Place Vendôme is a Hard Rock/Melodic Heavy Metal band formed in 2004 by Frontiers Records head honcho Serafino Perugini as a vehicle for Michael Kiske alongside musicians from Pink Cream 69. The band never performed live on stage, but released four albums and eventually evolved into the more heavier Unisonic.
Discography
- Place Vendôme (2005)
- Streets of Fire (2009) - "My Guardian Angel"
- Thunder in the Distance (2013) - "Talk to Me", "Power of Music"
- Close to the Sun (2017) - "Welcome to the Edge", "Hereafter"
Members
Current lineup
- Michael Kiske - Vocals (2004-...)
- Uwe Reitenauer - Guitars (2004-...)
- Günter Werno - Keyboards (2004-...)
- Dennis Ward - Bass (2004-...)
- Dirk Bruinenberg - Drums (2013-...)
Past members
- Kosta Zafiriou - Drums (2004-2009)
Place Vendôme shows examples of
- Cover Version:
- Streets of Fire has versions of Casting Crowns "Set Me Free" and Soleil Moon's "I'd Die For You".
- Close to the Sun has a version of DGM's "Hereafter".
- Longest Song Goes First: Streets of Fire begins with "Streets of Fire" (5:51).
- Longest Song Goes Last:
- Place Vendôme ends with "Sign of the Times" (5:18).
- Close to the Sun ends with "Distant Skies" (5:26).
- Lyric Video:
- Thunder in the Distance has one for "Talk to Me" and another for "Power of Music".
- Close to the Sun has one for "Welcome to the Edge" and another for "Hereafter".
- Multinational Team: Germans Michael Kiske, Uwe Reitenauer and Günter Werno share the band with American Dennis Ward and Dutch Dirk Bruinenberg, and at one point had Swiss Kosta Zafiriou.
- One-Word Title:
- Streets of Fire: "Believer", "Changes" and "Dancer".
- Close to the Sun: "Strong", "Breathing" and "Helen".
- The Place: The band was named after the historical square in Paris.
- Special Guest: Place Vendôme features a plethora of songwriting credits:
- Place Vendôme: "Heaven's Door" was co-written by Ward and his Pink Cream 69 bandmates Alfred Koffler and David Readman, with Koffler also contributing guitar work for this song and "Right Here".
- Streets of Fire: There are songwriting credits for, among others, Magnus Karlsson ("My Guardian Angel"), Joacim Cans ("Surrender Your Soul"), Torsti Spoof ("Streets of Fire", "Believer", "Changes" and "Dancer") Ronny Milianowicz ("Completely Breathless", "A Scene in Replay", "Surrender Your Soul") and Robert Sall ("Follow Me", "Valerie (The Truth is in Your Eyes)").
- Thunder in the Distance features songwriting credits for, among others, Timo Tolkki ("Lost in Paradise"), Alessandro del Vecchio ("Talk to Me", "Power of Music", "Hold Your Love", "Never Too Late", "Heaven Lost" and "Thunder in the Distance"), Thomas Vikström ("It Can't Rain Forever"), Roberto Tiranti and Andrea Cantarelli ("Maybe Tomorrow") as well as the return of Karlsson ("Break Out").
- Close to the Sun has songwriting for, among others, Jani Liimatainen ("Welcome to the Edge"), Olaf Thörsen, Fabio Lione ("Riding the Ghost", "Helen") and Simone Mularoni (in addition to the cover of "Hereafter" -where he also does the guitar solo-, there's "Close to the Sun" and "Across the Times"). As for the returning songwriting credits, once again there are contributions by Karlsson ("Falling Star", where he also does the guitar solo) and Del Vecchio ("Strong" -where he also does additional backing vocals-, "Yesterday is Gone"). The album also features guest guitar solos by Gus G ("Light Before the Dark"), Kai Hansen ("Riding the Ghost", "Across the Times"), Mandy Meyer ("Helen") and Koffler ("Welcome to the Edge").
- Title Track: Found in all of the albums.