The Flowers Of Romance: Brilliant Mistakes 1996

 

The Flowers of Romance was a pioneering punk and gothic rock band of the underground Greek

rock scene from 1981 to 1998. The band's energetic sound and combinations of several styles of rock led to their prevalence within the underground Greek rock scene for nearly two decades, and a belief by many[who?] that they were the top Greek gothic rock group in history.
               

Inspired by punk bands such as The Clash, The Damned and the Dead Boys, lead vocalist and frontman Mike Pougounas formed The Gift along with guitarist Costas Venos and bassist Tasos Dimitriadis in

February 1981 in Athens. The name The Gift did not last, and the band later changed their name to The Flowers of Romance, as a tribute to punk legend Sid Vicious and one of his pre-Sex Pistols bands. The Flowers of Romance quickly gained a cult status throughout the underground Greek rock scene by setting themselves apart with a unique punk sound that incorporated dozens of musical styles and English-language lyrics. Tasos Dimitriadis and Costas Venos left the group in 1984.
              

In replacing these vacancies with Achileas Geromoshos on guitar and Haris Stavrakas on bass, 1986 saw the release of The Flowers of Romance's first tape, "Anovis". "Anovis" helped further cement the

band's status as a Greek rock mainstay, a status which led to their securing a contract with Wipe Out! Records in 1988. This new contract allowed for "Autumn Kids", one of the band's most popular songs, to be released on Wipe Out!'s 12 Raw Greek Groups punk rock compilation in 1988. The Flowers of Romance underwent more changes of its members as George Venizelos was replaced by drummer Babis Efthymiou, bassist Haris Stavrakas was replaced by Teo Botinis, and guitarist Platon Papadimitriou joined the band, turning The Flowers of Romance into a five-man band for the first time. Mike Pougounas remained as the lead vocalist, and by 1990, he was the only original member of the group.
             

Mike Pougounas and The Mission frontman Wayne Hussey met in 1995, and by this time The Flowers of Romance were already amidst the pre-production of their next album, Brilliant Mistakes. Wayne Hussey's keen interest in The Flowers of Romance resulted in a full collaboration. In

addition to producing the album and allowing the band to record in The Mission's Bristol studio, Wayne Hussey collaborated on several songs and was able to introduce The Flowers of Romance to a broader media market. Brilliant Mistakes was released in late 1996 and became The Flowers of Romance's greatest success, with the tracks "Channel Z" and "In a Vacant Place" reaching No. 5 and No. 12 respectively on the Greek music charts. In 1997, Brilliant Mistakes had limited release in the US and UK, as well as a release in Germany under the Hyperium record label.
                  

Although The Flowers of Romance were planning a full European tour, managers of the band moved slowly in finding promoters for it. Though a breakup was never officially announced, mounting personal problems within the band caused frontman Mike Pougounas to leave the band. He founded the

industrial band Nexus in 1998, and session guitarist Strouggaris decided to follow his footsteps and join Nexus. In March 2000, Pougounas founded the Cyberdelia record label. Although Mike Pougounas's Cyberdelia Records closed in 2005 and Nexus disbanded along with it, Pougounas, Steves, and Spanos did not go their separate ways. They instead formed New Zero God a year later, reuniting Pougounas and Hadjiantoniadis who played together in The Flowers Of Romance before Hadjiantoniadis left the group to tour Europe.
                   

Oι Flowers of Romance είναι μία από τις σημαντικότερες μπάντες που έχει βγάλει αυτή η χώρα, οι οποίοι κατόρθωσαν σε δύσκολες εποχές να κυκλοφορήσουν αξιόλογους δίσκους αλλά και συνάμα μας δώσουν μερικά εξαίσια συνθετικά δημιουργήματα.
Η μπάντα έκανε τα πρώτα της βήματα το 1981 με τους Τάσο Δημητριάδη (μπάσο), Κώστα Βένο (κιθάρα) και Μιχάλη Πούγουνα (φωνητικά) με την ονομασία The Gift θυμίζοντας γκρουπ όπως οι The Clash, The Damned και οι Dead Boys.
Το όνομά τους, το άλλαξαν λίγο καιρό αργότερα σε The Flowers Of Romance προς τιμήν του Sid Vicious μιας και πριν παίξει με τους Sex Pistols ο θρυλικός πάνκης έπαιζε σε μία μπάντα με αυτό το όνομα.

