So Inglorious are the new hope for British classic hard rock. We’ve already got several bands doing the classic 70s rock thing (The Answer, Rival Sons, Black Star Riders), but no one that’s really doing the whole Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Bad Company, Aerosmith vibe which is what these guys state as their primary influences. And it works.
Formed in February 2014, the band is fronted by Nathan James, who made a name for himself having sung for the multi-platinum selling Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Scorpions guitar legend Uli Jon Roth.
The debut album has a monster classic rock production, especially with the rhythm section constantly bombarding you. James is pretty much everything you’d expect from a frontman hyped as an upcoming great. He has some immense lungs.
The album is out February 19 via Frontiers. Full review to follow, but here’s a quick look at the tracks:
After a build-up that would rival Rainbow and Deep Purple for mood and anticipation, Until I Die storms to life. It’s a mid-tempo hard hitting rocker with a terrific Zeppelinesque groove.
02.Breakaway is a storming fast paced Rainbow/Purple style rocker with organ and screaming vocals – everything you could ask for.
03.High Flying Gypsy turns the tempo back a notch, but is driven by a big riff and some nice soloing. The vocals wail of course.
04.Holy Water is a slow bluesy rock tune, with a really soulful vocal. It’s very Richie Kotzen and sounds like it could come from any of his solo albums. It’s a classic 70s swagger-n-blues tune. Very cool.
05.Warning takes a while to kick into high gear, but once rolling, delivers a wailing tempo boost when needed.
06.Bleed For You takes us back to a slow tempo. It’s a heavy ballad of sorts, the vocals are quite extraordinary.
07.Girl Got A Gun is the same slow pace again, perhaps up a notch for the decent chorus, but a bit slow.
08.You're Mine lifts the tempo slightly more again – we’re at mid-pace now. A decent hard rocker with more Kotzen familiarities with the vocals and some touches of Coverdale too.
09.Inglorious is a heavy, slow rocker with a good riff and some variety within the song, but slow again.
The first minute of Unaware is a slow piano intro before it fires up into a heavy but melodic heavy groover.
11.Wake is an acoustic ballad to close out, with a really big soulful vocal again from James.
So that’s the album. It certainly pays homage to the artists mentioned as influences and Nathan James is a monster vocalist with a strong Richie Kotzen / David Coverdale vibe.
The rest of the band are no slouches either – dynamic performances. Very convincing for a debut.
It all comes down to the tempo though – only 1 or 2 really fired up, fast paced tracks. Much more listening over the next week to see how the songs grow and last with me.
Former SCORPIONS bassist FRANCIS BUCHHOLZ as well as INGLORIOUS lead singer NATHAN JAMES join Mitch for episode 189 of One On One With Mitch Lafon. In the shows first interview, long-time SCORPIONS bassist Francis Buchholz talks about his current Temple Of Rock band with Michael Schenker and Herman Rarebell, their current album Spirit On A Mission, getting back into music after his long post-Scorpions hiatus, working with Uli Jon Roth, the SCORPIONS 50th anniversary deluxe re-issues and not being invited to participate, the passing of Jimmy Bain, the Love At First Sting recording sessions, his favorite Scorpions album and much more
On taking a break from the music industry: "I had been touring for about twenty years with the Scorpions. I just needed some time off to look after my family, but the main reason was a disagreement within the band about management, about the future and about the past.. I didn't feel comfortable with the new people coming in."
The SCORPIONS 50th Anniversary re-issues and bonus interviews: "I knew about the interviews because Herman told me, but the record company just didn't want to invite me and I didn't want to run after them."
On Jimmy Bain's passing: "Very sad news... I was very sad about that. He's a lovely guy."
In the episode's second interview, Mitch sits down with upcoming singer Nathan James from INGLORIOUS. The two discuss the band's self-tiltled debut album, Nathan's career up to this point and being the singer on Uli Jon Roth's Scorpions Revisited album, and much more.
