The ''Black Pearl'', originally ''Wicked Wench'', is a fictional ship in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series. In the screenplay, the ''Black Pearl'' is easily recognized by her distinctive black hull and sails. The ship was originally named ''Wicked Wench'' before she was ordered burned and sunk by Lord Beckett. It was later raised from the sea floor by Davy Jones after making a pact with Jack Sparrow who rechristened her the ''Black Pearl''. She is said to be "nigh uncatchable". Indeed, in the three films she either overtakes or flees all other ships, including the ''Interceptor'' (regarded as the fastest ship in the Caribbean) and the ''Flying Dutchman'' (which is actually faster against the wind). Her speed is derived from the large amount of sails she carries. She is noted in ''At World's End'' as being "The only ship as what (which) can outrun the Flying Dutchman."

Background

There was once a real ship named ''Black Pearl''. It was captained by Sir Henry Morgan but sank in a battle. The fictional ''Black Pearl'' is much different than the real one. Originally named ''Wicked Wench'' (''Wicked Wench'' is the name of the ship from the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disneyland Park, which is shown shelling a fort), registered to the East India Trading Co. and owned by Lord Cutler Beckett. At the time, Jack Sparrow was in the employ of the East India Trading Co. and was given captaincy of the ''Wicked Wench'' (this fits in with reality as history notes that pirates did not build ships specifically to commit piracy. Instead, they either bought or stole small, fast vessels, then retrofitted them with heavy armaments).

(As detailed in the upcoming Disney Publishing novel, ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom'', written by A.C. Crispin and scheduled for release May 17, 2011)...

Jack Sparrow captained the ''Wicked Wench'' for Cutler Beckett for about a year, hauling various cargoes, but he refused to haul slaves. Hoping to recruit Sparrow as one of his many "operatives", Beckett indulged what he regarded as an odd peccadillo of Sparrow's until he and the captain came to a parting of the ways. Beckett had dispatched Sparrow on a mission to find the lost island of Kerma, and the treasure at the heart of its underground labyrinth, but Sparrow double-crossed the EITC official and claimed he couldn't locate the island. Suspicious that Sparrow had indeed found the island, and probably the treasure, but had not given him its accurate location, Beckett, determined to browbeat the captain into obedience, demanded that the young captain transport a cargo of slaves to the New World. Initially Sparrow agreed, but when he realized that he was betraying the ''Wicked Wench'', as well as himself, he rebelled and freed the slaves by taking them to Kerma for safe asylum. Furious that Sparrow had flouted his orders and stolen the "cargo" of "black gold", Cutler Beckett had Sparrow thrown into jail. After allowing him to languish for a couple of months, he had him transported to the ''Wicked Wench'''s anchorage, about a mile from the coast of West Africa, near Calabar on the Bight of Benin. After personally branding Sparrow with the "P" brand (so he'd be forever branded a pirate) Cutler Beckett gave the order to loose carcass charges at his own ship, the ''Wicked Wench'', in order to totally demoralize his prisoner. Sparrow fought his way free from his guards, dived overboard, and attempted to rescue his burning, foundering ship, but he was too late. The ''Wicked Wench'' turned into an inferno, then sank, taking Jack with her. But, while dying, the resourceful Sparrow called upon Davy Jones, and struck a bargain with him...his soul and one hundred years serving aboard the ''Flying Dutchman'' in return for a continued human existence of thirteen years as captain, plus saving the ''Wicked Wench'' and transforming her into the fastest, most dangerous pirate ship sailing the seven seas. Jack christened his resurrected Wench, now a black vessel with an angel figurehead, ''The Black Pearl''.

In keeping with their bargain, Jones raised the ship, with Jack aboard, in the Harbor of Tortuga, to find a crew for his ship. Two years after, the ''Black Pearl'' was heading to the mysterious Isla de Muerta where the legendary ''Chest of Cortés'' was hidden. Captain and crew agreed to equal shares of the treasure, but first mate Barbossa persuaded Jack that equal shares included knowing the treasure's location. Jack complied, and soon after Barbossa led a mutiny and marooned Jack on an island.

The crew found the Aztec gold, which was spent very quickly, not believing in the curse placed on it by ancient Aztec Gods: that anyone who stole the coins would become an undead being, unable to feel anything but pain and unsoothable hunger, and that only moonlight would reveal their true form. This curse being real, the pirates were soon hideous living skeletons with tattered flesh and clothing clinging to their bones. Even the ''Black Pearl'' was affected by the curse upon its crew, becoming constantly shrouded in an eerie mist, with moonlight revealing tattered sails.

