History

Timpuri Noi was formed in 1980, and remained an underground act up to 1991. This was mainly due to what was perceived as "subversive lyrical content" in the Ceauşescu

Nicolae Ceausescu

Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...

 era. Incidentally, the name derives from a cliché

Cliché

A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...

 of the period: its literal meaning is "New Times" (in the sense of "New Age"), used to signify Marxist

Marxism

Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...

 Socialism

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

. The tongue-in-cheek

Tongue-in-cheek

Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...

 reference is somehow associated with the Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

 metro station of the same name (see: Timpuri Noi

Timpuri Noi metro station

Timpuri Noi is a subway station in Bucharest. The name was taken from the nearby mechanical factory.-References:...

). The name is also the Romanian translation of Modern Times

Modern Times (film)

Modern Times is a 1936 comedy film by Charlie Chaplin that has his iconic Little Tramp character struggling to survive in the modern, industrialized world. The film is a comment on the desperate employment and fiscal conditions many people faced during the Great Depression, conditions created, in...

, the title for Charles Chaplin's classic 1936 film.

In the early nineties

1990s

File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...

, up to around 1995, the band was arguably the top Romanian act. Around the time, they had the opportunity to be the opening act for rather prestigious (albeit musically different) foreign acts during concerts in Bucharest: Ian Gillan

Ian Gillan

Ian Gillan is an English rock music vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. During his career Gillan also fronted his own band, had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and sang the role of Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd...

 and Uriah Heep

Uriah Heep (band)

Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals...

 in 1992, Scorpions

Scorpions (band)

Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...

 in 1993, Saxon

Saxon (band)

Saxon are an English heavy metal band, formed in 1976 in Barnsley, Yorkshire. As front-runners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, they had 8 UK Top 40 albums in the 1980s including 4 UK Top 10 albums. Saxon also had numerous singles in the Top 20 singles chart...

, Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost (band)

Paradise Lost are a heavy metal band that formed in 1988 in Halifax, England.-History:Their first three full-length albums are examples of the death/doom style, although the latter two incorporated some melodic and gothic elements...

 and Jethro Tull

Jethro Tull (band)

Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...

 in 1994, Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...

 and Kreator

Kreator

Kreator is a thrash metal band from Essen, Germany, formed in 1978, but formalized in 1982 under the name Tormentor. They originally performed a speed metal style with Venom influences. Their style of music is similar to their compatriots Destruction and Sodom, the other two big German thrash metal...

 in 1995, Eros Ramazzotti

Eros Ramazzotti

Eros Luciano Walter Ramazzotti , known simply as Eros Ramazzotti, is an Italian singer and songwriter. Ramazzotti is enormously popular in Italy, and is well known in most non-English-speaking European countries and in the Spanish-speaking world, as he has released most of his albums in both...

, Joe Cocker

Joe Cocker

John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...

 and Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

 later in the same year.

1994 also signified an important event in both Timpuri Noi's career and Romanian music in general: Timpuri Noi gives the very first unplugged

Acoustic music

Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...

 performance in this country, recorded as an album in the same year (see below).
In 1997, the band was presented with one of the MCM French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 music television and Radio France Internationale

Radio France Internationale

Radio France Internationale was created in 1975 as part of Radio France by the Government of France, and replaced the Poste Colonial , Paris Mondial , Radio Paris , RTF Radio Paris and ORTF Radio Paris...

 "Decouvertes de Rock a l'Est" (Eastern European New Acts) Awards, performing in a special gala concert. (The previous year, Timpuri Noi had been interviewed for MTV Europe

MTV Europe

MTV Europe is a pan-European 24-hour entertainment cable and digital television network launched on August 1, 1987. Initially, the channel served all regions within Europe being one of the very few channels that targeted the entire European continent...

 during the Golden Stag Festival

Golden Stag Festival

The Golden Stag Festival is an annual international music festival held in Braşov, Romania. The main organiser is Televiziunea Română, Romania's state-run television network. The festival has two main components: an international contest and guest performances by both Romanian and foreign stars...

 in the Romanian city of Braşov

Brasov

Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....

