Axe

Axe is a hard rock and heavy metal group from Gainesville, United States, active from 1979 to 2012. The band is associated with hard rock, heavy metal and rock, and is best known for a melodic sound that combines heavy guitars with keyboards.

History

The group begins as Babyface in 1978 and then as Alien in 1979 before taking the name Axe in 1979, when it adds second guitarist Mike Osborne. The core early line-up includes vocalist Edgar Riley, guitarist Bobby Barth, bassist Mike Turpin and drummer Teddy Mueller. Bobby Barth forms the band after earlier playing drums and then moving to guitar; he first appears in public as a drummer in 1963, picks up guitar in 1965, and plays his first public gig as a guitarist in 1967 at a college show in Colorado.

Axe signs to MCA Records and releases its self-titled debut album in 1979. This is followed by Living On The Edge in 1980. In 1982 the band moves to Atco for Offering, which includes Rock n' Roll Party In The Streets and a cover of Montrose's I Got The Fire. Wayne Hauer joins on bass for that album. Axe tours with Scorpions, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne and ZZ Top, and plays in Britain in 1983 while opening for Iron Maiden.

The fourth album, Nemesis, appears in 1984, followed by touring with Mötley Crüe. Later that year guitarist Michael Osbourne dies in an автомобиль crash, and Bobby Barth is seriously injured but survives. The band then dissolves.

Later activity and reformations

After Axe ends, Barth joins Blackfoot for the 1984 album Vertical Smiles and its touring, replacing Ken Hensley. He then releases a solo album, Two Hearts, One Beat, on Atco Records in 1986. A 1989 attempt to reform Axe, including UFO drummer Andy Parker, does not continue. Barth later works in Australia with Angry Anderson of Rose Tattoo, and after returning to the United States in 1991 he produces demos for Denver-based Caught in the Act, which later uses the name C.I.T.A.

Barth also works with Red Rock Roosters, releasing Attitude Is Everything in 1998, and gains production credits with Denver's BLISTER 66. Edgar Riley and Teddy Mueller pursue other work during the split years, with Riley playing with Frank Zappa and other bands in the southern United States, and Mueller moving into publishing.

Reformed line-ups and later releases

Barth revives Axe in 1997 for the album Five, with former Frank Zappa vocalist Bob Harris, Edgar Riley on keyboards, Teddy Mueller on drums and Blake Eberhard on bass. Eberhard is a Colorado studio and live bassist, and he adds fretless bass and slap-bass playing to the Axe sound. Edgar Riley Junior also appears on backing vocals. The band then releases Axe (Twenty Years From Home) in 1997, with re-recorded versions of songs from the first four albums and two tracks from the earlier V record.

For The Crown in 2000, Axe adds guitarist Danny Masters and drummer Christian Teele. Masters has previously released the solo albums Electric Babylon and Till The Moon Goes Away. In 2001 the band issues the limited-edition mini album Live In America 1981 to mark European tour dates. During 2003 Bob Harris fronts the Edge of Forever project with keyboard player Alessandro Del Vecchio, bassist Christian Grillo and guitarist Igor Gianola.