Goblin, circa 1975. (Clockwise from left: Massimo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli, Claudio Simonetti, Dario Argento.)
Influences:
Goblin is an Italian Progressive Rock band formed in 1972, best known for their horror film soundtracks. Though it's debated as to who started the Italian prog scene, they're regarded as the most influential in the scene, as well as the best known.
Over the years, the band has undergone numerous lineup and name changes.
Some of their albums:
- Roller (1976)
- Il fantastico viaggio del "bagarozzo" Mark (1978)
- Volo (1982)
- Back to the Goblin 2005 (2006)
- Live in Roma (2011)
- Two Concerts in Tokyo (2012)
- Tour 2013 EP (2013)
- Four of a Kind (2015)
- Goblin Rebirth (2015)
- Austinato: Live in Texas (2016)
- Alive (2016)
- Fearless (37513 Zombie Ave.) (2018)
Some of their film soundtracks:
- Deep Red (1975)
- Suspiria (1977)
- The Heroin Busters (1977)
- Dawn of the Dead (1978)
- Patrick (1978)
- Together? (1979)
- The Gang That Sold America (1979)
- Beyond the Darkness (1979)
- Contamination (1980)
- St. Helens (1981)
- Tenebre (1982)
- Notturno (1983)
- Phenomena (1985)
- The Church (1989)
- Sleepless (2001)
- Gamma (2007)
Tropes associated with this band include:
- Big Red Devil: The cover of Roller, which the band has since adopted as its unofficial logo, depicts a red devil figure with horns and wings playing a violin. Presumably, the band members chose the cover art because it tied in to the horror theme of much of their material, or perhaps they simply thought it looked cool.
- Instrumentals: Roller is an entirely instrumental album, often coming across as a soundtrack to a film that was never made.
- I Have Many Names: So far, they've gone under the names of Oliver, Cherry Five, Goblin, Back to the Goblin, New Goblin, Goblin Rebirth, the Goblin Keys, The Goblins and Claudio Simonetti's Goblin.
- Pop-Star Composer: As mentioned above, they are best known for their film soundtracks, particularly in the horror genre. Former frontman Claudio Simonetti has also composed his own share of film scores, including Conquest, Cut and Run, and Demons.
- Shout-Out: Roller includes a track titled "Aquaman".
- The "The" Title Confusion: They were inexplicably credited as "The Goblins" on at least three films, namely Suspiria, Dawn of the Dead, and Beyond the Darkness.