Quote from the interview: On getting into a band situation rather than move forward as a solo artist: "It's what I've wanted to do for a long time. I started recording a solo record with some amazing musicians. It was a great sounding album, but I was listening to it and I thought, 'I'd rather be Robert Plant than Meatloaf'."
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INGLORIOUS TO RELEASE DEBUT VIDEO / SINGLE FROM THE UPCOMING SELF TITLED ALBUM
Out on Frontiers on February 19th 2016
On the heels of the success of the first track 'Breakaway', which immediately found its way in UK's Planet Rock Radio Charts, INGLORIOUS release a video for their first proper single 'Until I Die'.
The song is taken from the UK outfit's self-titled debut album, out on February 19 via Frontiers Music Srl. The album can be preordered on iTunes: http://radi.al/Inglorious and on Amazon: http://radi.al/IngloriousAmazon now, with those buying ahead of launch getting 'Until I Die' and 'Breakaway' instantly.
QUEEN's Brian May has recently given frontman Nathan James, bassist Colin Parkinson, drummer Phil Beaver and guitarists Will Taylor and Andreas Zata Eriksson his seal of approval after hearing some of the band's material.
He said: 'You guys really do look like a potent young Deep Purple but with a new slant ' very classic! And the musicianship is stunning. Good luck with it all ' I'm sure you will do great. Amazing vocals, by the way.'
INGLORIOUS are being hailed as one of the UK's heaviest new hard rock bands to emerge from the British underground scene. Originally formed in February 2014, the band is fronted by Nathan James, who made a name for himself having sung for the multi-platinum selling Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Scorpions guitar legend Uli Jon Roth. Inspired by musical giants such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Whitesnake, Bad Company, Aerosmith, the band's song Breakaway has already found its way on to UK rock radio.
The band has also recently announced their european tour as Special Guests of THE WINERY DOGS. Confirmed tour dates include:
Dec 4 Planet RockStock, Trecco Bay, UK (with Fm, Dead Daisies and more)
Jan 29 Essigfabrik K'ln, Germany (with Winery Dogs)
Jan 30 Kulturfabrik Esch Sur Alzette, Luxembourg (with Winery Dogs)
Jan 31 Shepherds Bush Empire London, United Kingdom (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 02 Academy Bristol, United Kingdom (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 04 Ritz Manchester, United Kingdom (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 05 Institute Birmingham, United Kingdom (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 06 Trabendo Paris, France (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 08 Kafe Antzokia Bilbao, Spain (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 09 Joy Eslava Madrid, Spain (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 10 Apolo Barcelona, Spain (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 12 Crossroads Roma, Italy (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 13 Z7 Pratteln, Switzerland (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 15 Backstage Halle Munich, Germany (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 16 Majestic Music Club Bratislava, Slovakia (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 17 Barba Negra Budapest, Hungary (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 19 Olomouc Rocks/S Klub Olomouc, Czech Republic (with Winery Dogs)
Feb 21 London Islington Assembly Hall, United Kingdom
Feb 24 Wolverhampton Robin 2, United Kingdom
Feb 25 Derby The Flowerpot, United Kingdom
April 24 Frontiers Rock Festival, Trezzo (Milano), Italy (with Trixter, the Defiants, Terry Brock and more)
A message from Nathan James.
"Thanks so much to everyone who has made this happen Frontiers Music srl The Ashcrofts, Jodiah, our families, fans, Planet Rock , QEDG Management, Paul Tippett and of course the Winery Dogs .We can't wait to meet all their fans and perform our music for you all. Getting to share the same stage every night with a band that are making awesome new music and put on an incredible live show. 3 heroes, Legends, Virtuosos. What an honour." Mike PortnoyBilly SheehanRichie Kotzen
RELEASED BY FRONTIERS MUSIC SRL
FRIDAY 19th FEBRUARY 2016
Frontiers Music Srl are pleased to announce the debut album from Britain’s highly anticipated and freshest new Hard Rock band INGLORIOUS. The self-titled, 11-track album will be released on Friday 19th February 2016.
