ONCE AROUND THE WORLD

It Bites really takes the cake here. Influence by heavy progrock like Rush, Saga and even the pop-approach of Mike and the Mechanics, Francis and co set the standard for years to come.

No longer, prog had to be about long songs and relentless repetition. The eighties were a game changer for progrock. Sure, I love Camel, Yes, Crimson, Floyd et al, but this is something totally different and needs to be listened to with a totally different ear.

New Wave was the answer to Punkrock, and bands like Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, a-ha and Simple Minds made fair use of synths again. So a lot of bands (Rush, Saga, Twelfth Night and others) took a bit of a synthpop/new wave approach.

It Bites did something different, they just cranked it up. heavy distorted guitars, thunderous drums, heavy soloiing. This was a form of progrock nobody had heard before. The songstructures were pop/rock: verse-chorus-verse-chorus and simple lyrics about everyday life.

Some songs are simple hardrock with heavy synths thrown in: Judas, Midnight, Black December, Rose Marie, but some songs are just pure heavy progrock: Christian, Old Man & the Angel and the titletrack. Some odd time signatures, extended soloiing, you name it.

It Bites was (in my opinion) the heaviest progrock band around. I don't know if Queensryche was around yet, but they were more metal than rock.

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