About The Almighty
The Almighty are a Scottish hard rock/heavy metal band from Glasgow formed in 1988. After disbanding for the first time in 1996, they were reunited from 1999 to 2002, again from 2006 to 2009 and reformed for the third time in 2023. Three of the founding members, Ricky Warwick, Stump Monroe and Floyd London were friends who met at school. Although the band members musical roots were in punk, the Almighty adopted a more heavy metal/hard rock oriented musical direction in their early years. Later albums saw the band's musical style move towards the band members' original punk roots. They have released seven studio albums, two anthologies and one live album.
The Almighty were formed in Strathaven on 19 January 1988. Most of the musicians came from a punk background. Lead singer Ricky Warwick had previously done some session and tour work with New Model Army, although not on any of their recordings. Ricky, drummer Stump Monroe and bass guitarist Floyd London were friends at school and had previously played together in a local band called Rough Charm. The three were joined by guitarist Andy 'Tantrum' McCafferty to complete the band line-up. Despite the band members largely punk rock roots, the Almighty followed a more heavy metal/hard rock oriented musical direction, and recorded an eight-track demo to help promote their early gigs.
They were signed by Polydor in March 1989 and recorded their first album, Blood, Fire & Love which was released in October to generally positive reviews. The band were also signed to a long-term songwriting agreement to Chrysalis Music, having been scouted by Dave Massey. In the same year they were voted in third place on the Kerrang! readers poll for Best New Act.
In 1990 they toured the UK and also embarked upon a short US tour in an attempt to break into the American market. However, a more extensive follow up tour of the US did not go ahead, although they did embark on a European club tour. The band's hard rock sound was compared favourably with the likes of the Cult, AC/DC and Motörhead in press reviews of their live shows. A live album, Blood, Fire & Live, was released on 8 October 1990, having been recorded at July gigs in Edinburgh and Nottingham. The track list featured songs from Blood, Fire & Love, plus a cover of Bachman–Turner Overdrive's "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet".
Recording of the Almighty's second studio album, Soul Destruction, began in December 1990 with Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor as producer. The album was released in March 1991 along with the lead single "Free'n'Easy". In February and March the band toured the UK supporting Motörhead and Megadeth. In June 1991 they embarked on a headline UK tour. The concert at the Town and Country club in London was filmed and released later that year on VHS as Soul Destruction – Live. Later in the year they supported Alice Cooper on a European tour.
In March 1992 internal differences within the band came to a head causing guitarist Tantrum to leave the band. He was replaced by Canadian Pete Friesen who had previously played for Alice Cooper, and had met the Almighty when they played support for him the previous year. In the spring the band were invited to tour Australia in support of the Screaming Jets, who had just released their Living in England EP and wanted a British band for the support on their tour. That summer the band were the opening act at the Donington Monsters of Rock festival, and during their set played a new song entitled "Addiction". Towards the end of the year they began preparing material for a third album.
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