Jaguar (band)

This article is about the British heavy metal band Jaguar. For the Icelandic funk band Jagúar, see Jagúar (band).
Jaguar
Origin Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Genres Heavy metal, speed metal, Thrash metal
Years active 1979–1985, 1998–present
Labels Neat, Roadrunner Records, Majestic, Angel Air Records
Website NWOBHM Jaguar official website
Members Garry Pepperd
Simon Patel
Nathan Cox
Past members Jeff Cox

Chris Lovell
Rob Reiss
Paul Merrel
Gary Davies
Les Foster
Darren Furze
William Sealey
Jamie Manton

Jaguar are an English heavy metal band, formed in Bristol, England, in December 1979. They had moderate success throughout Europe and Asia in the early 1980s, during the heyday of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement.

History

The band was formed in December 1979 by Jeff Cox and Garry Pepperd trough put out an add in an local newspaper. The original line-up consisted later on of Garry Pepperd (guitar), Jeff Cox (bass, vocals) and Chris Lovell (drums). In the following April, Rob Reiss (singer) was added. They built a local reputation and recorded two demos, the latter of which earned them a deal with Heavy Metal Records, and in 1981 they released the single, "Back Street Woman", which sold over 4,000 copies.

On 22 March, and 22 December 1980, Jaguar recorded six tracks that were released on a demo cassette in early 1981. The songs were "Stormchild" (Cox); "Ain't No Fantasy" (Pepperd); "War Machine" (Pepperd); "Battlecry" (Cox/Pepperd); "Feel The Heat" (Pepperd); and "Piledriver" (Cox/Pepperd).

In 1982, after an appearance at a Dutch rock festival, they secured a recording contract with Neat Records, and the subsequent single, "Axe Crazy", sold well. After intensive touring, Jaguar's debut album, Power Games, was released in early 1983. Their follow up album, This Time, was released in 1984 and was a marked change of direction. However, this musical change of direction saw sales and interest evaporate, and by the end of the year the band folded.

A revival of interest in the NWOBHM in Europe and Japan, and a successful re-release of their first album in those regions, prompted a reformation in 1999, with a modified line-up of Pepperd, Jeff Cox, Nathan Cox on drums and vocalist Jamie Manton. An appearance at Wacken Open Air Festival the same year proved the new line up was capable of recreating the energy of the early years. The album Wake Me followed in 2000 after which Jeff Cox left the band to concentrate on solo material and family life. Jeff was replaced by Darren Furze. The next album, Run Ragged, appeared in 2003. In 2007, the band released two live albums. The first release was a recording from a show the band performed in the Netherlands in 1982, which originally saw only a limited release. The second was the first of three planned releases covering early, unreleased recordings. Entitled Archive Alive Vol.1, it covered the period of the band's successful period, the birth of the band and their rise to NWOBHM prominence. Sleeve notes were written by the band's guitarist, Garry Pepperd, and the album cover included rare photographs. Jaguar did their first Sweden debut summer 2014 at Sweden Rock Festival.

Jaguar released their latest album, "Metal X", in 2014. It was their first new material since 2003's Run Ragged.

Jeff Cox has recently formed a new Heavy progressive rock band called 'This Raging Silence' who have an album entitled 'Isotopes and Endoscopes' due for release early 2015.

Genres

Quotes from Garry Pepperd about Jaguar and their music style in interview: "I suppose you could say we were Thrash Metal before there was such a thing" - Garry Pepperd, Jaguar

"We was part of the secound generation of the New Wave Of Brittish Heavy Metal i suppose, Ourselfs and Raven were playing music a bit faster then bands like Saxon and The Tygers of Pang Tang. We was really playing something that is gonna be influential, altho we never knew it at that time" - Garry Pepperd, Jaguar

Discography

Albums

Singles

Live Albums

Compilations

Present band members

Past band members

See also

References

    External links

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