Rosetta Stone (band)

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This article is about the late 1980s/1990s gothic rock band from Liverpool, UK. For the band featuring Ian Mitchell, see Rosetta Stone (1970s band).

1 Biography
2 Fanbase
3 Current Status
4 Albums
5 Singles/EPs
6 Demos / Fan Club Releases
7 Compilations
8 External links

[edit] Biography

Rosetta Stone is a band formed in the mid 1980s around members Porl King (guitar/vocals/keyboards) and Karl North (bass), plus their drum machine and synthesiser rack nicknamed "Madame Razor". Their early style and first album reflected the jangly-guitar sounds of 1980s gothic rock, and their first big break was supporting The Mission.

In 1991 the band released their most successful single Adrenaline, an indie dancefloor anthem which marked a change in direction for the band's sound and line-up. Porl Young (who had joined just after the recording of An Eye For The Main Chance) left to produce Children on Stun whilst Porl King and Karl North remained to take the band into a more industrial sound.

1992 saw a cover version of The Rattles 1970 hit The Witch take the band into the UK top 40 singles chart.

With the advance for 1995's The Tyranny of Inaction Porl King purchased an Alesis ADAT multi-track digital recorder, the use of which substantially changed Rosetta Stone's sound. That album and most subsequent work featured a much more industrial sound, with extensive use of sampling.^{[citation needed]}

At some point in the late 1990s, Porl King lost part of his little finger in an accident, which changed his guitar style considerably. The band split up in 1998 for many reasons but which some say may have included an off-stage fracas with an act from Nightbreed Recordings at Whitby Gothic Weekend. Karl North joined Dream Disciples (their next album Asphyxia notably featuring Karl's Rosetta-sounding bass). Porl King produced one more album (contractually) under the name Rosetta Stone for Cleopatra Records. Porl King went on to be a remix producer, working for the likes of the mercury music award nominated Elbow and the Fluke side-project Syntax.

[edit] Fanbase

Rosetta were one of the largest names in the 1990s goth circuit, easily commanding audiences of over two thousand when headlining festivals, however they seemed to prefer to have a more direct relationship with their audience and in later years would usually book short tours of smaller 500+ capacity venues which then sold out. Porl King was one of the few big-name goth musicians to contribute to online discussions, such as Usenet's uk.people.gothic newsgroup. This dedication gained them a solid fanbase - the most loyal followers became known as Quarriers.

The band were named after the Rosetta Stone, an Egyptian historical artifact, and the band used much ancient mythological imagery, especially in their earlier work.

[edit] Current Status

Porl King is currently operating a poll on the official MySpace page regarding interest in Rosetta Stone's reformation.

[edit] Albums

(Including compilations that consist entirely and solely of Rosetta Stone material)
1990 An Eye for the Main Chance
1992 Adrenaline
1993 On the Side of Angels (compilation of singles so far)
1993 Foundation Stones (compilation of early material)
1993 Epitome EP (compilation of Adrenaline and The Witch remixes)
1995 The Tyranny of Inaction
1995 The Tyranny of Inaction revised edition 1.1 (remastered with normalisation)
1998 Chemical Emissions (live, also includes new hidden bonus track "Plastic Toy")
2000 Unerotica - Reformatted 80s Audio (cover versions of New Romantic classics)

[edit] Singles/EPs

1990 Darkness and Light
1991 Leave Me for Dead
1991 An Eye for The Main Chance
1992 Adrenaline
1992 The Witch
1995 Nothing
1996 Hiding in Waiting (this is quite an extensive EP, some consider it an album in its own right)

[edit] Demos / Fan Club Releases

1988 Recreate and Emulate (cassette only)
1988 Whispers (cassette only)
1988 Chapter and Verse (cassette only)
1989 Retribution (cassette only)
1989 And How They Rejoice (cassette only)
1991 Under the Rose (live, cassette only, re-released as CDr in 1997)
1995 gENDER cONFUSION (CD, limited edition of 500, remixes from Tyranny of Inaction)

[edit] Compilations

(Compilations of different artists which include at least one track played by Rosetta Stone)
(This section is incomplete - see Talk)
2001 A Gothic-Industrial Tribute to The Smashing Pumpkins