|
|
|
The fallout from the Fire
dispute wrote off three quarters of 1988, apart from some sporadic
gigging. Once the legal dispute
had been settled out of court the band found themselves a new financial
backer and setup their own label - Avalantic Records, to ensure they
retained complete creative control.
The first release on
Avalantic was "The World Is Ours"
single, and the band promoted this by embarking on the Winter
Thrash Tour at the tail end of 1988. It was if the band was starting
all over again, the early promise of 1985 feeling
like a distant memory... Phil: "It was soul destroying. A lot of bands who used to support us have
become quite big, like Fields of the Nephilim, The Wedding Present, All
About Eve, and the Wonder Stuff. If we had the backing they have had,
instead of like the put down that we have had, and hindrance from the
record company, we would have been as big as the Mission , I honestly
believe that" The Rose quickly followed off by entering
1989 with another single, the title track of their
upcoming first "official" studio album - "Never
Another Sunset". Both of these releases were promoted by
another UK wide tour - The Groove Collision Tour.
For a full review of the album click here. Just
as
it seemed the band were re-establishing themselves, a further revelation
came from the settlement with Fire Records, Glenn explaining in the 2006
interview with this website: "At some point Fire Records contacted
us and told us that not only did they want the percentage we�d agreed as
part of the severance deal but that as the album �Never Another
Sunset� was released within weeks of signing this agreement it must have
been recorded prior to the agreement and was therefore covered by the old
agreement. They wanted everything, which seemed to be the basis of our
contract with Fire. Unfortunately we had signed the contracts and they did
have the law on their side so there was nothing we could do." This blow seemed to be the final straw for
Glenn and Nicol, and they decided to leave the band in the summer of 1989. Phil and Paul did consider replacing Glenn
to continue the dual guitar style the band had established, but the Hippy
/ 60's fad was over, and new tastes were developing. Paul
mentioned that when they wrote their first batch of songs as
kids they wanted to take over the world with 3 chord songs. With the
departure of Glenn, Morris and Berry saw the opportunity to try and
recapture that early energy and simplicity in the song writing, so elected
not to replace Glenn. The Rose of Avalanche
Line Up #5
The new lineup featuring
new bass player Darren Horner, toured in the UK at the end of 1989 and
released one single, featuring songs written while Schultz and McKay were
still in the band. This was 1989's "A Peace
Inside EP". The band also attempted a "re-brand" and during this period as they started to call themselves "The Rose", dropping the "of Avalanche" from their name. This new name featured in fan club mailings and the press kit for the Peace Inside EP, however it seemed short lived as the band never released an actual record under the shortened moniker. Mark then decided enough
was enough and left. Mark's replacement was Andy Porter, and thus
completed the 6th and final line up change for the band. The Rose of Avalanche
Line Up #6
At this point the band
effectively disappeared from the UK music scene with focus shifting to
exclusively focusing on mainland Europe, for example the "I
Believe EP" released in 1990 was only available in Europe.
Paul always said that it was far easier to receive the freedom to do your
own thing in Europe, where in the UK the promoters always wanted a product
to shift or a "name" to feature. At the end of the decade
the UK alternative music scene was going through dramatic change. There
was a history of underground music genres bubbling under the main single
& album chart, with the bigger acts of those genres occasionally
breaking through into the charts alongside the mainstream established
acts. Remember this was back in the 1980's when single sales were still
significant enough to represent a challenge for any underground / Indie
act to break the Top 40. The
"alternative" or "Goth" genre had enjoyed a pretty
unrivaled run as the largest of these genres for the majority of the
1980's, with bands like The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, All About Eve,
The Cult all breaking into the Top 40 charts. However towards the end of
the decade, "Goth" was suddenly replaced as the top dog by a
number of emerging genres. The
"second
summer of love" saw Acid House & Dance break out from
the underground of illegal raves and clubs into the mainstream charts.
"Shoegazing" bands dominated the Indie
Charts, and Madchester
exploded in the late 80's / early 90's.
Suddenly
bands like The Mission who were previously untouchable, suddenly found
themselves torn apart by personnel changes, and in the desire to innovate
their sound, released disastrous albums like "Masque"
where they attempted to associate themselves with the new younger credible
bands on the scene like Utah
Saints. Unfortunately they only succeeded in alienating their
existing fan base, and failing to attract any new fans in the process.
The
Rose too faced this new market dynamic, their response being "String
'A' Beads", their second studio album.
The
musical dynamic of the band had changed significantly. With Paul as the
single guitarist, compositions were much simpler and cleaner. The bass
became to the forefront in songs to compensate for the loss of the second
guitar. Most notably the fresh approach to the drumming sound from Andy
Porter sought to add the dance / electronic element to the sound, via the
heavy use of electronic and sequenced drums.
The band closed 1990 touring
String 'A' Beads extensively in mainland Europe. |
