MÖTLEY CRÜE

Mötley Crüe is an American glam metal/heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California.
The band was founded in 1980 by the bassist, Nikki Sixx. The members are: Nikki Sixx (bass, keyboards, backing vocals), Tommy Lee (drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals), Mick Mars (lead & rhythm guitars) and Vince Neil (lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar).
Their debut album was Too Fast for Love, 20 000 copies were sold. They were also known for their outrageous clothing, extreme high-heeled boots and heavy make-up. They had alcohol and drug problems. There were produced several massive-selling albums in the 1980s, including Shout at the Devil (September 26, 1983),Theatre of Pain (June 21, 1985), and Girls, Girls, Girls (May 15, 1987). In 1984, Neil wrecked his car on his way back from the liquor store. His passenger, Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley, was killed. Neil was sentenced to 30 days in prison (although he only spent 18 days!!). The band would later release box sets entitled "Music to Crash Your Car To".
In 1987, Sixx suffered a near-fatal heroin overdose. His few minutes in death were the inspiration for the band's song "Kickstart My Heart" ,which was at #16 on the Mainstream U.S. chart. Mötley Crüe reached its success with the release of their fifth album, Dr. Feelgood, on September 1, 1989. This album became their only No. 1 album and stayed on the charts for 109 weeks after its release. In 1993 Lee married Baywatch star, Pamela Anderson.:)
After the release of the complication album, Decade of Decadence, Neil left the band in February 1992. Neil was replaced by John Corabi (formerly of Angora and The Scream). The band reunited in 1997. Sixx played in the bands 58 and Brides of Destruction, Lee formed Methods of Mayhem and made his solo album. Neil continued touring as a solo artist, singing mostly Mötley Crüe songs. The latest complication album of the band was released in 2005 (Red, White & Crüe).

Studio albums:
Too Fast for Love-1981
Shout At The Devil-1983
Theatre of Pain-1985
Girls, Girls, Girls-1987
Dr. Feelgood-1989
Mötley Crüe-1994
Generation Swine- 1997
New Tattoo-2000

Roxette

It all started in Liverpool, right after the second World War. The Swedish super-popduo- consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle- have been on top of the charts in the world ever since their big breakthrough with "The Look" in early 1989. But there was a long way behind them to the top.
Gessle became a solo artist in the early 80s. He was 'discovered' by former Abba manager Thomas Johannson who was looking for songs for a Frida album. Meanwhile Fredriksson had released three popular solo albums. Johannson teamed them up in 1985 and they became Roxette. Recording at Gessle's studio in Halmstad, the band released their debut set the following year. They soon conquered Sweden, with 1988's Look Sharp! becoming the second bestselling album in Swedish history. Since then, they have continued to deliver hit after hit, resulting in 40 million records sold all over the world. 'It Must Have Been Love', which was used on the soundtrack of the Richard Gere/Julia Roberts movie Pretty Woman, became the band's third US chart-topper in April 1990, and also reached UK number 3.
Their fan-base has continued to grow with every hit and on Roxette's first major worldwide tour, "The Joyride Tour 1991-92" over 1 million people in four continents enjoyed their 108 shows. The bands success continous today as well with great hits and new albums.

Maná

The band was founded in 1978 in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, by a group of ambitious teenagers with a bongo. First they called themselves Sombrero Verde. They began by playing covers from the groups they admired (Beatles, Stones, Led Zeppelin and The Police) but eventually dared to write their own rock, which reflected their Latin roots and was written in Spanish. Fist they were only known in their native city and its region. A couple of records were published.
Looking to renew their image, the band adopted the name Maná in 1986, under which they would gain international recognition. The name Maná was chosen because of the significance it has in the Polynesian language: “Positive Energy,” not precisely for its biblical connotations. The change enabled them to reach a level of professionalism they had previously been denied.
In 1986 a new era begins with the release of their self-titled debut album, which becomes an important part of a musical movement called “Rock en Tu Idioma” [Rock In Your Language]. This helped open doors for music written in Spanish.
With the 90’s came essential changes. The band took over the production of their albums.
In 1992, Maná undergoes another change in their lineup. With this new composition they recorded ¿Dónde Jugaran los Niños? in Los Angeles. The album that was a breakthrough in the history of the band, as well as in Rock In Español.
Since 1994 they have published 6 albums, all of them an international success.

