Leusemia

Leusemia is a Peruvian rock band who went through a process of musical evolution and changes throughout the band's career, and well a lot of changes in the lineup too. It was formed in 1983. They released their first (self-titled) album in 1985, with their original lineup Daniel F (guitar and vocals), his brother Kimba Vilis (drums) and Leo Escoria (bass). Their musical style at the time was punk with a lot of social content in the lyrics. Daniel F decided to leave the band in 1986 and soon Leusemia disbanded after a few concerts without him. The band reunited back in 1995 with a new album called A la mierda lo demás, the lineup was Daniel F (guitar, vocals and keyboard), Kimba Vilis (drums) and Raul Montañez (bass). This album's style was more of a rock and roll/rock one than punk, getting mixed reactions from the old fan base and getting a lot of new ones in the process (even tough the album is not commercial at all). The aim for this album was to kill the myth which was that Leusemia was a punk band (they always state that they're a rock one). In 1998 they release their first double album called Moxón which was an approach to what would be their nowadays style (progressive rock), getting (again) a mixed reaction from their recent fans and their old fans. The lineup for this one was Daniel F (main guitar, vocals and keyboard), Kimba Vilis (drums) and Lucho Sanguinetti (bass), and a lot of support musicians (list too long to mention). This album was totally experimental, they risked losing their fan base and having a sales lose with a double album, but in the long run the album was a success and the fan base grew even bigger. In 1999 they release their fourth album Yasijah which was even more experimental/progressive, having only 6 tracks, the sixth was called as the album Yasijah wich was a 23 minute song (and Eclipse en la Corte de los Cuentos Desolados was a 13 minute one). The lineup this time was Daniel F (guitar, vocals and piano), Kimba Vilis (drums), Lucho Sanguinetti (bass) and as new members Aldo Toledo (keyboard), Nilo Borges (violin). In 2000 they release another double album Al final de la calle which was released in a collectors box with a big booklet, the album was a success it sold out fast consolidating the band's popularity and they did not even had a single or video in radio or national TV. Lineup for this one was Daniel F (vocals and guitar), Lucho Sanguinetti (bass), Aldo Toledo (keyboard), Adrián Arguedas (drums) and Nilo Borges (violin). In 2004 Leusemia releases what would be their most progressive album to date Hospicios which featured a single (73 minute) song divided in 19 parts/tracks. The lineup for this one has not changed to date Daniel F (guitar and vocals), Walter Peche (guitar), Aldo Toledo (keyboard), Kike Altez (bass), Adrian Arguedas (drums) and Kimba Vilis (backup vocals, chorus and percussion). This album was sold along with a peruvian newspaper called El Comercio and had a big booklet too, the first press sold out in the first 3 days (8000 copies), consolidating the band's popularity big time (since selling that amount of albums in Peru is a big accomplishment). Official website is www.leusemia.com. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.