DISCOGRAPHY:
1.(1985) (Megalomania)
2.(1986) (Who are you with?)
3. (1987) (Hero of asphalt)
4. (1989) (Playing with fire)
5.(1991) (Blood for blood)
6. (1995) (Night is Shorter Than Day)
7.1998) (Generator of the evil)
8.(2001)Chimera
9.(2003) (Baptism by fire)
10.(2006)Armageddon
11.Phoenix(2011)

Fans of Russian Rock would frequently refer to most of the music on MTV Russia dismissively as "popsa", a dichotomy that appeared in the '80s when government controlled radio and TV stations would air only politically harmless music by performers such as Philipp Kirkorov. The lines are still quite clearly drawn, with bands such as Nogu Svelo! - who recorded a song with pop-singer Nataliya Vetlitskaya - being an anomaly.
In contrast to Western rock, Russian rock is often said to have less drive; it is characterized by different rhythms, instruments and more involved lyrics. Unconventional instruments have often been used in addition to the standard electric guitars and drums (very often violin and wind instruments).
Another characteristic of Russian Rock is being partly Folk rock. Very often Russian Rock songs, especially those of the classic 80s bands, talk about national themes and feature elements from Russian folk music. Aquarium, DDT and Yuri Morozov could be used as examples for that.
Considering its poetic roots (Russian literature, bard music), it is not a big surprise that lyrics play a far larger role in Russian rock than Western rock. Vocal melody is sometimes eschewed in favor of a more impassioned delivery (Viktor Tsoi, the lead singer of Kino, pioneered a characteristically strained, monotonous style of singing that has been imitated by many).
Russia has always been facing both East and West with its double-headed Eagle on the coat-of-arms. The Eastern derivative in the Russian rock came with soundtracks from movies like Day Watch that had Tamerlan's legend of the Chalk of Destiny at its roots. Russian rock expressively used and integrated elements from culture, as well as Western and Eastern (especially countries of the USSR).
Yngvar Bordrewich Steinholt (University of Tromsø, Norway) has written a PhD thesis in English that was printed by The Mass Media Music Scholars Press titled "Rock in the Reservation" (2004) about the Leningrad Rock Club. It also touched upon the history of rock in Russia and its counter-cultural tendencies.

Various music scenes

Aria, Russia's heavy metal act
In the early- to mid-1980s, several rock clubs were founded in Moscow, Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) and Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). These three cities had their own rock music scene, with friendly collaborations between artists commonplace.
The Leningrad Rock Club was probably the biggest venue, featuring "classic Russian rock" by Aquarium, Kino, Zoopark, Piknik, Alisa and DDT. It also included the nascent Russian art rock movement, typified by such bands as Auktyon.
Bands from Sverdlovsk, such as Nautilus Pompilius, Chaif, and Agata Kristi, produced more melodic music making heavy use of keyboards and synthesizers.
Moscow rock bands, such as Aria, Mashina Vremeni, Voskreseniye, Center, Krematorij and Zvuki Mu, were rather different from the others and sometimes more discreet.
The Siberian rock scene began in the 1980s, with such songwriters as Egor Letov (Grazhdanskaya Oborona, Omsk), Kalinov most, Alexander Bashlachev and Yanka Dyagileva. Their music varied from simple lo-fi punk to indie rock (sometimes acoustic), and the core of their songs were the lyrics. Many albums were first self-released and distributed among the fans via trading, then officially re-released years later. Lyrics were often obscene, and the musicians had major problems with the Soviet administration and KGB. Notable acts that were not members of any of the three Rock-Clubs but were highly popular are Rock N' Roll band Secret.
At that time the Russian Heavy metal scene was created thanks to bands like Aria, Chorny Kofe and Master (formed by a few ex-members of Aria).
The glam metal band Gorky Park reached high popularity in the west and was even aired on MTV.
Russian punk's unique style is generally accepted to be most idealized by Grazhdanskaya Oborona and Egor Letov's other projects. The music mixes equal parts Western punk and the traditional Russian influences, with gritty production and extremely charged and political lyrics.

Most of Aria's lyrics have been written not by the band's members but by professional poets Margarita Pushkina and Alexander Yelin.
Alik Granovsky in 2006
Aria is the root of so-called "Aria Family": several bands formed by its former members. In 1987, four ex-members of Aria formed the band Master, who are still considered, along with Aria, one of the most influential Russian metal bands. Vocalist Valery Kipelov, who was the main voice of the band for the majority of albums they have released, departed in 2002 and formed his own heavy-metal band Kipelov.