Pre-orders for INGLORIOUS' self-titled debut album can be placed on both Amazon and iTunes. All digital pre-orders include an instant download of "Breakaway", with more tracks being made available for download with pre-orders in the coming weeks and months leading up to release.
Inglorious are five young men with a mutual love and respect of the classics of Hard Rock music, big guitar riffs, and soulful vocals. Their influences stem from iconic rock and roll shrine of Rock albums from the 1970s – many years before the band members were born.
Photo Credit: Nedim Nazerali
The same albums that have inspired generations of musicians and performers are noticeably evident when you listen to the Inglorious debut album. This is the music they were born to play together - inspired by bands in the classic rock genre as diverse as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Whitesnake, Bad Company, Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones, to name a few.
Formed in February 2014, the band is fronted by Nathan James, who made a name for himself having sung for the multi-platinum selling Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Scorpions guitar legend Uli Jon Roth. Nathan was looking for like-minded musicians that desired to make incredible rock music in a very honest fashion.
Nathan thought to himself, “Why are those classic albums so awesome?” He realised it was because “the musicians were recording in an organic way; they could track it live and capture amazing energy.”
“Not only in rock but in Motown and even classical music they tracked everyone in the room at the same time,” adds Nathan. “The air movement from a bass drum, that same excitement you get when you perform, and that's exactly how I wanted the album to feel."
Nathan wanted all his fellow musicians in the room at the same time, no click tracks, no auto tune and no overdubs. He wasn't willing to compromise. Says Nathan - "For so long people have been hiding mistakes, singers using auto tune to make them sound perfect, double tracking to make it sound bigger and using click to play in time. There is none of that on this album.
This record is about vibe, feeling, excitement, energy and performance of songs we all wrote together. That's how it came out that day and it will never be exactly the same again. We captured a series of moments that make up our debut album."
Photo Credit: Nedim Nazerali
Inglorious is composed of rhythm guitarist Wil Taylor, lead guitarist Andreas Eriksson, bassist Colin Parkinson, and drummer Phil Beaver. Wil, from the Northeast of England, is the youngest member of the band whose heroes include Mark Tremonti (Alter Bridge), Joe Satriani and Steve Lukather (Toto).
Colin and Phil both hail from Somerset, and have played together in bands for 17 years (at one point, both were signed to Mick Fleetwood’s label while Phil was still at school). Phil's Bonham-like groove, great snare work and exciting fills, combined with Wil's solid bluesy rhythm playing and Colin's fat, gritty bass sound, make for a formidable rhythm section.
Photo Credit: Nedim Nazerali
Andreas was the final piece of the puzzle - a lead guitar player that shared all the same influences, could command a stage and was able to track the whole album the way Nathan wanted. Guitarist Andreas Eriksson played in bands from his home country of Sweden for many years, and has taken influences from all the greats, making him one of the most musically well rounded guitar players in the contemporary rock scene. His bluesy, melodic, soulful playing compliments Nathan’s soaring vocals. The pair is 2016’s version of the Toxic Twins.
The musicians instantly jelled, both musically and as friends. They recorded the album over the period of one month in Buckinghamshire. "In the day we were writing and recording in the live room. At night we would inflate our air beds and sleep in the same room we had been making music and sweating in all day, I even used my Marshall stack as a headboard," Wil recalls.
Photo Credit: Nedim Nazerali
Andreas flew back and forth from Sweden during the recording process. Says Andreas - “For me it was such a special experience because I was in a foreign country with guys I hardly knew, recording songs I had only learnt two weeks prior. It was so challenging doing it the way we did but it was the most awesome time."
The whole band wrote the album with a few guest writers including Al Pitrelli (Megadeth, Alice Cooper, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), Joel Hoekstra (Night Ranger, Whitesnake) and Neil Fairclough (Queen).
After meeting with a few producers, Inglorious decided to produce the album themselves. Chris Kimsey, who has worked with The Who and the Rolling Stones, said "There is nothing for me to do, you guys are doing what I would tell you to do already." High praise, indeed.