Appearances

''The Curse of the Black Pearl''

thumb|250px|right|The Jolly Roger of Barbossa's Crew, which was originally the flag of pirate Calico Jack The curse could only be lifted when every coin was returned to the chest along with a trace of blood from each pirate who stole one. William "Bootstrap Bill" Turner, the only crew member who defended Jack during the mutiny, sent a coin to his young son Will Turner, believing the crew deserved to remain cursed. Barbossa, as Pintel put it, "strapped a cannon to old Bootstrap's bootstraps and the last we saw of old Bill Turner, he was sinking to the crushing black oblivion of Davy Jones' locker" in retaliation. Only later did they learn they also needed Bootstrap's blood to break the curse, and by throwing him overboard they had, in fact, doomed themselves to continued damnation. Over the next decade, the ''Pearl'' menaced the Caribbean as the pirates searched for the coins until all but one was found. As a boy, Will Turner brought the gold medallion with him on his journey to the Caribbean, although Elizabeth Swann, the governor's daughter, came into possession of it and kept it hidden. The ''Pearl'' later attacked Port Royal and abducted Elizabeth, believing she was Bootstrap's child—their only remaining source of Turner blood.

The ''Pearl'' is eventually commandeered by Sparrow with a new crew. While its pirates are battling the Royal Navy at Isla de Muerta, the crew make off with the ''Pearl'', leaving Jack behind. However, they later rescue him after he escapes execution in Port Royal.

Between the first and second installments

The ''Black Pearl'' was pursued by Commodore James Norrington and the Royal Navy. Off of Tripoli, a large hurricane battered the ''Pearl'' (though it survived) and the ''Dauntless'', which sank, along with most of its crew. Norrington survived, and later resigned from the Navy. He is later seen as a pirate in Tortuga.

''Dead Man's Chest''

The ''Black Pearl'' is still being captained by Jack Sparrow, although his crew is not content with him; they want to do more "pirating" and are upset about the hurricane. Davy Jones sends Bootstrap Bill Turner to remind Jack that he owes his soul and the ''Black Pearl'' to Jones, and his time is now up. Jack is marked with the black spot, which means that the Kraken is now out to pull him and the ship into the Locker.

Jack has the ship sailed to the nearest land - Pelegosto, the cannibal island. Jack and the surviving crew escape the cannibals with Will Turner, and travel to Tia Dalma's shack for advice. When Jack sends Will over to the ''Flying Dutchman'', the ''Pearl'' is briefly commandeered by Jones' crew. Jack makes a deal with Jones: 100 souls in three days. The crew (minus Will, who is a good-faith payment) travel to Tortuga to find 99 more souls.

Jack meets Elizabeth and Norrington at Tortuga, and travels to Isla Cruces, the island where the ''Dead Man's Chest'' is buried. After Jack steals the Heart (which is stolen from him by Norrington) the ''Black Pearl'' is attacked by the Kraken and successfully fight it off twice but the ship still retains heavy damage and most of the crew dies in the second round. After figuring out that the Kraken is after Jack and not the ''Black Pearl'', Elizabeth kisses Jack, and (while she's kissing him) chains him to the ship's mast and leaves him behind. He is swallowed whole by the kraken, and the ship is dragged down into Davy Jones' Locker as the surviving crew watches.

''At World's End''

Will, Elizabeth, the surviving ''Pearl'' crew and the newly resurrected Barbossa vow to rescue Jack and his ship. After acquiring navigational charts that will lead them to ''World's End'', the crew meets Jack in Davy Jones' Locker, along with the ''Pearl''. Jack uses a clue from the map (Up is Down) to return the ''Pearl'' to the Living World. They flip the ship upside down in the water at sunset, and it shoots up into the Living World at sunrise. Returning to the Living World seems to repair the damage done to it by the Kraken as the ship seems undamaged in At World's End.

After the ''Pearl'' is resurrected, it is desired by many characters: Jack, as it is his ship; Barbossa, as it ''was'' his ship; Pintel, who just wanted to throw his name into the hat (and implied a future mutiny at the end of the film); Feng, who wants a new ship; Will, who desires to free his father from Jones; and Beckett, who wants the only ship that can outrun the ''Dutchman''. The ''Pearl'' sails to the fourth meeting of the ''Brethren Court'', and becomes the flagship of the Pirate Armada, led by Pirate King Elizabeth Swann and Jack Sparrow, the real captain of the ''Black Pearl''.

The ''Pearl'' and the ''Dutchman'' engage in a sea battle in a maelstrom during the battle between the pirates and Lord Cutler Beckett's armada. The two ships are evenly matched, and both are damaged by the other's cannons and later boarded. The ships' masts are entangled during the fight. As the ships circle closer to the bottom of the maelstrom, the Dutchman begins to be pulled down. Barbossa orders a chain shot to be fired at the entangled masts, and the Pearl breaks away while the Dutchman sinks. The ''Pearl'' comes out of the maelstrom, still afloat but severely damaged. As the Endeavour advances on the Pearl, it is obvious that the Pearl is no match for it. However, the equally damaged Dutchman resurfaces with Will Turner in command. After the battle, the ''Black Pearl'' and the ''Flying Dutchman'' sail alongside each other towards the East India Company Fleet and destroy the ''Endeavour'', killing Lord Cutler Beckett, and forcing the massive armada to flee, as they no longer have somebody to lead them.

Afterward, Jack loses his ship and crew yet again to Barbossa, with the exception of Gibbs who ends up staying behind in Tortuga. Yet the crew seems unsettled about leaving Jack behind.

''On Stranger Tides''

At some point after departure from Tortuga, the ''Black Pearl'' was attacked by the ''Queen Anne's Revenge'', a ship captained by the infamous pirate Blackbeard. Using his Voodoo powers, Blackbeard brought the rigging of the ''Black Pearl'' to life, and used it against Barbossa and his crew. Barbossa's men were defeated, and the ''Black Pearl'' captured, shrunk and put in a bottle by Blackbeard. Barbossa was the only survivor as he was apparently hanging by one leg, being forced to cut it off in order to set himself free. After Blackbeard's death, Jack regains the ''Pearl'' in a bottle, and Gibbs fills the bottles of other fallen ships from Queen Anne's Revenge in a large bag. Barbossa also claims the Queen Anne's Revenge and its crew after Blackbeard's death.

Armament

The ''Black Pearl'' is moderately armed. It carries 32 thirty-two-pound cannon: 18 on the gun deck and 14 on the upper deck. Its full broadside contains 16 cannonballs and weighs 192 lb (87 kg). The ''Pearl'' has no bow chasers or stern chasers (cannon used while being chased or chasing, as one cannot use a regular broadside volley in this situation), which is very unusual for a pirate ship, giving it a grave tactical disadvantage during a chase; the ''Pearl'' isn’t able to shoot the ship it chases or to reply to her hunter’s fire. Her high speed only partially negates this handicap. In ''Dead Man's Chest'' another advantage the ''Black Pearl'' has over her enemies is her ability to hide in the sea at night, since if all the ship's lamps are blown out then the ship is no longer visible on the sea thanks to her black hull and sails. This is also seen in ''Curse of the Black Pearl'' where she is able to sneak into Port Royal under the cover of darkness, unhindered. Also, to allow the ship to maneuver in shallows, Captain Barbossa implemented an ingenious system of oars on one of the lower decks. It allowed a detachment of his pirates to act as a galley crew during one scene of The Curse of the Black Pearl, propelling the Pearl a short distance by rowing. Finally, like Jack Sparrow himself, the ''Black Pearl'' seems to be exceptionally difficult to destroy, having been sunk on three separate occasions, only to appear again somewhere else. She flies a jib, forestaysail, foresail, foretopsail, foretopgallant sail, mainsail, topsail, topgallant sail, mizzen lateen sail, mizzen topsail, main staysail, topmast staysail, topgallant staysail. It's unknown if she has studdingsails.

Filming

In the first movie, the ''Black Pearl'' was a steel barge with wooden structures built on top to resemble a real ship. In addition, a soundstage set was used to achieve better control over fog machines. For the second and third movies, a floating sailing ship was actually built in the shipyards at Bayou La Batre in Alabama on the hull of ship ''HMS Sunset'' to serve as the set, though it is not an authentic tall ship. Another version, mounted on a gimbal, was built for filming the Maelstrom battle. In 2010, the ''Sunset'', which played the ''Black Pearl'' in most of the films, was reconstructed to portray the ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' in ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides''.

References

External links

Black Pearl at the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' wiki

In depth article on the Black Pearl from IGN

Photographs of the Black Pearl at sea in Hawaii

Category:Pirates of the Caribbean Category:Fictional ships

ar:اللؤلؤة السوداء bn:ব্ল্যাক পার্ল es:Perla Negra fr:Black Pearl it:Perla Nera nl:Black Pearl ja:パイレーツ・オブ・カリビアンの艦船#ブラックパール号 no:Black Pearl pl:Czarna Perła pt:Pérola Negra (Piratas do Caribe) fi:Musta Helmi (laiva) sv:Svarta pärlan

Coordinates	12°2′36″N77°1′42″N
name	Emile Ford
background	solo_singer
birth name	Emile Sweetman
born	October 16, 1937 Castries, Saint Lucia, West Indies
instrument	Vocals, guitar
genre	Rock and roll, pop
occupation	Singer, guitarist
years active	1957 – late 60s
label	Pye Records
notable instruments	}}

Emile Ford (born Emile Sweetman, 16 October 1937, Castries, Saint Lucia, West Indies) is a musician and singer, who was popular in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Life and career

Ford was the son of a government official and an opera-singing mother, and he moved to Britain with his family at an early age.

He was educated at the Paddington Technical College in London. It was during this time that Ford taught himself to play a number of musical instruments. These included the guitar, piano, violin, bass guitar and drums. His innate interest in music was fostered by his mother, and perhaps derived in part — according to annotator Roger Dopson and journalist Norman Jopling — in his synesthesia: he perceived sound as colours and patterns.

He teamed up with George Ford, Ken Street and John Cuffley as Emile Ford and the Checkmates, and their first self-produced recording "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?" went to number one in the UK Singles Chart at the end of 1959 and stayed there for six weeks. The track remains as having the longest question ever asked by a chart topping disc in the UK. Ford was also the first black British artist to sell one million copies of a 7" single.

Ford first entered show business at the age of twenty, and made his first public appearance at The Buttery, Kensington. This was immediately followed by appearances at (on a rota basis) The Breadbasket, Fitzroy Square; The Roebuck, corner of Tottenham Court Road and Warren Street tube station; The Macabre, Soho; and Chiquita’s, near Regent Street (then the Show Business Agents coffee bar).

Ford's first appearance with a backing group was at the Athenaeum Ballroom in Muswell Hill.

His TV appearances in 1958 included outings on ''The Music Shop'', the ''Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson Show'', ''Oh, Boy!'', and ''Six-Five Special''. In 1959 the band appeared on the TV programme ''Sunday Serenade'', which ran for six weeks.

But it was winning the Soho Fair talent contest in July 1959, that led to his Pye recording contract.

In January 1960, Ford signed a two year employment management contract with Leslie Grade. Emile Ford also scored a number one EP in 1960. His debut album was made up of covers, and he made several albums throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Most of his albums included new versions of "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?". In the late 1960s he moved to Sweden and while there his private recordings were stolen and bootlegged. These recordings were subsequently released on the Hallmark record label.

In 2001, Castle Communications released the double-CD set, ''Counting Teardrops'', covering Ford's complete Pye Records sides from 1959 through to 1963. A full track listing is available here.

Further information

The readers of the British music magazine, ''NME'', voted Emile Ford and the Checkmates as the "Best New Act" in 1960.

"What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?" was originally recorded by Ada Jones and Billy Murray in 1911.

"(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China" was composed by Frank Loesser, and originally recorded by Kay Kyser in 1948.

"Counting Teardrops" was written by Barry Mann and Howard Greenfield.

"Them There Eyes" was written in 1930, and first recorded by Louis Armstrong that same year and by Duke Ellington in 1931.

His recordings included "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now". The melody was written by Joseph E. Howard and Harold Orlob, and the lyrics by Will M. Hough and Frank R. Adams. The song was published in 1909.

Discography

UK singles chart credits

"What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?" / "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles" (Pye 7N15225) 1959 - No. 1

"On a Slow Boat to China" / "That Lucky Old Sun" (Pye 7N15245) 1960 - No. 3

"You'll Never Know What You're Missing ('Til You Try)" / "Still" (Pye 7N15268) 1960 - No. 12

"Them There Eyes" / "Question" (Pye 7N15282) 1960 - No. 18 - α

"Counting Teardrops" / "White Christmas" (Pye 7N15314) 1960 - No. 4

"What am I Gonna Do" / "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" (Pye 7N15331) 1961 - No. 33

"Half of my Heart" - 1961 - No. 42 - α

"I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now" - 1962 - No. 43 - α

(α - ''Credited to Emile Ford. All other recordings credit Emile Ford and the Checkmates'').

Albums

''New Tracks'' (Pye)

''Emile'' (Pye)

''Emile Ford'' (Hallmark Records)

''What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?''

''On a Slow Boat to China''

''My Kind of Country''

Compilation album

''Counting Teardrops'' - 2001 - Castle Communications

See also

List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart

List of number-one singles from the 1950s (UK)

UK No.1 Hits of 1959

UK No.1 Hits of 1960

List of Christmas number one singles (UK)

List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1960s

List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart

References

External links

[ Emile Ford biography at the AMG website]

Emile Ford and the Checkmates story at the 45-rpm Website

Fansite including 2002 radio interview and excerpt from interview with Norman Joplin

Category:1937 births Category:Living people Category:Male singers Category:Saint Lucian singers Category:People with synesthesia

de:Emile Ford and the Checkmates fr:Emile Ford sv:Emile Ford

Coordinates	12°2′36″N77°1′42″N
background	solo_singer
name	Sonny Charles
born	September 04, 1940, Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States
instrument	Vocals,
occupation	Musician
associated acts	Checkmates, Ltd., Steve Miller Band
years active	1960–present
website	}}

Sonny Charles (born Charles Hemphill, 4 September 1940) is an American soul singer from Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was the lead singer of Checkmates, Ltd. in the 1960s and 1970s, and it is his vocals that are heard out front on their 1969 hit, "Black Pearl." Charles launched a solo career in the early 1970s, and after a brief reunion with The Checkmates, again in the 1980s. Thereafter, he toured with another member of the Checkmates LTD, Marvin "Sweet Louie" Smith, under the Checkmate name.

