This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007)

Holiness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy (perceived by religious individuals as associated with the divine) or sacred (considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspiring awe or reverence among believers in a given set of spiritual ideas). In other contexts, objects are often considered 'holy' or 'sacred' if used for spiritual purposes, such as the worship or service of gods. These terms can also be used in a non-spiritual or semi-spiritual context ("sacred truths" in a constitution). It is often ascribed to people ("a holy man" of religious occupation, "holy prophet" who is venerated by his followers), objects ("sacred artifact" that is venerated and blessed ), times ("holy days" of spiritual introspection, such as during winter holidays), or places ("sacred ground", "holy place").

Etymology[link]

The word "sacred" descends from the Latin sacrum, which referred to the gods or anything in their power, and to sacerdos, priest; sanctum, set apart. It was generally conceived spatially, as referring to the area around a temple.

The English word "holy" dates back to at least the 11th Century with the Old English word hālig, an adjective derived from hāl meaning "whole" and used to mean "uninjured, sound, healthy, entire, complete". The Scottish hale ("health, happiness and wholeness") is the most complete modern form of this Old English root. The modern word "health" is also derived from the Old English hal. As "wholeness", holiness may be taken to indicate a state of religious completeness or perfection. The word "holy" in its modern form appears in Wyclif's Bible of 1382.

In non-specialist contexts, the term "holy" is used in a more general way, to refer to someone or something that is associated with a divine power, such as water used for baptism.

Hierology[link]

For the study of hieroglyphics, see hieroglyphology. For the study of sacred writings, see hierographology.

Hierology (Greek ιερος, hieros, "sacred" or "holy", + λογος, logos, "word", "account", or "reason") refers to the study of the sacred and sacredness. It is generally pursued by those who find real truth in many faiths and especially refers to philosophical speculations about religion that involve the traditions of multiple cultures or belief systems. It differs from theology in that a god or gods are not necessarily a focus and in that it may include sources with no origin in Western philosophy or religion.

Buddhism[link]

In Theravada Buddhism one finds the designation of 'noble person' or ariyapuggala (Pali). The Buddha described four grades of such person depending on their level of purity. This purity is measured by which of the ten fetters (samyojana) and klesha have been purified and integrated from the mindstream. These persons are called (in order of increasing sanctity) Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami and Arahant. The latter term designates an enlightened human being and is sometimes rendered into English as the Holy One.

Christianity[link]

The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are, 1 Cor.3:17

Catholicism[link]

Catholicism has inherited much of the Jewish vision of the world in terms of holiness, with certain behaviour appropriate to certain places and times. The calendar gives shape to Catholic practice, which tends to focus on the Eucharist, in which the Real Presence of Christ is manifested. Holy days, celebrating events of the life of Christ and the lives of Catholic saints officially recognized as holy, are celebrated throughout the year. Many features of the Jewish temple (although now seen as having Christian significance) are imitated in churches, such as the altar, bread, lamp, incense, font, etc., to emphasise the extreme holiness of the Eucharistic elements, which are reserved in a tabernacle. In extension of this focus on the Sacrament as holy, many objects in Catholicism are also considered holy. They are called sacramentals and are usually blessed by a priest. Such items include rosaries, crucifixes, medals, and statues and icons of Jesus, angels and saints (Virgin Mary). While Catholics believe that holy places and objects (i.e., objects dedicated to God for sacred use) should be respected and not put to profane use, the Catholic Church condemns worshiping the object itself, as any worship given to something other than God is considered idolatry.

People in a state of sanctifying grace are also considered holy in Catholicism. A central notion of Catholicism as articulated in contemporary theology is the "[personal] call to holiness," considered as a vocation shared by every Christian believer. Profound personal holiness has traditionally also been seen as a focus for the kind of contagious holiness primarily associated with the Sacrament. So the communion of saints in Catholicism is not only the acclamation of their piety or morality, but also reverence for the tangible holiness that flows from their proximity to the divine. Hence the places where saints lived, died, performed miracles, or received visions frequently become sites of pilgrimage, and notable objects surviving a saint (including the body or parts of it) are considered relics. The holiness of such places or objects, resulting from contact with a deeply holy person, is often connected with the miraculous long after the death of the saint.

Sanctus (Latin for "holy") is the name of an important hymn of Christian liturgy. The Trisagion ('Thrice Holy') is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Churches.

Protestantism[link]

Part of a series on the
Attributes of God
Aseity Eternity Graciousness Holiness Immanence Immutability Impassibility Impeccability Incorporeality Love Mission Omnibenevolence Omnipotence Omnipresence Omniscience Oneness Providence Righteousness Simplicity Transcendence Trinity Veracity Wrath
v t e

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The Protestant Reformation stood in opposition to the beliefs of tangible holiness in the Catholic Church and rejected most of its teachings regarding devotional practice, language and imagery. The early Protestant Reformers, who were often scholars of Ancient Greek and also borrowed from Jewish scholarship, recognized that holiness is an attribute of God, and holiness is always part of the presence of God. Yet they also recognized that "practical holiness" was the evidence of the presence of God in the converted believer. Martin Luther viewed God's grace (and therefore God's holiness), as an invasion of the life. Actions that demonstrated holiness would spring up, not premeditated, as the believer focused more and more on his or her relationship with Christ. This was the life of faith, according to Luther; a life in which one recognizes that the sin inherent in human nature never departs, yet Grace invades each human spirit and draws each person after Christ.

Calvin, on the other hand, formulated a practical system of holiness that even tied in with culture and social justice. All unholy actions, Calvin reasoned, resulted in suffering. Thus he proved out to the city fathers of Geneva that dancing and other social vices always ended with the wealthy oppressing the poor. A holy life, in his outlook, was pietistic and simple, a life that shunned extravagance, excess, and vanity. On a personal level, Calvin believed that suffering would be a manifestation of taking on the Cross of Christ, but suffering was also part of the process of holiness. He expected that all Christians would suffer in this life, not as punishment, but rather as participation in union with Christ, who suffered for them. And yet, socially, Calvin argued that a holy society would end up as a gentle, kindly society (except to criminals) where the poor would be protected from the abuses of the wealthy, the lawyers, and others who normally preyed upon them.

