| ......................................THE BAND AND RECORD OF THE MONTH |
 |
| . | SEPTEMBER 2015 |
| Comments:
Landmarq is one of the most interesting Progressive Rock bands coming from UK, all the musicians began their careers long before they became part of the incredible music of this symphonic band called Landmarq. Following Damian Wilson's departure from the band, Landmarq was in search for a new vocalist. Since 1998 and after three albums released under the Damian Wilson's voices, Tracy Hitchings becomes the new lead singer, adding a new musical perspective on the band. Today the group consists of five talented musicians, Uwe D'Röse, guitars and Steve Gee basses, both are from original formation, complementing with Tracy on vocals, Mike Varty, keyboards and vocals and also Daniel Martin on drums, with an amazing musical diversity, the musicians have developed several different rhythmic patterns, mixing the best of Progressive Rock music, adding modernity as the neo-prog. The musicians, are very compromised with the musical arrangements, and this is why that, Landmarq has a brilliant songwriting and a strong musicianship, that shining through the amazing and atmospheric keyboard sounds, adorned by delicate guitar solos, together with an outstanding bass and closing with a vibrant drum sound, but the main highlight turns around of the brilliant vocals from Tracy Hitchings. All vocals on Landmarq are very well led by Tracy Hitchings, an enshrined English musician, who leads as a "front Woman" on this progressive rock band. Her musical credits span from 1989 to the present day with many notable sessions and the through participation in some bands and others artists. Her first band was the "Quasar", and Tracy's first work began on the 1989 album "The Loreli". The following year, 1990, Tracy Hitchings collaborated with Clive Nolan and Karl Groom to form the fantastic band, "Strangers on a Train", together, they recorded two superb albuns "The Key Part I: The Prophecy" and "The Key Part II: The Labyrinth". From 1992 to 1995, she made guest appearances on various projects, like the albums "Ring of Roses", "Through the Looking Glass" and "Mad as a Hatter" for the Nolan/Groom project "Shadowland". Today, Tracy Hitchings is known for her charismatic and lovely stage presence, where her voice follows in different vocals tones, some times very soft and some times more hard, that is it her trademark. "Roadskill - Live In The Netherlands" recorded in front of a packed and enthusiastic audience at De Boerderij in the Netherlands during Landmarq's 2013 tour, released as a special edition, containing a CD plus a DVD. We can listen eight tracks on CD, all of them show stunning instrumental diversity and climactic moments, full of soundscapes that will leave you breathless. If you want some references, comparisons can be made with bands like "Karnataka", "Glass Hammer", "Turquoise", "Mostly Autumn", "Band Of Rain", "Quidan", "The Room" and "Iona", but in some parts, their music is heavily similar by bands such as: "Genesis", "Marillion", "IQ", "Pallas", "Arena", "Mangrove" and "Shadowland". Brilliant and fantastic, an amazing album and production, highly recommendable... The
line-up on Landmarq album are:
|
LANDMARQ
BACK STORY... Since it's formation in London in 1990, Prog-rock band Landmarq have so far released five studio albums; two live albums, which were recorded at various concerts in the UK and Europe, plus a third live CD album, taken from the band's DVD, 'Turbulence - Live In Poland'. Initially signing to a Dutch record company (SI Records) then forming their own label, Synergy Records, the band soon firmly established itself within the world of Progressive Rock, though their appeal extended beyond these boundaries to a more mainstream audience. Landmarq�s original vocalist Damian Wilson left the band after three very well-received albums to concentrate on his solo career and the band found a replacement in Ian �Moon� Gould. �Moon� spent a year with the band, playing various gigs in the UK and Holland, before deciding to move on. It was at this point that Landmarq decided to go for a radical change to it�s sound and recruited the excellent voice of award-winning vocalist and long-time friend of the band, Tracy Hitchings.
Landmarq have played concerts in the UK, Holland, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, the USA and Mexico; both as support and as headliners at various music venues and festivals. The band have worked with many well-known artists including Marillion, John Wetton (ex-Asia, Roxy Music, etc.), Steve Hackett (ex-Genesis), Hugh McDowell (ELO), Nik Turner (Hawkwind), Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash, Annie Haslam (Renaissance), IQ, Pendragon, Arena and even Suzi Quatro plus many others. Apart from making strong in-roads into Europe and America, Landmarq have reached further territories worldwide, as far afield as Russia, eastern Europe, the Far East, and Australia through various magazine/webzine articles, interviews, radio air-play and also compilation CDs from various music magazines around the world (see the Discography and Reviews pages on the bands website for full details).
