Mastedon
Encyclopedia
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
band formed by brothers Dino and John Elefante
John Elefante
John Elefante is an American singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer.-Early years:Born in Levittown, New York, his family soon moved to Long Beach, California. Growing up, he sang and performed drums for his family band, the Brotherhood...
(former lead singer and songwriter of Kansas
Kansas (band)
Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...
) in the mid-80s. The band was formed mainly as a studio project and released two full-length albums and two stand-alone songs on compilation albums.
Mastedon have recently signed with Italian label Frontiers Records
Frontiers Records
Frontiers Records is an Italian record label, predominantly producing melodic rock. It was formed in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is based in Naples, Italy.-History:...
. A new album, tentatively titled Mastedon III, is scheduled for a fall 2009 release. Some of the confirmed song titles are: "Revolution of Mind", "The Western World", "Slay Your Demons", "That's What You Do When You Love Someone", "One Day Down By The Lake", "You Can't Take Anything", "Lying" and "Nowhere Without Your Love" .
Some of the collaborators in the band's albums were Dave Amato
Dave Amato
Dave Amato is an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band REO Speedwagon.He was born and raised near Framingham, Massachusetts...
(from Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
band, also has been the guitarist for REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US...
since 1990) and Stef Burnbaum (or Stef Burns, from Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
's touring band and Y&T
Y&T
Y&T is an American hard rock/heavy metal band formed in 1974. They hail from Oakland, California...
). Other band members were bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
John Pierce
John Pierce
John Pierce is the name of:* John J. Pierce , writer* John M. Pierce , American amateur astronomer* John R. Pierce , American engineer, Professor, and author* John Pierce, member of the group Pablo CruiseSee also...
(Pablo Cruise
Pablo Cruise
Pablo Cruise is a pop/rock band currently composed of David Jenkins , Cory Lerios , Steve Price and Larry Antonino . Formed in 1973, the band released eight studio albums over the next decade, during which time four singles reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart...
and Richard Marx
Richard Marx
Richard Noel Marx is an American adult contemporary and pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He had a string of hit singles in the late 1980s and 1990s, including "Endless Summer Nights", "Right Here Waiting", "Now and Forever", and "Hazard"...
), drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
David Raven, drummer Danny Woods (Uthanda), guitarist Kenny McCafferty (Underground, Tranzaction, Alibi, Dirty Blonde), and guest vocalists David Pack
David Pack
David Robert Pack , is a Grammy Award Winning Artist, Producer & Music Director of Global Events. His career began as the front man, vocalist and guitarist with the rock group Ambrosia popular in the 1970s and 1980s.-Career:...
(Ambrosia
Ambrosia (band)
Ambrosia is an American rock band formed in southern California in 1970. Ambrosia had five Top Forty hit singles between 1975 and 1980.-Formation and inspiration:...
), David Robbins (X-Sinner
X-Sinner
X-Sinner is an American hard rock band formed in late-1988 by guitarist Greg Bishop. The band is known for having a very similar sound to that of AC/DC and Def Leppard, and has managed to stay at the top of the Christian metal scene...
), Tom Bowes (Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...
), James Dean Longacre (Life9), and Perry Lee (Tracer Fox). The album was also a reunion of sorts between John Elefante and former Kansas bandmate Kerry Livgren, who appears on two of the tracks.
Discography
- "Wasn't It Love" from California MetalCalifornia MetalCalifornia Metal, the first of five compilation albums released by Regency Records in the late eighties, was designed primarily to showcase the talents of the numerous unsigned Christian metal bands that had arrived on the scene following the success of Stryper...
(1987) - "Get Up" from California Metal II (1988)
- It's a Jungle Out There!It's a Jungle Out There!It's a Jungle Out There is the first full-length album by Mastedon, the studio project formed by brothers John & Dino Elefante. It was released in 1989 on Regency Records, while they were setting up their own label Pakaderm Records...
(1989) - LofcaudioLofcaudioLofcaudio is the second full-length album by Mastedon, the studio project formed by brothers John & Dino Elefante. It was released in 1990 by their own label Pakaderm Records, distributed by Word, Inc. Long out-of-print, it was reissued by Deep Music Distribution in 2006 in the form of digital...
(1990) - 33 (Mastedon album)3 is the title of the third release from Christian rock band Mastedon. It was released on November 6, 2009, on Italian melodic rock label Frontiers Records.-Track listing:# "Revolution of Mind"# "Slay Your Demons"# "Nowhere Without Your Love"...
(2009) - It's a Jungle Out There! re-release with three bonus tracks (2009)
- Revolution of Mind (as 'John Elefante and Mastedon') (2010)
External links
- Official John Elefante site.
- John Elefante Fan Page
- A different John Elefante Fan Page
- Mastedon on MusicMight