Early days

The band was founded by Vladimir Holstinin and Alik Granovsky, two members of VIA Poyushchie Serdtsa" (Singing Hearts) and both formerly from the dissolved band Alpha. Holstinin's idea of creating a heavy metal band was enthusiastically accepted by Granovsky. By 1985 they had most of the material for their album ready, all that remained was to find a recording studio and a vocalist. They asked Victor Vekshtein to be the band's manager and allow them to use his studio. The vocalist position was soon filled by Valery Kipelov.
In the early 1990s, the band decreased their activity significantly, greatly reducing the number of live shows they performed. In 1994, they created their own studio: "ARIA Records", and signed a five-year contract with the label MOROZ Records. As a result, in the summer of 1994, the band's first five albums were released, including the earlier unreleased Megalomania and Who Are You With?. In September, they toured through Germany for two weeks, with live shows in seven cities, including Berlin's Hard Rock Cafe.[citation needed]
Dubinin (left) and Holstinin (right), the band's leaders. Max Udalov is seen in background

By the end of the 1994 tour in Germany, the band had a disagreement with the organizers, which also reflected on the relationship within the band. After the tour ended, Kipelov stopped showing up at the studio, where the band was hard at work at their next album. Within a month's time, he was found out to be playing with Master. In December, Alexey Bulgakov (the lead singer for the band "Legion") tried out as Kipelov's replacement. In January 1995, Sergey Mavrin left the band, stating that he did not believe that the band would succeed without his friend Kipelov. Sergey Terentyev was invited to replace him as a session musician, and later becomes a permanent member of the band.

Kipelov returned to the band soon after they were threatened with sanctions by MOROZ Records for breaching their contract. He recorded the vocal parts for the new album Night is Shorter Than Day, which was released in September 1995. The band played a series of concerts in the Moscow area, with Sergey Zadora as their new manager, recording a live album Made in Russia, which ranked highly in the charts.

In 1997 Kipelov and Mavrin reunited in the duo album Dark Ages. Dubinin and Holstinin also recorded their own, entitled AvARIA, where Vitaly participated as vocalist. In 1998 Aria released Generator of Evil, the album where Terentyev made his début as songwriter. Next came Chimera and the breakthrough single "Lost Paradise", which did well in the NASHE Radio chart and raised Aria to the new level of popularity.
Following Kipelov’s departure, Arthur Berkut came as a replacement and for almost nine years maintained a stature on the vocal section. The following era was rather good for ARIA but hasn’t reached the same magnitude as before even with the skilled form of its members. 2011 ended another chapter in ARIA’s history with Berkut’s leaving. I accredit the recruitment of the new young vocalist that is a fusion between Kipelov and Berkut, Mikhail Zhitnyakov, along with the singles and the new album, “Phoenix”, as the means that will eventually elevate ARIA back to the fame of their 80s period.

Let’s just say that I didn’t need to know Russian to enjoy the pleasures that this band has to offer. Even with the tight correspondence to IRON MAIDEN, it is hard not to be excited from this band’s music. If one thinks that these guys have been imitators for nearly thirty years, he or she is dead wrong. ARIA are skilled musicians, and have been proving that from their debut release. “Phoenix” conjures under its wings all the principles of NWOBHM variety that have never lost their prosperous qualities. What I mostly liked about this album, and throughout almost every album in ARIA’s vast career, is their strong sense towards twin guitar harmonies and melodies in general, incredible overriding bass work, vintage but energetic oriented beats and highly artistic vocals that sometimes are merely melodic storytelling and preaching. Nearly the entire sum of ten tracks of “Phoenix” froze me in my seat with their glorious features, yet I would like to focus on four tracks that were the source of my admiration.

“Fights Without Rules” is the band’s return to their past accomplishments. Though the MAIDEN direction is strongly evident, especially in the main rhythms and keyboards’ performance, an electrical charge went through me as if I was listening to such music for the first time. The chorus, along with the pumping rhythm section, is so mighty and robust, that it was hard letting go of its hold. “The Story OF A Murderer” is an example of ARIA’s ability on creating epic and fiction improvisational tunes along with a dreamy type of atmosphere. This song sent in and out of different sensations of drama as the music told the tale with elegance. As for the music, I think that enough was said, it is brilliant, intelligent but still accessible and fluent. “Distant Light” is closer to be a reminiscent of ACCEPT than of IRON MAIDEN yet I think that ARIA created their own aura to this song in order to serve it as more genuine. The end result was a Heavy Metal mid tempo attack with a simple but enjoyable chorus. “Requiem”, the closing ballad of the album, is by far one of the most emotionally powerful creations in Metal music. It takes a talented band, and especially a gifted lead vocalist to deliver that enormous spike into a listener’s soul and mind. With this song, though I thought the same earlier on, I will say it again, ARIA can do everything in traditional Metal. I think that if I would have known Russian, tears would have probably fallen down.

I consider “Phoenix” as a comeback to the roots, back to the past glories of ARIA. Without letting their mind gaze into the ongoing modern orientation of Metal music that has been infesting the world, ARIA remained steadfast to the crown of the true nature of the genre while spilling their heart with every composed chord.