Radiohead

Radiohead is one of the most successful and influental bands of the pop/rock scene in the last two decades. The band was formed in 1986, in Oxford, by five friends, (Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brian and Phil Selway).

The band’s first name „On a Friday” referred to the rehearsal day, but they’ve changed it at the request of their record label, EMI. The final choice, Radiohead, was inspired by a Talking Heads song, titled ”Radio head”. After the release of the first hit, ”Creep” in 1992, they were regarded as a one-hit-wonder band. They set doubts at rest by creating the most influental albums of the 90’s, as The Bends and OK Computer, which are still considered as the landmarks of britpop and alternative music.

Radiohead is famous for its experimental journeys to different styles , from electronica to psychedelica, and for the singer Thom Yorke’s peculiar voice, who’s also well-known of his explicit views on global politics. Their lyrics are sometimes hard to understand, often profound and impressive, and so are the videos made for the singles.

They visited Hungary in 2006, at the Sziget Festival, and performed a highly professional and unforgettable show on the main stage, for more than 55000 people . At the present time they’re working on their 7th album that hopefully will be released in 2008.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5X7HKxpiQA

Nightwish

Nightwish is a finnish band, which plays symphonic metal music. It is said, that the music they play is dark and sometimes depressive, but it has a lot of messages, and if you want to understand it, you can. Their music is of value and of a high standard.
The band was founded in 1996 by Tuomas Holopainen. At that time Nightwish had three members: Tuomas, the keyboarder, Tarja, the singer and Emppu, the guitarist. Then came the drummer, Jukka, and in 1997 the band recorded its first album: ’Angel Falls First’. Next summer the band „got” a new member: Sami Vänskä, the bassist. In 1998 the new album, ’Oceanborn’ was released. It became very successful. In this year the fisrt video, ’The Carpenter’ was recorded too. The next album, ’The Wishmaster’ came out in 2000. It was very famous, and the band played a lot of gigs all over the world. In 2001 Sämi had to leave, and Marco Hietala, a member of Tarot became the new bassist. He played on the album ’Century Child’, which was recorded in 2002. The first DVD, ’End Of Innocence’ came out in 2003. In 2004 a new album, ’Once’ was released. It was a little bit different from the previous ones: it was more melodic and orchestral, like the music of movies; and a lot of fans said: „It’s a beginning of a new era.” But it was the end of fan era: on 23. 11. 2005 the band had a very big and successful concert in the Hartwall-Arena, in Helsinki, and after the show Tarja, the wonderful singer was asked to leave. A lot of fans fell away, and said: „Nightwish isn’t Nightwish any more without Tarja.” But the band was still „alive”. The guys were looking for a new singer, and they found a good one: a swedish lady, Anette Olzon joined to the band in 2006, and she was introduced on May 24th 2006. She is different from Tarja, but she is a very good singer too. The last album, Dark Passion Play was released on September 26th 2007. It was sold in Finland in 42 000 copies, which means more than platinum – already on the day of its release! The band will have a concert in Budapest in March, 2008.

