Athena (band)
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Athena is a
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
/
ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...
band from
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
,
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, founded by twin brothers Hakan Özoğuz (
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
and
backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...
) and Gökhan Özoğuz (
lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
and
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
) in 1987. It is regarded as one of the best Turkish rock groups by many listeners. They have released 8 albums and featured as the Turkish entry to the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "
For Real For Real is an American R&B and soul quartet, that formed in 1990. In the latter part of that decade they were nominated for a Billboard Music Award and a Soul Train Music Award. The ladies have now reunited and are touring. Biography For Real ...
", finishing fourth.


Band history


Foundation and rise in popularity (1997–2000)

Athena (ah-T'hěn-ah) was formed by twin brothers Gökhan Özoğuz and Hakan Özoğuz as a
thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...
band in 1987. After an unsuccessful first album, they switched their style to
ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially Horn (instrument), horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones ...
sometime later. Athena released their second album ''Holigan'' in 1998. The distinct ska sound of the album was welcomed by the local record buying public so much so that the title song ''Holigan'' was adopted as a march by football supporters of all ages at the stadiums. The album hit various Turkish charts and stayed at the top for a considerable amount of time. Shortly after releasing ''Holigan'', Athena did a large scale tour of
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. One of the significant moments of the tour was their show at Açikhava Tiyatrosu in Istanbul. They later opened for
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
at a concert at Ali Sami Yen Stadium, then home to the Turkish football club
Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...
. Athena was the face of Turkey as part of the Millennium Concert at
Taksim Square Taksim Square (, ), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the central station of th ...
in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
on the first night of 2000. The said concert was broadcast live by the Turkish channel NTV. They were later invited to the Popkomm Festival held in Köln, Germany where they performed with the
Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...
. Their third album “Tam Zamanı Şimdi” was released in 2000 and the first single ''Yaşamak Var Ya'' was an instant hit in Turkey. The album sales reached gold status in an extremely short time. Their tour was sold out as a result of their exploding popularity. They performed a series of concerts in Germany pairing up with the German ska band The Fritz. After the tour, their song ''Devam Boşver'' was included in the album ''World of Ska Volume 11'', released in Europe by the ska label Pork Pie Records. They later recorded the song ''Oniki Dev Adam'' (12 Giant Men) for the Turkish national basketball team. The Turkish team finished runner-up in the
EuroBasket 2001 The 2001 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2001, was the 32nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2002 FIBA World Championship, giving a ...
and many European newspapers commented that the song, sung by the team’s supporters during the games, led the team play better. In January 2002, Athena’s fourth album ''Her Şey Yolunda'' was released. Two songs from this album, ''Öpücük'' and ''Beyoğlu'' were major hits. In 2003 Athena became part of an anti-war movement against the Iraqi war and contributed to the collaborative song ''Savaşa Hiç Gerek Yok'' (No Need for War), performing with many other musicians. Athena was the guest group at the huge dance show directed by Beyhan Murphy for Turkish Opera and Ballet. They also headlined the H2000 Festival June 2003 with Starsailor. Athena were among the headliners of the Rock'n Coke Festival of 2003 together with such acts as
Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...
, The Cardigans,
Suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, Textile, fabrics, Handbag, purses, furniture, and other items. Suede is made from the underside of the animal skin, which is softer and m ...
,
Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977, becoming best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 ...
,
Sugababes The Sugababes are an English girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan, and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by Ron Tom, the manager of All Saints, ...
, Dirty Vegas.


Eurovision entry, release of 5th self-titled album (2000–present)

On May 15, 2004, Athena represented Turkey at the
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
with ''For Real''. In an unprecedented result, the ska band finished 4th in the contest. After Eurovision, their maxi single ''For Real'' was released in Germany and Greece. Athena’s first concert after the Eurovision Song Contest was the European – Turkish Festival in Berlin which was broadcast live on TRT (Turkish National TV). After the concert, and already popular in Germany, Athena was a guest on TV Total, a popular German talk show where they performed live. In June 2004 Athena’s new album ''US'' was released in Turkey. With the release of their fifth self-titled album, "Athena" in 2005, their sound showed signs of change once more, with the band experimenting with an
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
sound this time. In 2010 the band released the album ''Pis,'' which followed this change in style. In 2005, the song "Tam Zamani Simdi" was featured on the FIFA 06 soundtrack. In 2011, Athena recorded a cover of "
My Way "My Way" is Paul Anka's English-language lyrical adaptation of the French song " Comme d'habitude", released by Frank Sinatra in 1969. The original song was written by Jacques Revaux, Gilles Thibaut, and Claude François, and was first recor ...
", one of Frank Sinastra's most popular songs in honor of Coca Cola's 125th anniversary with Gökhan Özoğuz being the lead
songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...
of the Turkish version of the song "Ben Böyleyim". Gökhan and Hakan Özoğuz were among the four jury members of the third season of the reality television singing competition ‘O Ses Türkiye’ aired by TV8 (the Turkish version of the television show '' The Voice''). In 2014, Athena released an album named ''Altüst''. The most controversial song in that album is “Ses Etme” because of the music video which published in 2016. The music video features the day of a transgender woman. Athena criticized the prejudice against transgender people and the hate crime in this song.


Discography


Albums

*1993 – ''One Last Breath'' (April 1993) *1998 – ''Holigan'' (May 1998) *2000 – '' Tam Zamanı Şimdi'' (April 2000) *2002 – '' Herşey Yolunda'' (January 2002) *2004 – ''Us'' (June 2004) *2005 – ''Athena'' (May 2005) *2010 – ''Pis'' (May 2010) *2014 – ''Altüst'' (November 2014)


Singles and EPs

*2001 – Mehteran Şeferi *2004 –
For Real For Real is an American R&B and soul quartet, that formed in 1990. In the latter part of that decade they were nominated for a Billboard Music Award and a Soul Train Music Award. The ladies have now reunited and are touring. Biography For Real ...
*2006 – İt (May 2006) *2007 – Fenerbahçe'nin 100 Şerefli Yılı (''Fenerbahçe 100th Anniversary'') *2011 – Ben Böyleyim *2016 – Geblo ('' Bad Cat'') *2017 – Ses Etme (Remixes) *2017 – Geberiyorum (Nazım Hikmet Ran Günler Şiiri) *2022 – Mamak Türküsü (Yeni Türkü Zamansız) *2022 – Haklıyız Kazanacağız


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athena Third-wave ska groups Turkish punk rock groups Musical groups from Istanbul Golden Butterfly Award winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants