HISTORY FLASHBACK – 30 years of EMP: 1995-1997
Wow, we almost can't believe this: This fall – on November 27th to be precise – marks the 30th anniversary of EMP. Thirty. Like 3 and 0. Crazy, isn't it? However, we're not gonna plunge into an identity crisis but look back on the past three decades with pride. 30 years in which EMP developed from a tiny flyer catalogue to Europe's leading e-commerce retailer in the rock and entertainment business. Until our official birthday in November we are going to condense the past 30 years in ten blog posts – looking back on what happened with us, with metal and the rest of the great wide world. Let's carry on with the years 1995 to 1997!
1995
In early 1995 the EMP catalogue features this fantastic cover from Blind Guardian:
Fans will remember: In 1995 the German Metal heroes released their epic „Imaginations From The Other Side“ album. Also from this fine album vintage: AC/DC – “Ballbreaker”, At the Gates – “Slaughter of the Soul”, Carcass – “Swansong”, Dark Tranquillity – “The Gallery”, Death – “Symbolic”, Dissection – “Storm of the Light’s Bane”, Fear Factory – “Demanufacture”, Gamma Ray – “Land of the Free”, Iced Earth – “Burnt Offerings”, Meshuggah – “Destroy Erase Improve”, Moonspell – “Wolfheart”, My Dying Bride – “The Angel and the Dark River”, Nevermore – “Nevermore”, Opeth – “Orchid”, Paradise Lost – “Draconian Times”, Rammstein – “Herzeleid”, Sentenced – “Amok”, Theatre of Tragedy – “Theatre of Tragedy” and White Zombie – “Astro Creep: 2000”.
Amongst Scandinavian bands like Borknagar or Ensiferum 1995 gave us the living US metal legends Slipknot and System Of A Down who would shape the history of modern metal like hardly any other bands.
However, it is a German metal icon that is featured on the cover of the second EMP catalogue of that year: 1995 was also the year of birth of Sodom's „Masquerade In Blood“.
In cinemas we watched great movies like „Seven“, “Heat”, “12 Monkeys”, “Braveheart”, “Toy Story”, “Desperado” or “A Close Shave”. Or we sat at home having fun with our new PlayStation: In September the first edition of Sony's legendary video game console was first sold in Europe.
1996
Sacred Reich decorate the first EMP cover of 1996:
However, many other bands could have done as well. 1996 gave birth to great albums like Alice in Chains – “Unplugged”, Amorphis – “Elegy”, Apocalyptica – “Plays Metallica by Four Cellos”, Bruce Dickinson – “Skunkworks”, Dimmu Borgir – “Stormblåst”, Hypocrisy – “Abducted”, In Flames – “The Jester Race”, Korn – “Life is Peachy”, Marilyn Manson – “Antichrist Superstar”, Moonspell – “Irreligious”, Sepultura – “Roots”, Slipknot – “Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.”, Tool – “Ænima” and Type O Negative – “October Rust”. Bands like Arch Enemy, Disturbed, Gojira, Nightwish, Sonata Arctica, The Haunted or Within Temptation were formed in 1996 and would shape metal music in the following years.
The cover of the EMP fall catalogue looked like this:
And do you remember what movies were shown in the theatres that year? “Fargo”, “Trainspotting, “From Dusk Till Dawn”, “Scream”, “Sleepers”, “Mission: Impossible”, “The Rock” or “Independence Day” for instance. „Resident Evil“ was released as a video game – and would later spawn a successful movie franchise.
1997
Hello 1997! Our first catalogue of that year was graced with The Offspring:
Bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Finntroll or Turisas saw the light of day – and the following metal masterpieces were released: Children of Bodom – “Something Wild”, Deftones – “Around The Fur”, Dimmu Borgir – “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant”, Faith No More – “Album of the Year”, HammerFall – “Glory to the Brave”, In Flames – “Whoracle”, Limp Bizkit – “Three Dollar Bill Y’all”, Metallica – “ReLoad”, Nightwish – “Angels Fall First”, Rammstein – “Sehnsucht” oder Rotting Christ – “A Dead Poem”.
In the summer, the EMP catalogue got „Magic“ with Axel Rudi Pell:
Meanwhile, movies like “L.A. Confidential”, “Lost Highway”, “Princess Mononoke”, “Jackie Brown”, “Face/Off”, “Good Will Hunting”, “Life Is Beautiful”, “Starship Troopers”, “As Good As it Gets” and “The Fifth Element” were shown in theatres. For gamers 1997 is of course the year of the very first „GTA (Grand Theft Auto)“.
