Balance of Power

Balance of Power are a British melodic progressive metal group, started in 1995. Balance of Power was started in 1995 by keyboardist Ivan Gunn by putting together a handful of well-known rockers from the London area. This batch included drummer Lionel Hicks, bassist Chris Dale, vocalist Tony Ritchie, and guitarists Bill Yates and Paul Curtis. In 1996, this line-up started working on what would be their first album, When The World Falls Down. The ... more

Balance of Power are a British melodic progressive metal group, started in 1995. Balance of Power was started in 1995 by keyboardist Ivan Gunn by putting together a handful of well-known rockers from the London area. This batch included drummer Lionel Hicks, bassist Chris Dale, vocalist Tony Ritchie, and guitarists Bill Yates and Paul Curtis. In 1996, this line-up started working on what would be their first album, When The World Falls Down. The album was picked up by the Japanese label "Pony Canyon", and was released in 1997. It received significant airplay on the Japanese radio, being on heavy rotation by famous Japanese radio personalities. The album's success put the band under a lot of pressure by their label to produce a follow-up. About this time, Paul Curtis was becoming fed up with life in London, and decided to retire from music altogether. Lionel and Tony decided to bring childhood friend, Pete Southern, to fill the vacancy. Also, while the band was in the songwriting... less