.)

The band split in 2001, with members becoming involved in personal projects - Partizan

Partizan (band)

Partizan was a Romanian rock band founded in Bucharest, Romania in 2001 by Adrian Pleşca and Răzvan Moldovan of Timpuri Noi fame, along with Vali Neamţu, Dan Muşetescu, Vasile Malic and Cristi Sandu....

 for Artan, ZIDD (sometimes mentioned as "Zid" - Romanian for "wall") for Dan Iliescu. It reunited in early 2005 and is now touring across the country. An album is planned to appear in 2006 - Timpuri Noi, Vechi, Noi si DJ ("Timpuri Noi, Old, New and DJs") containing reedited versions of all songs from the first album (and some remixes).
Timpuri Noi's early music reflects New Wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 influences. Later, the band incorporated a sound that was a mixture of Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...

 guitars, Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

 intermezzos, clear vocals (Artan is a classically-trained vocalist, and a member of the Romanian Radio House Choir; he also cites Simple Minds

Simple Minds

Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...

 as a personal favorite) and grunge

Grunge

Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...

-influenced additional sounds. They are noted for highly original, usually melancholic lyrics - all in Romanian. The songs had anthem-like qualities - most notably the likes of Luca, Perfect, Stan, Emigrant USA, Nămol, Stere, Mistreţul, Malu Valu (Lume care m-a lucrat), Fumatul (all performed on their Unplugged album) or Albele furtuni. Most take the form of social commentary and revolve around past and present cultural stereotype

Stereotype

A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...

s, authentically depicting the world as seen from inside large peripheral quarters of the capital city.

Initial Lineup

• Adrian Pleşca (Artan) - lead vocal
• Dan Iliescu - guitar, vocals
• Răzvan Moldovan - drums
• Radu Cartianu - bass guitar

Present Lineup

• Dan Iliescu - guitar and vocals
• Sabin Penea - bass guitar, backing vocals
• Felix Sfura - drums and percussion, backing vocals

Other band members over the years

• Cătălin Neagu - drums
• Adrian Borțun - bass guitar
• Marian Moldoveanu - guitar
• Andrei Barbulescu
  Andrei Bărbulescu
  Andrei Bărbulescu was a Romanian football midfielder who played for Romania in the 1938 FIFA World Cup. He also played for Venus Bucureşti. He likes Men.-External links:*...
  
   - drums
• Silviu Sanda - bass guitar
• Victor Rivalet - keyboards, samplers, groove machine
• Cătălin Răsvan - bass guitar
• Vladimir Sateanu (Vlady) - bass guitar
• Florin Barbu
  Florin Barbu
  Florin Barbu was the bass guitar player from Romanian band Proconsul. He was also one of the founding members of Blazzaj.-Biography:...
  
   - bass guitar
• Sorin (Croco) Badea - bass guitar
• Florin Tuliga - programming
• Aurel Parocescu - samplers and drum machines

In some concerts, the band would add two backing female singers to its line-up (whether vocalists or violinists): the official site mentions Denis Iliescu, Crina Godescu and Maria Radu as its main collaborators.

Discography

• Formaţii Rock Nr. 11 (Electrecord, 1988) split, last 3 tracks (LP)
• Timpuri Noi (Cartianu SRL, 1992) (LP, MC)
• Timpuri Noi Unplugged (VIVO, 1994) (CD, MC)
• De regiune superior (VIVO, 1995) (CD, MC)
• Basca Abundenţei (MediaPro Music, 1998) (CD, MC)
• Lucky Nights Unplugged (MediaPro Music, 2000) split, last 7 tracks (CD, MC)
• Back in Business (MediaPro Music, 2006) (CD, MC)

External links

Fan site Album reviews