Rob Rock
Encyclopedia
Robert Rock is a heavy metal
singer and songwriter
. He is best known for being the lead singer of the band Impellitteri
from 1992 to 2000, and now in 2008. He has also released four albums as a solo artist.
joined a cover band
called VICE. They released a demo
and were together until 1985. In 1986, he joined musician
s Tony MacAlpine
(guitar
), Tommy Aldridge
(drums
), and Rudy Sarzo
(bass
) in a project called M.A.R.S. The group released a single album called Project Driver
which received much critical praise, but the next year each member went a different way.
Rock reunited with friend Chris Impellitteri and recorded the band's first album, an EP
, simply called Impellitteri
. However, he was also committed to another project called Joshua, so he could not continue with the band at the moment. Rock recorded one album with Joshua, which was characterized by the editor of HM Magazine as being "probably the best melodic metal album in the universe." He also worked on other projects (Dennis Cameron's Angelica, Driver) which gave him knowledge of international musicians that would serve him well later.
In the early 1990s, he received a call from Chris Impellitteri to join his band again. He agreed and became the band's lead singer until 2000. Together, Impellitteri
released five successful albums.
In 2000, Rock decided to pursue his own solo career and parted ways with Impellitteri amicably. That same year, he released his first solo album called Rage of Creation
. The album received critical praise and Rock has gone on, releasing three more albums (Eyes of Eternity
, Holy Hell
, Garden of Chaos
).
In May 2008 it was announced that Rock reunited once more with Impellitteri. Their new album, Wicked Maiden
, was released in April 2009.
Rock has also lent his voice to the Randy Rhoads
tribute released in 2000 and to countless other projects through his career like Avantasia
and Axel Rudi Pell
.
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. He is best known for being the lead singer of the band Impellitteri
Impellitteri
Impellitteri is a heavy metal band from USA formed and led by guitarist Chris Impellitteri. Since inception, the band has released numerous albums to critical praise, mainly due to Chris Impellitteri's speed/shred style of playing....
from 1992 to 2000, and now in 2008. He has also released four albums as a solo artist.
Biography
Rob Rock started his music career in 1983 when he and Chris ImpellitteriChris Impellitteri
Chris Impellitteri is the lead guitarist and founder of the heavy metal band Impellitteri. In 2008 Guitarworld Magazine officially named Chris Impellitteri as one of the Fastest Guitarists of all time...
joined a cover band
Cover band
A cover band , is a band that plays mostly or exclusively cover songs. New or unknown bands often find the cover band format marketable for smaller gigs, and these bands may be known as a wedding band, party band and function band. A band whose covers consist mainly of songs that were chart hits is...
called VICE. They released a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
and were together until 1985. In 1986, he joined musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s Tony MacAlpine
Tony MacAlpine
Tony Jeff MacAlpine is an American guitarist and keyboardist. Having released ten studio albums over a career spanning more than two decades, he is best known as an instrumental solo guitarist, although he has worked with many different bands and musicians in the form of guest appearances and...
(guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
), Tommy Aldridge
Tommy Aldridge
Tommy Aldridge is a veteran heavy metal and hard rock drummer. Aldridge is noted for his work with numerous bands and vocalists, most notable being Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Whitesnake, Ted Nugent and Thin Lizzy.Self taught, Aldridge was inspired by Cream,...
(drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
), and Rudy Sarzo
Rudy Sarzo
Rudy Sarzo is a Cuban American hard rock/heavy metal bassist. Sarzo has played with many well known heavy metal acts including Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Manic Eden, Dio and Blue Öyster Cult.-Early life:...
(bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) in a project called M.A.R.S. The group released a single album called Project Driver
Project Driver
Project: Driver is a studio album by heavy metal supergroup M.A.R.S., released in 1986 through Shrapnel Records. The band's name is made up of the initial of each musician's last name: guitarist Tony MacAlpine, drummer Tommy Aldridge, singer Rob Rock and bassist Rudy Sarzo...
which received much critical praise, but the next year each member went a different way.
Rock reunited with friend Chris Impellitteri and recorded the band's first album, an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, simply called Impellitteri
Impellitteri (album)
-Track listing:# "Lost in the Rain" – 2:57# "Play with Fire" – 3:20# "Burning" – 3:05# "I'll Be Searching" – 3:55-Personnel:* Rob Rock – vocals* Chris Impellitteri – guitar* Ted Days – bass* Loni Silva – drums...
. However, he was also committed to another project called Joshua, so he could not continue with the band at the moment. Rock recorded one album with Joshua, which was characterized by the editor of HM Magazine as being "probably the best melodic metal album in the universe." He also worked on other projects (Dennis Cameron's Angelica, Driver) which gave him knowledge of international musicians that would serve him well later.
In the early 1990s, he received a call from Chris Impellitteri to join his band again. He agreed and became the band's lead singer until 2000. Together, Impellitteri
Impellitteri
Impellitteri is a heavy metal band from USA formed and led by guitarist Chris Impellitteri. Since inception, the band has released numerous albums to critical praise, mainly due to Chris Impellitteri's speed/shred style of playing....
released five successful albums.
In 2000, Rock decided to pursue his own solo career and parted ways with Impellitteri amicably. That same year, he released his first solo album called Rage of Creation
Rage of Creation
Rage of Creation is a heavy metal album by Rob Rock. It is his first album as a solo artist and was released on July 26, 2000 in Japan with 12 tracks. It was not released outside of Japan until four months later on November 27, 2000 however with a missing track...