Tarja's last concert

Amaranth (from the new album, with the new singer)

Jars of Clay

In the 1990s three guys from Illinois formed the band Jars of Clay. Dan Haseltine, Steve Mason and Charlie Lowell wrote their first songs for music classes, since they studied at a music school named Greenville College in Nashville. The second guitarist Matt Bronleewe and drummer Scott Savage joined the band later. The music they play is a mixture of alternative rock, acoustic, folk and R&B. In 1994 they released their first demo and sent it to a talent competition and they won the contest run by the Gospel Music Assosiation.
Their first single Flood had a great success on mainstream radio stations. The band toured in support of Christian and non-Christian teams either. Their second album Much Afraid sold so well, that it won a Grammy in 1997, and received a Platinum certification in 2000. But it was not the first and the last prize they received: in 1999 the album If I Left The Zoo and in 2002 the album Eleventh Hour earned them the second and third Grammy prizes. The other albums, that I don't want to mention now, were great successes too.
After the lead singer, Dan Haseltine, visited Africa in 2002, the band decided to found the so called Blood:Water Mission, a non-profit organization that fights against the 2 major problems of Africa: poverty and AIDS. Haseltine described the Blood:Water Mission as: "The two things Africa needs"- clean drinkingwater, and clean blood.
Haseltine described their own music with these words: " our songs are not really to explain our faith but are written about our life that is affected by our faith" He wanted to make people feel what is true rather than telling them through their lyrics.

Patrick Wolf

Patrick Wolf (born as Patrick Apps) is a 24-year old singer-songwriter. His music is usually labelled as folktronica (or indietronica) since he mixes traditional folk music with electronica using real instruments and a laptop. He plays several instruments including harp, clavinet, harpsichord, guitar, piano, autoharp, kantele, organ, clavichord, harmonium, accordion, theremin, ukulele, viola and violin.
As a child he attended violin lessons and church choirs. He wrote and recorded with a 4-tape-recorder his first songs at the age of 11. Not much later he joined a pop-art collective named Minty. When he was 16 he left his home and founded another group, Maison Crimineaux which mixed white noise and pop music. Meanwhile he continued composing and recording his own music. When he was playing with his band in Paris Patrick caught the attention of a producer who went on to release Patrick’s first album, Lycanthropy in 2003. While making the records he studied at Trinity College music conservatoire for a year but the effect of this can be heard on his moody second album, Wind in the wires (2005). This new recording was more appreciated among critics and among the music-lovers too so he toured through the UK and Europe (he supported Bloc Party). Soon he started working on his third album, The Magic Position which was released this January under a major record label. The new material was more poppy and “happy” than the previous two and with this work he entered the mainstream (at least in the West…). He was (is) touring the whole year in Europe and America (I had the pleasure to see him in Austria in April). At the end of 2007 he will disappear for a while when he starts writing the fourth album.

this video is Tristan with a short intro, from Wind In The Wires

Iggy and the Stooges

The band ' Stooges' were formed in 1967 from four university friends; - actually university skippers- James Osterberg Jr.(widely known as Iggy Pop), Scot and Ron Ashton and Dave Alexander. The band was (in)famous for the singer's stage performance; Iggy Pop was inspired by Jim Morrison's stage act, but Pop tried to expand the limits of extreme behaviour on stage.
In 1969 their first album came out entitled 'The Stooges', including the songs 'I wanna be your dog' (featured in the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) or '1969'. Their second album - Fun House- came out in 1970. On this album they used piano and saxophone in addition to the raw punk music. After this they disbanded the The Stooges, because of drug and alcohol problems. Iggy Pop met David Bowie in New York and who decided to produce an album for Iggy. So in 1975 they moved to England where Iggy signed James Williamson on guitar, but they all were unsatisfied with the rhtym section thus decided to call the Ashton brother to Albion. With Bowie's help they produced the album 'Raw Power' which became a landmark of what people later called punk music. The tour ended up in a fight with some bike riders. The Stooges disbanded again, Iggy started his own career ((Lust for Life, Idiot, Blah Blah etc)).
They reunited last year for a tour (Mike Watt on bass, because of the death of Dave Alexander), which ended up in the album 'Weirdness'. With the pause of 30 years, Stooges is a record holder.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BLCQU8iKalA

Intro

This is the blog of our language practice group. What we do here is introduce/discuss interesting films, music and events, complain about teachers and speak our mind in general...General tasks, deadlines and course events are advertised here as well. Cheers!