The Circus Maximus - Album
The Circus Maximus (Album) by Manilla Road
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Artist Biography For Manilla Road
Manilla Road Is An American Heavy Metal Band From Wichita Kansas USA Forming Around Its Master Of Lead Guitar Mark 'The Shark' Shelton Vocals And Guitar . They Are Considered To One Of The Early Pioneers Of The Epic Metal Subcategory Of Traditional Heavy Metal And One Of The Most Influential Bands In That Style. Manilla Road Was Created By Shelton In 1977 With High School Friends Benny Munkirs Rick Fisher And Brothers Robert And Scott Park. After Playing In Local Bars The Group First Gained Attention With Their Song "Herman Hill " Inspired By The Herman Hill Riot. Their First Album "Invasion" Was Released In 1980 On The Band's Own Label Roadster Records. Between This Time And Their Next Release The Band Recorded Material For An Album To Be Titled "The Dreams Of Eschaton" However This Was Not Released Until 2002 Under The Name "Mark Of The Beast" As They Were Not Happy With The Sound. Shelton Has Been Quoted As Saying The Music Was "not Metal Enough" And "sounded Like Shit." Despite This "Mark Of The Beast" Was Critically Well Received When It Was Eventually Released. These Early Albums Have More In Common With Progressive Rock And Proto-Heavy Metal Than The Band's Later Epic Metal Sound. The Next Record Was "Metal" In 1982 Which Began To Define The Future Musical Direction Of Manilla Road. Their "classic" Sound Was Solidified With The Epic Release Of "Crystal Logic" In 1983. The Next Five Manilla Road Albums Along With A Live Release "Roadkill" Featured New Drummer Randy Foxe Who Had More Of A Thrash-Oriented Style Than Original Drummer Rick Fisher. Along With "Crystal Logic" 1983 The New Lineup's First Two Albums "Open The Gates" 1985 And "The Deluge" 1986 Are Generally Considered To Be Classics In The Field Of Epic Heavy Metal. It Was On These Three Albums That Manilla Road's Style Became Fully Formed. Lyrics Typically Feature Fantastic Elements From Norse Mythology Arthurian Legend Or Other Literary Sources. These Are Often Combined In One Setting The Concept Album "Atlantis Rising" 2001 For Example Features A War Between The Æsir And Cthulhu Centered Around The City Of Atlantis. "Mystification" 1987 Suffered From Exceptionally Poor Production Resulting Ironically From The Substandard Equipment At A New Studio The Band Hoped Would Improve Their Sound. The Recent Re-Release Has Fixed This Problem To A Large Extent. After Mystification Came "Out Of The Abyss" 1988 Widely Criticised At The Time For Its Thrash Metal Influences. The Band Released One More Album "The Courts Of Chaos" 1992 Described By Shelton As "the First True Manilla Road Masterpiece" Before Splitting Up Because Of Personal And Musical Disagreements Between Scott Park And Randy Foxe. In 1992 Mark Shelton Recorded "Circus Maximus" With Aaron Brown And Andrew Coss. Despite Having Never Been Intended As A Manilla Road Project The Album Was Released Under This Name At The Record Company's Insistence. Manilla Road Re-Formed In 1994 And Released "Atlantis Rising" In 2001 Again With Mark Shelton As The Only Original Member. On This Occasion However The Sound Was Much More Consistent With The Manilla Road Of Old And It Was The Band Who Decided To Continue Using The Name. Their Latest Albums Are "Spiral Castle" Published In 2002 "Gates Of Fire" In 2005 And "Voyager" In 2008. In May 2009 They Released Their Second Live Album Called "After Midnight Live" Which Was Recorded Live On The Air At KMUW Radio Studios Wichita Kansas In December Of 1979 Shortly Before The Release Of Their Debut Album "Invasion". The Album "Playground Of The Damned" Was Released In 2011 Followed By "Mysterium" In 2013 "The Blessed Curse" In 2015 And What Was Their Final Release "To Kill A King" In 2017.
Mark "The Shark" Shelton Died In Germany From A Heart Attack At The Age Of 60. Manilla Road Were On Tour At The Time Of Shelton’s Death He Had Performed At Germany’s Headbangers Open Air Festival The Previous Night.
