title: Blackpool F.C.

text: McMahon arrived too late to save the club from relegation to the Third Division (fourth tier) after a 22nd-placed finish in the table. In his first full season in charge, Blackpool were promoted to Division Two by winning the play-offs. The following season the club received its then record outgoing transfer fee; £1.75million from Southampton for Brett Ormerod, eclipsing the £600,000 QPR paid for Trevor Sinclair eight years earlier. They also gained the first of two Football League Trophy wins in 2002 as Blackpool beat Cambridge United 4–1 at the Millennium Stadium. Their second win was in 2004, this time beating Southend United 2–0 again in Cardiff. In the summer following the Trophy win, McMahon resigned, believing he could not take the club any further with the budget he was being offered. Colin Hendry became the new manager, but was replaced by Simon Grayson in November 2005 after an unsuccessful stint which left Blackpool languishing just above the relegation zone of League One (third tier).


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: In the 2006–07 FA Cup Blackpool reached the fourth round for the first time in 17 years, after beating Aldershot Town 4–2 at Bloomfield Road, but were knocked out by Norwich City, 3–2 after a replay at Carrow Road. They finished in third place, and qualified for the play-offs, and as top scorers in League One with 76 goals. After beating Oldham Athletic 5–2 on aggregate in the semi-final they met Yeovil Town in the final at the new Wembley Stadium, their first appearance at England's national stadium in 15 years. Blackpool won 2–0, a club-record 10th consecutive victory, and were promoted to the Championship in their 100th overall season in the Football League. The promotion marked their return to English football's second tier for the first time in 29 years.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Blackpool knocked Premier League side Derby County out of the League Cup at the second-round stage on 28 August 2007. The match ended 1–1 after 90 minutes and 2–2 after extra time. The Seasiders won the resulting penalty shootout 7–6. On 25 September, Blackpool beat Southend United 2–1 after extra time to reach the fourth round for the first time in 35 years. They were drawn away to Premiership side Tottenham Hotspur in the last 16, a match they lost 2–0. Tottenham went on to win the competition.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Blackpool finished the 2007–08 season in 19th place, escaping relegation by two points and ensuring their safety in a 1–1 draw with Watford on the final day of the Championship season.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 23 December 2008, Simon Grayson left the club to join League One club Leeds United after just over three years in charge at Bloomfield Road. Under the guidance of Grayson's assistant Tony Parkes, as caretaker manager, Blackpool finished the 2008–09 campaign in 16th place. Parkes left the club on 18 May 2009 after a meeting with chairman Karl Oyston about finances.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 21 May 2009, Ian Holloway was appointed as manager, signing a one-year contract with the club with an option of a further year. On 31 July it was announced that club president Valērijs Belokoņs was setting up a new transfer fund, into which he was adding a "considerable amount" to invest in new players identified by Holloway. Four days later Blackpool broke their transfer record by signing Charlie Adam from Scottish champions Rangers for £500,000, topping the £275,000 paid to Millwall for Chris Malkin in 1996.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Blackpool finished the 2009–10 regular season in sixth place in the Championship, their highest finish in the Football League since 1970–71, and claimed a spot in the play-offs. On 2 May 2010, the 57th anniversary of Blackpool's FA Cup Final victory, Blackpool hosted Bristol City for the final League game of the season. They needed to match or better Swansea City's result in their match at home to Doncaster Rovers. Both matches ended in draws, with Swansea's Lee Trundle having a late goal disallowed for handball, which meant Blackpool secured the remaining play-off place.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 8 May, Blackpool beat Nottingham Forest 2–1 at Bloomfield Road in the semi-final first leg. Three days later, they beat them 4–3 (6–4 on aggregate) at the City Ground in the second leg to progress to the final against Cardiff. The result meant Blackpool had beaten Forest in all four of the clubs' meetings in 2009–10.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Blackpool defeated Cardiff City 3–2 on 22 May in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium to earn promotion to the Premier League. It was Blackpool's debut appearance in the Premier League in its 18-year existence and their first appearance in English football's top flight in 39 years. Blackpool had now, uniquely, been promoted through all three tiers of the Football League via the play-off system. Furthermore, they won all nine play-off games they were involved in during the 10 seasons between 2001 and 2010. The fixture was dubbed "the richest game in football", because the victorious club would receive a £90 million windfall. It was more than double the £36 million that the winners of the Champions League received.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 24 May, a promotion parade was held along Blackpool's promenade for the club's personnel, who travelled on an open-top double-decker bus from Gynn Square down the Golden Mile to the Waterloo Headland. The police estimated that about 100,000 people lined the route. At the Headland, the manager and squad took to a stage to address the gathered mass crowd. "This is the most unbelievable moment of my life," said Ian Holloway. "I've jumped on the best ride of my life and I don't want to go home."