Aria (Russian: Ария) is a Russian heavy metal band that was formed in 1985 in Moscow. Although it was not the first Soviet band to play Heavy music, Aria was the first to break through to mainstream media and commercial success.[citation needed] According to several public polls, Aria ranks among top 10 most popular Russian rock bands.[1][2] Their music resembles the sound of NWOBHM bands, for which they have been dubbed "Russian Iron Maiden" by the media.[verification needed] Most of Aria's lyrics have been written not by the band's members but by professional poets Margarita Pushkina and Alexander Yelin.
Aria is the root of so-called "Aria Family": several bands formed by its former members. In 1987, four ex-members of Aria formed the band Master, who are still considered, along with Aria, one of the most influential Russian metal bands. Vocalist Valery Kipelov, who was the main voice of the band for the majority of albums they have released, departed in 2002 and formed his own heavy-metal band Kipelov.
Till Lindemann & Richard Kruspe of Rammstein have covered an Aria song, "Shtil" (Штиль). In this cover version, the song's name is Germanized and spelled as "Schtiel".
Early days
The band was founded by Vladimir Holstinin and Alik Granovsky, two members of VIA Poyushchie Serdtsa" (Singing Hearts) and both formerly from the dissolved band Alpha. Holstinin's idea of creating a heavy metal band was enthusiastically accepted by Granovsky. By 1985 they had most of the material for their album ready, all that remained was to find a recording studio and a vocalist. They asked Victor Vekshtein to be the band's manager and allow them to use his studio. The vocalist position was soon filled by Valery Kipelov.
The name "Ария" was given to the band because it was short, catchy and easy transliterated to "Aria". There's a version that the band name was thought up by Holstinin, who owns a guitar from the eponymous manufacturer. Both fans and members of Aria are often informally referred to as "ariytsi" (Russian for aryans).
According to the band's website, Aria's birthday is celebrated on October 31, 1985; the date they finished working on their first album, Megalomania. The album was noticed by heavy music fans because it was much unlike any hard rock music played in the USSR at the time.
Megalomania was recorded with only Holstinin playing guitar (with Alexander Lvov on the drums and Kirill Pokrovsky on the keyboards.). The band needed a second guitarist to be able to play live - as a result, Andrey Bolshakov joined the band. In addition, Igor Molchanov (formerly from "Alpha") replaced Lvov on drums.
Aria's first live show was on February 5, 1986 in DK MAI. The band was well received by the public, and soon became a laureate of the Rock-Panorama-86 and Lithuanika-86 festivals. Although they were still being ignored by the media, their popularity kept rising.
In November 1986, Aria released their second album, Who Are You With?. By this time, the band was divided by arguments concerning both the direction the band was heading, and Victor Vekshtein's management skills. After a tour in January, 1987, Granovsky, Bolshakov, Molchanov and Pokrovsky left the band (Granovsky and Bolshakov later formed the thrash metal band Master). They were replaced by Vitaly Dubinin (Holstinin's university friend and former band mate) as bass guitarist, Sergey Mavrin as second guitarist, and Maxim Udalov on the drums. Their first large show after the reorganization, and the subsequent tour proved that despite all rumours, the band was not dead.
Rise to fame
In August 1987, Aria started working on their new album, Hero of Asphalt (originally named Serving the Forces of Evil), which is considered one of the band's best albums.[citation needed]Hero... was Aria's first album published by the state music publishing monopoly Melodiya. Every show on the subsequent two-year tour sold out.[citation needed]Over a million copies of the album's LP have been sold.[verification needed]A music video for the song 'Rose Street' was filmed, with the band's fans in mass scenes.
During that time, the band's relationship with their manager had reached a critical point. In October 1988, Udalov left the band because of the conflict, and in November Aleksandr Maniakin was invited to replace him. In 1989, the band then released their next album, Playing With Fire, with Yuriy Fishkin as their manager.
In 1990, Dubinin and Mavrin signed up with the band Lion Heart, and left for Munich, only to return in August after finding an opportunity to cancel their contract. After celebrating their five-year anniversary with several live shows, the band began to work on their fifth album Blood for Blood, which was released in 1991.

Today everyone has a lot of problems and work.Everyday people work,scurring around,do homework.There are a lot of ways to relax,for example,to go to coutry,to read,to sleep or just to go for a walk with friends.But the best way to relax in city's life is listening to music.
As for us,music is a very important part in our teenager’s life.First of all,it makes us to smile and to forget about problems.The second thing why we like it as a way to relax is its convenience.You can do anything and listen to music at the same time.Also music helps people to dream and represent good moments.It can inspire someone to do energetic work or calm a person.We think that music is like a film:it has a meaning and it can tell us diferent stories but more emotionally and fast.Music has a great attention to the mood and to the formation of person's character and the inner world.
So we can't imagine our life without music.We can listen to always and it's not important what we do at this moment.
Music is as a drug for us .We listen to it together and usually have fun.We can jump,dance,sing and be crazy!