In Protestantism, especially in American branches of Protestantism of the more Pentecostal variety, holiness has acquired the secondary meaning of the reshaping of a person through spiritual rebirth. The term owes its origin to John Wesley's concept of "scriptural holiness" or Christian perfection.

The Holiness movement began within Methodism in the United States, among those who thought the church had lost the zeal and emphasis on personal holiness of Wesley's day. In the latter part of the 19th century revival meetings were held, attended by thousands. In Vineland, N.J in 1867 a camp meeting was begun and the "National Holiness Camp Meeting Association, which went on to establish many holiness camp meetings across the nation. Some adherents to the movement remained within their denominations; others founded new denominations, such as the Free Methodist Church, the Church of the Nazarene, and the Church of God (Anderson). Within a generation another movement, the Pentecostal movement was born, drawing heavily from the Holiness Movement. Around the middle of the 20th century, the Conservative Holiness Movement was born - a conservative offshoot of the Holiness movement.

The Higher Life movement appeared in the British Isles during the mid-19th century.

In the contemporary Holiness movement, the idea that holiness is relational is growing. In this thought, the core notion of holiness is love. Other notions of holiness, such as purity, being set apart, perfection, keeping rules, and total commitment, are seen as contributory notions of holiness. These contributory notions find their ultimate legitimacy when love is at their core (Thomas Jay Oord and Michael Lodahl).

Commonly recognized outward expressions or "standards" of holiness among more fundamental adherents frequently include applications relative to dress, hair, and appearance: e.g., short hair on men, uncut hair on women, and prohibitions against shorts, pants on women, make-up and jewelry. Other common injunctions are against places of worldly amusement, mixed swimming, smoking, minced oaths, as well as the eschewing of television and radio.

More traditional or mainline Protestant denominations, such as the Anglican, Lutheran, and some Methodist denominations, believe in Holy Sacraments that the clergy perform, such as Holy Communion and Holy Baptism. As well as strong belief in the Holy Catholic Church, Holy Scripture, Holy Trinity, and the Holy Covenant. They also believe that angels and saints are called to holiness.

Orthodoxy[link]

• see Glorification

Islam[link]

Among the names of God in Quran is القدوس (Al-Qoddous) : 59:23 and 62:1, the closest English translation for which is 'sacred'. As God alone is considered to be the ultimate source of all true purification and guidance in Islam, all holiness is his alone too.^{[clarification needed][citation needed]}

Judaism[link]

Some^[who?] consider that the Hebrew noun for "holiness," kedushah (Hebrew: קדושה‎), from the adjective kodesh, "holy," has the connotation of "separateness", although Hebrew has other verbs and adjectives to indicate separate, such as badal (בָּדַל). That which is holy in Judaism is set apart, and the separation is maintained by both legal and spiritual measures.^{[citation needed]} Certain places and times are intrinsically sacred, and strictures are placed on one's actions in those situations. However, holiness is not a single state, but contains a broad spectrum. The Mishnah lists concentric circles of holiness surrounding the Temple in Jerusalem: Holy of Holies; Temple Sanctuary; Temple Vestibule; Court of Priests; Court of Israelites; Court of Women; Temple Mount; the walled city of Jerusalem; all the walled cities of Israel; and the borders of the Land of Israel. Distinctions are made as to who and what are permitted in each area. Likewise, the holidays, including and especially the Sabbath, are considered to be holy in time; the Torah calls them "holy [days of] gathering. Work is not allowed on those days, and rabbinic tradition lists 39 categories of activity that are specifically prohibited.

The Torah describes the Aaronite priests and the Levites as being selected by God to perform the Temple services; they, as well, are called "holy." A righteous person (tzadik) is also considered to be holy.^{[citation needed]}

Beyond the intrinsically holy, objects can become sacred through consecration. Any personal possession may be dedicated to the Temple of God, after which its misappropriation is considered among the gravest of sins. The various sacrifices are holy; those that may be eaten have very specific rules concerning who may eat which of their parts, and time limits on when the consumption must be completed. Most sacrifices contain a part to be consumed by the priests - a portion of the holy to be consumed by God's holy devotees.

The encounter with the holy is seen as eminently desirable, and at the same time fearful and awesome. For the strongest penalties are applied to one who transgresses in this area - one could in theory receive either the death penalty or the heavenly punishment of karet, spiritual excision, for mis-stepping in his close approach to God's domain.

Sacred ground[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Usually, social or religious groups considers an area sacred or holy, where there is a human presence, e.g. a cemetery or a building or site for worship. However, there are natural areas on each continent—canyons, mountains, rivers, forests, deserts, seashores, etc. that are considered sacred, where the site's value as a sacred area trumps its use for economic purposes, and is usually preserved for perpetuity.

See also[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article holy.

• Buddhology
• Hallow
• Joseph Campbell
• Neopaganism
• New Age
• Polytheistic reconstructionism
• Sacred architecture
• Sacred art
• Sacred dance
• Sacred geometry
• Sacred history
• Sacred language
• Sacred music
• Sacred Mysteries
• Sacred prostitution
• Sacred text
• Sacred Tradition
• Sacred waters
• Theology
• Theosophy
• Traditionalist School

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Durkheim, Emile (1915) The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. London: George Allen & Unwin (originally published 1915, English translation 1915).
• Eliade, Mircea (1957) The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. Translated by Willard R. Trask. (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World).
• Thomas Jay Oord and Michael Lodahl (2006) Relational Holiness: Responding to the Call of Love. Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill.
• Pals, Daniel (1996) Seven Theories of Religion. New York: Oxford University Press. US ISBN 0-19-508725-9 (pbk).
• Sharpe, Eric J. (1986) Comparative Religion: A History, 2nd ed., (London: Duckworth, 1986/La Salle: Open Court). US ISBN 0-8126-9041-9.

Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian in Malmö, Sweden, September 21, 2006. L-R: Olbrich, Ehmke, Kürsch, Siepen, Schüren, Holzwarth
Background information
Origin	Krefeld, Germany
Genres	Power metal, progressive metal, speed metal, thrash metal
Years active	1984–present
Labels	No Remorse, Virgin, Century Media, Nuclear Blast
Associated acts	Demons and Wizards, Gamma Ray, Helloween, Iced Earth, Iron Savior, Savage Circus, Schattentantz, Power Quest
Website	www.blind-guardian.com
Members
Hansi Kürsch André Olbrich Marcus Siepen Frederik Ehmke
Past members
Thomas "Thomen" Stauch Markus Dörk Christof Theißen Hans-Peter Frey Mathias Wiesner

Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in the mid-1980s in Krefeld, West Germany.^[1] They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres.^[2][3] Blind Guardian is a part of the German heavy metal scene that emerged in the mid-1980s.

The band's lyrics, written by vocalist Hansi Kürsch, are inspired by the fiction of fantasy authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, Michael Moorcock, Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin as well as traditional legends and epics.^[4] Over the years, a running theme has developed personifying the band members as travelling bards, leading some fans to refer to the band affectionately as "The Bards".

Biography[link]

Formation as Lucifer's Heritage (1984–1987)[link]

Blind Guardian was formed in 1984 in Krefeld, Germany, by Hansi Kürsch (vocals, bass) and Andre Olbrich (guitar) under the name Lucifer's Heritage. The band first released two demos in 1985 and 1986, despite undergoing chaotic lineup changes: Markus Dörk (guitar) and Thomen Stauch (drums) were replaced by Christof Theißen and Hans-Peter Frey, respectively. Finally, in 1987, Marcus Siepen joined and Thomen came back to form the lineup which would stay consistent for the next 18 years.

Name change and rise to success (1988–1996)[link]

After Lucifer's Heritage signed a contract with No Remorse Records, the band changed their name to Blind Guardian to avoid any speculations about Satanism (in a bio it was stated that they also wanted to distance themselves from the black metal movement, as their demos were placed in with black metal albums at local record shops). They released their debut album Battalions of Fear in 1988, which was essentially a speed metal album heavily influenced by Helloween.^[5] These two German bands had close ties, and Helloween founder Kai Hansen made a guest appearance on Blind Guardian's second LP, Follow the Blind (1989), where the band revealed some thrash metal influence.^[6][7] Their third LP, Tales from the Twilight World (1990), had a much more melodic and "epic" feeling, with usage of choir and classical music influence.

Blind Guardian signed with Virgin Records in 1991, and released their fourth studio album Somewhere Far Beyond in 1992 and the live album Tokyo Tales in 1993. Flemming Rasmussen, former Metallica producer, began working with the band in 1994, producing their fifth studio album Imaginations from the Other Side, released in 1995, and The Forgotten Tales, an album that contained half covers and half original work, released in 1996.

Later years and departure of Thomen Stauch (1997–2009)[link]

In 1998, Blind Guardian released their epic album Nightfall in Middle-Earth. "Complete with anthemic choruses, spoken word story lines, and plenty of bombastic power metal punctuating every dramatic turn", says Allmusic's Vincent Jeffries, "Nightfall in Middle-Earth is perhaps Blind Guardian's most triumphant".^[8] A concept album based on J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion,^[4] Blind Guardian's music demonstrated some folk rock influence, but also featured heavy use of Queen-style layered backing vocals. Since Nightfall, bass guitar has been played by sessional member Oliver Holzwarth, and Hansi has been able to devote all his attention to singing. Nightfall was also the last Blind Guardian album produced by Rasmussen.

Lead vocalist Hansi Kürsch

A Night at the Opera, named after the Queen album, was released four years later. On this album, the band's sound lacked almost all influence of their original speed metal. Power and progressive metal abound, with over the top orchestral backing and a consistent vocal and guitar layering throughout.^[9] Though not a true concept album, many of the lyrics dealt with the common themes of religion and relations between human and divine powers. It was followed by a live album in 2003 and a DVD, Imaginations Through the Looking Glass, in 2004, which was the last recorded Blind Guardian material to feature Thomen Stauch on drums. He left the band due to musical differences and was replaced by Frederik Ehmke. The first album with Ehmke was A Twist in the Myth, which came out in 2006.

Blind Guardian participated in the soundtrack for the In the Name of the King: a Dungeon Siege Tale fantasy movie (Uwe Boll), which came out in 2008.^[10] The band also recorded a theme song for Sacred 2 Fallen Angel role-playing video game, the prequel to Sacred.^[11]

Recent events (2010–present)[link]

André Olbrich performing in 2009

"A Voice in the Dark" was the next single from Blind Guardian that was released 25 June 2010. On July 30, 2010 the album followed, called At the Edge of Time. The band started "The Sacred Worlds and Songs Divine Tour 2010", the European dates will have the opening acts Enforcer and Steelwing. The 22 October in Gothenburg, Sweden only Steelwing was the opening act. The US dates will have Holy Grail and Seven Kingdoms and later they were announced that they would play at Wacken Open Air in 2011.

On July 21, 2011, Hansi Kürsch announced on Blind Guardian's official website that they are working on an orchestral album.^[12][13] On September 1, 2011, Oliver Holzwarth joined Rhapsody of Fire as a full-time member, after 13 years as Blind Guardian's session bass player.^[14] On January 27th, 2012, the band released a compilation album, titled Memories of a Time to Come, containing re-recorded and remixed songs from the band's entire discography.^[15]

Musical style[link]

Blind Guardian with the band's definitive scenery in background

Blind Guardian's first two albums, Battalions of Fear and Follow the Blind, were more in the style of speed metal than their following works. Beginning with their third album Tales from the Twilight World, Blind Guardian gradually began to write more complicated compositions focusing less on speed. As of their sixth album, Nightfall in Middle Earth, Hansi stopped playing bass to focus on singing. At this point the band began to incorporate large amounts of orchestral arrangements, and utilized the technique of overdubbing, heavily influenced by the English rock band Queen.^[16]

Blind Guardian's music features the staccato guitars and double bass drumming characteristic of power metal, as well as the use of overdubs and numerous backing vocals to create a dense sound. This technique, especially notable in the guitar and vocal tracks, creates the impression of a vast army of musicians playing in unison and singing in harmony. This proved significant on all albums after the first two but most particularly on A Night at the Opera.

