Biography
Angel's fusion of glam rock, hard rock, and progressive rock, paired with their extravagant white-satin look and flamboyant live spectacles, established the ensemble as one of the flashier arena rock acts throughout the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Kiss bassist Gene Simmons discovered the group, which released its self-titled debut album in 1975, adhering more closely to prog rock than the glam pop direction that would shape subsequent efforts such as On Earth as It Is in Heaven (1977) and Sinful (1979). The members dispersed in 1981 but regrouped in the late 1990s with a revised lineup and issued the studio albums In the Beginning (1999), Risen (2019), and Once Upon a Time (2023).
Hailing from Washington, D.C., the band's self-titled 1975 debut appeared on the flashy Casablanca Records imprint—home to Kiss—featuring Frank DiMino (vocals), Punky Meadows (guitar, ex-BUX), Gregg Giuffria (keyboards), Mickie Jones (bass, ex-BUX), and Barry Brandt (drums). This dense helping of heavy pomp rock, marked by extended tracks enveloped in Giuffria's atmospheric keyboards and spotlighting the longtime stage staple "Tower," preceded the 1976 follow-up Helluva Band, which pursued a comparable approach while first displaying the group's signature white satin stage attire on the cover. On Earth as It Is in Heaven marked a clear shift toward a pop/rock sound and unveiled an ingenious logo readable identically when inverted.
White Hot arrived in 1978 with Felix Robinson in place of Jones, benefited from Eddie Leonetti's sympathetic production, and yielded minor U.S. hits via "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" and "The Winter Song." Leonetti went on to helm Sinful and the concert recording Live Without a Net. Angel's record sales never fully matched their draw as a live act, and a legal conflict with PolyGram triggered the 1981 breakup. Giuffria sought to resurrect the band in 1984, yet the failed attempt instead produced the more prosperous House of Lords. Robinson, for his part, joined an early White Lion configuration and performed with 707. Brandt and DiMino revived Angel in the late 1990s to record In the Beginning, aided by guitarist and songwriter Richard Marcello, and secured a partial reunion by enlisting former colleagues Robinson and Meadows for the track "Set Me Free."
The group appeared sporadically in the early 2000s and put out several compilation albums. Bassist and founding member Mickie Jones died in 2009 following a battle with liver cancer. Punky Meadows issued the solo LP Fallen Angel in 2016, and in 2018 Meadows and DiMino toured as Frank DiMino & Punky Meadows of Angel. The following year the band officially re-formed, with Meadows and DiMino joined by Danny Farrow, Steve E. Ojane, Billy Orrico, and Charlie Calv. The reactivated Angel delivered its seventh studio album, Risen, that October on Cleopatra. The label's Once Upon a Time surfaced in 2023 and featured the high-energy single "It's Alright."
Hailing from Washington, D.C., the band's self-titled 1975 debut appeared on the flashy Casablanca Records imprint—home to Kiss—featuring Frank DiMino (vocals), Punky Meadows (guitar, ex-BUX), Gregg Giuffria (keyboards), Mickie Jones (bass, ex-BUX), and Barry Brandt (drums). This dense helping of heavy pomp rock, marked by extended tracks enveloped in Giuffria's atmospheric keyboards and spotlighting the longtime stage staple "Tower," preceded the 1976 follow-up Helluva Band, which pursued a comparable approach while first displaying the group's signature white satin stage attire on the cover. On Earth as It Is in Heaven marked a clear shift toward a pop/rock sound and unveiled an ingenious logo readable identically when inverted.
White Hot arrived in 1978 with Felix Robinson in place of Jones, benefited from Eddie Leonetti's sympathetic production, and yielded minor U.S. hits via "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" and "The Winter Song." Leonetti went on to helm Sinful and the concert recording Live Without a Net. Angel's record sales never fully matched their draw as a live act, and a legal conflict with PolyGram triggered the 1981 breakup. Giuffria sought to resurrect the band in 1984, yet the failed attempt instead produced the more prosperous House of Lords. Robinson, for his part, joined an early White Lion configuration and performed with 707. Brandt and DiMino revived Angel in the late 1990s to record In the Beginning, aided by guitarist and songwriter Richard Marcello, and secured a partial reunion by enlisting former colleagues Robinson and Meadows for the track "Set Me Free."
The group appeared sporadically in the early 2000s and put out several compilation albums. Bassist and founding member Mickie Jones died in 2009 following a battle with liver cancer. Punky Meadows issued the solo LP Fallen Angel in 2016, and in 2018 Meadows and DiMino toured as Frank DiMino & Punky Meadows of Angel. The following year the band officially re-formed, with Meadows and DiMino joined by Danny Farrow, Steve E. Ojane, Billy Orrico, and Charlie Calv. The reactivated Angel delivered its seventh studio album, Risen, that October on Cleopatra. The label's Once Upon a Time surfaced in 2023 and featured the high-energy single "It's Alright."
Albums