. The album received critical praise and Rock has gone on, releasing three more albums (Eyes of Eternity
Eyes of Eternity
Eyes of Eternity is a 2003 heavy metal album released by Rob Rock. The album is his second release as a solo artist.-Track listing:# "Rock the Earth" # "Stranglehold" # "Eyes of Eternity"# "The Everlasting"...
, Holy Hell
Holy Hell
Holy Hell is a heavy metal album released in 2005 by Rob Rock. It is his third solo release and is known for being his heaviest and most aggressive album to date. It was produced by Roy Z who is also known for producing solo albums by Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson. Roy Z is also credited for...
, Garden of Chaos
Garden of Chaos
Garden of Chaos is a heavy metal album released in 2007 by Rob Rock. It is his fourth solo release.- Track listing :# "Garden of Chaos" # "Satan's Playground" # "Savior's Call" # "This Time Is the Last Time"...
).
In May 2008 it was announced that Rock reunited once more with Impellitteri. Their new album, Wicked Maiden
Wicked Maiden
Wicked Maiden is the ninth full-length studio album by Impellitteri.-Track listing:All song Written by Chris Impellitteri# "Wicked Maiden" –# "Last Of A Dying Bleed" –# "Weapons Of Mass Distortion" –# "Garden Of Eden" –...
, was released in April 2009.
Rock has also lent his voice to the Randy Rhoads
Randy Rhoads
Randall William "Randy" Rhoads was an American heavy metal guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. A devoted student of classical guitar, Rhoads often combined his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style. While on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, he would seek out...
tribute released in 2000 and to countless other projects through his career like Avantasia
Avantasia
Avantasia is a heavy metal project created by Tobias Sammet, vocalist and frontman of the band Edguy. The project's title is a portmanteau of the words "avalon" and "fantasia" and describes "a world beyond human imagination"...
and Axel Rudi Pell
Axel Rudi Pell
Axel Rudi Pell is a German guitar player, playing melodic heavy metal. He started off with the band Steeler before leaving to start his solo career in 1989 with the eponymous band Axel Rudi Pell...
.
Personal life
Rock has one son, Alexander John, with his wife, Liza. Alexander was born January 5, 2006.Current members
- Rob Rock - vocals (2000–present)
- Carl Johan GrimmarkCarl Johan GrimmarkCarl Johan Grimmark is a Christian guitarist born in Gothenburg, Sweden October 14, 1977. He has appeared with several influential Christian metal bands including Narnia, Saviour Machine, and Rob Rock. He recently joined the band Beautiful Sin in 2006. He also has been a special guest guitarist on...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s (2004–present) - Daniel HallDaniel HallDaniel Hall is a fictional character in the Sandman comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. An infant for the majority of the Sandman series, he is the son of Hippolyta 'Lyta' Hall and Hector Hall, borne for two years in the Dreaming Daniel Hall is a fictional character...
- guitars (2004–present) - Andreas OlssonAndreas OlssonAndreas Passmark is a bassist. He is best known for playing bass in such bands as Narnia, Divinefire, Harmony and Rob Rock.-References:...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(2004–present) - Andreas Johanssen - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(2004–present) - Roy ZRoy ZRoy Z is a guitarist, songwriter and producer known for his work with Bruce Dickinson , Rob Halford and Judas Priest. He also is the founder of Tribe of Gypsies, a hard rock band with Latin influences.-Biography:...
- guitars , bass, keyboard (fulltime member from 2000 till 2003, is now only a studio member)
Former members
- Jake E. LeeJake E. LeeJakey Lou Williams , commonly known as Jake E. Lee, is an American guitarist best known for playing with Ozzy Osbourne in the mid-1980s and later in his own band Badlands.- Musical education :...
- a couple of guitar solos on the album "Rage of Creation" - Rick Renstrom - guitars (2001–2004)
- Bob Rossi - guitars (2003–2004)
- Hank Coffey - guitars (2001–2002)
- Ray "Geezer" Burke - bass (2000–2003, session member)
- Stephen Elder - bass (2003–2004)
- Reynold Carlsson - drums (2000–2003)
- Tracy Shell - drums (2003–2004)
- Giuseppe "Maestro Mistheria" Iampieri - keyboard (session member)
Solo discography
- Rage of CreationRage of CreationRage of Creation is a heavy metal album by Rob Rock. It is his first album as a solo artist and was released on July 26, 2000 in Japan with 12 tracks. It was not released outside of Japan until four months later on November 27, 2000 however with a missing track...
(2000) - Eyes of EternityEyes of EternityEyes of Eternity is a 2003 heavy metal album released by Rob Rock. The album is his second release as a solo artist.-Track listing:# "Rock the Earth" # "Stranglehold" # "Eyes of Eternity"# "The Everlasting"...
(2003) - Holy HellHoly HellHoly Hell is a heavy metal album released in 2005 by Rob Rock. It is his third solo release and is known for being his heaviest and most aggressive album to date. It was produced by Roy Z who is also known for producing solo albums by Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson. Roy Z is also credited for...
(2005) - Garden of ChaosGarden of ChaosGarden of Chaos is a heavy metal album released in 2007 by Rob Rock. It is his fourth solo release.- Track listing :# "Garden of Chaos" # "Satan's Playground" # "Savior's Call" # "This Time Is the Last Time"...
(2007) - The Voice of Melodic Metal - Live in Atlanta (2009)
External links
- Rob Rock Official Website
- Rob Rock at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Rob Rock @ ShoutLife Note: If a notice appears that the file or script could not be found. Go directly to http://www.shoutlife.com/robrock
- Rick Renstrom @ ShoutLife Note: If a notice appears that the file or script could not be found. Go directly to http://www.shoutlife.com/rickrenstrom