Chrome (band)
Encyclopedia
Chrome was an experimental rock
group founded in San Francisco, California
in 1976.
Chrome took part of their inspiration for their rough and sometimes chaotic music from proto punk pioneers like The Stooges
. The sound of the group was often coarse and featured heavy elements of feedback and distortion. Their experiments in mixing synthesized noise with rock instrumentation have been cited as a forerunner of industrial rock
music.
(drums, vocals, synths, production) and Gary Spain (bass and violin) in San Francisco. They recorded and released their first album titled The Visitation along with John Lambdin (guitar), Mike Low (guitar/vocal). After recording The Visitation, Edge sent the album to Warner Brothers
to see if they wanted to release the album. A Warner Brothers A&R representative told Edge that the album sounded like a messed up Doors
album; to Damon Edge this was a compliment. The label did not release the album, so Edge set up his own label – Siren Records. Edge was nineteen years old when The Visitation was released.
After the recording of the first album, singer Mike Low left the band, to be replaced by new guitarist Helios Creed
.
Chrome's big artistic breakthrough was their second album Alien Soundtracks. The album began as "Ultra Soundtrack", a soundtrack for a radical San Francisco strip show, but was rejected for being too radical. http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/1447/. And "Alien Soundtracks" is radical. For it Chrome largely abandoned conventional rock compositions, instead employing cut up and collage techniques and heavily processed sound to create a kind of sci-fi punk sound. The album was given four stars (out of five) in the UK music paper Sounds, and Chrome began gradually to gain a cult reputation in the UK and in Europe.
After the recording of the band's second album, Alien Soundtracks, John Lambdin left the band. Chrome now consisted of a core duo Damon Edge and Helios Creed, with Gary Spain continuing to contribute to some tracks on their third album "Half Machine Lip Moves". (The album sleeve shows Damon dressed as a shop mannequin on the front sleeve, and Gary Spain as a mannequin on the reverse). "Half Machine Lip Moves" continued in the vein of the previous album, but heavier with Creed's feedback guitar more to fore along with Edge's rough and ready drumming which included hitting pieces of scrap metal. It remains their best known work. It was listed at number 62 in Wire Magazines "100 Records That Set The World On Fire (while no one was listening)". http://www.thewire.co.uk/issues/175/ http://rateyourmusic.com/list/FeifUmgotnn/wires_100_records_that_set_the_world_on_fire__while_no_one_was_listening____30_runners_up_that_were_left_out_of_the_original_article. Julian Cope rates the album as one of his top 25 of all time http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/1181.The band Jesus Lizard recorded a medley of tracks from Half Machine Lip Moves for their debut single, titled "Chrome", in 1989 http://www.thejesuslizard.net/discog.htm#B.
The album cemented the band's growing reputation in the UK and led to the band being signed to Beggar's Banquet in the UK for their fourth album "Red Exposure", by which time Chrome were down to the core duo of Edge and Creed. The album marked a move away from the more frenetic style of the two previous albums, with more use of drum machines and synthesisers.
In 1980 Damon Edge
married Fabienne Shine, she went on to collaborate with Edge on several Chrome albums; her vocals appear on the Chrome album Third From The Sun.
After a further EP and single Chrome again expanded to a four piece with the addition of a new rhythm section of John and Hilary Stench. This line-up existed circa 1980-1983, and produced the albums "Blood on the Moon", "Third From the Sun", and "Raining Milk", which was only ever released in France. The songs from "Raining Milk" would later be released in much longer versions on the albums "Chronicles I" and "Chronicles II". For these albums Chrome moved to a more industrial-metal style. The title track from "Third From the Sun" was covered by the band Prong Beg to Differ
.
In 1983 Edge moved to Paris
. Fabienne introduced him to her band and a new line up of Chrome was formed. Edge and his wife would later separate. Damon Edge continued to release albums with various mainly European based musicians under the Chrome moniker over the next decade.
In August 1995 Damon Edge
(real name Thomas Wisse) was found dead in his Redondo Beach
apartment in California; the cause of death was heart failure. Edge had been in contact with Creed and talked about reforming Chrome, sadly this never happened.
After she and Damon separated, Shine had continued to compose songs. In 1997, after Edge had died, she released an album titled No Mad Nomad. The title referred to her late husband. In 2004 she began working and touring again with Helios Creed
.
A Helios Creed led version of Chrome that featured previous members John and Hilary Stench released a series of albums and toured between 1997 and 2001.
