The 69 Eyes
are a Gold selling Finnish rock band. They are currently signed to EMI Finland. The band's albums are now distributed worldwide. The End Records acts as the band's official North American distributor, as Nuclear Blast Records provides distribution in Mainland Europe, Ireland and the UK. Australia will be handled by AmpHead Music. All Asia and Latin America releases are handled by EMI affiliates.
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THE 69 EYES TICKETS
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Music style
The 69 Eyes' music was described as mix of the gloominess of
gothic rock with guitar-powered
rock'n'roll.
[1] Their music is influenced by other artists such as
The Doors,
Elvis Presley,
Hanoi Rocks,
Billy Idol, and
The Sisters of Mercy as well as vampire films and literature.
[2] The term "goth 'n roll" is used by fans to describe their style.
Band history
1989 - 1999
Formed by a group of friends in the bars of
Helsinki,
Finland in the summer of 1989, a nod to illustrate the band's tight-knit friendship is that the lineup has stayed the same since creation. The band originally played
glam metal inspired music, different from their current gothic rock style.
The band released their first 7 inch EP, "Sugarman", in 1990, followed by another 7 inch, "Barbarella" in 1991. These releases paved the way for the bands first album
Bump 'n' Grind
released in 1992 which contained some re-recorded versions of songs from the first 2 EP. This same year, the band released their final 2 7 inch EP's, titaled "Juicy Lucy" and "High Times Low Lives".
In 1994 through a Japanese Label the band's second CD release was unleased, the compilation album "
Motor City Resurrection". It has since been re-released with 8 bonus tracks worldwide. Though this release featured no new songs, it collected the majority of the bands early material and contributions to other compilations. It was followed in 1995 by
Savage Garden
which featured Hanoi Rocks guitarist Andy McCoy on the track "Wild Talk". Also released during this time were 2 VHS tapes "Motor City Resurrection" and "Savage Tales" available only through the band's self-run fanclub which are seen rarely, if ever for sale online. In 1997,
Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
, which fans generally mark as the last "glam" album before the milestone success of 1999's goth rock infused,
Wasting the Dawn
which was released internationally on Roadrunner Records and marked the band's major label debut. The album's hit single, the title track
Wasting the Dawn
lyrically paid tribute to
The Doors'
Jim Morrison and was released as a digipack CD, which is now a rare find for fans of the band. Jyrki 69 developed a concept video for this track which featured long-time friend and collaborator
HIM member
Ville Valo posing at a snowy cemetery as the ghost of Jim Morrison. This video was released on VHS in Finland featuring a behind the scenes feature, both the video and feature were later added as extras on the Helsinki Vampires DVD.
2000 - 2002
Spring of 2000 brought the single
Gothic Girl
which spent months on the Singles Top 10 and on Finnish nation radio playlists. It brought the band their first gold record. After recording their sixth studio album,
Blessed Be
, the band did their first short tour for
Wasting the Dawn
in Germany which included a show at the
M'era Luna Festival. Support for the tour was Norwegian rock band
Zeromancer.
Released in September 2000,
Blessed Be
rose straight to number 4 on the Finnish Album Charts and stayed in the top 10 for over a month. The second single was
Brandon Lee
, the third was
The Chair
and
Stolen Season
was the fourth. Videos were filmed for the first 3 singles.
In 2002 the band released
Paris Kills
, which would be known as their breakthrough album. It stayed for weeks as number 1 in Finland and went gold in a month, June 2002. In Germany it rose to number 35 in the first week. After touring Europe and Finland for months, a sold-out show at Helsinki's famous
Tavastia Club was filmed and documented in November for use in the "Helsinki Vampires"
DVD.
2003 - present
At the end of 2003, The 69 Eyes were signed to
EMI Finland, as they geared up to record their highly successful
Devils
album. The well-timed "Lost Boys" single was released in Finland at this time, paying homage to the film of the same name as anticipation for the full length album grew.
2004 saw the release of
Devils
, their 8th album, to which they toured the UK in support of
Wednesday 13. Once again the album was number one in their native Finland and reached gold in a month. It was their first release on a big major label Virgin/EMI. Released in their native Finland in October 2004 later on in Europe through Virgin/EMI and in October 2005 in USA through 456 Entertainment it is also their 4th album to reach gold status and again another number one position on the Finnish TOP 40 album charts.
In 2005 The 69 Eyes played nearly one hundred shows around the world in fifteen countries, from Mexico to Japan.
[3] Devils
was also released in the USA. The band filmed their video for their biggest ever hit single "Lost Boys" in Hollywood and the Philadelphia area, directed by the band's friend and
MTV superstar
Bam Margera.
In 2006, The 69 Eyes toured for the first time in the USA in March with
Program The Dead &
Damone, appearing on
Last Call with Carson Daly. Their new album
Angels, the sequel to their 2004 album Devils, was released in March 2007. Shortly after their Early 2007 tour with
Cradle of Filth &
3 Inches Of Blood. Their latest album
Angels
was released on the 25th of June 2007 in the UK. The first single from the album is "
Perfect skin" which went straight to number 1 on the Finnish singles chart. The second single is "
Never Say Die".
Angels
debuted at number 1 in Finland and has since gone gold.
[4]
The band did a summer 2007 US tour with
Wednesday 13, Night Kills The Day, &
Fair To Midland, and supported
Within Temptation on tour in the UK in November. They played 125 shows world wide in 2007.
[5]
In 2008 they released their first live album titled
The 69 Eyes: Hollywood Kills. The album was recorded at the
Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood in March of 2006.
[6]
The band began 2009 by touring in Europe as a part of Hellhounds Fest with
Tiamat and
Ava Inferi. The band started recording their tenth studio album with Grammy award winning producer Matt Hyde. He is most known from his works with Slayer, Monster Magnet and Fu Manchu. The recording process took place both in Helsinki and Los Angeles. The new album has been titled
Back in Blood will be released on the 28th of August in Europe and the 15th of September in the USA. In early June,
Bam Margera directed the music video for the first single from the album, "Dead Girls Are Easy." The video premiered on
playboy.com on 17 of July 2009.
The 69 Eyes also toured Australia for the first time in mid June, playing in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.
Discography
List of main studio albums
[7]
Studio Albums
#
Bump 'n' Grind
(1992)
#
Motor City Resurrection
(1994)
#
Savage Garden
(1995)
#
Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
(1997)
#
Wasting the Dawn
(1999)
#
Blessed Be
(2000)
#
Paris Kills
(2002)
#
Devils
(2004)
#
Angels
(2007)
#
Back in Blood
(2009)
Live Albums & Compilations
#
Framed in Blood - The Very Blessed of the 69 Eyes
(2003)
#
The 69 Eyes: Hollywood Kills
(2008)
#
Goth'N'Roll Box Set
(2008)
References
- Billboard: Framed in Blood: The Very Blessed of the 69 Eye review
- The 69 Eyes † Biography
- The 69 Eyes † Tour
- The 69 Eyes † Official website
- The 69 Eyes † Tour
- The 69 Eyes † Discography
- The 69 Eyes † Discography