VIA PRESS RELEASE | “One of the first American rock bands to openly worship and emulate Black Sabbath, Bang are, in fact, American doom pioneers, and their first album is a stone-cold classic of ugly distortion and steely-eyed downer rock.” —Classic Rock Magazine / Team Rock “10 Essential Proto-Metal Albums”
Often called America’s answer to Black Sabbath, BANG is one of the most unsung bands in the history of US hard rock. With the heaviness of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, coupled with the groove of Grand Funk Railroad, BANG released three critically acclaimed albums on Capital Records in the early 70s, establishing the heavy genre that is now revered as proto-metal.
Busting out of the turmoil of the post-psychedelic ’60’s, BANG’s 1971 self-titled debut is considered an important forerunner of the early Doom Metal genre. Decibel magazine has hailed it as a “landmark album in the badass pantheon of metal” and inducted the album into the Decibel Metal Hall of Fame. As richly deserved as this honor is, BANG were no one-trick pony. Undoubtedly one of America’s heaviest proto-metal bands, BANG also had a strong sense of melodic power, versatility and their songwriting skills were second to none.
No band has a more legendary introduction to rock fame than BANG. In the summer of 1971, Frank Ferrara, Tony Diorio, and Frankie Gilcken, hit the road, driving from their native Philadelphia area to Florida to try their fortune. While buying rolling papers in a record store, they learned of a Small Faces and Deep Purple concert nearby in Orlando. Brazenly, they showed up at the venue and declared they were ready to play. The concert organizer asked them to set up and audition and after only a couple songs, the band found themselves playing their first ever gig, opening for Rod Stewart and Small Faces! Before they knew it, BANG was playing with Bachman Turner Overdrive, Deep Purple, Three Dog Night, Fleetwood Mac, Ike and Tina Turner, The Doobie Brothers, and even Black Sabbath. Capitol Records signed them, and three LPs were released.
Highly regarded as a cult act for years, it’s now time for this truly amazing rock band to be enjoyed by a new audience worldwide! On the heels of the publication of the complete band history book, The BANG Story, Ripple Music is thrilled to announce the first ever Best of Compilation from this historic heavy band. The Best of BANG features 18 of the bands best-loved and heaviest songs from their Capital Years, personally curated by Ripple Music and the band.
For all those who’ve longed to dig into the band’s history, there is no better place to start than The Best of Bang. Available worldwide on double-LP vinyl with gorgeous gatefold, full of rare photos, a cover featuring the original BANG girl, and liner notes by esteemed music journalist, Sleezegrinder, Best of BANG is also available on digipack CD and all digital music formats. Best of BANG, and all Ripple Music releases, are available in finer record stores worldwide via MVD Distribution, Plastic Head (UK), H’art (Germany /France), Goodfellows (Italy), Suburban (Benelux), and Borders (Sweden) Distributors. All releases are also available via the Ripple Music Webstore and Ripple Music Bandcamp pages.
