EZO was a Japanese heavy metal band originally formed as Flatbacker (Fratvacker) in the spring of 1982 in Sapporo, Japan out of the remnants of two high school bands, Power-Station and Scrap. EZO has been named a seminal influence by such artists as Steve McDonald of Redd Kross and Michael Steele of The Bangles. EZO or E・Z・O (earlier known as Flatbacker; Flatbacker style is heavier, faster and less melodic than EZO's) is a legendary Japanese hard 'n' heavy band that played something between hard rock, heavy/speed metal and hair/glam rock. Members: Masaki Yamada (v), Hirotsugu Homma (d), Shoyo Iida (g) and Taro Takahashi (b). Masaki and Hiro have played in Loudness some time ago. Hiro is now member of heavy metal band called Anthem. Gene Simmons of the band KISS was instrumental in bringing this band to notice in the USA and beyond. They released one demo cassette (Minagoroshi) in 1984 and two albums (1985's 'Accident' and 1986's 'Esa') in Japan as Flatbacker in the mid-1980s before moving to the U.S Rumor has it that Gene Simmons of Kiss, who produced their self-titled U.S. debut album, {'EZO') was behind the band's name change to EZO, inspired by Ezo, an ancient name for Hokkaidō. They released two albums for Geffen Records, 1987's 'EZO' and 1989's 'Fire Fire', before being dropped from the label and internal differences led to the band's demise. Vocalist Masaki Yamada joined fellow Japanese metalheads Loudness in 1992 and drummer Hiro Homma joined Loudness in 1994. In 2000, the original Loudness lineup reunited and Masaki and Hiro left the band. Hiro Homma was the drummer for the Japanese metal band Anthem from 2001 to 2013 and vocalist Masaki Yamada is now the bass player for the New York-based band FiRESiGN. A single guitar riff from EZO song House of 1,000 Pleasures served as the signature sound of syndicated radio network Z Rock Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.