Crystal Ball - Biography
Biography
* In the summer of 1995 Crystal Ball started out primarily as a cover band. Since then Crystal Ball has opened for many big rock acts like Gotthard, Victory, Bonfire, Pink Cream 69, Manfred Mann, Transit, Krokus, Jaded Heart, a. m.
* In the spring of 1997 they got to present their first original song "Stand by Me" for the "biggest talk show German television. The single was made for promotional use only. The producer was none other than Angi Schillirô (Zero, ex-Kingdom Come, ex-China).
* In March 1998 the band had the opportunity to write a championship-song for the international boxer "Stefan Angehrn" from Switzerland. The single "Eye to Eye" was produced by Tommy Newton in Hanover (Germany) and was released in September 1998.
* During the summer of 1998 the band recorded their first full length CD at the Area 51 Studios in Hanover. Again they worked with Tommy Newton, who has worked with bands such as Helloween, Victory, Scorpions, Conception, Headcrash and Elegy. In a period of ten weeks they recorded an album featuring a wide variety of hard-rock styles on ten tracks. It's Called: ?In the Beginning.
* In November 1998 Crystal Ball got signed by Zero Corporation from Japan, who released the album all over Asia in February 1999.The Japanese-edition featured the bonus-track: ?Silence of the night". Their song ?Fire still burns" was played in Koh Sakais: ?Heavy Metal Syndicate". This was followed by an interview in ?Burrn!" magazine. Due to business issues Zero Corporation had to stop its business, and the CD was withdrawn from the market. It was re-released by Toshiba-EMI in September 1999.
* Point Music from Germany released the album for Europe in April 1999. Just after making the video to "Me and You", Crystal Ball started touring in Switzerland and Germany. They got good album- and live-reviews in important magazines all over Europe like: Breakout, Metal Hammer, Metal Heart, Powerplay and so on. In autumn 1999 they supported Krokus on their Swiss-tour and played even more shows in Germany.
* From May to July 2000, the band recorded their 2nd album "Hard Impact", again with Tommy Newton. The bonus-track "Goodbye Hero" is exclusively on Japanese edition. "Hard Impact" was released on October 23rd in Europe by Point Music. Just in the first week after the release the album went into the Swiss Top 100. A video featuring "Queen of the night" has been produced, and they did a german/swiss support tour with Pretty Maids in February 2001. The new album makes clear, that the hopes in Crystal Ball are even surpassed by "Hard Impact". The less polished sound combined with improved songwriting, saves the eighties-rock and takes it to the 21st century. The reviews from German Hardrock-magazines are amazing.
(source: http://www.tartareandesire.com/bands/Crystal_Ball/3096/)
Who thought that Swiss Hard Rockers CRYSTAL BALL would still have secrets to disclose after their long history? Well, not style-wise, but "Secrets" is the title of CRYSTAL BALL´s sixth album. When you take a band like the Swiss Hard Rock force under contractual wings you wouldn´t want them to change. Fortunately CRYSTAL BALL continue to follow their way in impressive fashion. This band needs no trendy new age elements or fake images to be interesting. "Secrets" is a great piece of Hard Rock, put together by professionals. The album was recorded and produced by Michael Bormann, in his studio in Duisburg (Germany) and mixed by Achim Köhler (Primal Fear, Brainstorm and others). Mighty thunderous anthems like "I Will Drag You Down" will not only resound in the CD-players for many years but also solidify the great reputation that CRYSTAL BALL already possess. Imagine: the band started in 1995 as a cover band (named "Cherry Pie"). These years of stage experiences became the foundation of CRYSTAL BALL, under whose banner the band became one of Europe´s major forces in the Hard Rock genre. Tentatively entitled "In The Beginning" CRYSTAL BALL started their crusade in 1999. The first album was very successful, but topped with ease from the follow-up "Hard Impact", hailed album of the months in several magazines. Immediately tour plans came up, realised by supporting Pretty Maids and Gotthard. Nobody was able to hide from CRYSTAL BALL. The result: a new record contract with Nuclear Blast. With "Virtual Empire" CRYSTAL BALL showed up more varied but still traditional and melodic in 2002. The band massively toured Europe, together first with Dokken, then with U.D.O., Doro and Krokus. The special humour of CRYSTAL BALL shone through in 2003 with "HELLvetia", the third album. "HELLvetia", produced by U.D.O./former Accept member Stefan Kaufmann, who CRYSTAL BALL met on their tour with U.D.O., became a more edgy effort and increased the success of CRYSTAL BALL enormously. It was the band´s return from the slightly experimental "Virtual Empire" to the old style. Successful tours with Axxis, Pink Cream 69 and Krokus saw CRYSTAL BALL increase their fan following again. "Timewalker" continued in the tradition of delivering great catchy songs full of freshness and power. Once again produced by Kaufmann the album displayed the exceptional class of CRYSTAL BALL. The band´s very first headliner tour with then-labelmates Thunderstone followed the release. Now that CRYSTAL BALL inked a new record deal with AFM Records they are really enthusiastic about the future. "Secrets" will bring one of the busiest and hardest working bands back to the top of the Hard Rock map. This whirlwind of positive power and delight in playing is a must for every fan of powerful Rock music.
