Steerpike
02-03-2006, 09:41 AM
And... we're back. After a close race at the polls, The Cruxshadows just barely edged out Buddy Holly by one vote. Pretty impressive. Still not much love though for The Hippos. And The Ventures got even less. Oh well. This week promises to be an interesting one anyway.
Saint Vitus - Calling the Children of Doom (http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=438619)
Since last week was such a success, hopefully we'll see some of that this week as well.
Biography
The British post-punk scene was a very influential moment in modern music. In the wake of the initial British punk invasion of the 70's, there came a new generation of musicians who took the ideas of punk in directions none of their predecessors could have imagined. Out of this scene came four sub-genres, off-shoots of the style. New Romantic (i.e. Adam Ant, Modern English), Goth rock (i.e. The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees), New Wave (i.e. The Police, Depeche Mode), and Industrial (i.e. Nine Inch Nails, Nocturnal Emissions). Even these eventually started branching out. New Wave in particular spawned several bastard children, among them the introspective, often Goth-styled Darkwave.
The Cruxshadows stand out as one of the forerunners of this genre in modern music. They got their start in 1993 with the usual round of dizzying line-up changes, but always focusing around the vocals of Rogue and the electric violin of Rachel McDonnell.
Early on in their careers, the band mostly relegated themselves to smaller venues and having their songs played at night clubs where they garnered a devout cult following. Their debut album (...Night Crawls In) was actually separated from their second (Telemetry of a Fallen Angel) by a period of four years of almost non-stop touring.
The hard work payed off, however. The Rogue become exceptionally difficult to work with due to his compulsive perfectionism and control-freak persona, the band still managed to recruit the best possible musicians and forged on, eventually pounding out another two albums and an EP that gave them their break in Europe. They've toured the continent extensively, covering Spain, Germany, Poland, and everything in between.
Still used to rigorous touring schedules, the band had no trouble adapting to the demands and averaged 100-120 shows per year. They've even had their management seek out the smaller venues like the ones they first cut their teeth on so that their fans who couldn't afford tickets to larger venues could attend concerts.
Emboldened by this success, the group churned out a fifth album despite the next round of line-up changes. This album, Wishfire hit #2 on the German charts along with its two singles, Tears and Frozen Embers. Also hitting this high level on the charts, was the 2003 follow-up Ethernaut.
At this point, the band started receiving criticism from a section of the fans who were concerned over the line-up changes, many of which were provoked by personal differences with Rogue. As I said, the man is known to be very difficult to work with. Other fans were concerned that this success was going to end up compromising the music and the band would sell-out.
If that happened, it didn't work that well. Though still a staple in many dance clubs across Europe and America, they still haven't achieved anything resembling mainstream success. Personally, I see it as just another excuse for indie-brats to bandy about a term they don't actually know how to properly use.
Anyway...
The band is currently using their newfound funds to re-release some of their older material and put together a few compilations. They released the Fortress In Flames EP in 2004, and last year also released their first DVD, Shadowbox.
For now, the band is taking a break from their 2005 world tour. They've managed to open up a lot of people to a rather unusual genre, and though they are at once very catchy and something of an acquired taste, this is still quite an accomplishment. They deserve a break.
Now, I'm not going to try to speak for anyone on MX. This sort of thing may not be your cup of tea. But then... there's only one real way to find out, isn't there?
Official Web Site (http://www.cruxshadows.com/index7.html)
Saint Vitus - Calling the Children of Doom (http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=438619)
Since last week was such a success, hopefully we'll see some of that this week as well.
Biography
The British post-punk scene was a very influential moment in modern music. In the wake of the initial British punk invasion of the 70's, there came a new generation of musicians who took the ideas of punk in directions none of their predecessors could have imagined. Out of this scene came four sub-genres, off-shoots of the style. New Romantic (i.e. Adam Ant, Modern English), Goth rock (i.e. The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees), New Wave (i.e. The Police, Depeche Mode), and Industrial (i.e. Nine Inch Nails, Nocturnal Emissions). Even these eventually started branching out. New Wave in particular spawned several bastard children, among them the introspective, often Goth-styled Darkwave.
The Cruxshadows stand out as one of the forerunners of this genre in modern music. They got their start in 1993 with the usual round of dizzying line-up changes, but always focusing around the vocals of Rogue and the electric violin of Rachel McDonnell.
Early on in their careers, the band mostly relegated themselves to smaller venues and having their songs played at night clubs where they garnered a devout cult following. Their debut album (...Night Crawls In) was actually separated from their second (Telemetry of a Fallen Angel) by a period of four years of almost non-stop touring.
The hard work payed off, however. The Rogue become exceptionally difficult to work with due to his compulsive perfectionism and control-freak persona, the band still managed to recruit the best possible musicians and forged on, eventually pounding out another two albums and an EP that gave them their break in Europe. They've toured the continent extensively, covering Spain, Germany, Poland, and everything in between.
Still used to rigorous touring schedules, the band had no trouble adapting to the demands and averaged 100-120 shows per year. They've even had their management seek out the smaller venues like the ones they first cut their teeth on so that their fans who couldn't afford tickets to larger venues could attend concerts.
Emboldened by this success, the group churned out a fifth album despite the next round of line-up changes. This album, Wishfire hit #2 on the German charts along with its two singles, Tears and Frozen Embers. Also hitting this high level on the charts, was the 2003 follow-up Ethernaut.
At this point, the band started receiving criticism from a section of the fans who were concerned over the line-up changes, many of which were provoked by personal differences with Rogue. As I said, the man is known to be very difficult to work with. Other fans were concerned that this success was going to end up compromising the music and the band would sell-out.
If that happened, it didn't work that well. Though still a staple in many dance clubs across Europe and America, they still haven't achieved anything resembling mainstream success. Personally, I see it as just another excuse for indie-brats to bandy about a term they don't actually know how to properly use.
Anyway...
The band is currently using their newfound funds to re-release some of their older material and put together a few compilations. They released the Fortress In Flames EP in 2004, and last year also released their first DVD, Shadowbox.
For now, the band is taking a break from their 2005 world tour. They've managed to open up a lot of people to a rather unusual genre, and though they are at once very catchy and something of an acquired taste, this is still quite an accomplishment. They deserve a break.
Now, I'm not going to try to speak for anyone on MX. This sort of thing may not be your cup of tea. But then... there's only one real way to find out, isn't there?
Official Web Site (http://www.cruxshadows.com/index7.html)