Jump to content

Ezo (band): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Slrae (talk | contribs)
6 edits
No edit summary
 
 
(108 intermediate revisions by 83 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Japanese heavy metal band}}
Originally formed and known as Flatbacker in Sapporo, Japan, EZO was Masaki Yamada (Vocals), Taro Takahashi (Bass), Shoyo Iida (Guitar) & Hiro Homma (Drums). They released 1 demo cassette ("Minagoroshi") in 1984 and 2 albums (1985's "Senzo" and 1986's "Esa") in Japan as Flatbacker in the mid-1980's before coming to the U.S. Rumor has it that Gene Simmons of Kiss, who produced their self-titled U.S.debut album, was behind the band's name change to EZO, inspired by Eizo, an ancient name for Hokkaido. They released 2 albums for Geffen Records, 1987's "E-Z-O" and 1989's "Fire Fire", before being dropped from the label and internal differences led to the band's demise. Vocalist Masaki Yamada joined fellow Japanese metalheads Loudness in 1992 and drummer Hiro Homma joined Loudness in 1994. No current info on Shoyo Iida or Taro Takahashi is available. In 2000, the original Loudness lineup reunited and Masaki & Hiro left the band. Hiro Homma is currently the drummer Japanese metal band Anthem and vocalist Masaki Yamada is working on a solo project.
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name = EZO
| image =
| caption =
| image_size =
| background = group_or_band
| alias = Flatbacker
| origin = [[Sapporo]], [[Japan]]
| genre = [[Heavy metal music|Heavy metal]],<ref name="AMG"/> [[glam metal]]{{sfn|Yang|Gan|Hong|1997|p=264}}
| years_active = 1982–1990
| label = [[Victor Entertainment|Victor]], [[Geffen Records]]
| associated_acts = [[Loudness (band)|Loudness]]
| website =
| current_members =
| past_members = [[Masaki Yamada (musician)|Masaki Yamada]]<br/>Taro Takahashi<br/>Shoyo Iida<br/>Hirotsugu Homma
}}

{{nihongo|'''EZO'''|イーズィーオー|Iiziiō}} was a Japanese [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band originally formed as Flatbacker in the spring of 1982 in [[Sapporo]], Japan<ref name="Nippop">[http://nippop.com/artist/artist_id-129/artist_name-ezo/ Nippop's EZO Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081231232207/http://nippop.com/artist/artist_id-129/artist_name-ezo/ |date=2008-12-31 }} Retrieved Sep 21, 2007</ref> out of the remnants of two high school bands, Power-Station and Scrap. EZO has been named a "seminal influence by such artists as [[Steven Shane McDonald|Steve McDonald]] of [[Redd Kross]] and [[Michael Steele (musician)|Michael Steele]] of [[The Bangles]]."{{sfn|Yang|Gan|Hong|1997|p=264}}

==History==
EZO consisted of [[Masaki Yamada (musician)|Masaki Yamada]] ([[Singing|vocals]]), Taro Takahashi ([[bass guitar|bass]]), Shoyo Iida ([[guitar]]) and Hiro Homma ([[Drum kit|drums]]).<ref name="AMG">[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ezo-mn0000170386 AllMusic ''EZO Profile''] Retrieved on Sep 21 2007</ref> They released one demo [[compact audio cassette|cassette]] (''Minagoroshi'') in 1984 and two [[album]]s (1985's ''Senzo'' and 1986's ''Esa'') in Japan as Flatbacker in the mid-1980s before coming to the [[United States|U.S.]]<ref name="Nippop"/> Rumor has it that [[Gene Simmons]] of [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]], who produced their self-titled U.S. debut album,{{sfn|Yang|Gan|Hong|1997|p=264}} was behind the band's name change to EZO,{{Citation needed|date=September 2007}} inspired by [[Ezo]], an ancient name for [[Hokkaidō]].<ref name="Nippop"/> They released two albums for [[Geffen Records]], 1987's [[EZO (album)|''EZO'']] and 1989's [[Fire Fire]], before being dropped from the label and internal differences led to the band's demise.<ref name="Nippop"/>

Vocalist Masaki Yamada joined fellow Japanese heavy metal band [[Loudness (band)|Loudness]] in 1992 and drummer Hiro Homma joined Loudness in 1994.<ref name="Nippop"/> In 2000, the original Loudness lineup reunited and Masaki and Hiro left the band.<ref name="Nippop"/> Hiro Homma was the drummer for the Japanese metal band [[Anthem (band)|Anthem]] from 2001 to 2013 and vocalist Masaki Yamada is now the bass player for the New York-based band [[FiRESiGN]].

