Ñu, also known as José Carlos Molina-Ñu, are a Spanish

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band formed in 1974 in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. Their music style, often described as medieval rock, has

medieval music Medieval music encompasses the sacred music, sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the Dates of classical music eras, first and longest major era of Western class ...

celtic rock Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundation of the ...

and heavy metal influences. The band have experienced multiple line-up changes, with vocalist José Carlos Molina being the only constant presence in the band through the years. The flute predominance in their sound has been compared with Jethro Tull's style, but playing a way heavier sound they are in fact a predecessor of

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for example ...

. As time went by, their style tended to be less folk and more heavy. Their lyrics usually are about medieval castles, riders, villains and heroes.

History

Initially formed in 1972 as Fresa, they decided to change the band's name in 1974, so the new band would be called Ñu. Their first record was the single "Que nadie escape de la evolución / Volando en sociedad" released with band's no permission two years later. The discrepancies between

Rosendo Mercado Rosendo Mercado Ruiz (born 23 February 1954, Madrid, Spain) is a Spanish rock singer and songwriter. He was a member of bands Ñu and Leño, and is a prominent exponent of the so-called urban rock in Spain. Biography First steps His fami ...

and Molina caused that Rosendo leave the band in order to form a new one,

Leño Leño was a Spanish hard rock band created in 1978 in Madrid. The band members were Rosendo Mercado as guitarist and vocalist, Chiqui Mariscal as bassist and Ramiro Penas on drums. When they started to record their first album ''Leño'', Chiq ...

. Continuous line-up changes (up to sixty different musicians have participated throughout his discography) have been related to the character of the leader, described by a critic as "irascible, self-sufficient and undiplomatic".

Members

* José Carlos Molina (vocals, flute, guitar, violin) *

(guitar, 1974–77) *Juan Almarza (bass, 1974–76) *Felipe Salinas (drums, 1974–76) *Chiqui Mariscal (bass, 1976–77, 1981–84) *Ramiro Penas (drums, 1976–77) *José María García ka Sini(guitar, 1978–79) *Jean François André (violin, 1978–80) *Jorge Calvo (bass, 1978–80) *Enrique Ballesteros (drums, 1978–79, 1985–91) *Raúl Garrido (drums, 1979–80) *Eduardo Pinilla (guitar, 1979–80, 1984–85, 1988) *Jerónimo Ramiro (guitar, 1981–84, 1988–91) *Miguel Ángel Collado (keyboards, 1981–85, 1988) *Bernardo Ballester (drums, 1981–83, 1994–97) *Bob Thackway (drums, 1983) *Alejandro Colantonio (drums, 1984–85) *José Luis Ajenjo (bass, 1984–85) *José Luis Rodríguez (bass, 1985–88) *Enrique Bertrán de Lis (guitar, 1985–88) *Toni ka El mago(keyboards, 1985–86) *Enrique Valiño (violin, 1987–88) *Nicolás del Hierro ka Niko(bass, 1988–91) *Carlos Kakutani (guitar, viola, 1992–94) *Javier Rocaberti (bass, 1992–97) *Luis García (drums, 1992–94) *José Antonio Casal (guitar, 1994–97) *Willie Sagone (drums, 1995) *Miguel Lozano (bass, guitar, 1997–98) *Juan Miguel Rodríguez (bass, keyboards, 1997–2002) *Tony de Juan (guitar, 1997) *Pedro Vela (guitar, 1997–2002) *Jesús Sánchez (drums, 1997–99) *Jorge Calvo (keyboards, flute, 1999–2002) *Álvaro Tenorio (bass, 1995–97) *

Vesko Kountchev Vesko Kountchev (born Vesselin Valentinov Kountchev () on January 17, 1974 in Sofia, Bulgaria) is a musician. Early life Vesko Kountchev (Веско Кунчев) was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. Son of Valentin Kountchev (Валентин Кунч ...

(viola, 1995–1999–Present) *José Carlos Molina Jr. (drums, 1999–2000) *Joaquín Arellano (drums, 2000) * Gorka Jon Alegre (bass, 2002–) * Francisco Javier Arnaiz ka Bumper(drums, 2002–) *Manuel Arias (guitar, 2002–present)

Discography

;Studio albums * ''

Cuentos de ayer y de hoy ''Cuentos de ayer y de hoy'' is the debut album by the Spanish hard and folk rock band Ñu released in October 1978. This album features a progressive rock style combining hard and folk rock. The flute predominance in the album's sound has been c ...

'' (1978) * '' A golpe de látigo'' (1979) * '' Fuego'' (1983) * '' Acorralado por ti'' (1984) * ''

El mensaje del mago EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

'' (1987) * ''

Vamos al lío!! Vamos (Greek: Βάμος) is a small town and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform "Kallikratis" it is a municipal unit, part of the municipality of Apokoronas, serving as its hist ...

'' (1988) * ''

Dos años de destierro DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible systems ...

'' (1990) * ''

La danza de las mil tierras LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

'' (1994) * ''

La taberna encantada LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

'' (1997) * ''

Cuatro gatos Cuatro, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the number 4, may refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), a family of Latin American string instruments, including: ** Cuatro (Venezuela) ** Puerto Rican cuatro * Cuatro (TV channel), a Spanish free-to- ...

'' (2000) * '' Réquiem'' (2002) * '' Títeres'' (2003) * '' Viejos himnos para nuevos guerreros'' (2011) * '' ... Y nadie escapó de la evolución'' (2011) * '' Yo Estoy Vivo'' (2023) ;Live albums * '' No hay ningún loco'' (1986) * '' Imperio de paletos'' (1992) * '' La noche del juglar'' (1999) ;Singles * ''Que nadie escape de la evolución / Volando en sociedad'' (1976) * ''Aquellos músicos fueron nosotros / La explosión del universo'' (1978) * ''El flautista / Velocidad'' (1980) * ''La bailarina / El hombre de fuego'' (1983) * ''Más duro que nunca / Flor de metal'' (1983) * ''Más, quiero más / Romance fantasma'' (1984) * ''No hay ningún loco / El flautista'' (1986) * ''Sé quien / La bailarina'' (1986) * ''Amor en el cielo / Ella'' (1987) * ''La saeta / Los ojos de la zíngara'' (1987) * ''Manicomio / Robin Hood'' (1987) * ''Una copa por un viejo amigo / Más, quiero más'' (1987) * ''La granja del loco / El tren azul'' (1988) * ''No te dejes ganar / Trovador de ciudad'' (1988) * ''Tuboescape / Conjuros'' (1990) * ''Imperio de paletos / Que nadie escape de la evolución'' (1992) * ''La danza de las mil tierras / Ella / El teatro de la suerte'' (1994) ;Compilation albums * ''1975-1995: Veinte años y un día'' (1995) * ''Colección'' (2001) * ''Esperando'' (2003)

Bibliography

* Giner, Pedro (1995): ''Ñu: no te dejes ganar. Veinte años de resistencia'', Vosa, .

References

External links

Jose Carlos Molina's Official website (12-2019)Profile on AllmusicProfile on RateyourmusicProfile on metal-archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nu Spanish hard rock musical groups Spanish heavy metal musical groups Spanish progressive rock groups Medieval folk rock groups Rock en español music groups Musical groups established in 1974