Charles' 1982 album, ''The Sun Still Shines'', recorded on Highrise Records, hit #136 on the ''Billboard'' album chart and #14 on the U.S. Black Albums chart on the strength of the single "Put it in a Magazine". Written by Charles with producer Bobby Paris, the song went to #2 on the R&B; Singles chart and reached #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1983. The follow-up single, "Always on My Mind", peaked at #53, but Charles quickly fell from view.

In 2008 Sonny Charles joined the Steve Miller Band and toured with them.

References

External links

Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:American male singers Category:American soul musicians Category:Musicians from Indiana

cs:Sonny Charles

Coordinates	12°2′36″N77°1′42″N
name	Sonata Arctica
landscape	Yes
alias	Tricky Beans, Tricky Means,
background	group_or_band
origin	Kemi, Finland
genre	Power metal, progressive metal
years active	1996−present
label	Spinefarm, Nuclear Blast
website
current members	Tony KakkoElias ViljanenTommy PortimoMarko PaasikoskiHenrik Klingenberg
past members	Jani LiimatainenMikko HärkinJanne KivilahtiPentti Peura }}

Sonata Arctica are a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, originally assembled in 1995. Their later works (most notably ''The Days of Grays'', ''Unia'' and a few tracks on ''Reckoning Night'') contain several elements typical of progressive metal.

Biography

Formation and early years (1996–1999)

The band was founded by Marko Paasikoski, Jani Liimatainen and Tommy Portimo in Kemi at the end of 1995 (Tony Kakko and Pentti Peura joined in early 1996). Originally named ''Tricky Beans'', they played hard rock rather than the power metal with which they grew to fame. During their early career, they recorded three demos which were never sent to any recording label — ''Friend 'till the End'', ''Agre Pamppers'' and ''PeaceMaker''.

In 1997 the band changed their name to ''Tricky Means'', and from that point until 1999 their style was thoroughly worked upon and ultimately was drastically changed, acquiring strong emphasis on the keyboard melodies and relying on an easily distinguishable rhythm line maintained both by the bass and the guitar. Vocalist Tony Kakko developed a clean singing style which relies both on falsetto and tenor voices and second guitarist Marko Paasikoski left the band. Kakko has stated that the change of sound was influenced by fellow Finnish power metal band Stratovarius.

In 1999 (after they changed their name to ''Sonata Arctica''), the band recorded a demo entitled ''FullMoon'' in Kemi's Tico Tico Studios, which was their first real metal recording. The line-up consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Tony Kakko, guitarist Jani Liimatainen, bassist Janne Kivilahti and drummer Tommy Portimo. The demo was sent to Spinefarm Records by a friend of the band and a recording deal soon followed.

''Ecliptica'' and ''Silence'' (1999–2002)

Later that year, Sonata Arctica's first single, entitled ''UnOpened'' was released in Finland. It entered the Finnish Top 20 sales chart on the week of its release and, soon after, the band had closed deals with labels from around the world, prior to the release of their debut album. The debut ''Ecliptica'' arrived by the end of 1999 and had a worldwide release, obtaining rave critics from the specialized press.

Tony Kakko then decided to focus on singing and began seeking a new keyboard player for Sonata Arctica; Mikko Härkin (ex-Kenziner) was eventually invited to fill the position.

In the beginning of 2000, Sonata Arctica was chosen to support the well known power metal band Stratovarius throughout their European tour. Marko Paasikoski returned to the band to play bass in the wake of Janne Kivilahti's departure after the tour.

From late 2000 to late 2001, the band worked on composing and recording their next album — ''Silence'' — which was released in June 2001. An extensive tour followed, which included concerts throughout Europe (together with Gamma Ray) and Japan. In 2002 Sonata Arctica made its first incursion to America, putting on shows in Brazil and Chile. According to some of the musicians from the band, it was one of their best tours to date — the other being the Japanese tour from 2003. A live album entitled ''Songs of Silence'' was also released that year, consisting of gigs from their tour in Japan. By the end of 2002, Mikko Härkin left the band due to personal reasons.

''Winterheart's Guild'' (2003)

Their third album — ''Winterheart's Guild'' — was recorded with the help of the seasoned keyboard player Jens Johansson from Stratovarius who recorded the keyboard solos, while Kakko took care of the basics. The album was released in 2003.