Another definitive feature of Blind Guardian music is frequent use of folk tunes and instruments, especially in power ballads such as "Lord of the Rings", "The Bard's Song", "A Past and Future Secret", "Skalds and Shadows" and "Curse My Name", among others.

Side projects[link]

Along with Jon Schaffer, the leader and founder of Iced Earth, Kürsch is a member of Demons and Wizards, where he is the lead singer.

Blind Guardian have been working on and off for eight years on an orchestral project writing music about The Lord of the Rings (negotiations failed to be included on the famous The Lord of the Rings film trilogy as the soundtrack, because the band wanted to concentrate on their next album). Although it will not be a power metal album, it will be published under the name of Blind Guardian because it matches the theme of the band's lyrics, according to Hansi.^[17]

Due to the tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011, Blind Guardian began working with their former record company, EMI Music, and auctioned off an exclusive studio session for two in the Twilight Hall Studio in Grefrath, Germany for charity in which 100% of proceeds would be donated to the tsunami relief efforts.^[18] The auction ended on April 22, 2011 with a final bid of £1,171.00.^[19]

Line-up[link]

Current members[link]

• Hansi Kürsch – lead vocals (1984–present), bass (1984–1996)
• André Olbrich – lead guitar, backing vocals (1984–present)
• Marcus Siepen – Rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1987–present)
• Frederik Ehmke – drums, percussion, flute and bagpipes (2005–present)

With:

• Thomas Hackmann (sessional member) – backing vocals (1990–present)
• Oliver Holzwarth (sessional and live member) – bass, backing vocals (1997–present)
• Michael Schüren (sessional member) – keyboards, grand piano (1997-present)
• Olaf Senkbeil (sessional member) - backing vocals (1998–present)
• Pat Bender (sessional member) – keyboards, sound effects (2002–present)

Former members[link]

• Thomas "Thomen" Stauch – drums (1984–1985, 1987–2005)
• Markus Dörk – Guitars (1984–1985)
• Christof Theißen – Rhythm guitar (1986)
• Hans-Peter Frey – drums (1986)
• Mathias Wiesner – keyboards, effects (studio) (1989–2002)

Discography[link]

• Battalions of Fear (1988)
• Follow the Blind (1989)
• Tales from the Twilight World (1990)
• Somewhere Far Beyond (1992)
• Imaginations from the Other Side (1995)
• Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998)
• A Night at the Opera (2002)
• A Twist in the Myth (2006)
• At the Edge of Time (2010)

References[link]

Blind Guardian-Battlefield is the theme song for Robot Unicorn Attack heavy metal version

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Blind Guardian

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Blind Guardian

• Official website
• Blind Guardian on Myspace
• Blind Guardian discography at MusicBrainz
• Hansi Kurskch Interview With Metal Rules

This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (November 2010)

Tokio Hotel
Tokio Hotel, 2010. L-R: Georg Listing, Bill Kaulitz, Tom Kaulitz, and Gustav Schäfer
Background information
Origin	Magdeburg, Germany
Genres	Pop rock,[1][2] alternative rock,[3] emo,[4] glam rock,[5] power pop,[6][7][8][9]
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Universal Music Germany, Cherrytree, Interscope
Website	www.tokiohotel.com
Members
Bill Kaulitz Tom Kaulitz Georg Listing Gustav Schäfer

Tokio Hotel is a rock band from Germany, founded in 2001 by singer Bill Kaulitz, guitarist Tom Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing.^[10] The quartet have scored four number one singles and have released three number one albums in their native country, selling nearly 5 million CDs and DVDs there.^[11] After recording an unreleased demo-CD under the name "Devilish" and having their contract with Sony BMG Germany terminated, the band released their first German-language album, Schrei, as Tokio Hotel on Universal Music Germany in 2005. Schrei sold more than half a million copies worldwide^[12] and spawned four top five singles in both Germany and Austria. In 2007, the band released their second German album Zimmer 483 and their first English album Scream which have combined album sales of over one million copies worldwide and helped win the band their first MTV Europe Music Award for Best InterAct. The former, Zimmer 483, spawned three top five singles in Germany while the latter, Scream, spawned two singles that reached the top twenty in new territories such as France, Portugal, Spain and Italy. In September 2008, they won in the US their first MTV Video Music Award (VMA) for Best New Artist. In October 2008, they won four awards including Best International Artist and Song of the year at Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica (MTV Video Music Awards Latin America) held in Mexico. Tokio Hotel became the first German band ever to win an award at the MTV VMAs and also at the MTV Latin America Awards. They also picked up the Headliner award at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 held in Liverpool on November 6, 2008 and the Award for Best Group on November 5, 2009 at the MTV Europe Music Award (EMA) held in Berlin. They won an Award for Best World Stage Performance on November 7, 2010 at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Madrid. In July 2011, they became the first German band to win an MTV Video Music Awards Japan (VMAJ). And won MTV's 2012 Musical March Madness.

History[link]

[edit] Formation (2001 - 2004)

Tokio Hotel by vocalist Bill Kaulitz and guitarist Tom Kaulitz, who are identical twin brothers, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bass-guitarist Georg Listing. The four met in 2001 after a live show in a Magdeburg-Club, where Listing and Schäfer, who knew each other from music school, watched from the audience while Bill and Tom Kaulitz played on the stage.^[13][14] Under the name Devilish, the band soon began playing in talent shows and small concerts.^[15] After Bill Kaulitz's participation in a children's Star Search in 2003 at age thirteen (which he lost in the quarter-final), he was discovered by music producer Peter Hoffmann. Devilish changed their name to Tokio Hotel: "Tokio", the German spelling of the Japanese city Tokyo, due to a love of the city, and "Hotel" due to their constant touring and living in hotels.^[13] Soon after Sony BMG took them under contract, Hoffmann hired David Jost and Pat Benzner into the team of creators and authors, and had them give the teens instruction on songwriting and instrument playing; most of the songs of the first album were written by Hoffmann, Jost and Benzer (including the singles "Scream" and "Rescue me" which were completely written by them), only the single "Unendlichkeit" was written completely by Tokio Hotel themselves. Shortly before release of their first album, Sony terminated their contract. The band is now one of the biggest modern acts from Germany and the biggest in 20 years.

