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Two weeks since the last letter, but I've been away last week end, so obviously I coudln't post anything.

The Band:
Maybe the least "metal" band in this alphabeth, but it's a great band nevertheless! This time it's "Gotthard", a hard rock band from Switzerland. Their last eleven albums have all reached number 1 in the Swiss album charts, making them one of the most successful Swiss acts ever and yet I still think they aren't exactly well known in other parts of the world.

In 1991 the band was founded (under the name "Krak"), but they quickly changed the name to "Gotthard" (which is derved from a mountain range in the swiss Alps, the Saint-Gotthard Massif). In 1992 the self titled debu album was released and it already was a huge success, topping at #5 in the swiss charts.
In 1993 the second album "Dial Hard" was recorded in the USA. It was released in 1994 and was the first #1 album for Gotthard.

After the third album "G." the band released the unplugged live album "D-Frosted" and they got a lot softer after that. However, in 2003 they parted ways with their mentor Chris von Rohr because he wanted to push the band towards a more commercial succesful direction. But the band members wanted to play harder rock instead.

In 2010 singer and co-founder Steve Lee died in a (pretty weird) accident: He was on a motor cycle tour on the Interstate 15. When he and his companions where getting some rest a truck crashed into the motor cycles. One of those cycles flew through the air and hit Steve Lee, who died on the scene.

The song:
Actually I wanted "Mountain Mama" here, but didn't find a good video... so, here's "Higher" instead. The first track on the second album.

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The Cover:

Yes, the cover reads "Got Hard", with the second T being flipped upside down to represent a phallus... some kind of reference to 80's hair metal bands and their "insinuating" lyrics.