Alisa

Infobox musical artist
Name = Алиса

|
Landscape = yes
Background = group_or_band
Alias = Alisa
Origin = Russia, USSR
Genre = Hard rock
Years_active = 1983-present
URL = [http://www.alisa.net Official website]
Current_members = Konstantin Kinchev Petr Samoylov Eugeny Levin Igor Romanov Andrey Vdovichenko Dmitry ParfenovAlisa ( _ru. Алиса, Russian analogue to the female name Alice) is a Russian hard rock band, who are credited as one of the most influential bands in the Russian rock movement.

Biography

Alisa was formed in November 1983 by bassist Svetoslav Zadery. The name he gave to his band was his call, connected to Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland". The band's lineup was finally completed in 1984, when new vocalist Kostya Kinchev (real name Konstantin Panfilov) and guitarist Petr Samoylov joined. Their debut album "Energia" was released by state publishing monopoly Melodiya and sold more than a million copies.

But the relations between two leaders, Konstantin and Zadery, were deteriorating, and finally Svetoslav departed from the band. This occurred just one hour before Alisa was to perform at a concert. Alisa had to ask Kino bassist Igor Tihomirov to replace him for one concert. Later Zadery created his own band Nate! (stand sfor "Take it!").

The growing popularity of the band created a fan community called the Army of Alisa, known for their rough behaviour at concerts. It led to animosity between the band and Soviet officials. In 1987, the newspaper "Smena" accused Alisa's leader Kinchev of Nazi propaganda and worshipping Hitler. Kinchev filed a suit for calumny and moral loss compensation. After the year-long court process the magazine published the refutation. Alisa's next album was titled "Article 206 part 2", a chapter ("Hooliganism") of the USSR Procedural Code, alluding to this process.

There were new more changes in 1988, when guitarist Igor "Chuma" Chumykin joined the band. This change was followed by the heavier sound of next two albums, "Shabash" and "For those Who Fell From the Moon". Alisa toured through Europe and Israel together with fellow Russian heavy metal band Aria. The album "Black Mark", released in 1994, was dedicated to the memory of Chuma, who committed suicide by jumping from the window.

In the new millennium, with albums such as "Seychas Pozdnee Chem Ty Dumaesh" (It is Later Than You Think, 2003) and "Izgoy" (Exile, 2005), the sound of Alisa was changed to a heavier one, including elements of nu, industrial and Heavy Metal. Music critics credited Clawfinger as Kinchev's greatest new music influence. This gave Alisa a new fan base among Russian hard rock fans, and three songs from "Izgoy" continually reached the top of the NASHE radio chart. Follow-up "Stat Severa" and "Puls Hranitelia Dverey Labyrintha" were less alternative-oriented and made a blend of older and newer styles. Alisa shot a video for Wolfhound fantasy movie, though the song itself was cut from the soundtrack.

Lyrics and relations with the Faith

Kinchev was baptised in 1990, and since then Christianity has been the main influence on his alignment and his lyrics. Although early Alisa lyrics were typical for Russian rock - social protest and rock 'n' roll hype - since the late 1990s their main theme has been ideas of Christianity, Russian patriotism, and Slavic unity.

Konstantin is in good relations with the priests of the Russian Orthodox Church, especially Andrey Kuraev. The band has participated in many religion-supporting festivals, such as "Musicians for the Christ Savior Cathedral".

Kinchev's fairly conservative religious-patriotic shift was viewed unfavourably by with some old fans that liked Alisa for their original "rock" message.

Discography

tudio albums

Band members

Current line up

*Konstantin Kinchev - vocals (1985-present)
*Evgeny Levin - guitar (1998-present)
*Igor Romanov - guitar (2003-present)
*Petr Samoylov - bass (1984-present)
*Andrey Vdovichenko - drums (2003-present)
*Dmitry Parfenov - keyboards (2000-present)

Former members

*Svetoslav "Alisa" Zadery - bass, vocals (1983-1985)
*Andrey Shatalin - guitar (1983-2003)
*Mikhail Nefedov - drums (1983-2003)
*Pavel "Pol Khan" Kondratenko - keyboards (1983-1987)
*Alexander Zhuravlev - saxophone (1987-1988)
*Igor "Chuma" Chumykin - guitar (1989-1993)
*Andrey Korolev - keyboards (1989-1993)
*Alexander Ponomarev - guitar (1996-1998)
*Alisa Trewartha - accordion (1990-2000)
*Boris Borisov - vocals, saxophone (1983)
*Teri - vocals (1985)

External references

* [http://www.alisa.ru Official Alisa website] , in Russian
* [http://www.alisa.net Another Alisa website] , in Russian
* [http://www.alisafoto.ru Alisa pictures] , in Russian
* [http://russia-in-us.com/Music/Rock/Alisa/ Short history with music samples] , in English
* [http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/95/380/11575_church.html Do Rock and Orthodoxy Have Anything in Common?] , article in English
*musicbrainz artist|id=a1f0bd3b-6977-4ab2-8d5c-2464bada895d|name=Alisa
* [http://russmus.net/band.jsp?band=Alisa Alisa on RussMus.Net: English translations to lyrics and more] , in English