Aptly known as one of the heaviest, hardest-hitting, and menacingly furious drummers in heavy metal history, Vinny Appice’s speed-laden, molten lava stickwork has served as the bedrock for some of the most transcendent albums in rock history.
Stood alongside chiptoothed, yet effervescent frontman Michael Lee Smith, Ranno provided a maestro-level foil to Smith’s up-front machismo, and non-stop musical necromancy. The synergism was palatable, and in 1976 Starz recorded its self-titled debut record, a watershed album that would influence droves of hard rock and heavy metal bands for decades to come thereafter.
Throughout Heavy Metal and Hard Rock history, there have been a great many frontmen, but few have done the job with the level of consistency, and integrity as Tony Martin.