Το 1986 ηχογραφούν το "Anovis" και τους βοηθά να υπογράψουν με την ιστορική ανεξάρτητη Wipe Out Records ενώ το 1988 συμμετέχουν στην συλλογή “12 Raw Greek Bands” με την γοητευτική σύνθεση “Autumn Kids”.
To πρώτο ολοκληρωμένο δισκογραφικό ξεκίνημα έγινε το 1990 με το άλμπουμ “Dorian Grey”, έναν υπέροχο δίσκο όπου οι επιρροές από τους πρώιμους Cult και Mission αλλά και την gothic σκηνής της εποχής είναι εμφανείς με την φωνή του Μιχάλη Πούγουνα να ακούγεται συναρπαστική παιχνιδίζοντας μεταξύ μελαγχολίας και οργής.
To 1993 έρχεται η δεύτερη full κυκλοφορία με το εξαιρετικό “Pleasure & The Pain” και το γκρουπ φλερτάρει στιχουργικά ανάμεσα στον έρωτα και στο θάνατο ενώ συνθετικά συναντάμε μερικά από τα κορυφαία τραγούδια ελληνικού ροκ συγκροτήματος. Το γκρουπ έχει κάνει πλέον αισθητή την παρουσία του στην Ευρώπη και στην gothic-rock κοινότητα με συνέπεια να επανακυκλοφορήσουν το  “Pleasure & Pain” με 4 επιπλέον τραγούδια από την Γερμανική Nyctalopia Records.
              

Oι αλλαγές στα μέλη είναι αλλεπάλληλες και ο frontman της μπάντας Μιχάλης Πουγούνας, το 1995  στέλνει γράμμα στο ίνδαλμά του, Wayne Hussey (Sisters Of Mercy, Mission) και συναντιούνται στο Λονδίνο για να αναλάβει την παραγωγή του νέου άλμπουμ που τιτλοφορείται “Brilliant Mistakes” με τον Wayne Hussey να δέχεται την προσφορά.

Στις ηχογραφήσεις συμμετέχει η Εύη Χασαπίδου (No Man's Land, Echo Tattoo) και σε μερικά τραγούδια κάνει δεύτερα φωνητικά και κιθάρες ο ίδιος ο Hussey. Ένα απρόσμενο γεγονός έρχεται να βάλει εμπόδιο στην ολοκλήρωση των ηχογραφήσεων μιας και η Wipe Out δεν μπορεί να στηρίξει άλλο οικονομικά τις ηχογραφήσεις με συνέπεια όλα να μείνουν στον αέρα. Ευτυχώς όμως ο Wayne Hussey τους βγάζει από το αδιέξοδο, με μία γενναία απόφαση δηλώνει ότι δεν επιθυμεί ο ίδιος να πληρωθεί αλλά παραχωρεί το στούντιο των Mission στο Bristol, για να τελειώσουν τα φωνητικά, τις κιθάρες και να γίνουν οι τελικές μίξεις με ηχολήπτη τον Steve Whitfield (Mission, Cure) με τους  Flowers of Romance να δηλώνουν με την σειρά τους ότι τα έσοδα των πωλήσεων  του “Brilliant Mistakes” θα είναι η αμοιβή του Hussey.
                

