Hittman (Band)
Hittman | |
|---|---|
| Origin | New York City, New York, United States of America |
| Genres | Power Metal, Progressive Metal |
| Years active | 1984-1994, 2017- Present |
| Labels | SPV, Roadrunner Records, No Remorse |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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Hittman are an American power and progressive metal band. They were active from 1984 to 1994, and from 2017 to the present. They have released 2 critically acclaimed studio albums on the SPV/Roadrunner label. Whilst never achieving mainstream success, the band has had a developing cult status over the last 25 years, especially in Germany, Japan and Greece. On February 1st 2017 it was announced that the original band were to perform at the KEEP IT TRUE festival on April 28th 2018, sparking a reformation. The band acquired the rights to all their releases and went into the studio to remaster their classic 1988 debut. Released on October 31st 2017, on NO Remorse Records.[1] The album contains a faithful remaster and for the first time, the original 1985 (much-bootlegged) demo(remixed and re-mastered) that began their career. In 2019 Hittman will release their 3rd album "Destroy All Humans", Preceded by the single "The Ledge".
History[edit]
In September 1984,[2] guitarist Jim Bachi, bassist Michael Buccell, drummer Chuck Kory,[3][4] and singer Scott Knight[5][6] came together from various local New York bands to form Hittman in Huntington, Long Island.[5] After a few months, they separated from Knight, who didn’t seem to be the right fit with the other members. Through advertisements, the band attracted the attention of Dirk Kennedy, who had been involved in the formation of Anthrax.[3] Shortly thereafter, they added a second guitarist, Brian " Don" Fair.[3] The demo Metal Sport emerged in June of 1985.[7] With this material, the band opened concerts for Saxon, Poison, Black ‘n Blue, and Stryper, amongst others.[3] Fair fell by the wayside as the band became more professional.[3] His first replacement was Greg Walls, who was followed by permanent guitarist, John Kristen.[3] Around 1986, a second demo (not intended for the public and therefore unofficial) was distributed to selected individuals in the music industry.[8][9][10] This was followed by months of ineffective talks with slew of record labels.[10] Meanwhile, Kennedy trained his voice under the leadership of Marty Lawrence ( Father of renowned teacher Don Lawrence.[11] ( GAGA, BONO, Mick Jagger) an operatic vocal coach and so, could subsequently keep pace with then tenor singers like Queensrÿche’s singer, Geoff Tate.[6] rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson.
On the 12th of August, 1988,[12] the self-titled debut album was released by Steamhammer, who had become involved earlier in March. Of the songs from the Metal Sport demo, only “Metal Sport” made it on the album.[2] A cover of Johnny Rivers’s “Secret Agent Man” is also found on the album.[2] Hittman’s connection to Steamhammer – a German-based label whose attempts at overseas expansion had failed[5][13] – proved to be an obstacle for American metal listeners, who could only get ahold of the album via import.[3] This, in the eyes of Allmusic, stifled the band’s career, delaying production of a second album.[3] The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, on the other hand, suggests that internal conflicts delayed development of the second album.[14] Dirk Kennedy himself explained the situation as follows:[15] Negotiations with the American label Polygram were problematic due to the demanded acquisition of the debut album which had, in the meantime, been licensed by Roadrunner Records to great success. Steamhammer reacted angrily to the attempts to poach the band away; due, however, to staff changes within the Polygram division responsible, the latter label backed out, resulting in the band remaining with Steamhammer. As a consequence of the legal troubles regarding label affiliation, Hittman’s upwards trajectory faltered. They then decided to subsequently scrap the planned Precision Killing album. The band had deemed it inappropriate to release a concept album that would appear to be too similar of Queensrÿche’s megahit, Operation: Mindcrime
Instead, work on the album Vivas Machina begun in November, 1991, with the new drummer Mark Jenkins. Produced by Bob St.John[16] ( Extreme, Duran Duran) The album was completed in 1992, mixed in July and announced for August of 1992,[17] and released in the last days of January, 1993. Kennedy reported that producer Bob St. John had had to manage multiple projects at the same time, including production of Extreme’s III Sides to Every Story, which enjoyed the producer’s top priority.[17] A tour of Europe followed the albums release with Skew Siskin and Sargant Fury in 1993. In the meantime, the band had already written the first songs for a third album. These songs were, once more, on the heavier side.[2] Another tour followed; however, due to high financial expenses,the band split up in 1994. There was no official announcement regarding the breakup.[5]
Kennedy recorded the solo album Life is Now in 2011.[18] In 2009, there were talks for a Hittman reunion including an appearance at the twelfth Keep It True festival. The performance was canceled due to a non-specified family issue. Up until then, no reunion has taken place.[6] On the 11th of November, 2013, Mike Buccell was involved in a fatal accident[1], making a reunion of the primary lineup impossible. At that time, the band could not imagine moving forward without Buccell.[6] In 2017, The band announced an official reformation[2] and the renewed and invigorated original band came together to record material for a new album to coincide with their appearance at Keep it True. They have asserted that it sounds like the logical album to follow the debut, but with all new material. On April 24th 2018 Hittman performed at blackthorn 51 in New York City for a special warm-up show [3] to fine tune their set for their European appearance.
On April 28th, 2018 Hittman played to a sold-out crowd at The Keep It True Festival[4] Playing cuts from their classic debut and two new songs.
