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GOTTHARD
Band History
Svicarski hard rockerji Gotthard (ime so dobili po znanem predoru)
so nastali leta 1992, ko so se zbrali vokalist Steve Lee, kitarist Leo Leoni,
basist Marc Lynn, bobnar Hena Habegger in ritem kitarist Mandy Meyer. Istega
leta so izdali prvo plosco, naslovljeno preprosto Gotthard. Z njo so takoj dosegli
zlati status v domovini, se odpravili na domaco headlinersko turnejo, po Evropi
pa igrali z Victory in Magnum ter imeli celo nekaj nastopov na Japonskem. Zacelo
se je torej precej sanjsko, vendar je hard rock tedaj izgubljal na moci. Posneli
so dva videospota za komada Hush in All I Care For in nato podaljsali svojo
turnejo, ki se je zavlekla do druge polovice leta 1993.
Nato so ponovno vstopili v studio in posneli drugi album, Dial
Hard, ki je izsel v zacetku 1994. Z njim so doma dosegli celo platinast status,
uspesni pa so bili tudi v Nemciji in na Japonskem, kjer so odigrali dve headlinerski
turneji, poleg tega pa nastopali se v vec TV oddajah in na open air festivalih.
Nato so vecino leta 1995 prebili v Los Angelesu, kjer so snemali naslednji album,
naslovljen preprosto G.. G. je izsel leta 1996 in ponovil uspeh svojega predhodnika,
skupina pa se je odpravila na turnejo v njim ze znane drzave, Nemcijo in Japonsko,
dodali pa so se Juzno Korejo.
Leta 1997 so izdali zelo uspesen single One Life, One Soul,
ki so ga posneli z znano operno pevko Monserrat Caballe in z njim ostali vec
tednov na domacih lestvicah. Poleti so nastopali po razlicnih festivalih, nato
pa izdali multiplatinasti akusticni live album D-Frosted, s katerim so si zagotovili
preboj tudi v Franciji in Italiji, kjer so kmalu odigrali dve uspesni turneji.
1998 je bilo z izjemo nekaj festivalskih nastopov za Gotthard bolj mirno leto
vse do decembra, ko so po Franciji nastopali kot predskupina legendam Deep Purple.
Med tem premorom z nastopi pa so fanjte v studiu pripravljali
nov album, naslovljen Open, ki je izsel v zacetku 1999. Nato so se ponovno odpravili
na svetovno turnejo, nastopali po stevilnih TV oddajah in za namecek decembra
v dobrodelne namene skupaj s hokejsko ekipo iz Lugana posneli single Merry X-Mass.
Nato so se v letu 2000 posvetili gradnji lastnega studia in ze poleti zaceli
pisati material za album Homerun, ki so ga izdali v zacetku 2001. Sledila je
nova headlinerska turneja, nato pa so poleti nastopali kot predskupina Bon Jovi
in AC/DC, oktobra pa zaceli s snemanjem za best-of plosco.
Album najboljsih balad One Life, One Soul je izsel 2002, pospremili
pa so ga z novo turnejo in visokoproracunskim videospotom za komad Heaven. Oktobra
so se ponovno znasli v studiu, tokrat s producentom Marcom Tannerjem (Aerosmith)
in zaceli z delom za novi album Human Zoo, ki so ga dokoncno zmiksali v Los
Angelesu. Album je bil nov uspeh za band in z njim so leto 2003 v celoti prebili
na turneji. Nato pa se je leta 2004 zgodila edina zamenjava v bandu, Mandyja
je na kitari zamenjal Freddy Scherer. Nato so izdali best of kompilacijo One
Team – One Spirit, ki je izsel kot premierni album njihove lastne zalozbe. Ta
je kmalu presla pod Nuclear Blast, kjer so v zacetku junija izdali novo plosco,
Lipservice.
Trenutna / zadnja zasedba:
Steve Lee - vokal
Freddy Scherer - kitara
Leo Leoni - kitara
Marc Lynn - bass
Hena Habegger - bobni
Diskografija:
1992 - Gotthard
1994 - Dial Hard
1995 - G.
1997 - D-Frosted
1998 - Open
2001 - Homerun
2002 - One Life, One Soul (Best Of)
2003 - Human Zoo
2004 - One Team One Spirit (Very Best)
2005 - Lipservice
"Lipservice", 2005
Sometimes following your instincts is the easiest path to heaven.
Clear style and unrelenting directness pave the way to success. Gotthard, the
highly successful Swiss rock band, followed this route. With their eighth studio
album "Lipservice" (in stores June 6th.), the band presents gut-wrenching
emotional work, which needs no explanation. Straightforward and skilful, the
record satisfies every rock fan immediately. Gotthard in 2005 - uncompromising
and spontaneous rock with an honest impact that gets to you. And it is this
honesty which has always been a defining quality of the band.
Nine years after the sensational album "G.", Gotthard
finally returns to its roots. It combines the freshness of then with the experience
and maturity of now.
The first single "Lift U Up" (out April 25th) is
a keen and confident statement - Gotthard hasn't sounded this strong in years!
No doubt whatsoever - these guys know what to do! The band is making its own
rules, making it personal and matching the mood of now. This Swiss band is recognised
as a first-class act world-wide - as famous as the mountain whose name they
share.
The band displays a musical personality equalled by no other
act. Singer Steve Lee's exceptional voice puts him among the greatest vocalists
of all time.
But that's not all. More than 2 million albums sold world-wide,
gold, platinum, double platinum and triple platinum awards, plus a golden single
("Heaven" ) and the official Swiss Olympic song ("One Team, One
Spirit) to their credit and the band is still on top. The new album "Lipservice"
bears witness to the fact that they can still take you by surprise.
The word "stagnation" isn't in the vocabulary of
this tireless group. The main goal of the band is to move ever forward. A small
change more or less is taken in stride. One of those changes was that stage
guitarist Mandy Meyer was replaced in the summer of 2004 by Freddy Scherer;
his recruitment brought new energy to the whole group.
The band recorded the complete album in their own studio near
Lugano. Roland Prent (Rammstein, Manowar, Guano Apes) did the mixing and mastering
of "Lipservice" in the Belgian Galaxy Studios - without adding any
extras. "We didn't want the CD to give the impression of over-production,
with too many effects and sounds," says Marc. So the production team of
Leo Leoni and Roland Prent concentrated on the essentials.
In addition, for the first time Gotthard took control of its
own financial affairs: G. Records was set up, enabling the band to access the
music business in new ways. In Switzerland the new album will be released through
G. Records.
The strengths of the group, however, remain the same. They
stay true to the principles established on the first day, unlike many other
bands: no change in line-up, no major crises. Singer Steve Lee, Marc Lynn on
bass, Hena Habegger on drums and guitarist Leo Leoni perform as one. The dynamic
writing duo Leoni/Lee is responsible for most of the tracks on "Lipservice".
And new addition Freddy Scherer - familiar to Marc Lynn since
the old "China" days - played his part in creating some of the new
songs. "Freddy is uncomplicated and open; he has opinions of his own,"
says Marc in tribute. "This makes co-operation easy, you get to the point
faster."
With "Lipservice", Gotthard indeed gets to the point.
In fact, it could not have been done better! The sheer talent of this group,
which has worked its way to the top on a scale that other bands can only dream
of, absolutely cannot be ignored.
And if you don't go weak at the knees when you hear "Lipservice"
... get help!
Release Single – LIFT "U“ UP – 25.04.2005
Release Album – LIPSERVICE – 06.06.2005
on NUCLEAR BLAST (CH: G.RECORDS)
Internet Contact: www.gotthard.com
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