Geoff Thorpe
| Vicious Rumors | |
|---|---|
| Origin | San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States |
| Genres | Power metal, heavy metal |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Shrapnel, Roadrunner, Atlantic, SPV, Massacre |
| Associated acts | 7th Order, Alameda All Stars, Testament, Vinnie Moore, Death Angel, Spiralarms, Nevermore, Night Ranger, Heathen, James Murphy |
| Website | viciousrumors |
| Members |
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Vicious Rumors are an American power metal band, originally formed in 1979 in the San Francisco, California Bay Area. The band was conceived by founder & guitarist/vocalist Geoff Thorpe, and the band has been actively recording and touring worldwide since their full-length recording debut in 1985. The band is signed to Germany-based label SPV/Steamhammer records.
Guitarist and composer Thorpe began his musical career as a teenager in Honolulu, Hawaii. Thorpe had set out to start forming the band in the San Francisco Bay Area during the summer of 1979. Other Bay Area-based bands like Exodus, Anvil Chorus, Metallica(Metallica was originally from L.A, but may be considered by many to be a Bay Area band - they moved to the Bay to play with Cliff Burton), and Death Angel were also starting out during that era. These bands were playing the same local venues and establishing the Bay Area thrash metal scene—which in a few years would become very popular worldwide.
While working towards a stable lineup, early incarnations of Vicious Rumors played live extensively within California's Bay Area between 1980 and 1985. Their first studio recordings appeared on compilations such as KMEL's New Oasis and U.S. Metal vol. III and IV in 1982, 1983 and 1984. These recordings helped the band obtain their first record deal with the legendary Shrapnel Records.
The band's first full-length album Soldiers of the Night was released in 1985, and it quickly began to establish VR's worldwide reputation. This release is classed as a milestone and a classic in power metal. The lineup at that time included a young guitarist named Vinnie Moore. (Vinnie originally lived in Delaware, but was recommended to the band by Shrapnel Records founder Mike Varney).
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