Flowers Of Romance – Brilliant Mistakes
Label: Hyperium Records – CD 39101802, Hyperium Records – 39101802
Format: CD, Album
Country: Germany
Released: 1997
Genre: Rock
Style: Goth Rock, New Wave

TRAXS

                

01. All I Can Remember   1:55
Keyboards, Piano – George Bousounis
Music By – George Katsanos, Mike Pougounas
Vocals – Mike Pougounas
02. Fetish   2:59
Bass – Harry Stavrakas
Drums – Dimitris Kouckas
Guitar [Guitars] – Averkios Hadjiandonniadis
Music By – Mike Pougounas
Organ [Hammond] – George Bousounis
Vocals – Mike Pougounas
03. For The Wolf Within   5:51
Backing Vocals [Back Vocals] – Averkios Hadjiandonniadis, Manos Govatzidakis, Mike Pougounas
Bass – Harry Stavrakas
Drums – Dimitris Kouckas
Guitar [Guitars] – Averkios Hadjiandonniadis, Wayne Hussey
Keyboards – George Bousounis
Music By – Dimitris Kouckas
Vocals – Mike Pougounas
04. Reptile Dance   5:55
Backing Vocals [Back Vocals] – Evie Watson Hassapidou
Bass – Harry Stavrakas
Drums – Dimitris Kouckas
Guitar [Guitars] – Averkios Hadjiandonniadis, George Katsanos
Keyboards, Piano – George Bousounis
Music By – George Katsanos, Mike Pougounas
Vocals – Mike Pougounas
05. Black Snow   3:52
Backing Vocals [Back Vocals] – Evie Watson Hassapidou
Bass – Harry Stavrakas
Drums – D. Kouckas
Guitar [Guitars] – George Katsanos
Keyboards – George Bousounis
Music By – Mike Pougounas
Tambourine – Manos Govatzidakis
Vocals – M. Pougounas
06. In Blood Eternal   4:47
Bass – Harry Stavrakas
Drums – Dimitris Kouckas
Guitar – Averkios Hadjiandonniadis
Keyboards – George Bousounis
Music By – George Katsanos, Mike Pougounas
Vocals – Mike Pougounas
07. Carnival Of Souls   3:31
Bass – Harry Stavrakas
Drums, Tambourine – Dimitris Kouckas
Guitar [Guitars] – Averkios Hadjiandonniadis
Keyboards – George Bousounis
Music By – Mike Pougounas
Vocals – Mike Pougounas
08. Love   3:48
Bass – Harry Stavrakas
Drums, Tambourine – Dimitris Kouckas
Guitar [Guitars] – Averkios Hadjiandonniadis
Keyboards – George Bousounis
Music By – H. Stavrakas, J. Kouckas, Mike Pougounas, Agelos Kakouratos
Vocals – Mike Pougounas
09. Channel Z   4:13
Music By – D. Kouckas, H. Stavrakas, M. Pougounas
Programmed By [Programming], Guitar [Guitars] – Wayne Hussey
Vocals – Mike Pougounas
Voice [Channel Z News] – Alison Omersher, Bridget Blore, Maria Shaw, Sophy Bradshaw, Tommy
10. A Word From The Gutter   4:51
Bass – Harry Stavrakas
Drums – Dimitris Kouckas
Guitar [Guitars] – Nigel Dean
Keyboards – George Katsanos
Music By – George Katsanos, Mike Pougounas
Vocals – Mike Pougounas
11. In A Vacant Place   5:26
Bass – Harry Stavrakas
Drums – Jim Kouckas
Guitar – Nigel Dean
Keyboards – George Bousounis
Music By – Dimitris Kouckas, Harry Stavrakas, Mike Pougounas
Vocals – Mike Pougounas
12. The Crying Puppet   6:40
Backing Vocals [Back Vocals], Guitar, Loops – Wayne Hussey
Bass – Harry Stavrakas
Drums – Jim Kouckas
Guitar [Guitars] – Averkios Hadjiandonniadis
Keyboards – George Katsanos
Music By – D. Kouckas, H. Stavrakas, M. Pougounas
Vocals – Mike Pougounas

Flac Size: 423 MB

The Flowers Of Romance - 1993 - Pleasure And The Pain Re-Up In Flac  HERE