Damon Edge became influenced in making unusual sounds, this progressed after a trip to Morocco
where he heard a lot of Arabic music.
In his head he began putting a beat behind the music and started coming up with ideas for songs. Chrome’s music contains a lot of atmosphere in the sound production. There are a lot of three and eight note melodies, usually layered with an atonal drone back with a rhythm section.
This sort of atmosphere was influenced from the music he had heard in Morocco. About six months after the trip to Morocco
, Edge began forming a band and recording his new music. During the Seventies Chrome’s music did not fit into any particular music scene in America. People found it hard to know how to book the band, or deal with promoting and distributing their music.
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
group founded in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
in 1976.
Chrome took part of their inspiration for their rough and sometimes chaotic music from proto punk pioneers like The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
. The sound of the group was often coarse and featured heavy elements of feedback and distortion. Their experiments in mixing synthesized noise with rock instrumentation have been cited as a forerunner of industrial rock
Industrial rock
Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused...
music.
History
Chrome was formed in 1975 by Damon EdgeDamon Edge
Damon Edge is the stage name of American musician Thomas Wisse. He was a founding member of the band Chrome, and he also recorded as a solo artist.-Biography:...
(drums, vocals, synths, production) and Gary Spain (bass and violin) in San Francisco. They recorded and released their first album titled The Visitation along with John Lambdin (guitar), Mike Low (guitar/vocal). After recording The Visitation, Edge sent the album to Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
to see if they wanted to release the album. A Warner Brothers A&R representative told Edge that the album sounded like a messed up Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
album; to Damon Edge this was a compliment. The label did not release the album, so Edge set up his own label – Siren Records. Edge was nineteen years old when The Visitation was released.
After the recording of the first album, singer Mike Low left the band, to be replaced by new guitarist Helios Creed
Helios Creed
Helios Creed is an American guitarist, singer and bandleader. He first came to prominence in the mid 1970s with the San Francisco band Chrome. They are credited with being the godfathers of what later became known as Industrial Rock music...
.
Chrome's big artistic breakthrough was their second album Alien Soundtracks. The album began as "Ultra Soundtrack", a soundtrack for a radical San Francisco strip show, but was rejected for being too radical. http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/1447/. And "Alien Soundtracks" is radical. For it Chrome largely abandoned conventional rock compositions, instead employing cut up and collage techniques and heavily processed sound to create a kind of sci-fi punk sound. The album was given four stars (out of five) in the UK music paper Sounds, and Chrome began gradually to gain a cult reputation in the UK and in Europe.
After the recording of the band's second album, Alien Soundtracks, John Lambdin left the band. Chrome now consisted of a core duo Damon Edge and Helios Creed, with Gary Spain continuing to contribute to some tracks on their third album "Half Machine Lip Moves". (The album sleeve shows Damon dressed as a shop mannequin on the front sleeve, and Gary Spain as a mannequin on the reverse). "Half Machine Lip Moves" continued in the vein of the previous album, but heavier with Creed's feedback guitar more to fore along with Edge's rough and ready drumming which included hitting pieces of scrap metal. It remains their best known work. It was listed at number 62 in Wire Magazines "100 Records That Set The World On Fire (while no one was listening)". http://www.thewire.co.uk/issues/175/ http://rateyourmusic.com/list/FeifUmgotnn/wires_100_records_that_set_the_world_on_fire__while_no_one_was_listening____30_runners_up_that_were_left_out_of_the_original_article. Julian Cope rates the album as one of his top 25 of all time http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/1181.The band Jesus Lizard recorded a medley of tracks from Half Machine Lip Moves for their debut single, titled "Chrome", in 1989 http://www.thejesuslizard.net/discog.htm#B.
The album cemented the band's growing reputation in the UK and led to the band being signed to Beggar's Banquet in the UK for their fourth album "Red Exposure", by which time Chrome were down to the core duo of Edge and Creed. The album marked a move away from the more frenetic style of the two previous albums, with more use of drum machines and synthesisers.
In 1980 Damon Edge
Damon Edge
Damon Edge is the stage name of American musician Thomas Wisse. He was a founding member of the band Chrome, and he also recorded as a solo artist.-Biography:...
married Fabienne Shine, she went on to collaborate with Edge on several Chrome albums; her vocals appear on the Chrome album Third From The Sun.
