* En anglais uniquement
With a level of musicianship higher than the average hair metal band, Norway's
TNT offered a prog-tinged take on pop-metal due largely to the stunning vocal range of lead singer
Tony Harnell and the guitar technique of
Ronni Le Tekrø. Originally consisting of vocalist Dag Ingebrigtsen (aka D.D. Dynamite), bassist Steiner Eikum, and drummer
Morten "Diesel" Dahl,
TNT formed in the Norwegian town of Trondheim in 1982, releasing an eponymous, Norway-only debut later that year with all lyrics in Norwegian. When it failed to sell, Eikum left the band and was replaced by
Morty Black; soon afterwards, Ingebrigtsen was replaced by New York native
Tony Harnell.
Harnell debuted on the band's first international album, 1984's
Knights of the New Thunder (on which he was credited as the more Norwegian-sounding
Tony Hansen).
The band really began to hit its stride on 1987's
Tell No Tales, although after that album's release,
Dahl departed and was replaced by Kenneth Odiin. Released in 1989,
Intuition consolidated the stylistic gains of its predecessor, but
TNT soon found themselves without a label, Polygram having lost interest in promoting them. Odiin left to remain home with his family, prompting the hiring of American drummer
John Macaluso for 1992's
Realized Fantasies, which was recorded for Atlantic. However, friction between the American and Norwegian portions of the group -- the former wanting more international success, the latter satisfied with popularity at home -- led to
TNT's disintegration.
Macaluso joined
Riot, while
Le Tekrø and
Black formed the more prog rock-oriented Vagabond and
Harnell performed with a mostly cover-tune project called
Morning Wood.
TNT reunited in 1996, featuring a lineup of
Harnell,
Le Tekrø,
Black, drummer Frode Hansen, and keyboardist
Dag Stokke. They released the album Firefly in 1997, after which
Harnell took a year's sabbatical; he returned in 1998, and
TNT issued the the more alt-rock-oriented album
Transistor the following year. Released in 2004, My Religion marked a return to the glam metal style of the band's heydays, and was followed in 2005 by the like-minded All the Way to the Sun. Subsequent LPs The New Territory (2007) and Atlantis (2008) arrived via Swedish indie Bonnier Amigo (later changed to Cosmos Music), and in 2010 the band issued its tenth studio long-player, titled A Farewell to Arms in Japan and Engine in the U.S. and Scandinavia. ~ Steve Huey