Jump to content

Praying Mantis (band)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Sixty Minute Limit (talk | contribs) at 12:28, 10 June 2018. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Praying Mantis
Praying Mantis live at Sweden Rock Festival 2010.
Background information
OriginLondon, England
GenresHard rock, heavy metal
Years active1974–1985, 1990–2003, 2008–present
LabelsArista, Pony Canyon
MembersChris Troy
Tino Troy
Andy Burgess
Hans in’t Zandt
John Cuijpers
WebsiteOfficial website

Praying Mantis are an English rock band. Although a part of the new wave of British heavy metal scene, they pursued a musical direction more melodic and AOR-sounding than their contemporaries.[citation needed]

Career

Their formation considerably pre-dated the NWOBHM movement. They were formed in 1974 by the Troy brothers, Tino and Chris, both college students. Like several NWOBHM bands they made their first available recording at Neal Kay's Soundhouse recording studio, which was released as the Soundhouse Tapes EP in 1979.

1980 saw their profile considerably raised with support slots for Iron Maiden and Ronnie Montrose's Gamma and "Captured City" was included on the Metal for Muthas compilation. The attention won them a recording contract with Arista Records and they released their best-known work Time Tells No Lies in 1981. Management and line-up instability undermined their success and Arista dropped them. The following year they signed for Jet Records, but two subsequent singles flopped and the band folded. They had recorded a version of the Russ Ballard penned track "I Surrender", but ran into conflict with Rainbow, who went on to release their version, and had a Top 10 worldwide hit. Instead, Praying Mantis recorded another single, "Cheated". It reached No. 69 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1981.[1]

The band maintained a strong fan base in Japan, and when the Troys temporarily reformed Praying Mantis for a NWOBHM nostalgia tour in 1990, they were encouraged by the response to resurrect the band full-time. Their live work was released as Live at Last, and a follow-up studio album Predator in Disguise was released the following year, and the band soldiered on into the new century. A compilation album, The Best of Praying Mantis, was released in 2004. Following further line-up changes, a new album, Sanctuary, was released in the spring of 2009 and has gained worldwide media acclaim.

In 2013 the band announced they are to release a new single in October 2013. The single is to officially introduce new members, John Cuijpers (vocals) and Hans in’t Zandt (drums) to the band's fanbase after playing Colchester, Ipswich (with support from MGR Records band Kaine) and Cambridge Rock Festival with the brand new line-up.[2][3][4] A new album called Legacy was released on 21 August 2015.[5]

Discography

Studio albums
  • Time Tells No Lies (Arista 1981) - UK No. 16[1]
  • Throwing Shapes (billed as Stratus) (Steel Trax 1984)
  • Predator in Disguise (Pony Canyon 1991)
  • A Cry for the New World (Pony Canyon 1993)
  • To the Power of Ten (Pony Canyon 1995)
  • Forever in Time (Pony Canyon 1998)
  • Nowhere to Hide (Pony Canyon 2000)
  • The Journey Goes On (Pony Canyon 2003)
  • Sanctuary (Frontiers 2009)
  • Legacy (Frontiers 2015)
  • Gravity (Frontiers 2018)
Singles
  • "Praying Mantis" / "High Roller" 7" (GEM, 1980)
  • The Soundhouse Tapes Part 2 ("Captured City" / "The Ripper" / "Johnny Cool") 12" (Ripper Records, 1979)
  • "Cheated" / "Thirty Pieces of Silver" / "Flirting With Suicide" / "Panic in the Streets" 2x7" (Arista, 1981) - [UK #69]
  • "All Day and All of the Night" / "Beads of Ebony" 7" (Arista, 1981)
  • "Turn the Tables" / "Tell Me the Nightmare's Wrong" / "A Question of Time" 7" EP (Jet, 1982)
  • "Only the Children Cry" / "Who's Life is it Anyway?" / "A Moment in Life" / "Turn the Tables" CD EP (Canyon International, 1993)
  • Metalmorphosis CD EP (self-released, 2011)
Compilations

Members

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 433. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. ^ "New album "Legacy". August 2015". Praying Mantis. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Praying Mantis UK Rock - Metal". Facebook. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Kaine SUPPORTING PRAYING MANTIS @ The Railway, Ipswich ! Saturday, August 3rd 2013 | Ipswich". Allevents.in. 3 August 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  5. ^ "Praying Mantis Legacy". Frontiers. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Praying Mantis (band).
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Praying_Mantis_(band)&oldid=845240721"