[edit] Schrei (2005 - 2006)

Bill Kaulitz performing in Hessisch-Lichtenau, Germany in 2006.

In 2005, Universal Music Group took Tokio Hotel under contract and developed a marketing plan. Their first single, "Durch den Monsun" ("Through the Monsoon"), quickly rose in the charts, appearing on the German official Media Control single chart at #15 on August 20, 2005 and eventually reaching #1 on August 26, 2005; it also reached #1 on the Austrian singles chart. Their second single, "Schrei" ("Scream"), climbed to the #5 position in the German charts. These two songs were written by singer Bill Kaulitz together with their group of producers Peter Hoffmann, David Jost, Pat Benzer and Dave Roth. Their debut album, Schrei, was released on September 19, 2005, and was certified triple gold by the BVMI in 2006 for selling over 300,000 copies in Germany.^[16] In 2006, a third and fourth single, "Rette mich" ("Rescue Me") and "Der letzte Tag" ("The Final Day"), were released; both reached #1 as well. "Der letzte Tag" contained a B-side called "Wir schließen uns ein", which was also accompanied by a music video.

[edit] Zimmer 483 (2007 - 2008)

The first single off their second album Zimmer 483 (Room 483), called "Übers Ende der Welt" (later re-released in English under the name "Ready, Set, Go!"), was released on January 26, 2007 and quickly reached #1 in Germany and Austria, and #2 in France. Zimmer 483 was released in Germany on February 23, 2007, along with a deluxe edition of the album containing a DVD. The album's second single, "Spring nicht" ("Don't Jump") was released on April 7. The tour accompanying the release of the album, The Zimmer 483 Tour, was scheduled to start in March 2007, but was delayed by two weeks because the band members wished to have a different stage design. A third single, "An deiner Seite (Ich bin da)" ("By Your Side"), was released on November 16. The single contains the B-side "1000 Meere" ("1000 Oceans"), for which a music video was also produced. On April 28, 2008 Tokio Hotel released their single "Heilig" but no music video for the single was released, because of the tight schedule they had.

[edit] Scream (2007 - 2008)

Tokio Hotel's first English language album, Scream, was released on June 4, 2007 throughout Europe. In Germany, the album was released as Room 483 in order to emphasize the continuity with their last German album Zimmer 483. Scream contains English versions of a selection of songs from their German-language albums Scream and Zimmer 483. "Monsoon", the English-language version of "Durch den Monsun", was the first single from the album. "Ready, Set, Go!" (the translation of "Übers Ende der Welt") was released as the album's second single and "Don't Jump" (the translation of "Spring nicht") as the third single. A video for "Scream", the English-language version of their 2005 hit "Schrei", was also recorded, and was released to the iTunes Store in early March 2008.

Tokio Hotel gave their first concert in the United Kingdom on June 19, 2007. "Ready, Set, Go!" was released in the UK as the band's first single on August 27, 2007. The song reached #77 in the UK Singles Chart.

Tokio Hotel won an MTV Europe Music Award for Best InterAct on November 1, 2007 and were also nominated for Best Band. They performed "Monsoon" at the event.

Tokio Hotel released their first US single, simply called "Tokio Hotel", in late 2007. The single contains the tracks "Scream" and "Ready, Set, Go!", and was available exclusively at Hot Topic stores. Their second US single, "Scream America", was released on December 11, 2007. The single contains the track "Scream" and a remix of "Ready, Set, Go!" by AFI's Jade Puget. In February 2008, the band toured North America for five dates starting in Canada and finishing up in New York.^[17] After appearing and performing live on MuchMusic, while touring in Canada, "Ready, Set, Go!" entered the MuchOnDemand Daily 10, a countdown of videos chosen by viewers. It remained there for over a week, then returned to the top of the MOD Daily 10 chart on April 8. "Scream" was released in Canada on March 25 and in the US on May 6. The "1000 Hotels" European Tour began on March 3, 2008 in Brussels and continued to locations including The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Scandinavia, and was scheduled to finish on April 9; during the concert in Marseille, France on March 14, Bill started to experience vocal problems.^[18] He let the audience sing more frequently than normal and instead of the original 21 songs that were on the set list, they only played 16 songs. Bill apologized, in German, for his bad singing and explained that he was sick. Two days later, the band canceled Lisbon, Portugal concert minutes before it was supposed to commence. The rest of the "1000 Hotels" Tour and a scheduled North American Tour were cancelled following an announcement in Bild by the band's manager that Bill Kaulitz had to undergo surgery to remove a cyst on his vocal cords.^[19][20]

Bill Kaulitz had been putting strain on his voice after playing 43 concerts in the 1000 Hotels tour without vacation.^[21] He had to undergo Larynx surgery on March 30 to remove a cyst that had formed on his vocal cords.^[22] The cyst was the result of a throat infection that went untreated.^[23] Following his surgery, Bill was unable to speak for twelve days, and had four weeks of vocal rehabilitation.^[24] If Bill had continued singing the rest of the tour, his voice would have eventually been permanently damaged.^[18][25] Tokio Hotel started performing again in May 2008^[26] and after that they embarked on a 2nd part of their 1000 Hotels European Tour adding many Open Air concerts and wrapping up the tour on July 13 in Werchter, Belgium.

