Tiles (band)

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Tiles
Origin	Detroit, Michigan
Country	United States
Years active	1993—Present
Genres	Progressive rock
Labels	Inside Out
Members	Mark Evans, Chris Herin, Paul Rarick, Jeff Whittle
Past members	Pat DeLeon
Website(s)	tiles-music

Tiles is a progressive rock band from Detroit, Michigan, USA.

[edit] Biography

TILES was formed in February 1993, featuring Mark Evans (drums), Chris Herin (guitar), Paul Rarick (vocals), and Jeff Whittle (bass). It is signed to Inside Out Music in North America and Europe. Over the past fourteen years, the band has developed and refined a sound that blends experimental progressive rock overtones with an aggressive hard rock edge. Mixed with lyrics of an "observational" or "human experience" quality, TILES continues to cultivate a sound that rewards more than just passive listening.

TILES first reached the international music scene in the summer of 1995 when Polydor released the band's eponymous tiles album throughout Europe on the Dream Circle Records label. Sales were strong with the help of excellent reviews from Aardschok in the Netherlands (91/100), SCREAM in Norway (6/6), Rock Hard in Germany (8/10), and others. On the opposite side of the world, Teichiku Records revised the artwork and released the disc in Japan. Burrn! Magazine rated "tiles" an 88/100 saying "...(tiles is) a wonderful album with a very high level of technique and a great melodic sense." The CD entered the Burrn! chart at #47.

TILES released its second CD, Fence the Clear, in the spring of 1997 and overseas in Europe and Japan in the fall of 1997. The disc was again well received by fans and reviews were positive with "Fence the Clear" scoring 94/100 in Aardschok, 5/6 in SCREAM, earning HM Magazine's "Pick of the Litter" award, and the Detroit Free Press naming TILES "Detroit's leading progressive rock band."

TILES released its third CD Presents of Mind worldwide in the summer of 1999. Shortly after the album was recorded, Pat DeLeon replaced Mark Evans on drums. Bolstered by positive reviews, airplay, and strong word-of-mouth, "Presents of Mind" became the band’s best-selling CD to date and generated an invitation from Dream Theater to open its November 1999 European tour. Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy offered his endorsement: ‘I love this CD! The entire disc is full of great musicianship and great songwriting with catchy hooks.’

The band’s first three CDs have been re-mastered with bonus tracks, expanded packaging, and reissued as part of InsideOut’s Special Edition series in March 2004.

TILES released its fourth CD Window Dressing in the summer of 2004. Produced, engineered, and mixed by Terry Brown (Rush, Cutting Crew, Fates Warning), “Window Dressing” received excellent reviews worldwide and was nominated for a 2005 Detroit Music Award. The CD features the design and artwork of award winning artist Hugh Syme (Aerosmith, Rush, Megadeth), and features several special guests: Kim Mitchell (Max Webster), guitar; Matthew Parmenter (Discipline), violin; and Hugh Syme, keyboards. “WindowDressing” was issued with a bonus “live bootleg” CD from the band’s 1999 European tour with Dream Theater, titled Presence In Europe 1999.

TILES is currently in the studio with Terry Brown once again, in Toronto, Canada, preparing its fifth, still-untitled CD. Pat DeLeon departed the group prior to the start of the 5th album; he has been replaced by the drummer he once replaced, Mark Evans. Tiles fifth CD is on track to be released September 2007.