Hardline

More than one artist exists by this name: 1) Hardline was a melodic hard rock supergroup that appeared on the U.S. heavy music scene at the wrong time to make any sort of lasting impact yet managed to make some popular arena ready tunes. The group was formed by brothers, and former Brunette band members, Johnny (vocals) and Joey Gioeli (guitar). They recruited former Bad English members Neal Schon (a guitarist best known for his work in Journey) and Deen Castronovo (drums). Bassist Todd Jensen, who'd worked with Doro and David Lee Roth, rounded out the band. The group began a major tour with Van Halen prior to the release of an album. Their one and only release, 1992's Double Eclipse, featured a platter of upbeat melodic hard rock reminiscent of the 80s metal boom, tracks that arguably showed an even harder edge than that of Bad English. While that album has received praise from several critics, it appeared at a time when alternative rock was ascendant, getting a modest commercial response. Schon, Jensen, and Castronovo took time away from the band to work with seminal solo artist Paul Rodgers. However, the Gioeli's felt the other members were spending too much time on side projects, and Hardline ended up folding sadly before too long. Schon and Castronovo would rejoin Journey in the late 90s. Jensen worked and toured with Alice Cooper while Johnny Gioeli sang on Axel Rudi Pell's Oceans Of Time album. A new version of Hardline consisting of the Gioeli's, Josh Ramos (guitar), Chris Maloney (bass), Bobby Rock (drums, ex-Vinnie Vincent Invasion) and Michael Ross (keyboards) released Hardline II roughly ten years after the band's debut. With the addition of Bob Burch on bass, Hardline played select live dates with one of those shows being released as a live album. However, the group folded as they failed to re-discover their fanbase Since 1998, Johnny Gioeli had been the frontman for the Axel Rudi Pell band, touring many times over in Europe and performing at the Wacken Open Air festival, a huge metal rock fest held each year outside of Hamburg, Germany. He is known to be one of very few vocalists who can sing in a range that includes melodic rock, hard rock, and metal. The long awaited Hardline third album, Leaving the End Open, came out in mid-2009. Hardline has toured sporadically since, with a line-up of Johnny Gioeli, Josh Ramos (guitar), Michael T. Ross (keyboards), Jamie Brown (bass), and Atma Anur (drums), and the band is now considered defunct. 2) Hardline was a Norwegian hard rock band active in the early 80s based in Trondheim. They released a self-titled album in 1984, issued in Europe on the Belgian Mausoleum label. Failing to find an audience, they soon folded. 3) Hardline is a electro project from USA, with anti-PC themes. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.