 1981, U.S.A.

Albums:
1983 Ratt
1984 Out Of The Cellar
1985 Invasion Of Your Privacy
1986 Dancing Undercover
1988 Reach For The Sky
1990 Detonator
1991 Ratt & Roll 8191
1997 Collage
1999 Ratt
2002 The Essentials
2003 Metal Hits
2007 Tell The World: The Very Best Of Ratt

History:
Ratt was a hugely successful sleaze band that emerged from the Los Angeles glam scene. Branding their music "Ratt'n'Roll", the rodent rockers had hit after hit until the bottom fell out of the movement in the early 90's.
Originally formed in Los Angeles and known as Mickey Ratt, in 1981 the name was shortened to Ratt by founding member and vocalist Stephen Pearcy. Guitarists Warren DeMartini and Robbin Crosby, Juan Croucier (bass) and Bobby Blotzer (drums) rounded out the band. The self titled debut EP caused people to stand up and take notice, and led to a major label deal with Atlantic.
Out Of The Cellar went on to sell over 3 million copies, and with the help of the hit single "Round And Round", Ratt became one of metal's biggest names. Future albums never matched the debut's success, however platinum albums and sold out shows were the norm for the band during the late 80's. Top 40 albums and singles like "Lay It Down" and "Dance" were commonplace, however by 1990 things were about to change. Crosby left in 1990, and the band became a four piece with the release of "Nobody Rides For Free" for the Point Break soundtrack. Pearcy walked away shortly after to form Arcade, and Ratt quickly dissolved. Blotzer would join the super group Contraband for one album.

In 1997 Ratt decided to make their return as a four piece with Robbie Crane (Vince Neil solo) on bass. The first new material in years was released in 1999 and they hit the road with several other 80's bands on a highly successful tour. But in early 2000 Pearcy left again, leaving the band in limbo and forcing them to cancel tour dates. The remaining members are currently touring with Jizzy Pearl (from Love/Hate and L.A.Guns fame) and John Corabi (ex-Motley Crue and The Scream), but are now without a record label. Ratt vows to soldier on, but their mainstream acceptance days appear to be behind them. Sadly, the legendary Robbin Crosby lost his long fight with drugs, and succumbed to AIDS on June 6, 2002.

Links:
The Official Ratt Pag

Quiet Riot

QUIET RIOT
Formed 1975, U.S.A.

Albums:
1978 Quiet Riot
1979 Quiet Riot II
1983 Metal Health
1984 Condition Critical
1986 QR III
1988 Quiet Riot
1990 Winners Take All
1993 Terrified
1993 The Randy Rhoads Years
1995 Down To The Bone
1996 Greatest Hits
1999 Super Hits
1999 Alive And Well
2000 The Collection
2001 Guilty Pleasures
2005 Live & Rare Volume 1
2006 Rehab


History:
Quiet Riot helped usher in the return of heavy metal to the music mainstream in the mid 1980's, and enjoyed slightly more than fifteen minutes of fame. The group became the first metal band to hit #1 on the Billboard charts, but things went downhill from their initial success.
Quiet Riot was formed in Burbank, California, and were a bigger draw than Van Halen during the mid seventies Hollywood club scene. However the band, Kevin DuBrow (vocals), Randy Rhoads (guitar), Kelly Garni (bass) and Drew Forsythe (drums), had trouble getting signed to a major label and their first two albums were only released in Japan only. This version of the band fell apart, with Rhoads going on to become a legend with Ozzy Osbourne (before his untimely death in 1982), and DuBrow left to pick up the pieces and start again.
For their smash 1983 album, DuBrow had recruited Carlos Cavazo (guitar), Rudy Sarzo (bass) and Frankie Banali (drums). Metal Health became a monster success, topping the pop charts and spawning a top five single in their cover of Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noize", on its way to selling over five million copies. But success was short lived; due in part to DuBrow's outspokenness and verbal attacks on other bands of the genre, and public disdain for the band grew. Sarzo left (to later join Whitesnake) and was replaced by Chuck Wright for QR III, but by then few people cared anymore.
The final nail was driven into the coffin when the band fired DuBrow from his own band before recording the self-titled 1988 album. The new front man was Rough Cutt vocalist Paul Shortino with Sean McNabb replacing Wright on bass, but the album stiffed and the band just faded away. In 1990 DuBrow, Cavazo and Banali (who had played with W.A.S.P. and Heavy Bones) regrouped with Kenny Hillery for the ignored Terrified. Hillery would later commit suicide, and it wasn't until the return of Sarzo in the late 90's that a full reunion occurred. The band continued to tour and record on a much smaller scale, even despite DuBrow claiming bankruptcy in 1999, until the band's split in late 2003. DuBrow and Banali resurrected the name for a new album called Rehab in 2006 with Neil Citron (who replaced Tracii Guns who had joined on guitar for a brief time) and Tony Franklin (bass). On November 25th, 2007, lead-singer Kevin DuBrow was found dead in his home in Las Vegas, thus leaving behind a legacy that helped bring 80s hard rock to millions of fans.

Links:
The Official Frankie Banali Pag