It Bites

[Spaz]

Another great and highly misunderstood band from the mid to late '80s. Were they pop? Hard Rock? Prog? Poodle rock?

Whatever style you may classify them as, they had a truly unique sound and frontman in Francis Dunnery. I admit that in the latter period of the band's existence, they played up the Hard Rock look but they were still creating unique and interesting music.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gUqjCbI0EJY

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pi6u8ybZVjk& ... ed&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YVLDeusWFWw

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tlKFr9_qDmQ& ... ed&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kONDBkfJv7Y& ... ed&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QBiazi9gGBs& ... ed&search=





Any fans here? Love 'em? Hate 'em?

SPAZ
Born of innocence. Free of ignorance.

[Otters Walk Among Us]

The only song I know is Calling All The Heroes, a track I remember hearing on Rock Over London and I downloaded from someone recently.

Is the rest similar? It's a decent enough tune.

[Spaz]

Similar, but different.

The other stuff on their debut album The Big Lad In The Windmill (with Calling All The Heroes) were not as lightweight as the hit, and some were downright weird (in a good way).

Beginning with the Once Around The World album, they still retained the same charming and unique arrangements, but were definitely 'harder' and more serious.

By their third and final album Eat Me In St. Louis, they were a ROCK band with some annoying hard rock songs but still writing some realy gems. Get past the heavy riffing on a few tracks and you'll be treated to some glorious melodies.

Francis Dunnery has put out some great solo albums since then. Apart from 'Welcome To The Wild Country', which sounds like bad '80s Hard Rock/Poodle Metal. After that, he was amazing. Here's a few of his solo vids:


http://youtube.com/watch?v=r1MQA61jWgM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=R2t303JpT40



SPAZ
Born of innocence. Free of ignorance.

[hutter]

Here's another It Bites fan. I always considered them more prog-rock than anything else, even though their heyday was ten years after the whole prog movement imploded. Hell, Francis was asked to be the frontman for Genesis when Phil Collins dropped out, and this was when Mike and Tony were looking to incorporate more of their 70's prog stylings back into their music. It Bites may defy easy categorization, but in spirit at least they're very much prog.

Hey Spaz! You forgot this one:
http://nealsnow.multiply.com/video/item/519

[Spaz]

"Underneath Your Pillow" is a great song....and I think the Eat Me album is a great rock record.

I also love 'Till The End Of Time', which might be my fave off of that album!

One of my other fave It Bites tracks is 'Castles', which ended up as a b-side to 'Old Man And The Angel'. Might be my ultimate fave It Bites track, actually.

SPAZ
Born of innocence. Free of ignorance.

[hutter]

More thoughts on your question about what genre they could be closest attached to: definitely not pop. They had some great melodies, but with their average song going through many changes in tone and melody plus their habit of crafting songs that usually played for six to eighteen minutes, they were NEVER going to be embraced by radio or Mtv. As much as I like their music, I found myself editing down "Once Around The World" for my stores playlist. There was a great pop song there, but the dragged out intro and unappealing (at least to me) last few minutes killed that songs chances from ever being a hit. A shame, since it matched up with anything from Genesis' "Abacab" album as far as commercial appeal.

But anyhoo.

[Spaz]

I agree with you about the Prog tag.

Problem is, some don't clearly see that if they only know 'Calling All The Heroes', which is why some have written them off as a pop band. One of my friends once said that they were the missing link between Haircut 100 and Level 42! I can see that if you only know the one song, but I recommend all to investigate further. Hutter knows what I'm talking about...any other fans here?

These guys are incredible but I don't know if I'll be able to fully appreciate the Dunnery-less new line-up. I will give them a chance if there is a studio album cuz the other three guys are great musicians with terrific musical ideas.

SPAZ
Born of innocence. Free of ignorance.

[hutter]

I dunno about this new frontman idea. Would Led Zeppelin have been much in 1977 if Robert Plant was replaced? John Beck may be the so-called brains behind It Bites (as Page was with Zeppelin) but Francis was the face and heart of that group. I'd sooner listen to his solo work, even with it being radically different, than this new stuff without him in It Bites.

I understand the commercial reasons for Beck & co. to dust off the It Bites name, but I wish they just used another name.

BTW: as Spaz already asked...are there any other It Bites fans on this board? And if not, any chance of my talking you into being fans? Maybe I need to post up another one of my playlists.

[NuWaveRx]

Fairly big It Bites fan here. I only have Big Lad and Once Around the World. I kinda peg these guys as Neo-prog. I think Marillion also falls into this category. Certainly more pop oriented than, say, Mid-70s Genesis or Yes, but as Hutter points out the virtuoso musicianship, the songs over 7 minutes and the radical changes in tempo and key during songs seem to fit into Prog best.

I dunno about the title track of OATW, though. The first time I heard it, I was blown away. Those guys are just unbeliveable musicians.

I also like the Francis Dunnery stuff I've heard. Was fortunate enough to see him live in the mid-90's at a fairly small venue. Great show.