[edit] North American Tours and Humanoid (2009 - 2010)

This section is outdated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (November 2010)

Tokio Hotel embarked on a second tour of North America in August 2008, which included a performance at the Bamboozled festival in New Jersey. The band's music video for "Ready Set Go!" was nominated for Best Pop Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards,^[27] where they also won the award for Best New Artist.^[28] They returned to North America again in October 2008 for a month long tour of concerts and record store signings. In December 2008, a behind-the scenes DVD called Tokio Hotel TV – Caught on Camera was released. It contains footage from Tokio Hotel TV and backstage feature stories of the previous year on disc one entitled "History – The very best of Tokio Hotel TV!". A deluxe edition contains a second disc entitled "Future – The road to the new Album!" which features footage of the band on promotion tours and preparing for their third studio album.^[29]

In between the North American tours, the band returned to their record studio in Hamburg to record their third studio album, Humanoid, which, according to their producer David Jost, is currently set for release on October 2 in Germany & October 6, 2009 in the U.S.^[30][31][32] This is despite earlier statements predicting a March/April 2009 release or a May/June 2009 release.^[33][34][35] The album was recorded in both German and English with both versions were released simultaneously worldwide.^[34][35]

On August 10, it was announced on MTV news that the first German single would be "Automatisch" and its English counterpart, "Automatic", would also be released as a first single in the United States. On August 20, MTV Buzzworthy released a video which previewed "Automatic" and Cherrytree Records announced that the English version of the song would be released in the US on September 22.^[36][37] Nevertheless, the video for the single was released on September 3.

On November 2, it was announced on Tom's Blog that the second English single would be "World Behind My Wall" and its German counterpart, "Lass uns laufen", would be the second German single.^[38] The music videos for both versions were released on December 14 and December 15.

On June 24, the live music video for their single, "Dark Side of the Sun" was released on the band website.

On July 20, 2010 they released their second live album Humanoid City Live from Milan, Italy On November 22, 2010, their new song "Hurricanes and Suns," premiered on the Greek radio station Mad Radio. It was included in the bonus track on all versions of "Tokio Hotel: Best Of," a compilation album of their most successful songs. As well as the single for the 'Best of' release. The album will also include "Mädchen aus dem All", the first song the band recorded in a studio.

On December 14, 2010 their 'Best of' was released. December 2 was the World Premiere of the video for "Hurricanes and Suns" on their Official Website. On April 28, 2011 they received the "Fan Army FTW" award at the MTV O Music Awards, the networks first online award show. A clip of Bill and Tom thanking their fans was played after the winner was announced.

Tokio Hotel performed their first concert in Asia (excluding their concert in Israel) at the Audi Showcase in Singapore, followed shortly by the TM Connects With Tokio Hotel event in Malaysia, promoting the sales of their album Humanoid. They concluded the series of mini-concerts with Taiwan. They returned to Malaysia a couple of months later to perform at MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia 2010. They performed in Tokyo on December 15, 2010, after their South American Tour concluded in Distrito Federal, Mexico on December 2, 2010. In February, 2011 Tokio Hotel travelled to Japan to complete a second promo tour. A number of TV appearances and media interviews took place between February 8 and February 11.

On June 24, 2011 Tokio Hotel performed in Japan at “The Next Premium Night Tokio Hotel in Tokyo". The event was presented by Audi A1 and 150 fans were chosen to win tickets to attend the show. The event was the band's first acoustic performance in Japan. On June 25, 2011 the band performed live at the MTV Video Music Aid Japan in Tokyo. The show, which was formerly called the Video Music Awards Japan, was used as a music benefit to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross in order to help those who were affected by the recent earthquake.

Modeling and commercials[link]

This section is outdated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (January 2010)

On January 19, 2010, lead singer Bill Kaulitz teamed up with twins Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared to walk the runway at a fashion event in Milan.^[39] Kaulitz made two appearances, as he opened and closed DSquared's Menswear Autumn/Winter 2010 show to Tokio Hotel song "Screamin".^[40]

Car maker Audi hired the two frontmen to star in their new advertising campaign to attract the younger generation. They were featured in an episode of Tokio Hotel TV (on Tokio Hotel's website) and also in a commercial.^[41]

On August 4, 2010, Tom Kaulitz got his own Reebok shoe commercial.^[42] Reebok signed the 20-year-old Tokio Hotel guitarist and sneaker addict to model shoes for the company. "At home, I created a little room like a little storage room," he said of his sneakers. He also said that he gets 10 new pairs a week.^[42]

Best Of Tokio Hotel (2010)[link]

At 13th December in Germany and 14th December internationally Tokio Hotel released their first compilation album named "Best Of". It comes in two languages: english and german. It contains the most popular songs from all the previous albums and two new songs: "Hurricanes and Suns" (was recorded for Humanoid but not included in it) and "Mädchen aus dem All" (was recorded for Schrei but not included in it).There is a deluxe edition too which comes with both german and english versions of album and a bonus DVD with all Tokio Hotel's music videos and "making of" scenes.

[edit] New album and duet with Far East Movement (2011 - present)

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2012)

After finishing "Welcome To Humanoid City Tour" Bill and Tom with their manager David Jost moved to Los Angeles and still are living there. They said they are working on the new album, which will be released in the late 2012. Paparazzies caught Bill, Tom and Gustav in a shop in Los Angeles. MTV said the new album will be named "Dark Anthem".^[43]. Bill and Tom released an app named "BTK Twins" for iOS (16 January 2012),^[44] and Android(19 December 2011),^[45] for keeping in touch with their fans. Here Bill and Tom post their photos, videos and text messages, and fans can leave messages for posts. Bill and Tom answer to these comments very often. The app costs 2.99$, and if a user wants to leave comments besides watching only he must pay 0.99$ a month. Tokio Hotel launched a service named "VIP Call".^[46] Fans may pay 4.99 Euros for a month or 3.49 Euros for 3 months and Tokio Hotel call them and leave audio messages. Fans can even ask them questions and Tokio Hotel will answer to them. On 18 May 2012 Far East Movement released an album named "Dirty Bass". In it there is a song named "If I Die Tomorrow" which is a duet with Bill. Far East Movement accepted there will be a music video released for "If I Die Tomorrow" soon. Bill Kaulitz will take part in shootings too.