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Biography - Manilla Road
Manilla Road Is An American Heavy Metal Band From Wichita Kansas USA Forming Around Its Master Of Lead Guitar Mark 'The Shark' Shelton Vocals And Guitar . They Are Considered To One Of The Early Pioneers Of The Epic Metal Subcategory Of Traditional Heavy Metal And One Of The Most Influential Bands In That Style. Manilla Road Was Created By Shelton In 1977 With High School Friends Benny Munkirs Rick Fisher And Brothers Robert And Scott Park. After Playing In Local Bars The Group First Gained Attention With Their Song "Herman Hill " Inspired By The Herman Hill Riot. Their First Album "Invasion" Was Released In 1980 On The Band's Own Label Roadster Records. Between This Time And Their Next Release The Band Recorded Material For An Album To Be Titled "The Dreams Of Eschaton" However This Was Not Released Until 2002 Under The Name "Mark Of The Beast" As They Were Not Happy With The Sound. Shelton Has Been Quoted As Saying The Music Was "not Metal Enough" And "sounded Like Shit." Despite This "Mark Of The Beast" Was Critically Well Received When It Was Eventually Released. These Early Albums Have More In Common With Progressive Rock And Proto-Heavy Metal Than The Band's Later Epic Metal Sound. The Next Record Was "Metal" In 1982 Which Began To Define The Future Musical Direction Of Manilla Road. Their "classic" Sound Was Solidified With The Epic Release Of "Crystal Logic" In 1983. The Next Five Manilla Road Albums Along With A Live Release "Roadkill" Featured New Drummer Randy Foxe Who Had More Of A Thrash-Oriented Style Than Original Drummer Rick Fisher. Along With "Crystal Logic" 1983 The New Lineup's First Two Albums "Open The Gates" 1985 And "The Deluge" 1986 Are Generally Considered To Be Classics In The Field Of Epic Heavy Metal. It Was On These Three Albums That Manilla Road's Style Became Fully Formed. Lyrics Typically Feature Fantastic Elements From Norse Mythology Arthurian Legend Or Other Literary Sources. These Are Often Combined In One Setting The Concept Album "Atlantis Rising" 2001 For Example Features A War Between The Æsir And Cthulhu Centered Around The City Of Atlantis. "Mystification" 1987 Suffered From Exceptionally Poor Production Resulting Ironically From The Substandard Equipment At A New Studio The Band Hoped Would Improve Their Sound. The Recent Re-Release Has Fixed This Problem To A Large Extent. After Mystification Came "Out Of The Abyss" 1988 Widely Criticised At The Time For Its Thrash Metal Influences. The Band Released One More Album "The Courts Of Chaos" 1992 Described By Shelton As "the First True Manilla Road Masterpiece" Before Splitting Up Because Of Personal And Musical Disagreements Between Scott Park And Randy Foxe. In 1992 Mark Shelton Recorded "Circus Maximus" With Aaron Brown And Andrew Coss. Despite Having Never Been Intended As A Manilla Road Project The Album Was Released Under This Name At The Record Company's Insistence. Manilla Road Re-Formed In 1994 And Released "Atlantis Rising" In 2001 Again With Mark Shelton As The Only Original Member. On This Occasion However The Sound Was Much More Consistent With The Manilla Road Of Old And It Was The Band Who Decided To Continue Using The Name. Their Latest Albums Are "Spiral Castle" Published In 2002 "Gates Of Fire" In 2005 And "Voyager" In 2008. In May 2009 They Released Their Second Live Album Called "After Midnight Live" Which Was Recorded Live On The Air At KMUW Radio Studios Wichita Kansas In December Of 1979 Shortly Before The Release Of Their Debut Album "Invasion". The Album "Playground Of The Damned" Was Released In 2011 Followed By "Mysterium" In 2013 "The Blessed Curse" In 2015 And What Was Their Final Release "To Kill A King" In 2017.
Mark "The Shark" Shelton Died In Germany From A Heart Attack At The Age Of 60. Manilla Road Were On Tour At The Time Of Shelton’s Death He Had Performed At Germany’s Headbangers Open Air Festival The Previous Night. read less
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Mark "The Shark" Shelton Died In Germany From A Heart Attack At The Age Of 60. Manilla Road Were On Tour At The Time Of Shelton’s Death He Had Performed At Germany’s Headbangers Open Air Festival The Previous Night. read less
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Published: 03 Mar 2009, 05:21
Released Summer 1992 "This Was Not Really A Manilla Road Project But Black Dragon Released It Under The MR Name In Order To Sell More Units. Since It Was Released As Manilla Road I Will Go Ahead And Give You My Point Of View On It Here. When I Broke Up Manilla Road I Never Had Any Intention Of Leaving The Music Scene. So I Put Together A New Line-Up Of Musicians To Do My First Solo Project With. After Working With Aaron And Andy For Awhile I Noticed That We Were All Working Together Very Well At Writing Songs And That It Was Sounding More Like A Band And Less Like My Solo Project All The Time. It Was Turning Out That I Was Not Going To Sing Lead Vocals On Every Song And That The Influences Of Andy And Aaron And Myself Were Being Mixed Into The Songs In A Very Strange Fused Way. So We Decided To Name The Band Circus Maximus And Throw Away The Idea Of It Being A Mark Shelton Solo Project. We Never Meant It To Be A Manilla Road Album For We Never Even Thought Of Ourselves As Manilla Road. Even After The Album Came Out On BD As Manilla Road We Still Did All Of Our Gigs Under The Name Circus Maximus. I Thought That The Musicianship On This Album Was Fantastic. Both Aaron And Andy Opened My Eyes To Many Styles Of Music That I Had Never Investigated. I Also Did The Same For Them For They Came From A More Progressive Music Style Than I. I Forced Them Into Learning How To Play Heavier And Faster Than They Ever Had Before. I Know Alot Of MR Fans Don't Like This Album But I Do Believe That Some Of My Best Guitar Work Is On This Project. I Think That The Writing Is Very Cool And That The Eclectic Nature Of The Album Was Like A Breath Of Fresh Air To Me At The Time. Aaron And Andy Were High School Friends And So There Was No Fighting Within The Ranks Of The Band Like There Had Been Towards The Last With Randy And Scott. They Were Both Clowns On Stage And They Were Very Fun To Play Live With. Circus Was Not Really A Metal Album And It Was Never Intended On Being Anything Other Than What Were Wanted To Do At The Time. We Never Set Out To Play A Specific Style Of Music With That Band. It Was More A Fusion Style Than Anything Else. Aaron Is One Of The Finest Drummers I Have Ever Worked With And Andy Is The Best Vocalist That I Have Ever Worked With. Andy Is Also One Of The Finest Bass Players I Have Ever Known. All In All I Was Very Happy With This Project And I Think It Is A Very Misunderstood Album Because Of It Being Called Manilla Road. Favorite Songs Are Forbidden Zone In Gein We Trust No Touch Throne Of Blood And Spider." Mark Shelton