Loud were a

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 with

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 ...

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

and heavy metal influences, formed in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

, England in 1989. The band was founded by guitarist Chris McLaughlin, following his stint as a live guitarist with

New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 t ...

, and former Excalibur / P.A.D.D. / Hardware bassist Martin Hawthorn. Second guitarist Colin Clarkson and drummer Ricky Howard (formerly of Happiness A.D.) completed the line-up.

History

The group's debut album, released in 1990 on China Records, was called ''D Generation''. It was co-produced by J. Martin Rex and

Jaz Coleman Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman (born 26 February 1960) is an English singer and musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the lead vocalist and keyboardist of post-punk group Killing Joke. In addition, Coleman has composed orchestral and sound ...

Killing Joke Killing Joke were an English rock music, rock band formed in Notting Hill, London, in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Killing Joke ...

. ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'' magazine voted it one of their twenty best albums of 1990. The band subsequently went out on the road in late 1990, playing some live dates as support to former

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

guitarist Andy Taylor. These were followed by support slots with

at the

London Astoria The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England, that operated from 1976 to 2009. Originally a warehouse during the 1920s, the building became a cinema and ballroom. It was converted for use as a theatre in t ...

on 31 January 1991 and

The Godfathers The Godfathers are an English rock band from London, England, with strong influences from R&B and punk. Career The Godfathers were formed by Peter and Chris Coyne (vocals and bass, respectively) after the demise of The Sid Presley Experience ...

at the Town & Country Club on 21 March 1991, and by their own headline tour of the UK during the Spring. In July 1991, the band played at the second annual Cumbria Rock Festival at

Derwent Park Derwent Park is a Rugby League Stadium and former motorcycle speedway in Workington, England situated beside the Cumbrian River Derwent. It is used mostly for rugby league matches and is the home stadium of Workington Town who play in Leagu ...

stadium in

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

. Hawthorn and Clarkson left the band in late 1991 and were replaced by bassist Stuart Morrow (formerly of New Model Army) and guitarist Paul "Etch" Etchells (formerly of

Ghost Dance The Ghost Dance (, also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) is a ceremony incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. According to the millenarian teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka (renamed Jack Wilson), pro ...

). This revamped line-up recorded the band's second album, ''Psyche 21'', which was released in 1992. The album was produced by

Reinhold Mack Reinhold Mack (also known as Mack, born 25 August 1949) is a German record producer and engineer. He is best known for his collaborations with Billy Squier, AC/DC, Queen, the Electric Light Orchestra, Sparks, and Chinaski. Biography Early ...

. It received some favourable write-ups in the contemporary music press, including a rave review from journalist Valerie Potter in the Australian ''Hot Metal'' magazine and a 5-out-of-5 score in ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...

'' magazine from reviewer Anthony Noguera. In spite of the album's success, the band split up shortly afterwards.

Former members

*Chris McLaughlin – Guitar / Vocals (1989–1993) *Martin Hawthorn – Bass (1989–1991) *Colin Clarkson – Guitar (1989–1991) *Ricky Howard – Drums (1989–1993) *Stuart Morrow – Bass (1991–1993) *Paul "Etch" Etchells – Guitar (1991–1992) *Craig Shepherd – Guitar (1992–1993)

Discography

Albums

* ''D Generation'' (1990) * ''Psyche 21'' (1992)

EPs and singles

* "D Generation" / "This Time" / "Geist" (1990) * "Explosive" (remixed by Andy Taylor) / "To Have and to Hold" / "Black Hysteria" (acoustic version) (1990) * "Song for the Lonely" / "Geist II" / "Massacre" (1991) * ''Sex EP'' – "D Generation" / "Day Tripper" / "God is Dead" / "Resurrection" (1991) * "God is Dead" (1991) – one track on 7-inch

flexi-disc The flexi disc (also known as a phonosheet, Sonosheet or Soundsheet, a trademark) is a Gramophone record, phonograph record made of a thin, flexible Polyvinyl chloride, vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral Phonograph pickup, stylus groove, and is ...

, given away with ''

'' magazine issue No. 329 * "Easy" (single cut) / "Give Me the Money" / "Late September" (1991) - UK No. 67 * "Easy" (club cut) / "Geist III" / "Psyche 21" (1991) – limited edition 10-inch vinyl picture-disc * "Mary (She Made Me...)" / "No Pleasure" / "It Wasn't Me" (1992) – promo EP * "Mary (She Made Me...)" / "I Loved to Be Loved (For Freddie)" / "I Am the Idol (live recording)" (1992)

Appearances on compilation albums

* "God is Dead" – track No. 5 on ''Ragazzi Bizarre'' (1991) * "Mary (She Made Me...)" – track No. 9 on ''Metal CD Collection 1'' (1992)

References

External links

Loud
at Spirit of Metal * {{DEFAULTSORT:Loud English hard rock musical groups Musical groups from Bradford Musical groups established in 1989