Band members[link]

• Bill Kaulitz - lead vocals
• Tom Kaulitz - guitar, piano, backing vocals
• Georg Listing - bass, keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals
• Gustav Schäfer - drums, percussion, backing vocals

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Schrei (2005)
• Zimmer 483 (2007)
• Scream (2007)
• Humanoid (2009)
• Best Of (2010)

Awards[link]

Since the release of the "Durch den Monsun" single in 2005, Tokio Hotel have gone on to win 104 awards in various categories and countries.

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tokio Hotel

• Official site
• Cherrytree records profile
• Interscope records profile
• Tokio Hotel on MySpace
• Tokio Hotel on Facebook
• Tokio Hotel on Twitter
• Tokio Hotel on MTV

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

Alex Grey
Born	(1953-11-29) November 29, 1953 (age 58) Columbus, Ohio
Field	Spiritual and psychedelic art

Alex Grey (born November 29, 1953) is an American artist specializing in spiritual and psychedelic art (or visionary art) that is sometimes associated with the New Age movement. Grey is a Vajrayana practitioner. His body of work spans a variety of forms including performance art, process art, installation art, sculpture, visionary art, and painting. Grey is a member of the Integral Institute. He is also on the board of advisors for the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, and is the Chair of Wisdom University's Sacred Art Department. He and his wife Allyson Grey are the co-founders of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, a non-profit church supporting Visionary Culture in Wappingers Falls, New York.

Biography[link]

Alex Grey painting.

Grey was born Alex Velzy in Columbus, Ohio on November 29, 1953, the middle child of a middle-class couple. His father was a graphic designer and encouraged his son's drawing ability. Young Alex would collect insects and dead animals from the suburban neighborhood and bury them in the back yard. The themes of death and transcendence weave throughout his artworks, from the earliest drawings to later performances, paintings and sculpture. He went to the Columbus College of Art and Design for two years (1971–73), then dropped out and painted billboards in Ohio for a year (1973–74). Grey then attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for one year, to study with the conceptual artist, Jay Jaroslav.

At the Boston Museum School he met his wife, the artist Allyson Rymland Grey.^[1] During this period he had a series of entheogenically induced mystical experiences that transformed his agnostic existentialism to a radical transcendentalism. The Grey couple would trip together on LSD. Alex then spent five years at Harvard Medical School working in the Anatomy department studying the body and preparing cadavers for dissection. He also worked at Harvard's department of Mind/Body Medicine with Dr. Herbert Benson and Dr. Joan Borysenko, conducting scientific experiments to investigate subtle healing energies. Alex's anatomical training prepared him for painting the Sacred Mirrors (explained below) and for doing medical illustration. When doctors saw his Sacred Mirrors, they asked him to do illustration work. Grey was an instructor in Artistic Anatomy and Figure Sculpture for ten years at New York University, and now teaches courses in Visionary Art with Allyson at The Open Center in New York City;^[2] Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado; the California Institute of Integral Studies and the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York.

Inside the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors.

In 1972 Grey began a series of art actions that bear resemblance to rites of passage, in that they present stages of a developing psyche. The approximately fifty performance rites, conducted over the last thirty years, move through transformations from an egocentric to more sociocentric and increasingly worldcentric and theocentric identity. The most recent performance was WorldSpirit, a spoken word and musical collaboration with Kenji Williams which was released in 2004 as a DVD.

Grey's unique series of 21 life-sized paintings, the Sacred Mirrors (on display at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in Wappingers Falls, NY), takes the viewer on a journey toward their own divine nature by examining, in detail, the body, mind, and spirit. The Sacred Mirrors present the physical and subtle anatomy of an individual in the context of cosmic, biological and technological evolution. Begun in 1979, the series took a period of ten years to complete. It was during this period that he developed his depictions of the human body that "x-ray" the multiple layers of reality, and reveal the interplay of anatomical and spiritual forces. After painting the Sacred Mirrors, he applied this multidimensional perspective to such archetypal human experiences as praying, meditation, kissing, copulating, pregnancy, birth, nursing and dying. Grey’s recent work has explored the subject of consciousness from the perspective of "universal beings" whose bodies are grids of fire, eyes and infinite galactic swirls.

A visitor appreciates a piece of art.

Renowned healers Olga Worral and Rosalyn Bruyere have expressed appreciation for the skillful portrayal of clairvoyant vision in his paintings of translucent glowing bodies. Grey's paintings have been featured in venues as diverse as the album art of Tool, The String Cheese Incident, the Beastie Boys and Nirvana, Newsweek magazine, the Discovery Channel, Rave flyers and sheets of blotter acid. His work has been exhibited worldwide, including Feature Inc., Tibet House, Stux Gallery, P.S. 1, The Outsider Art Fair and the New Museum in NYC, the Grand Palais in Paris, the Sao Paulo Biennial in Brazil. Alex has been a keynote speaker at conferences all over the world including Tokyo, Amsterdam, Basel, Barcelona and Manaus. The international psychedelic community has embraced Grey as an important mapmaker and spokesman for the visionary realm.

A large installation called Heart Net by Alex and his wife, Allyson, was displayed at Baltimore's American Visionary Art Museum in 1998-99. A mid-career retrospective of Grey's works was exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego in 1999. The large format art book, Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alex Grey has been translated into five languages and has sold over one hundred thousand copies, unusual for an art book. His inspirational book, The Mission of Art, traces the evolution of human consciousness through art history, exploring the role of an artist's intention and conscience, and reflecting on the creative process as a spiritual path.

Transfigurations is Alex's second large-format monograph, containing over 300 color and black & white images of his work. Sounds True has released The Visionary Artist, a CD of Grey's reflections on art as a spiritual practice. ARTmind is the artist's recent video exploring the healing potential of Sacred Art. Grey co-edited the book, Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics (Chronicle Books, 2002). In 2004 Grey’s VISIONS boxed set containing a portfolio of new works and Sacred Mirrors and Transfigurations, his collected works. The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, CoSM, a long-term exhibition of fifty works of transformative art by Grey opened in the Fall of 2004 in New York City and relocated to its present Hudson Valley location some years later. He lives in New York City with his wife, painter Allyson Grey, and their daughter, actress Zena Grey.