Style[edit]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music notes that critics compare Hittman, musically, with Savatage and Accept. Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic[5] places the debut album in the genre of traditional heavy metal with leanings towards the promising direction of progressive metal à la Queensrÿche. He sees the sophomore release as a more European power metal effort.[3] According to Stefan Gnad in US Metal Vol. 2, the band called their music “Metal Sport,” the inspiration for their first demo of the same name. The recording is now considered a classic demo of the US metal scene.[2] The demo tapes had one major inspiration: Queensrÿche.[8][10] To this, Götz Kühnemund adds musical associations with Metal Church and, vocally, to Paul Davidson of Heir Apparent.[7]
Hittman have been featured in many publications: Rock Hard names Queensrÿche[13]; Break Out does the same[17]; hotel666.de names Queensrÿche and Iron Maiden[5]; Metal Hammer names Queensrÿche, Fifth Angel, and Crimson Glory[9]; grande-rock.com names Queensrÿche first and foremost, followed by Crimson Glory, less-so Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden in regard to Hittman’s harmonies[19]. Martin Popoff, in his book The Collector’s Guide of Heavy Metal – Volume 2: The Eighties, makes a comparison to Judas Priest, from the latter’s less-fantastic work all the way up to their heavier songs. Kennedy concedes Queensrÿche’s influence in Break Out; in Rock Hard, he includes Iron Maiden and Accept as well.
With Vivas Machina, Hittman broke free from the grips of idol-worship, according to hotel666.de. Rock Hard also makes note of an orientation towards more commercial song structures – the song “Words” could, for example, have fit comfortably on Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell. Rock Hard’s review once more notes vocal similarities to Geoff Tate. According to Stefan Gnad, the album was more commercial than its predecessor. In place of power metal, one finds more rock-based tones with blues and epic-symphonic sprinklings similar to Queen. Kennedy’s vocals sound like a mixture of Bon Jovi and Geoff Tate. Even Mario and Stefan Flores couldn’t believe that the second album’s vocals were performed by the same singer – one would have thought it was Bon Jovi.[2] Break Out recognizes a bit of Extreme in the music, as both bands were simultaneously working with the same producer.[17] Rockdetector.com even claims that the band were heading down the path of technical metal. Musikexpress[20] and Andreas Schöwe of metal Hammer thought they had continued with the age-old Queensrÿche comparisons. Schöwe threw in comparisons to groups like Rush, Van Halen, Queen, and Deep Purple.[21]
I
Discography[edit]
- 1985: Metal Sport (Demo)
- 1986(?): Demo II (Unofficial Demo)
- 1988: Hittman (Steamhammer/SPV)
- 1988: Will You Be There (Promo-Single, Steamhammer)
- 1993: Vivas Machina (Steamhammer/SPV)
- 1993: Words (Single, Steamhammer/SPV)
- 2017: Hittman (No Remorse)
External Links[edit]
- Hittman at Discogs
- Hittman at AllMusic
- {https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Hittman/1450] at Metal Archives
- {http://label.noremorse.gr/news/105-hittman-1988-debut-album-to-be-reissued-by-no-remorse-records] at no remorse
- {https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hittman/1321096392] at itunes
- {https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hittman_(Band)
References[edit]
- ↑ https://www.noremorse.gr/products/hittman-same-ltd-edition-400-copies-extra-cd-5-bonus-tracks-lp
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Otger Jeske, Arno Hofmann, Sandra Eichner et al: US Metal. 1. Auflage. Band 2. I.P. Verlag Jeske/Mader GbR, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-931624-05-6, Heir Apparent, S. 99 f.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 "Hittman | Biography & History | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
- ↑ placeholder
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "hotel666.de - Band: Hittman". www.hotel666.de. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Hittman | Grande Rock ezine". www.grande-rock.com. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Götz Kühnemund: Hittman. In: Overkill. Metal Hammer Extra. Nr. 2 (Sommer-Ausgabe) [1986], Tape Terror, S. 48.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Pat Prince: Stryper/Hittman. New York. In: Crash. Das definitive Hardrock & Metal-Magazin. Juli–August, 1987, On Stage, S. 79.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Buffo [Schnädelbach]: Hittman. Hittman. In: Metal Hammer/Crash. August 1988, S. 71.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Götz Kühnemund: Hitt Man. Die Erde im Visier. In: Metal Hammer/Crash. Juni 1988, Overkill, S. 142.
- ↑ https://www.wsj.com/articles/meet-the-coach-for-lady-gaga-super-bowl-halftime-star-1485959205
- ↑ Steamhammer Presents. Hittman. In: Metal Hammer. August 1988, S. 124 (Werbeanzeige).
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Buffo [Schnädelbach]: Hölle á [sic] la Lindenstraße. Hittman. In: Rock Hard. Nr. 69, Februar 1993, S. 38 f.
- ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (1998). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. 4: Herbal Mixture - Louvin Brothers (3 ed.). London: Macmillan. p. 2545. ISBN 978-0-333-74134-4. Search this book on
- ↑ http://www.grande-rock.com/interviews/hittman
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/artist/90197-Bob-St-John
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Christoph Kümmel: Hittman – so etwas wie eine Untergrundlegende. In: Break Out. Das Heavy Rock Magazin. (April–Mai), 1993, S. 42.
- ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/life-is-now-mw0002197671
- ↑ "Hittman - Hittman | Grande Rock ezine". www.grande-rock.com. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
- ↑ Hittman. Vivas Machina. In: Musikexpress. Nr. 445, Februar 1993, kurz & klein, S. 71.
- ↑ Andreas Schöwe: Hittman. Vivas Machina. In: Metal Hammer. February 1993, S. 59.
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