A single guitar riff from ''EZO'' song "House of 1,000 Pleasures" served as the signature sound of syndicated radio network [[Z Rock]].{{citation needed|date=February 2009}}

==Discography==

=== Studio albums ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Title
!<small>JP</small>
!<small>US</small>
|-
|1984
|''Minagoroshi(<span lang="ja" dir="ltr">皆殺し</span>)'' (Demo, as 'Fratvacker')
|
|
|-
|1985
|''Accident(戦争)'' (as 'Flatbacker')
|
|
|-
|1986
|''Esa(<span lang="ja-hani" dir="ltr">餌</span>)'' (as 'Flatbacker')
|
|
|-
|1987
|''[[EZO]]''
|6
|150
|-
|1989
|''[[Fire Fire]]''
|19
|
|}

=== Videos ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Title
|-
|1985
|''War is Over'' (as 'Flatbacker')
|-
|1988
|''E・Z・O''
|-
|2004
|''Returns''
|}

==See also==
*[[List of glam metal bands and artists]]

==References==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== General and cited references ===
* {{Cite book |last1=Yang |first1=Jeff |author-link1=Jeff Yang |last2=Gan |first2=Dina |last3=Hong |first3=Terry |year=1997 |title=Eastern Standard Time: A Guide to Asian Influence on American Culture from Astro Boy to Zen Buddhism |url=https://archive.org/details/easternstandardt00yang |url-access=registration |location=Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |isbn=0-395-76341-X |oclc=37022942}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1982 establishments in Japan]]
[[Category:1990 disestablishments in Japan]]
[[Category:Japanese glam metal musical groups]]
[[Category:Japanese heavy metal musical groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1990]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1982]]
[[Category:Musical groups from Hokkaido]]

Latest revision as of 19:27, 20 February 2024

EZO
Also known asFlatbacker
OriginSapporo, Japan
GenresHeavy metal,[1] glam metal[2]
Years active1982–1990
LabelsVictor, Geffen Records
Past membersMasaki Yamada
Taro Takahashi
Shoyo Iida
Hirotsugu Homma

EZO (イーズィーオー, Iiziiō) was a Japanese heavy metal band originally formed as Flatbacker in the spring of 1982 in Sapporo, Japan[3] out of the remnants of two high school bands, Power-Station and Scrap. EZO has been named a "seminal influence by such artists as Steve McDonald of Redd Kross and Michael Steele of The Bangles."[2]

History

[edit]

EZO consisted of Masaki Yamada (vocals), Taro Takahashi (bass), Shoyo Iida (guitar) and Hiro Homma (drums).[1] They released one demo cassette (Minagoroshi) in 1984 and two albums (1985's Senzo and 1986's Esa) in Japan as Flatbacker in the mid-1980s before coming to the U.S.[3] Rumor has it that Gene Simmons of Kiss, who produced their self-titled U.S. debut album,[2] was behind the band's name change to EZO,[citation needed] inspired by Ezo, an ancient name for Hokkaidō.[3] They released two albums for Geffen Records, 1987's EZO and 1989's Fire Fire, before being dropped from the label and internal differences led to the band's demise.[3]

Vocalist Masaki Yamada joined fellow Japanese heavy metal band Loudness in 1992 and drummer Hiro Homma joined Loudness in 1994.[3] In 2000, the original Loudness lineup reunited and Masaki and Hiro left the band.[3] Hiro Homma was the drummer for the Japanese metal band Anthem from 2001 to 2013 and vocalist Masaki Yamada is now the bass player for the New York-based band FiRESiGN.

A single guitar riff from EZO song "House of 1,000 Pleasures" served as the signature sound of syndicated radio network Z Rock.[citation needed]

Discography

[edit]

Studio albums

[edit]
Year Title JP US
1984 Minagoroshi(皆殺し) (Demo, as 'Fratvacker')
1985 Accident(戦争) (as 'Flatbacker')
1986 Esa(餌) (as 'Flatbacker')
1987 EZO 6 150
1989 Fire Fire 19

Videos

[edit]
Year Title
1985 War is Over (as 'Flatbacker')
1988 E・Z・O
2004 Returns

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ a b AllMusic EZO Profile Retrieved on Sep 21 2007
  2. ^ a b c Yang, Gan & Hong 1997, p. 264.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Nippop's EZO Profile Archived 2008-12-31 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved Sep 21, 2007

General and cited references

[edit]
  • Yang, Jeff; Gan, Dina; Hong, Terry (1997). Eastern Standard Time: A Guide to Asian Influence on American Culture from Astro Boy to Zen Buddhism. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-76341-X. OCLC 37022942.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Ezo_(band)&oldid=1209196162"