(source: http://www.myspace.com/crystalballsupport)
* In the spring of 1997 they got to present their first original song "Stand by Me" for the "biggest talk show German television. The single was made for promotional use only. The producer was none other than Angi Schillirô (Zero, ex-Kingdom Come, ex-China).
* In March 1998 the band had the opportunity to write a championship-song for the international boxer "Stefan Angehrn" from Switzerland. The single "Eye to Eye" was produced by Tommy Newton in Hanover (Germany) and was released in September 1998.
* During the summer of 1998 the band recorded their first full length CD at the Area 51 Studios in Hanover. Again they worked with Tommy Newton, who has worked with bands such as Helloween, Victory, Scorpions, Conception, Headcrash and Elegy. In a period of ten weeks they recorded an album featuring a wide variety of hard-rock styles on ten tracks. It's Called: ?In the Beginning.
* In November 1998 Crystal Ball got signed by Zero Corporation from Japan, who released the album all over Asia in February 1999.The Japanese-edition featured the bonus-track: ?Silence of the night". Their song ?Fire still burns" was played in Koh Sakais: ?Heavy Metal Syndicate". This was followed by an interview in ?Burrn!" magazine. Due to business issues Zero Corporation had to stop its business, and the CD was withdrawn from the market. It was re-released by Toshiba-EMI in September 1999.
* Point Music from Germany released the album for Europe in April 1999. Just after making the video to "Me and You", Crystal Ball started touring in Switzerland and Germany. They got good album- and live-reviews in important magazines all over Europe like: Breakout, Metal Hammer, Metal Heart, Powerplay and so on. In autumn 1999 they supported Krokus on their Swiss-tour and played even more shows in Germany.
* From May to July 2000, the band recorded their 2nd album "Hard Impact", again with Tommy Newton. The bonus-track "Goodbye Hero" is exclusively on Japanese edition. "Hard Impact" was released on October 23rd in Europe by Point Music. Just in the first week after the release the album went into the Swiss Top 100. A video featuring "Queen of the night" has been produced, and they did a german/swiss support tour with Pretty Maids in February 2001. The new album makes clear, that the hopes in Crystal Ball are even surpassed by "Hard Impact". The less polished sound combined with improved songwriting, saves the eighties-rock and takes it to the 21st century. The reviews from German Hardrock-magazines are amazing.
(source: http://www.tartareandesire.com/bands/Crystal_Ball/3096/)
Who thought that Swiss Hard Rockers CRYSTAL BALL would still have secrets to disclose after their long history? Well, not style-wise, but "Secrets" is the title of CRYSTAL BALL´s sixth album. When you take a band like the Swiss Hard Rock force under contractual wings you wouldn´t want them to change. Fortunately CRYSTAL BALL continue to follow their way in impressive fashion. This band needs no trendy new age elements or fake images to be interesting. "Secrets" is a great piece of Hard Rock, put together by professionals. The album was recorded and produced by Michael Bormann, in his studio in Duisburg (Germany) and mixed by Achim Köhler (Primal Fear, Brainstorm and others). Mighty thunderous anthems like "I Will Drag You Down" will not only resound in the CD-players for many years but also solidify the great reputation that CRYSTAL BALL already possess. Imagine: the band started in 1995 as a cover band (named "Cherry Pie"). These years of stage experiences became the foundation of CRYSTAL BALL, under whose banner the band became one of Europe´s major forces in the Hard Rock genre. Tentatively entitled "In The Beginning" CRYSTAL BALL started their crusade in 1999. The first album was very successful, but topped with ease from the follow-up "Hard Impact", hailed album of the months in several magazines. Immediately tour plans came up, realised by supporting Pretty Maids and Gotthard. Nobody was able to hide from CRYSTAL BALL. The result: a new record contract with Nuclear Blast. With "Virtual Empire" CRYSTAL BALL showed up more varied but still traditional and melodic in 2002. The band massively toured Europe, together first with Dokken, then with U.D.O., Doro and Krokus. The special humour of CRYSTAL BALL shone through in 2003 with "HELLvetia", the third album. "HELLvetia", produced by U.D.O./former Accept member Stefan Kaufmann, who CRYSTAL BALL met on their tour with U.D.O., became a more edgy effort and increased the success of CRYSTAL BALL enormously. It was the band´s return from the slightly experimental "Virtual Empire" to the old style. Successful tours with Axxis, Pink Cream 69 and Krokus saw CRYSTAL BALL increase their fan following again. "Timewalker" continued in the tradition of delivering great catchy songs full of freshness and power. Once again produced by Kaufmann the album displayed the exceptional class of CRYSTAL BALL. The band´s very first headliner tour with then-labelmates Thunderstone followed the release. Now that CRYSTAL BALL inked a new record deal with AFM Records they are really enthusiastic about the future. "Secrets" will bring one of the busiest and hardest working bands back to the top of the Hard Rock map. This whirlwind of positive power and delight in playing is a must for every fan of powerful Rock music.
(source: http://www.myspace.com/crystalballsupport)