Grey was featured in the 2006 film Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within, a documentary about rediscovering an enchanted cosmos in the modern world.^[3]

Paintings[link]

Alex Grey painting.

Grey’s paintings can be described as a blend of sacred, visionary art and postmodern art. He is best known for his paintings of glowing anatomical human bodies, images that “x-ray” the multiple layers of reality. His art is a complex integration of body, mind, and spirit. The Sacred Mirrors, a life-sized series of 21 paintings, took 10 years to complete, and examines in detail the physical and metaphysical anatomy of the individual. "The inner body is meticulously rendered - not just anatomically precise but crystalline in its clarity"^[4]. Many of his paintings include detailed representations of the skeleton, nervous system, cardiovascular system, and lymphatic system. Grey applies this multidimensional perspective to paint the universal human experience. His figures are shown in positions such as praying, meditating, kissing, copulating, pregnancy, birth and death. His work incorporates many religious symbols, including auras, chakras, and icons with geometric shapes and tessellations in natural, industrial, and multicultural situations. Grey’s paintings are permeated with an intense and subtle light that is rare in art history. “It is the light that is sublime in Grey’s oeuvre - which is the most important innovation in religious light since the Baroque - and that makes the mundane beings in them seem sublime, in every realistic detail of their exquisite being”.^[4]

Philosophy[link]

Grey has also made his own contribution to the philosophy of art in his book The Mission of Art (1998). Therein, he promotes the possibility of the mystical potential of art: he argues that the process of artistic creation can (and should) play a role in the enlightenment of the artist. For him, the process of artistic creation holds the potential of transcending the limitations of the mind and more fully expressing the divine spirit. He also believes that art can induce within the viewer an elevated state wherein spiritual states of being are attained.

In an interview with Ken Wilber for Integral Naked, Grey described an experience of shared hallucination between himself and his wife, which led him to believe in spirituality and spiritual practice.

Reception[link]

Painting and music groups[link]

Grey's artwork has often been used by music groups on their album covers.

• An album of David Byrne remixes called Visible Man featured Grey's artwork.
• Michael Hedges's album Torched features one of Grey's "Holy Fire" paintings on the cover.
• The liner notes for the Nirvana album In Utero included a reproduction of Grey's painting Muscle System (Pregnant Woman) among a series of photographs of the band.
• The cover of The String Cheese Incident's album Untying the Not features Grey's work Cosmic Elf, commissioned specifically for the album.
• Hip-hop group the Beastie Boys featured Grey's "Gaia" painting as well as his "Vision Crystal" image inside the booklet of their album Ill Communication.
• The metal band Tool has featured Grey's artwork as album artwork for their album Lateralus. He also executed the stage design for Tool for the associated tour that included massive reproductions of the album artwork as well as provide the artwork for the 2006 Tool album 10,000 Days and the computer-generated graphics for the video of the single "Vicarious". Tool also used a few paintings from Alex on their 2007 tour of Europe, Asia, and North America.
• In 2004 a live multimedia performance was recorded as a DVD titled Worldspirit - featuring the animated artwork and live spoken word of Alex Grey, coupled with the project direction and live music of Kenji Williams.
• The alleged mystical properties of Grey's artwork are discussed in Stuart Davis' 2006 DVD Between the Music.
• DJ/Producer Bassnectar has used Alex Grey's artwork for multiple album covers.
• In 2008 and 2009, TELESMA performed Winter Solstice concerts at which Alex and Allyson Grey appeared on stage and painted new original pieces. A DVD of their first collaborative Winter Solstice concert with TELESMA called Hearing Vision's LIVE was released in June 2010. On December 18, 2010, Alex and Allyson Grey again "live painted" new original pieces with TELESMA during the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM) Full Moon Solstice Celebration.

In the media[link]

Grey's artwork has been featured on the cover of Sub Rosa, Newsweek, High Times, Shaman's Drum, Shambhala Sun, Juxtapoz, Vision, Gnosis and The Healing Power of Neurofeedback: The Revolutionary LENS Technique for Restoring Optimal Brain Function.

The Discovery Channel included Grey in a feature on art and creativity in altered states.

The Viking Youth Power Hour interviewed Alex & Allyson Grey about the role of sacred art, the holy shenanigans of Burning Man, and the development of his process.

Grey's work and his Chapel of Sacred Mirrors gallery in New York City are featured in a 2006 DVD release CoSM The Movie, directed by Nick Krasnic.

Grey talks about his personal philosophy in the 2009 film Cognition Factor.^[5]

In Variable Star, a science fiction novel written by Spider Robinson based on a story outline by Robert A. Heinlein, Robinson devotes several pages to his protagonist's discovery of Grey's Sacred Mirrors and Progress of the Soul series, and to using them to enhance meditation.^[6]

Collections[link]

Alex Grey explaining his work.

• Transfigurations
• Visions, 2003, a 2,000-copy limited edition collection of Grey's two hardcover books and a set of prints, all in an illustrated wooden case which folds out into an 'altar'

Publications[link]

• 1990 - Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alexander Grey (Alex Grey) (Inner Traditions - Bear & Company) ISBN 0-89281-314-8
• 2001 - Transfigurations (Alex Grey) (Inner Traditions - Bear & Company) ISBN 0-89281-851-4
• 2001 - The Mission of Art (Alex Grey) (Shambhala Publications Inc.) ISBN 1-57062-545-X
• 2006 - True Visions (Erik Davis and Pablo Echaurren) (Betty Books) ISBN 88-902372-0-1
• 2007 - Metamorphosis: 50 Contemporary Surreal, Fantastic and Visionary Artists (beinArt) ISBN 978-0-9803231-0-8
• 2008 - Art Psalms

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alex Grey

• Official website
• Alex Grey at the Internet Movie Database
• Chapel of Sacred Mirrors home page
• Tripatourium.com, published the only two officially licensed Alex Grey Blotter Art prints.