Biography
The band was founded by Walter Giardino after he left V8 and Gustavo Rowek another former member of V8. Rata Blanca played together for about two years before their debut on August 15, 1987 in the theater "Luz y Fuerza" in Buenos Aires. They later took part in the "Halley en Obras", along with other bands: Alakrán ("Skorpion"), JAF and Kamikaze, in 1988. That year they made their debut album with two hits: "Chico Callejero" ("Street Boy") and "El Sueño de la Gitana" ("Gypsy Woman's Dream").
In 1989, Hugo Bistolfi joined the band and then Saúl Blanch left, to be replaced by Adrián Barilari. With that arrangement, the band made its second album Magos, Espadas y Rosas ("Wizards, Swords, and Roses"), containing their classic song "Mujer amante". It was followed by "Guerrero del Arco Iris" ("Rainbow Warrior"). The band ended their contract with Polygram recording a live album, made at the Opera Theater with an orchestra, but this album was released years later. Once in BMG they made a short CD called "El Libro Oculto" ("The Hidden Book").
Both Bistolfi and Barilari decided to leave, being replaced by Mario Ian on vocals and Javier Retamozo on keyboards. With this line-up they released Entre el Cielo y el Infierno ("Between Heaven and Hell"). Later that year, they were invited to play in "Festival Monsters of Rock" in São Paulo, Brazil, along with Ozzy Osbourne, Therapy?, and Alice Cooper.
They released yet another album with new singer Gabriel Marian and keyboard player Javier Retamozo (Hugo Bistolfi left to form the band Alianza with singer Adrian Barilari) called "Rata Blanca VII", the group disbanded in late 1997. They regrouped in 2000 (with Barilari back on vocals and Bistolfi on keyboards) to tour Latin America.
In recent years, they have released three more albums, El Camino del Fuego ("The Path of Fire") in 2002, La Llave de la Puerta Secreta ("The Key to the Secret Door") in 2005, and El Reino Olvidado ("The Forgotten Kingdom") in 2008. The lyrics to La Llave de la Puerta Secreta were inspired by The Da Vinci Code.
Wanting to gain a more international profile, Giardino approached former Rainbow singer Doogie White to record an English version of the Forgotten Kingdom album in 2009.
The band is heavily influenced by British hard rock bands like Rainbow, Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Iron Maiden, as well as by Yngwie Malmsteen.
Walter Giardino has had successful collaborations with Spain's Mägo de Oz.
The band's name literally means "White Rat" in English; however in South American slang, rata blanca refers to a type of firework.
Read more about this topic: Rata Blanca
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