ROCKET SCIENTISTS Symphonic Prog • United States

Rocket Scientists biography (http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=302)

ROCKET SCIENTISTS marks the beginning of the career of the talented keyboardist Erik Norlander back in the late 80's when with the guitarist Mark McCrite decides to form a band.

According to some critics, ROCKET SCIENTISTS are responsible of a new stage in the evolution of Neo Prog, but in my opinion they went much further and explored different sounds including Hard Rock and some Metal but their main structure is 100% Symphonic.

But before talking about the band it's important to mention a bit of Erik Norlander, the brain behind the band, he was born in 1967 in Hollywood California, since he was a kid started to study Classical music and the Jazz, but his main influences (In his own words) were found in Prog Rock mentioning Rick Wakeman, Jon Lord, Keith Emerson, Mike Pinder and Geoff Downes, as we see the eclectic spirit of his music was present from the start.

After 3 or 4 years of founding ROCKET SCIENTISTS, the and releases their first album "Earthbound" (1993), with the assistance of Dom Schiff (Bass and Chapman Stick) and Tony Amato (Drums), who soon became part of the band but of course we can't forget Erik's muse and wife Lana Lane. This debut album is a bit simpler and less challenging than the rest of their production.

Their second album "Brutal Architecture" features the definitive lineup with Norlander, McCrite, Schiff and Amato, representing a leap in their career, still we can find some poppy moments but the structure and sound is pure Symphonic.

Still the band released two more albums "Earth Bellow and Sky Above" an excellent live album released in 1998 and in 199 the heavy "Oblivion" again with Lana Lane and almost two different lineups being Norlander and McCrite the only members who play in all racks.

During the early 2000's Norlander, McCrite and Schiff dedicated more to their solo career until 2006 when they release the double album "Revolution Road" which presents a much more mature band with much more ambition, we only need to hope they won't make us wait much more before a new release because the evolution of the band has been simply impressive.

Iván Melgar Morey - Perú

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Thanks Magal