In the search for another keyboardist, the band received many applications and two of them were invited for auditions. Since they were well aware of the candidates' ability, the band decided to pick the new member based on personality. To this end they spent a night drinking with each of the potentials in order to find out which one would fit best into the band's personality and mentality. Henrik Klingenberg was eventually chosen and joined the band in time to take part in the tour that followed the release of ''Winterheart's Guild''. Most of the concerts on the tour were sold out.

With the end of their contract with Spinefarm Records, the band received invitations from most European recording labels, and eventually opted for Nuclear Blast.

''Reckoning Night'' (2004–2005)

In early 2004, the band was chosen as the opener for Iron Maiden's Japanese tour. Additionally, Tommy Portimo became a father; his wife gave birth to a baby girl in March. ''Reckoning Night'' was recorded in three months and released in October. Both the single and the EP of this release remained on the top of the Finnish charts simultaneously for over six weeks. A promotional tour was to follow, but Sonata Arctica was invited by the popular Nightwish to join their European tour, and thus made a change of plans. The concerts that followed were played for audiences of over ten thousand people. Fans took notice that Reckoning Night was more progressive than previous Sonata Arctica albums. At that time in interviews, Tony Kakko and Henrik Klingenberg began to claim that they saw themselves as more so just a rock band than Power Metal. Another notable feature about this album was that Henrik Klingenberg introduced use of the organ (music) to the band.

In early 2005, Nightwish invited the band to open the concerts of their North American tour. This tour eventually got cancelled, but the members of Sonata Arctica opted to still make a short tour, playing concerts in Canada and the USA. On October 21, 2005, Sonata Arctica opened for Nightwish at the Hartwall Areena, Helsinki.

''For the Sake of Revenge'' and Winterheart's Guild video game (2006)

In 2006, the band released a live CD and DVD entitled ''For the Sake of Revenge'', which was recorded in Tokyo in February 2005. Then, Spinefarm Records released a compilation album in order to get the most out of their contract with the band, since Sonata Arctica changed their recording label. The compilation is entitled ''The End of This Chapter'' and was released in Japan in August 2005 and in Europe on May 2006.

A computer video game was also planned, based on Sonata Arctica characters and music. The name of the game was going to be ''Winterheart's Guild'', like their album. The game was to be developed by Zelian Games, and was to be an Action-RPG in a style between Fallout and Diablo. The game was cancelled for unannounced reasons but a demo was shown at the ''Leipzig video game conference'' in 2006, featuring Henrik Klingenberg as the playable character. As of December 2006, the band began recording their fifth studio album.

''Unia'' (2007–2008)

On May 25, 2007, ''Unia'' was released. The album's first single, "Paid In Full", was released on April 27, 2007. Interestingly, the cover for ''Unia'' features a barely perceptible image of a person's hair and eyes looking out through a crack in the background in the lower right-hand corner. It is likely an allusion to the person in the song "Caleb" on ''Unia''.

On August 6, 2007, the band announced on their website that guitarist Jani Liimatainen had been asked to leave the band due to problems related to his conscription. He was replaced by Elias Viljanen who had already filled in for him in the band's Finnish and Japanese shows during the spring and summer.

In October 2007 Sonata Arctica headlined the ProgPower USA VIII. Later the band supported Nightwish across their 2008 tour of United States and Canada and headlined at the shows that Nightwish cancelled due to Anette Olzon's sudden severe sickness.

In 2008 Tony Kakko collaborated with English Singer/Songwriter and arranger Mark Deeks to perform choral arrangements of some of the band's works at a special one off concert at The Sage Centre in Gateshead.

It was announced on September 4, 2008 that the band's first two albums would be re-released by Spinefarm UK on October 6.

''The Days of Grays'' (Since 2009)

::''Main Article: The Days of Grays'' Sonata Arctica's latest album was released on September 16, 2009 in Finland and September 22 in the USA. Henrik stated that the new album will be in the same vein as ''Unia'', but not as complex and darker. Singles from this album include "Flag in the Ground" and "The Last Amazing Grays". On August 28, 2009, the music video of "Flag In The Ground" was released to the web. The limited 2CD European edition of the album featured many of the album tracks with all instruments performed by a symphony orchestra.

The band also recently toured with DragonForce for the third U.S. leg of the Ultra Beatdown tour, and will be touring the US "two or three times," as well as doing a European tour and Asian tour covering Indonesia, Taiwan, China, and Japan. In early 2010 they engaged on an Australian tour with Ensiferum and Melbourne band Vanishing Point.

In April 2010, Sonata Arctica embarked on their USA and Canada Headlining tour for The Days of Grays. In October they headlined in Chile in support of the same album.

