Реферат Manowar
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Manowar is a heavy metal band from Auburn, New York, United States of America, formed in 1980. They are known for writing lyrics with an emphasis on the heavy metal genre itself, fantasy (particularly sword and sorcery) and mythological topics (particularly Norse mythology). Manowar's sound is loud and bombastic; in an interview for MTV in February 2007, bassist Joey DeMaio lamented that "these days, there's a real lack of big, epic metal that is drenched with crushing guitars and choirs and orchestras... so it's nice to be one of the few bands that's actually doing that."[2] In 1984 the band was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering the loudest performance, a record which they have since broken on 2 occasions. They also hold the world record for the longest heavy metal concert after playing for 5 hours and 1 minute in Bulgaria in 2008.[3]
Although the band has never been a mainstream commercial success in the United States, they maintain a strong cult following there. In contrast, they are extremely popular in the heavy metal scene in Europe, Japan, Australia and South America. Dedicated fans are known and referred to by the band as "Manowarriors" or "Immortals", and collectively their fans are known as the "Army of Immortals".
The band has sold over 9 million albums.[4]
The origins (1980-1981)
Manowar's history begins in 1980 in Auburn. The future bassist of the band Joey DeMaio, who had been working as a bass tech and fireworks manager for Black Sabbath in the Heaven and Hell[5] tour, met guitarist Ross the Boss, who played in Black Sabbath's support band, Shakin' Street, and was also a former member of the hard rock band The Dictators. This meeting brought to the realization that they had the same ideas about music and started a friendship. They soon decided to form a band.
At the end of the tour with Black Sabbath, the unemployed duo met again to set up a group[6]. To complete the roster they decided to hire as singer Eric Adams, former classmate and friend of Joey DeMaio, while the drums were manned by The Rods' drummer, Carl Canedy. Canedy is also known for producing several heavy metal albums, including Overkill's 1985 full length debut, Feel The Fire.
The newly founded band began to earn some money, playing in small gigs and proposing covers of famous artists in various clubs. A few months after its foundation, the first Manowar began to compose songs and to make initial contacts with record companies, which allowed the group to publish, in 1981, a demo known as Demo 1981. After the publication of the demo, Canedy, worn out by the stress of continuous performances, left the band and was quickly replaced by the talented Donnie Hamzik.[7][8]
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The first album (1981-1982)
In 1981, thanks to the excellent quality of the first demo, Manowar managed to secure a recording contract with label Liberty Records. Understanding the great potential of the group, the record company put pressure on the band to produce a good number of songs in a short time, in order to start recording their first album. In 1982, the album was released with the title Battle Hymns. The album was well received by audience and critics, who were impressed by the extremely powerful and aggressive sound of the group, as well as by the lyrics and considerable vocal range of singer Eric Adams. For some tracks on the album and especially the song "Dark Avenger," Manowar had the chance to find the collaboration of the famous actor and director Orson Welles in the role of narrator.[9]
Soon after the album's release, Manowar engaged in their first tour. The band played support for hard rocker Ted Nugent, but their collaboration lasted only a few months because, according to the interpretation of Adams and his companions, Nugent had the impression that Manowar was "stealing the scene with their powerful live performances and appeal for the audience."[10]
Manowar then decided to put together a short tour by themselves and all the arrangements were made in a few weeks by their manager. There were a few problems again, with the band and their management challenged by city mayors for the use of loud instrumentation during live performances. Anyway through this short tour, the band gained fame in the United States and also began to get their first European fans, particularly in the United Kingdom and in Germany. At the end of the series of performances, Donnie Hamzik, stressed from the strain of the continuing performances, decided to leave the band and was replaced by the young and upcoming Scott Columbus.
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Into Glory Ride (1982-1988)
In 1982, the band decided to change record label, leaving Liberty Records because of the scarce distribution of the first album in Europe. The band signed on to the better known and internationally connected Music for Nations.
By the time Manowar returned home, they immediately went into a recording studio to produce what, in the intentions of the group, would have been a simple EP, but came out instead, due to the quantity and quality of the tracks made in that period, as the band's second album, entitled Into Glory Ride. An EP was actually published in 1983 with the title Defender containing, as its main track, the eponymous song, characterized by a new participation of director Orson Welles. The new album sold very well and is still considered by many critics a milestone of metal. The atmosphere of the album evokes classical heroic fantasy and mythology, and served as a predecessor to viking metal. The new album contained several innovative features, both in style and sound, and led to a huge increase in the number of fans of the group, particularly in the United Kingdom, where the band planned a long tour (then canceled because of family problems of the band "manager").
In a kind of apology for the failure of their UK tour, Manowar decided to dedicate their next album to the United Kingdom. The album was released in early 1984 with the title Hail to England and was recorded and mixed in just six days. The album received again great acceptance by public and critics, for its fast and powerful compositions. Manowar started a new promotional tour, called "Spectacle of Might", which had a large number of dates in England. The tour saw Manowar initially as support band for Mercyful Fate, but the enthusiasm shown by audiences for the band along the way, soon put the group led by DeMaio in the headline slot.
Galvanized by the response of their audience, Manowar soon returned to work in the recording studio. After leaving label Music for Nations, the quartet signed for the new label Ten Records to publish, only ten months after the previous album, a new one called Sign of the Hammer. The album presents stark changes in rhythm, with very technical tracks characterized by a slow pace, like the epic "Mountains", and quick ones, as the eponymous "Sign of the Hammer". It was a new sales success that allowed the band to embark on a two-year world tour, which registered a huge number of spectators everywhere. At the end of this long journey, the band took a year off, in 1986.
