- In the middle of the 80s an enormous number of domestic heavy metal bands came to stage. We could say it was the first wave of Russian Heavy Metal. What can you say about that time? - I just don't know... I feel nostalgic about those years. Back then we had to constantly be on our toes - we always had some committees or administrators getting in our way. There was this wall that messed with our lives, but our lives were interesting. Right now the wall is gone, and it is not clear what to do next... All people want nowadays is to make some money and retire... Some still have their drive, their energy, but life gets more and more difficult. Apathy is everywhere... From a 1992 interview with Valery Kipelov, Aria's vocalist1 Now, in 1999, seven years, two full albums and several independent projects later, Aria is still going strong, filling up the largest stadiums and arenas, and selling out practically every concert. It all started back in 1984, when Vladimir Holstinin, a lead guitar player for a group called ALFA decided that he wanted to play something heavier and left the group in search of others who shared his views. With the help of Alexandr Granovsky, an old friend and a base player, and a lucky meeting with Vladimir Vekshtein who agreed to become their manager, a new group was born. Finding a worthy vocalist was only a matter of time. It did not take too long, since the very first candidate won everybody's affections. It was Valery Kipelov, a former vocalist for a band called Leisja Pesnja. With Aleksandr L'vov at the drums and Cyrill Pokrovsky at the keyboards the fist album named "Megalomania" was recorded in 1985. The group called themselves Aria, which bore a hidden challenge, since the musicians and the fans alike called themselves "arians" - a name displeasing to the authorities at the time2. Despite such a name, the group never associated itself with nazi-type outlook on life. The communists did not even allow printing posters with the bands' name, but despite the lack of publicity the first album was a hit. It showed the need for heavy metal in the Soviet Union, the unwillingness of young men and women to follow communist propaganda, to listen to the popular music they were presented with on the radio and TV. They were willing to risk their futures and freedoms to live the life they wanted.
    The tension around Aria was growing, and it turned into a riot at the very first concert of the band in February of '86, when 40 people ended up in jail. But that was only the beginning. At the "Rock-Panorama" festival same year someone spilled water on the electrical equipment during the band's performance. The music had to stop for almost an hour, but no one from the audience left. Aria was named the winner of the festival, despite lousy sound and lack of special effects due to water damage. "Melodia" - the official recording studio in USSR - later released LPs recorded at the festival - Aria's performance was not included on the LPs. Due to that incident, the poets at that time refused to write lyrics for Aria, presuming that none of Aria's future songs would ever be recorded. In spite of the future looking glum, the band continued touring and getting enormous audiences everywhere it went. At the end of 1986 after recording the next album ("Whom Are You With?") disagreements caused the band to split, leaving only Kipelov and Holstinin as members of Aria. Alex Granovsky led the others to create a band called Master, which focused on playing trash metal, while Aria continued to play the melodic heavy metal of their idol, Iron Maiden. The album was named after one of the songs, but the name also signified the break, leaving the fans with a choice to make.3 Despite the loss of the larger part of the band, its spirit was still strong. About half a year after the break, the "new" band released a fantastic album "Hero of Asphalt". The words for this album were finally written by a professional poet, Margarita Pushkina, whose lyrics enhanced and empowered the band's music. The album is still considered one of their best, and the songs that comprised it are played at every concert. Unlike the first two albums, this one was released on an LP rather than on tape. The communists finally recognized the band - and LP release was official. However, they renamed the album without ever consulting the band (the original album name was same as one of the songs -- "Serving Evil Forces") to make it "less offensive". Also, they chose not to pay the musicians a dime. For two years after the release of "Hero of Asphalt" Aria was on tour, going from city to city in Russia, as well as the satellite countries. However, when an invitation came in 1988 to go to the Capital Radio festival in London, the government informed the festival authorities that the band did not perform live. They were clearly threatened by the effect the band might have on the opinion of the West, as well as the satellites, by going to an international music festival. Same year the first music video got filmed for the song "Street of Roses". The filming caused chaos, since instead of having two or three hundred onlookers, about seven thousand people showed up for the filming; as a result the musicians were practically torn to pieces by the adoring fans that wanted to get close to their idols. The musicians and the administrations learned a lesson in popularity, and the video took the number one spot in the rating. In the summer of the same year, Aria finally went abroad to Germany, where the musicians got an invitation to the "Days of the Wall" festival, where they surprised everybody with their music and won the sympathy of the people. Around the same time the band's manager, whose outstanding leadership took the band past all the barricades built by communists, suddenly lost interest in the group. He told the band that their music was loosing popularity, that they should try to give as many concerts as possible and retire. ............