The band's first DVD was released in March 2006. Entitled "Turbulence � Live In Poland", this features Landmarq filmed in concert at the Wyspianski Theatre, Katowice, in November 2005. The DVD was released by the Polish label Metal Mind Productions and has received some of the bands best reviews to date. The DVD also comprises a wealth of bonus material including audio and video archive tracks, an interview with the band, a huge photo gallery and much more. A serious
setback was to hit Landmarq in 2007 when singer Tracy Hitchings
revealed she had been diagnosed with two forms of Cancer. This was a major
blow for everyone � not least for Tracy herself � and the ongoing recording
of the bands next album was put on hold.
In 2008 and early 2009, aside from continuing with production of the long-awaited new studio album, some of the members of Landmarq also became involved with other projects. This included drummer Dave Wagstaffe joining Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash for some extensive touring in the UK and Europe. Keyboardist Mike Varty was also invited to tour with ex-Marillion drummer Mick Pointer for his celebratory "Script For A Jesters Tour" gigs.
In January 2012, Landmarq finally released their long-awaited fifth studio album, "Entertaining Angels". The new album was first issued as a Special Edition which included a bonus disc containing extra tracks. "Entertaining Angels - Special Edition" is a limited release with the main album (minus the bonus disc) having been released in November 2012. A major change for Landmarq then occurred in the middle of 2012 with the announcement that, due to a conflict of interests and live dates, original drummer Dave Wagstaffe would be leaving the band to join fully with Martin Turners Wishbone Ash. Although the band understood and respected Dave's decision, this was obviously a setback for Landmarq and they realized they needed to act quickly to replace Dave and continue with promoting the new album. Following a series of auditions in London, the band finally recruited drummer Daniel Martin, a graduate of Drum Tech and a drumming prodigy. Though quite a bit younger than the rest of the band, Daniel was brought up listening to various Rock and Prog-rock bands and artists and has already proved himself a worthy replacement having learned the complete new album and fitted in very well as Landmarq embarked on a series of UK dates in November 2012. The very positive comments the band received both at their gigs and subsequently on Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, etc, bear testament to the fact that Landmarq had made a welcome return to the stage. Following on from their gigs in 2012, Landmarq continued their live shows -- dubbed "Angels On Tour" -- with more UK and European dates through 2013, including the Cambridge and Summer's End rock festivals in the UK and the Rock Itervoort Festival in The Netherlands. (Live dates info) Landmarq will be releasing new product throughout 2014/15, including "Entertaining Angels" on vinyl (a double-LP set). Also, a long-awaited compilation album will be released, entitled "Origins - A Landmarq Anthology - 1991-2014" (2-CD set). Featuring vocalists Tracy Hitchings and Damian Wilson, the album includes a brand new song, also entitled "Origins". And finally - currently in production is a new DVD/CD filmed at one of the band's European shows in 2013 at the Boerderij, NL. |
New
Release
"Roadskill - Live In The Netherlands" CD
DVD
Plus interviews with the band and bonus features RoadSkill is a Special Edition Live CD plus DVD recorded in front of a packed and enthusiastic audience at De Boerderij in the Netherlands during Landmarq's 2013 tour. For
more information and to purchase click here "RoadSkill"
Also you can visit Landmarq at: |
|
For
more information and every thing about the musicians and band, please visit
LANDMARQ
HOME PAGEN
|
|
|
|
for use with Internet Explorer, Chrome, FireFox and Netscape. For best view please use 800x600 HiColor |
Please send e-mail to: Progressive Rock & Progressive Metal |
Back To Main Page |
| . |
|
. |
Landmarq
is a UK-based Progressive rock band, fronted by multi-award-winning vocalist
Tracy Hitchings. The band write and perform their own material and have
built-up a reputation as one of the leading bands within the genre, particularly
to fans of the more melodic sub-genre of Neo-Prog. The line-up also comprises
of multi-talented (not to mention award-winning!) producer/keyboardist,
Mike Varty, along with Uwe Drose (guitars), Steve Gee (basses) and Daniel
Martin (drums). The bands latest album, �Entertaining Angels� (2012) has
been hailed as �the strongest of their career�.
