| The Almighty | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Glasgow |
| Genres | Hard rock, heavy metal |
| Years active | 1988–1996, 2000–2001, 2006–present |
| Labels | Polydor, Chrysalis, Castle, Sanctuary, Pony Canyon |
| Associated acts | New Model Army Alice Cooper |
| Members | |
| Ricky Warwick Stump Monroe Pete Friesen |
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| Past members | |
| Tantrum Nick Parsons Gav Gray Floyd London |
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The Almighty are a hard rock/heavy metal band, from Glasgow in Scotland who formed in 1988. They have released seven studio albums, two anthologies and one live album.
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The Almighty were formed in Strathaven, Scotland, on 19 January 1988.[1] Most of the musicians came from a punk background. Lead singer Ricky Warwick had previously done some session and tour work with New Model Army, although not on any of their recordings.[1] Ricky, Stump Monroe and Floyd had previously played together in a local band called Rough Charm.[1]
They were signed by Polydor in March 1989[2] and released their first album, Blood, Fire and Love. In the same year they were voted in third place on the Kerrang! readers poll for Best New Act.[2]
In 1990 they toured the UK and also embarked upon a short US tour in an attempt to break into the American market.[3] However, a more extensive follow up tour of the US did not go ahead, although they did embark on a European club tour.[4] A live album, Blood, Fire and Live, was released on 8 October 1990, having been recorded at July gigs in Edinburgh and Nottingham.[4] The track list featured songs from Blood, Fire and Love, plus a cover of Bachman–Turner Overdrive's "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet".
Recording of their second studio album, Soul Destruction, began in December 1990[4] and it was released in March 1991 along with the lead single Free'n'Easy. In February and March they toured the UK supporting Motörhead and Megadeth.[1] In June 1991 they embarked on a headline UK tour.[5] The concert at the Town and Country club in London was filmed and released later that year on VHS as Soul Destruction - Live.[6] Later in the year they supported Alice Cooper on a European tour.[7]
In March 1992 internal differences within the band came to a head causing guitarist Tantrum to leave the band. He was replaced by Canadian Pete Friesen[8] who had previously played for Alice Cooper, and had met The Almighty when they played support for him the previous year. In the spring the band were invited to tour Australia in support of The Screaming Jets, who had just released their Living in England EP and wanted a British band for the support on their tour.[8] That summer the band were the opening act at the Donington Monsters of Rock festival.[8] Towards the end of the year they began preparing material for a third album.
In April 1993 Powertrippin, their third album, was released and they embarked upon a European tour supporting Iron Maiden, their longest tour to date.[9] This was followed with a support slot at that year's Milton Keynes Bowl festival, which substituted for Donnington as the Monsters of Rock festival was not staged in 1993.[10] In Autumn 93 they finally toured America, but failed to make the hoped-for impact.[11] On their return they started a headline European tour, but had to abandon it after the first two London dates due to poor health.[11] In November they parted from manager Tommy Tee and moved to Sanctuary Records. At the same time they left Polydor and signed with Chrysalis.[11] They were able to perform some replacement UK shows the same month, but were not able to tour Europe as planned.[11]
Their fourth album, Crank, was released on Chrysalis in late 1994. They appeared on Top of the Pops in support of the first single, Wrench.[12] In the autumn they toured the UK in support of the album and a European tour followed in early 1995.[12] In May they recorded four tracks for a proposed EP. However, the band decided that the tracks were good enough to form the basis for a fifth album. They therefore decided to arrange two more recording sessions during 1995, recording four tracks each time, so that they would have enough for an album release in 1996.[13]
Their fifth album, Just Add Life, was released in 1996, but later that year they disbanded.
The band reformed in 2000 and released the self-titled album Almighty, replacing guitarist Pete Friesen with Nick Parsons and new bass player Damon Williams ex Horse London. A second album followed in 2001, Psycho-Narco, with a new bass player Gav Gray who replaced long time bassist Floyd London. The band disbanded again with vocalist Ricky Warwick pursuing a solo career.
In 2002 a compilation album, Wild and Wonderful was released, which included material from their three Polydor albums, along with covers of "Bodies", by the Sex Pistols, "You Ain't Seen Nuthin Yet" from Blood Fire and Live and "Keep on Rocking in the Free World" by Neil Young.[14]
The classic lineup (Ricky, Stump, Floyd and Pete) reformed for benefit shows in January 2006 and then appeared at the 2006 Bulldog Bash. They undertook a short five show tour at the end of December 2006.
In 2007 a second compilation album, Anth F***in'Ology - the Gospel According to The Almighty was released covering their entire career and including a DVD of all their promo videos to date.[14]
A lengthier UK tour took place in January 2008 to mark the bands twentieth anniversary.[15] It was announced on January 17 that the band would be recording footage with multiple cameras at various shows on the upcoming tour for a 20th Anniversary DVD.[16]
Ricky Warwick announced in an interview with Komodo Rock that there were plans to record a new album following the bands UK Tour. He said "I would like to. ... I'm inspired again though, and I feel to me it might be time to turn round and make that definitive Almighty Album."[17]
In November 2008, Floyd announced on the band's forum and MySpace pages that he had decided to leave the band.
(Source for discography and chart positions up till Soul Destruction.[7])
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