Future plans

In January 2011, the band hinted in an online interview for Metaleater magazine that they are currently writing songs for a new album while on their current tour. Elias is quoted as saying, "I've been working on some new riffs, quite dark. Tony's been stuck in his bed scratching notes about some girl and her 'Luna Lust'." Tommy states later, "We've just got back from Cozumel, we had a good time, had lots of beers, loads more sun and thought about putting a bit more Queen stuff back into the music again."

While playing in Sheffield (UK) Tony stated to the audience that they were in fact hoping to start recording the new album this autumn and have it available for purchase before summer 2012.

In April, the band recorded a live DVD in Oulu, Finland, due for release in late 2011.

Influences

In a 2007 interview with C.B.Liddell, Tony Kakko cited the English rock band Queen as his biggest musical influence. "A lot of people seem to mention a Queen influence in our music," he said. "Queen have always been the biggest band for me."

Members

Current

Tony Kakko

*Vocals (1996−present)

*Keyboards (1996–2001, 2003, 2007–present)

Elias Viljanen

*Guitars (2007−present)

*Backing vocals (2007−present)

Marko Paasikoski

*Bass guitar (2000−present)

*Backing vocals (2000−present)

*Guitars (1996–1997)

Tommy Portimo

*Drums (1996−present)

Henrik Klingenberg

*Keyboards/keytar (2002−present)

*Backing vocals (2002−present)

Former

Pentti Peura

*Bass guitar (1996−1998)

*Backing vocals (1996−1998)

Janne Kivilahti

*Bass guitar (1998−2000)

*Backing vocals (1998−2000)

Mikko Härkin

*Keyboards (2000−2002)

*Backing vocals (2000−2002)

Jani Liimatainen

*Guitars (1996−2007)

*Backing vocals (1996−2007)

Guest musicians

Raisa Aine − flute (on "Letter to Dana")

Nik Van-Eckmann − spoken passages (on "...of Silence", "The End of This Chapter", "Last Drop Falls" and "The Power of One" from ''Silence'' and "Don't Say a Word", "White Pearl, Black Oceans..." and "Wildfire" from ''Reckoning Night'')

Timo Kotipelto − vocals (on "False News Travel Fast")

Renay Gonzalez − spoken female passage (on "The End of This Chapter")

Jens Johansson − keyboard solos (on "The Cage", "Silver Tongue", "Victoria's Secret" and "Champagne Bath")

Peter Engberg − acoustic guitars, bouzouki, chromaharp, cavaquinho and Q-chord (on "They Follow", "Under Your Tree", "The Harvest", "It Won't Fade" and "Fly With the Black Swan")

Johanna Kurkela − female vocals (on "Deathaura" and "No Dream Can Heal a Broken Heart")

Discography

Studio albums:

''Ecliptica'' (1999)

''Silence'' (2001)

''Winterheart's Guild'' (2003)

''Reckoning Night'' (2004)

''Unia'' (2007)

''The Days of Grays'' (2009)

Cover songs

"Black Diamond" − Stratovarius (live, short clip in ''Stratovarius - Infinite Visions VHS/DVD'')

"Speed of Light" − Stratovarius (in the end of "False News Travel Fast" in ''Songs of Silence'')

"Fade to Black" − Metallica (''Victoria's Secret'', ''Takatalvi'')

"Wind Beneath My Wings" − Bette Midler (''Orientation'')

"Die With Your Boots On" − Iron Maiden (''Last Drop Falls'', ''Orientation'')

"World in My Eyes" − Depeche Mode (''Don't Say a Word'')

"Two Minds, One Soul" − Vanishing Point (''Don't Say a Word'')

"Still Loving You" − Scorpions (''Takatalvi'')

"I Want Out" − Helloween (''Takatalvi'')

"Out in the Fields" − Gary Moore (''Paid in Full'', ''Unia'')

"Silent Jealousy" − X Japan (live)

"Crash & Burn" − Yngwie Malmsteen (live)

"Excuse Me While I Kill Myself" − Sentenced (live)

"I Was Made for Lovin' You" − KISS (live)

"Smoke on the Water" − Deep Purple (live)

"Child in Time" - Deep Purple (live)

"Gaston y'a l'téléfon qui son" − Nino Ferrer (live)

"One" − Metallica (live)

"We Will Rock You" − Queen (live)

"No More Tears" − Ozzy Osbourne (live)

"Hava Nagila" ("The Cage"/"Vodka", "For the Sake of Revenge")

"Master of Puppets" − Metallica (live)

"The Trooper" − Iron Maiden (live)

"Cowboys From Hell" - Pantera (live, Jani Liimatainen's Young Guitar DVD and Into The Storm bootleg DVD)

"Metropolis" - Dream Theater" (live)

