More is a British heavy metal band that was part of the

new wave of British heavy metal The new wave of British heavy metal (often abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that began in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Editor Alan Lewis (music journalist), Alan Lew ...

scene in the early 1980s. They recorded two albums and two singles on major label, Atlantic Records, toured with

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

on the ‘Killers’ tour, played the German rock festival 'Golden Summer Night' at Stuttgart and Darmstadt in August 1981, as well as the '

Monsters of Rock Monsters of Rock was a hard rock and heavy metal music festival. It was originally held annually in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as th ...

' festival at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, sti ...

one week later. More is still active and playing live with a new full-length album due for release in 2025.

Career

Initially the band More was fronted by vocalist

Paul Mario Day Paul Mario Day (born 19 April 1956) is an English singer who was the original lead vocalist of heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1975 to 1976.Wall, Mick, ''Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography'', 2004 (3rd edition), Sanctuary ...

, who had sung in an early incarnation of

. By the time of their second album, Frank Darch and Laurie Mansworth had left, the latter going on to form the band Airrace. Andy John Burton was recruited as the new

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

and the band became a four-piece. Bassist Brian Day also left during the recording of the second album, to be replaced by Barry 'Baz' Nicholls, who has since remained a constant member in the line-up. Following Paul Mario Day's subsequent departure from the band, the line-up of Cox, Nicholls, Burton and vocalist Mick Stratton released a 7" single called "Trickster" in 1982, before splitting up. Kenny Cox revived More briefly in 1985, with vocalist Ron Jackson, guitarist Mel Jones, bassist Baz Nicholls, and Paul George on drums. Following that, Kenny Cox moved on to the band Mammoth, with ex- Gillan and Sun Red Sun bassist John McCoy and ex-

Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...

vocalist

Nicky Moore Nicholas Charles Moore (21 June 1947 – 3 August 2022) was an English blues, rock and heavy metal singer, who was best known as a member of the British band Samson. He replaced Bruce Dickinson who left the band to join Iron Maiden in 1982. M ...

Cox and Nicholls reformed More in the spring of 1998, with Mike Freeland featuring on vocals. A track called "My Obsession" was recorded by this incarnation of the band. In 2011, Andy John Burton recruited Baz Nicholls (bass; joined More in 1982), Mike Freeland (vocals; part of More's 1999 line-up), Paul Stickles (guitar; also with the band Dangerous Breed) and special guest

Chris Tsangarides Christopher Andrew Tsangarides (17 August 1956 – 6 January 2018) was a British record producer, sound engineer, and mixer of Greek Cypriot origin. He was best known for his work with many heavy metal artists, including Gary Moore, Thin L ...

to perform the More back catalogue as “Exmore”. They performed live at the 'Headbangers Open Air' festival in July 2011, with a warm-up show taking place at the Astor Theatre in

Deal, Kent Deal is a coastal town in Kent, England, which lies where the North Sea and the English Channel meet, north-east of Dover, England, Dover and south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town whose history is closely linked t ...

, plus a post-festival club show the following Sunday. Following an enthusiastic reaction from the audience at this concert, the bandmembers made the collective decision to continue performing. The band played a co-headlining show with

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

at the Sir Robert Peel venue in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

on 15 October 2011. The following year, the band changed their name to More 2012 and scheduled further shows, including: 26 May at the Railway venue in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, 23 November at the Red Lion pub in

Gravesend, Kent Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

, and 1 December at the '

Hard Rock Hell Hard Rock Hell is a three day music festival held at Vauxhall Holiday resort, Great Yarmouth. It was previously held at Hafan y Môr Holiday Park, Pwllheli, Gwynedd, North Wales, and up until 2011 at Pontin's Holiday Village, Prestatyn, Wales. ...

VI' festival, with Steve Rix on drums. An appearance at the 'Metalwave UK' festival in

Purfleet Purfleet-on-Thames is a town in the Thurrock unitary authority, Essex, England. It is bordered by the A13 road to the north and the River Thames to the south and is within the easternmost part of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, alongside

Praying Mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate ...

Dennis Stratton Dennis Stratton (born 9 October 1952) is an English guitarist best known as a member of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from December 1979 to October 1980. He was also the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of Praying Mantis from 1990 ...

Cloven Hoof A cloven hoof, cleft hoof, divided hoof, or split hoof is a hoof split into two toes. Members of the mammalian order Artiodactyla that possess this type of hoof include cattle, deer, pigs, antelopes, gazelles, goats, and sheep. The two digits ...

, Chariot and

Deep Machine Deep Machine were an English heavy metal band from the East London, England, that first came into existence in 1979. Founded by lead guitarist Bob Hooker, the band's music was influenced by other NWOBHM bands such as Iron Maiden and in parti ...