After a further EP and single Chrome again expanded to a four piece with the addition of a new rhythm section of John and Hilary Stench. This line-up existed circa 1980-1983, and produced the albums "Blood on the Moon", "Third From the Sun", and "Raining Milk", which was only ever released in France. The songs from "Raining Milk" would later be released in much longer versions on the albums "Chronicles I" and "Chronicles II". For these albums Chrome moved to a more industrial-metal style. The title track from "Third From the Sun" was covered by the band Prong Beg to Differ
Beg to Differ
Beg to Differ is Prong's second album and first released under the CBS label. It can best be described as "thrash metal before groove metal. The album also includes one live track recorded at CBGB's, New York in 1989...
.
In 1983 Edge moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Fabienne introduced him to her band and a new line up of Chrome was formed. Edge and his wife would later separate. Damon Edge continued to release albums with various mainly European based musicians under the Chrome moniker over the next decade.
In August 1995 Damon Edge
Damon Edge
Damon Edge is the stage name of American musician Thomas Wisse. He was a founding member of the band Chrome, and he also recorded as a solo artist.-Biography:...
(real name Thomas Wisse) was found dead in his Redondo Beach
Redondo Beach, California
Redondo Beach is one of the three Beach Cities located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 66,748 at the 2010 census, up from 63,261 at the 2000 census. The city is located in the South Bay region of the greater Los Angeles area.Redondo Beach was originally part of...
apartment in California; the cause of death was heart failure. Edge had been in contact with Creed and talked about reforming Chrome, sadly this never happened.
After she and Damon separated, Shine had continued to compose songs. In 1997, after Edge had died, she released an album titled No Mad Nomad. The title referred to her late husband. In 2004 she began working and touring again with Helios Creed
Helios Creed
Helios Creed is an American guitarist, singer and bandleader. He first came to prominence in the mid 1970s with the San Francisco band Chrome. They are credited with being the godfathers of what later became known as Industrial Rock music...
.
A Helios Creed led version of Chrome that featured previous members John and Hilary Stench released a series of albums and toured between 1997 and 2001.
Music Style
While studying at the California Institute of the ArtsCalifornia Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
Damon Edge became influenced in making unusual sounds, this progressed after a trip to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
where he heard a lot of Arabic music.
In his head he began putting a beat behind the music and started coming up with ideas for songs. Chrome’s music contains a lot of atmosphere in the sound production. There are a lot of three and eight note melodies, usually layered with an atonal drone back with a rhythm section.
This sort of atmosphere was influenced from the music he had heard in Morocco. About six months after the trip to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Edge began forming a band and recording his new music. During the Seventies Chrome’s music did not fit into any particular music scene in America. People found it hard to know how to book the band, or deal with promoting and distributing their music.
Edge/Creed Period
the works of Edge and Creed together, in San Francisco
|
VHS The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan .... |
Damon Edge Period
Produced by Damon Edge in Europe.- Into the Eyes of the Zombie King (1984)
- The Lyon Concert (1985)
- Another World (1985)
- Eternity (1986)
- Dossiers - Various Artists (1986)
- Dreaming in Sequence (1986)
- Live in Germany (1987)
- Alien Soundtracks II (1988)
- Mission of the Entranced (1990)
- Liquid Forest (1990)
- One Million Eyes (1991)
- The Clairaudient Syndrome (1994)
- Having a Wonderful Time in the Juice Dome - Compilation (1995)
Helios Creed Period
After Damon's death, Helios Creed reformed Chrome with previous and new members.- Third Seed From the Bud (1996) - 10" Single
- Torque PoundGearhead Magazine InsertGearhead Magazine Insert is a Man or Astro-man?/Chrome split 7" EP that was released in 1996 as an insert to Gearhead Magazine....
(1997) - 7" Split Single - Retro Transmission (1997)
- Tidal Forces (1998)
- Chrome Flashback / Chrome Live (1999) - 2 CD Set
- Ghost Machine (2002)
- Angel of the Clouds - featuring Damon Edge and Helios Creed (2002)
External links
- Chrome website
- Damon Edge website
- Helios Creed website
- Helios Creed Tribute Site
- Chrome at Trouser PressTrouser PressTrouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" ...
- [ Chrome] at Allmusic
- Review of Half Machine Lip Moves
- Review of Half Machine Lip Moves (in Italian)
- Profile from Discogs.com
- Profile from one of their labels, Touch & GoTouch and Go RecordsTouch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.After its genesis as a hand-made fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s alternative and underground rock scenes, Touch & Go carved out a reputation for releasing adventurous...