"Total Eclipse Of The Heart" - Bonnie Tyler" (live)

"Runaway" - Del Shannon (live)

"Hell Is Living Without You" - Alice Cooper (One For All, All For One)

References

External links

Sonata Arctica's official website

Sonata Arctica's official fanclub

Winterheart's Guild video game

Category:Finnish power metal musical groups Category:Finnish progressive metal musical groups Category:Finnish heavy metal musical groups Category:Musical groups established in 1996 Category:Musical quintets

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Coordinates	12°2′36″N77°1′42″N
name	Klaus Badelt
background	non_performing_personnel
birth name	Klaus Badelt
born	June 12, 1967
origin	Frankfurt, Germany
genre	Film scores
occupation	Composer, producer, Arranger
website	}}

Klaus Badelt (born 12 June 1967) is an award-winning German composer, best known for composing film scores.

Life and career

Badelt was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He started his musical career composing for many successful movies and commercials in his homeland. In 1998, Oscar-winning film composer Hans Zimmer invited Badelt to work at Media Ventures in Santa Monica, his studio co-owned by Jay Rifkin. Since then, Badelt has been working on a number of his own film and television projects such as ''The Time Machine'' and ''K-19: The Widowmaker''. He also collaborated with other Media Ventures composers, such as Harry Gregson-Williams, John Powell, and Zimmer; and mentored several others like Ramin Djawadi and Steve Jablonsky.

While collaborating with Zimmer, Badelt contributed to the Oscar-nominated scores for ''The Thin Red Line'' and ''The Prince of Egypt'', as well as writing music for many well known directors including Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Terrence Mallick, John Woo, Kathryn Bigelow, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Werner Herzog, Sean Penn, Gore Verbinski, Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg.

Badelt co-wrote and co-produced the score to Hollywood box office hit ''Gladiator'', directed by Ridley Scott, along with Zimmer and singer/composer Lisa Gerrard. Having contributed music to ''Gladiator'', ''Mission: Impossible 2'' and Michael Kamen's score for ''X-Men'', Badelt was involved in the three most successful movies in 2000. Badelt also collaborated with Zimmer on other successful films, such as ''The Pledge'', and 2001 blockbusters ''Hannibal'' and ''Pearl Harbor''. One of his more famous and popular scores was for the 2003 film ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl''.

In 2004, Klaus branched out of Zimmer's studio and founded his own film music company, Theme Park Studios, in Santa Monica, CA. Since then, he has scored films like "Constantine", "Poseidon", "Rescue Dawn", and "TMNT", to name a few.

Among Badelt's most critically celebrated scores are the Chinese fantasy film ''The Promise'' and Dreamworks' remake of ''The Time Machine'', the latter which earned him the Discovery of the Year Award at the World Soundtrack Awards 2003. He also wrote the music for the closing ceremonies at the ''Beijing Olympics'' in 2008, and was commissioned to write the opera about China's First Emperor, to be premiered in 2011.

Known for his dedication, Klaus worked on the soundtrack for The Promise for almost 6 months. The song which can be heard in the movie's end credits is an ancient folk song in China, and very few people can still sing it. For that, Klaus traveled almost two weeks in China to find someone who was able to sing the whole folk song in order to rearrange it for the score.

Discography

2001

''Extreme Days''

''Invincible'' (with Hans Zimmer)

''The Pledge'' (with Hans Zimmer)

2002

''Equilibrium''

''K-19: The Widowmaker''

''The Time Machine''

''Teknolust''

2003

''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl''

''Beat the Drum''

''Basic''

''Ned Kelly''

''The Recruit''

2004

''Catwoman''

''Thunderbirds''

2005

''The Promise''

''Constantine'' (with Brian Tyler)

2006

''Rescue Dawn''

''Miami Vice''

''Poseidon''

''16 Blocks''

''Ultraviolet''

2007

''Redline''

''Heaven and Earth''

''Skid Row''

''Premonition''

''TMNT''

2008

''The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior'' (direct-to-video)

''Starship Troopers 3: Marauder'' (direct-to-video)

''Pour Elle

''Dragon Hunters''

''Beijing Olympics Closing Ceremonies''

2009

''Le Petit Nicolas'' (French)

''Solomon Kane''

''Waking Madison

''Killshot''

2010

''Valentine''

''Heartbreaker''

''Dylan Dog: Dead of Night''

''Shanghai''

''The Extra Man''

''À bout portant''

''Happy People: A Year in the Taiga''

2011

''The Swarm''

''MotorStorm: Apocalypse''

''The Prodigies''

References

External links

Interview with Stumped Magazine

Remote Control Fan Site

ScoreNotes Interview

Official Site

Swiss-German Fansite, visited by Klaus Badelt too

Category:1967 births Category:German film score composers Category:Living people

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