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Hardline (band)

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This article is about a band from the United States. For the Canadian musical group see Hardliner. For other uses of the term, see hardline (political label) and hardline (subculture).
Hardline
OriginUnited States
GenresHard rock, heavy metal[1]
Years active1991-1992, 1999-2009, 2011-present
LabelsMCA, Frontiers Records
MembersJohnny Gioeli
Alessandro Del Vecchio
Josh Ramos
Anna Portalupi
Mike Terrana
Past membersJoey Gioeli
Neal Schon
Deen Castronovo
Todd Jensen
Bobby Rock
Michael T. Ross
Josh Ramos
Jamie Brown
Atma Anur
Christopher Maloney
Bob Burch
Thorsten Koehne
Francesco Jovino
Joey Tafolla
Rudy Sarzo

Hardline is an American hard rock band. Originally formed in 1991 by brothers Johnny Gioeli and Joey Gioeli, the band consisted of five members, Johnny Gioeli, Joey Gioeli, Neal Schon, Todd Jensen and Deen Castronovo. The band's most recent album is Danger Zone, which was released on May 18, 2012. Joey Gioeli has not appeared on a Hardline album since 2002's II. As of 2012, Johnny Gioeli remains the only original member of the band.

History

Hardline is a band created by brothers Johnny Gioeli and Joey Gioeli, who had previously played in the bands Killerhit and Brunette (which at one point was the top-drawing band in Hollywood, setting the all-time attendance record at Gazzarri's[citation needed]), later played in the band Gravity, and have since returned to Hardline. The band originally also included guitarist Neal Schon of Journey and Bad English, bassist Todd Jensen (ex-Sequel), and drummer Deen Castronovo. The group was marketed as something of a glam metal band, due to the Gioeli brothers having long hair and dressing in a glam metal style, but their sound had as much in common with hard rock and AOR. Two of the group's first songs were played in the movie "Rapid Fire" which starred Brandon Lee, the son of martial arts expert, Bruce Lee, at the actor's request.

On Nov. 2, 1992, the Hardline song "In the Hands of Time" was played in its entirety during a montage on the "princess of Tides" episode of the TV serial, Baywatch

After Hardline's losing its record deal, Neal Schon departed to begin several projects before finally rejoining Journey. Former Jag Panzer and Shrapnel Records legend Joey Tafolla was approached to join but was unable to participate at the time due to his work schedule consisting primarily of building his southern California merchandising company. Todd Jensen and Deen Castronovo left to join Ozzy Osbourne's backing band, though Jensen was replaced by Geezer Butler. Eventually, Deen Castronovo also joined Journey.

Drummer Bobby Rock played on Hardline's second album, II. He had previously played several times with the Gioeli brothers in the band Brunette, replacing their regular drummer. They met via Rock's former Vinnie Vincent Invasion bandmate Dana Strum, who produced one of Brunette's demos, on which Rock played some drum tracks. Rock suggested his friend, LA session bassist Christopher Maloney, who had previously worked with Dweezil Zappa, to handle the bass duties on II. Due to Maloney's focus on promoting his solo album Control as well as working with other artists, he was unable to join the band for "The Gods Festival" in Bradford, England in June 2002. Producer Bob Burch played bass at the festival in his stead.

Angel keyboardist Michael T. Ross, a friend to Tafolla, joined the band for II and the live DVD. Former The Storm guitarist Josh Ramos was signed up to play lead guitar for Hardline at "The Gods Festival," and, when Tafolla was unable to finish recording lead guitar for II, was brought in and, in two long, pressure-packed days, laid down all the leads for the album.

Hardline's third studio album, Leaving the End Open, was released on April 17, 2009 in Europe[2] and on May 19 in the United States, after much delay. It was originally slated for release in Spring 2006. The album could be described co-project between Gioeli and Ramos, the latter having contributed significantly to the lyrics and concept of the project. On December 22, 2011, Johnny Gioeli confirmed, via the Frontiers Records official site, that he and Italian keyboard player and producer Alessandro Del Vecchio of Edge of Forever and Eden's Curse would release Hardline's fourth studio album in mid-2012. Entitled Danger Zone, the new album's art features an eclipse to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the debut album Double Eclipse and was released on May 18, 2012 by Frontiers Records. Del Vecchio commented that he had written the lyrics and music for the album with Gioeli's vocals in mind, and sent demos to Frontiers president Serafino Perugino, who then sent the demos to Gioeli, who immediately became interested in reforming Hardline once again. Music video shooting for the track "Fever Dreams" began on April 15, and the final video was released on May 18. Via Frontiers Records's official electronic press kit for Danger Zone, Johnny Gioeli and Alessandro Del Vecchio announced that "by the time you watch this, we will already be working on the next [album]."

Hardline performed live, for the first time since "The Gods Festival," at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 7, 2013. Axel Rudi Pell drummer Mike Terrana and returning Hardline guitarist Josh Ramos joined the band in place of Thorsten Koehne and Francesco Jovino to play ten songs from all four Hardline albums, notably playing songs from Leaving the End Open and Danger Zone live for the first time. Additionally, Hardline played live at the tenth anniversary of the Melodic Rock Festival "Firefest" in Nottingham on October 19, 2013 as the headlining band. Drummer Mark Cross stood in for Mike Terrana for the performance, and bass player Nikola Mazzucconi, who stood in for Anna Portalupi.

Members

  • Johnny Gioeli (Vocals)
  • Alessandro Del Vecchio (Keyboards, 2011–present)
  • Josh Ramos (Guitars 2002–2009, 2012–present)
  • Anna Portalupi (Bass, 2011–present)
  • Francesco Jovino (Drums, 2011–2012, 2014–present)

Former members

Discography

References

  1. ^ Doug Stone. "Hardline | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  2. ^ "Release Schedule". RockReport.be. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
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