1) Xana

Style: Rock / Alternative Rock
Country: Portugal

Her full name is Alexandra Margarida Moreira do Carmo and she is a famous singer in Portugal, for having been the lead singer of an Alternative Rock band in the 80's - called Rádio Macau.

In the early 90's and after 5 albums the band broke up and Alexandra used her stage name of Xana to launch herself in a solo career, having released only two albums... but boy, these were two very fine albums that nearly every fan from the previous band adored.

The sound is a lot different from what she used to do with Rádio Macau, much more calm and soothing... perfect music to relax, but yet, lively enough to keep you dancing. 🤗

One of my favourite tracks is from her second album and is called Manual de Sobrevivência I. This is a song in two parts and this is the videoclip for the first part:

The band never released a videoclip for the second part - Manual de Sobrevivência II - but you can find the audio version in Youtube. Here it is:

2) Xandria

Style: Metal / Symphonic Metal
Country: Germany

This is an interesting band from Germany which I believe never reached their full potential due to mismanagement from their record company. 🤔

The band was formed by the guitar player Marco Heubaum, the band's main composer and first vocalist. However, that didn't work out and, after some time out, he revived the project and went seeking for a female singer to take his place as main vocalist.

Dianne van Giersbergen was the last vocalist of the band... and she left in 2017, saying that the company was always pressuring her to perform when she wasn't phisically able to do so... and immediately after this anouncement, two formers vocalists of the band - Lisa Middelhauve & Manuela Kraller - came out to the public saying they had left for the exact same reasons. 🙄

Even so, the band was active for quite a few years and released 7 albums and some great tracks. They use a combination of Metal with a Soprano Voice to create a powerful sound, full of emotion.

The song Call Of Destiny is from their last album and is a good example of that:

It's a pity that some record companies don't know how to properly manage their assets, which is the reason why many bands end up failing. If they learned how to give their artists some room to breathe and be creative, in the long run they would have a lot more sucess. But for some reason, they keep focusing on short term profits and keep shooting themselves in the foot. 😶

I hope you have liked these 2 bands. 😁

If you want to join the challenge, visit the announcement post, here: Music A to Z Challenge #X and use the tag #a-zmusic.

See my previous entries here:

A) The Agonist & Arch Enemy / Atakama & Amely Sky [Metal]
B) Багира & Blind Ivy [Metal]
C) Conquer Divide & Cripper [Metal]
D) Dark Tranquility & Dead Sara [Metal / Rock]
E) Eths & Expellow [Metal]
F) Fine Fine Titans & Frantic Amber [Metal]
G) Green Jellÿ & GWAR [Comedy Rock / Comedy Metal]
H) Hiromi Uehara & Haggard [Jazz / Metal]
I) In Evil Hour & Infected Rain [Punk / Metal]
J) Jinjer & Joss Stone [Metal / Soul]
K) Koalas Desperados & Katzenjammer [Reggae / Hip-Hop / World Music / Folk Rock]
L) LaScala & Louna [Rock / Alternative Rock / Fusion]
M - Part 1) Mayra Andrade & Mariana Aydar [World Music / Popular Brazilian Music]
M - Part 2) Moonspell & Mortad [Metal]
N - Part 1) Nneka & Norah Jones [Reggae / Soul / R&B / Jazz]
N - Part 2) Nightwish & Nevermore [Metal]
O) Onuka & Otep [Electro-Folk / Metal]
P) Patricia Barber, Pink Freud & PJ Harvey [Jazz / Electro-Jazz / Rock]
Q) Queen Ifrica & Quique Neira [Reggae]
R) Rodrigo y Gabriela, Room Eleven & Rage of Light [Rock / Flamenco / Jazz / Metal]
S) Spoil Engine & Straight Line Stitch [Metal]
T) Theatre of Tragedy & Tracktor Bowling [Metal]
U) Ursula Rucker & Unleash The Archers [Spoken Word / Metal]
V) Veridia & Värttinä [Rock / Folk]
W) Within Temptation & Walls of Jericho [Metal]

Xana & Xandria [Music A to Z Challenge #X]

1) Xana

2) Xandria