In 1987 Manowar, because of new problems with their label, decided to make another contract change to major Atlantic Records. After this change of label, the band was able to bring out, that same year, a new record, called Fighting the World, which the new label did a good job in promoting and distributing around the world. Through this publication, the band made the final leap, further increasing the number of fans in Europe and making Manowar one of the most important metal acts of the period. The album, however, was the first to receive some bad criticism for the lack of originality in using too repetitive mythological themes.
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Kings of Metal (1988-1992)
In 1988, Manowar released the album, Kings of Metal, which is still widely regarded as the masterpiece of the band. Songs like "Heart of Steel", "Kings of Metal" and "Hail and Kill" became a veritable anthem for fans of the group and are proposed regularly in concerts. Kings of Metal is Manowar's highest-selling album worldwide.
Despite this success in sales, this album attracted more criticism on Manowar, particularly referred to the lyrics of the songs "Pleasure Slave" and "Blood of the Kings." The first track was attacked by feminists, while the second seemed to some as a tribute to the Nazis because of lines like "back to the glory of Germany". Manowar stated several times that it was just a tribute to their many German fans. The eagle iconography of the band itself was viewed by some as a Nazi symbol, owing to the striking similarity the eagle on the cover of Battle Hymns has with the great eagle sculpture used by the Nazis at their Nuremberg rallies. Even the band's well-known admiration for Richard Wagner (for some, the real creator of Heavy Metal, but also fundamental innovator of modern music) was misunderstood by some critics.
Ignoring these critiques, Manowar embarked again on a world tour, for a period of approximately three years, with stops in almost all European nations. During that tour, Ross the Boss announced his retirement from the group because of the life "on the road" and decided to devote himself to a solo project of mold -blues rock. His replacement was found in David Shankle, a musician who was chosen by members of the band after a search among about 150 candidates. Scott Columbus later also had to leave the band to look after his son, who suffered from leukemia. Scott himself picked his replacement Kenny Earl Edwards (soon nicknamed Rhino).
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New albums, first video and live publications (1992-2002)
A new musical unit after the recent changes, in 1992 Manowar released a new album, entitled The Triumph of Steel. It gained some success and was particularly famous for the presence of a suite lasting no less than 28 minutes entitled "Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts", inspired by the events of the Iliad and the hero Achilles. After this release, the band went on a world tour for two years. At the end of the tour, the group had to sign a contract with a new label because the one with the Atlantic Records had expired. So the band signed with Geffen Records. In 1993 guitarist David Shankle left the band to form his own group, to be replaced by Karl Logan, a musician met by DeMaio during a motor meeting. The same year saw the unexpected return of Scott Columbus, which caused the removal of "Rhino" Edwards.
In 1994 Manowar released their first collection, called The Hell of Steel, containing the major successes of the group, and in 1996, after four years of waiting, produced a new album called Louder Than Hell. Despite good sales and fame achieved by some tracks such as "Brothers Of Metal", "Courage" and "Number 1", the album was long criticized for its simple style and uninspired arrangements. The greatest challenge came from Andre Matos, former lead singer of Angra, who claimed in a magazine that Louder Than Hell was so bad that it could be called "metal for kids."
Despite such criticisms, Manowar embarked on a new long tour and in 1997 released with the label Connoisseur Records a new collection, called Anthology, and their first live album Hell on Wheels, published by BMG International in the guise of a double CD containing all the most popular songs of the group. Not having the time to record a new studio album because of the ongoing promotional tour, Manowar published several books, a second live album, Hell on Stage, and the first DVD of the series Hell on Earth.
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Warriors of the World and the future of the band (2002-today)
Karl Logan
In 2002, six years after the last studio album, Manowar released a new album, called Warriors of the World. The increasingly long time between the release of the albums made critics formulate some theories about the band. The first one described a band in crisis of inspiration, caused by lack of new ideas and by the almost fanatical interpretation by group members of the role of "true metalheads", which over time had begun to tire the public. Others explained the long publication delays as necessary because of the maniacal treatment that the band dedicated to the production of the new album.
However, the disc sold a fair number of copies, proving that fans of the group had not forgotten their heroes. Warriors of the World presented a sound somewhat renewed in style, but maintained the usual energy and power. The most famous tracks from the album became "Warriors of the World United", "House of Death" and "Call to Arms", in addition to Puccini's aria "Nessun Dorma", covered in honor of the Italian fans and sung live for the first time in a concert in Milan.
Manowar then began a long world tour, called "Warriors of the World United Tour" that kept them busy and away from a recording studio for a long time. Not to be totally inactive in terms of record releases, the band released several DVDs: in 2002 the videos Warriors of the World United and Fire and Blood, in 2003 Hell on Earth Part III and in 2005 DVD Hell on Earth Part IV. These (and all DVDs since the year 2000) were directed by Neil Johnson (director), and have all been certified Gold in Germany.
In 2003 bassist Joey DeMaio founded his own record label, Magic Circle Music, which became the official home of the band and was created to fit the needs of Manowar and other bands of similar genre. In 2005, completed the grueling tour, Manowar released the demo King of Kings - The Ascension. Under the label Magic Circle were also released the EP The Sons of Odin and a DVD called The Day The Earth Shook - The Absolute Power, with footage taken during the participation at the Earthshaker Fest 2005.
Manowar released Gods of War through Magic Circle Music in 2007. After playing numerous shows in Europe, including a concert that spanned the course of two nights, they worked on a new EP, entitled Thunder in the Sky, which was released in 2009. The EP consisted of two discs; the first playing the regular track list, the second playing the song "Father" in fifteen different languages. The band is currently working on an album, tentatively titled Hammer of the Gods, with no current release date s