, took place on 5 October 2013, followed by a performance at the 'Heavy Metal Maniacs' festival in

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands, with a population of 95,996 as of 202 ...

on 19 October 2013. In May 2014, Dave John Ross replaced Paul Stickles on guitar. Further concert appearances were then scheduled for the '

Bang Your Head!!! Bang Your Head!!! was a heavy metal and hard rock festival held annually in Germany. First held in 1996 as a one-day indoor event in the Stefan-Hartmann-Halle in Tübingen with a crowd of 600 people, Bang Your Head!!! has since moved to Balin ...

' festival in

Balingen Balingen (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Balenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, capital of the districts of Germany, district of Zollernalbkreis. It is located near the Swabian Jura, approx. 35 km to the south of Tübingen, 35&nb ...

on 12 July 2014, and the '

VII' festival in

Pwllheli Pwllheli ( ; ) is a market town and community on the Llŷn Peninsula (), in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It had a population of 4,076 in 2011, which declined slightly to 3,947 in 2021; a large proportion (81%) were Welsh language, Welsh speaking. ...

on 15 November 2014. In 2015, the band played at the 'Legends of Rock' festival in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

and the '

VIII' festival in

. In November and December 2016, the band undertook a short European tour as special guests of German band

Bonfire A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used for waste disposal or as part of a religious feast, such as Saint John's Eve. Etymology The earliest attestations date to the late 15th century, with the Catholicon Anglicum spelling i ...

, taking in shows in Belgium, Germany and Holland. Chris Tsangarides died on 6 January 2018, and Andy John Burton died on 7 November 2021. Kenny Cox died on 21 June 2022. In March 2022, a revamped More announced the recruitment of Polish vocalist Roman Kańtoch (ex-Kruk). However, this was short-lived, and Mike Freeland returned to the band in August 2023, with Peter Welsh (ex- Tytan) joining on guitar which saw More return to performing live notably headlining Taken by Force Festival in the Netherlands in November 2024. As of 2025 More is scheduled to play festivals and release a full-length album featuring songs written by Kenny Cox and Chris Tsangarides, who also produced the recordings and played guitar.

Line-ups

First line-up (1980–1981) *Paul Mario Day - Vocals *Kenny Cox - Guitar *Paul Todd - Guitar *Brian Day - Bass *Frank Darch - Drums Second line-up (1981–1982) *Paul Mario Day - Vocals *Kenny Cox - Guitar *Laurie Mansworth - Guitar *Brian Day - Bass *Andy John Burton - Drums Third line-up (1982–85) *Mick Stratton - Vocals *Kenny Cox - Guitar *Brian Day - Bass *Andy John Burton - Drums Fourth line-up (1985) *Ron Jackson - Vocals *Kenny Cox - Guitar *Mel Jones - Guitar *Baz Nicholls - Bass *Paul George - Drums Fifth line-up (1998–2000) *Mike Freeland - Vocals *Kenny Cox - Guitar *Baz Nicholls - Bass *Rick Dyat / Andy Robinson - Drums More Reunion line-up (2011–2012) *Mike Freeland - Vocals *Chris Tsangarides - Guitar *Paul Stickles - Guitar *Baz Nicholls - Bass *Andy John Burton - Drums (2012-2018) *Mike Freeland - Vocals *Chris Tsangarides - Guitar *Paul Stickles / Dave John Ross - Guitar *Baz Nicholls - Bass *Steve Rix - Drums More current line-up *Mike Freeland - Vocals *Peter Welsh - Guitar *Baz Nicholls - Bass *Steve Rix - Drums

Discography

Albums

''Warhead'' (

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, 1981) #"Warhead" - 3:47 #"Fire" (

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English rock music, rock band formed by singer Arthur Brown (musician), Arthur Brown in 1967. The original band included Vincent Crane (Hammond organ and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwoo ...

cover) - 3:31 #"Soldier" - 4:52 #"Depression" - 5:00 #"Road Rocket" - 3:54 #"Lord of Twilight" - 4:48 #"Way of the World" - 3:42 #"We are the Band" - 4:30 #"I Have No Answers" - 5:42 Total length: 39:46 ''Blood & Thunder'' (Atlantic Records, 1982) #"Killer on the Prowl" - 5:11 #"Blood & Thunder" - 3:46 #"I Just Can't Believe It" - 4:16 #"I've Been Waiting" - 3:21 #"Traitors Gate" - 4:11 #"Rock and Roll" - 4:30 #"I Wanna Take You" - 3:15 #"Go Home" - 3:15 #"The Eye" - 2:40 #"Nightmare" - 6:10 Total length: 40:35

Singles

*"We Are the Band" / "Atomic Rock" (Atlantic Records, 1981) - UK No. 59 *"Trickster" / "

Hey Joe "Hey Joe" is a song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and been performed in many musical styles by hundreds of different artists. The lyrics are from the point of view of a man on the run and planning to escape to Mexico after sho ...

" (Atlantic Records, 1982)

References

External links

Official Facebook page

Unofficial Myspace

An extended biography of More
{{Authority control English heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1980 British musical quartets New Wave of British Heavy Metal musical groups Rock music groups from London