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: In their first-ever Premier League match on 14 August 2010, Blackpool defeated Wigan Athletic 4–0 at the DW Stadium. The result saw "the Seasiders" at the top of the entire English football pyramid until Chelsea's 6–0 victory over West Bromwich Albion later in the day. It was the first time they had been in such a position since they won their opening game of the 1957–58 top-flight campaign. The initial fixture list had the game being played at Bloomfield Road, but the Premier League allowed the fixture to be reversed because construction work on Bloomfield Road's East Stand had not been completed in time.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 27 January 2011, the Premier League fined Blackpool £25,000 for fielding what they believed to be a weakened team against Aston Villa on 10 November. Ian Holloway, who initially threatened to resign if punishment was dealt, had made 10 changes to the team for the fixture. The club had 14 days to appeal against the decision but chose not to, with Karl Oyston saying that if the punishment was upheld there was a threat of a point deduction and an increase in the fine.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 22 May 2011, exactly 365 days after their promotion, Blackpool were relegated back to the Championship after losing 4–2 at champions Manchester United on the final day of the season, though results elsewhere also impacted the final league standings. Despite predictions that they "wouldn't get 10 points," Blackpool took 39 from their 38 games, including home and away victories over Liverpool, consecutive away wins at Stoke City and Sunderland, and a home victory over Tottenham Hotspur. Seven of their 10 overall wins were obtained before the new year, and at the end of 2010 they sat in eighth place; however, seven defeats in the opening eight fixtures of 2011 saw them drop down the table. The next match, a draw at home Aston Villa, left them in 15th, their lowest placing of the campaign to date. Another run of defeats – this time five in six – put them in the relegation zone for the first time. They climbed out of the bottom three, at the expense of Wigan Athletic, with successive home draws against Newcastle United and Stoke City. Blackpool dropped back into the relegation zone after conceding a late equaliser to draw at Tottenham, switching places with Wolves; they were level on points with Wigan and three ahead of bottom club West Ham United. A victory, their first in three months, over Bolton Wanderers, in their penultimate league fixture, was not enough to change the position as Wolves won at Sunderland. Blackpool went to Old Trafford for the final match and were leading 2–1 12 minutes into the second half, but Manchester United, who were crowned champions a week earlier, took control and won 4–2 to condemn 19th-placed Blackpool to relegation along with Birmingham City and West Ham United.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: In July 2011, Blackpool smashed their outgoing transfer record when Charlie Adam signed for Liverpool in a £7-million deal. A portion of these funds was used to bring former Scotland, Rangers, Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham captain Barry Ferguson to Bloomfield Road, where he once again assumed the armband. On 9 May 2012, Blackpool secured their place in the Championship play-off final in their second consecutive season in the division after beating Birmingham City 3–2 on aggregate in the semi-finals. They met West Ham United in the final at Wembley on 19 May, losing 2–1, conceding a last-gasp goal to "the Hammers" Ricardo Vaz Tê, their first play-off final reversal in 21 years.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 3 November 2012, Ian Holloway decided to leave Blackpool after accepting an offer from fellow Championship club Crystal Palace to be their manager. He was replaced four days later by Michael Appleton, who left League One side Portsmouth to take up the position; however, after being in charge for just two months, Appleton left for Lancashire neighbours Blackburn Rovers, becoming the shortest-serving manager in Blackpool's history. On 18 February, after just over a month without an appointment, the club made former England captain Paul Ince their third manager of the campaign. It was under Ince that the club made their best-ever start to a league season. Their victory at AFC Bournemouth on 14 September 2013 gave them 16 points out of a possible 18. The sequence of results was two wins, a draw, and three wins. This was countered by a run of nine defeats in 10 games, which resulted in Ince being sacked on 21 January 2014, 11 months into his tenure.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Barry Ferguson was named caretaker manager upon Ince's dismissal. Of Ferguson's 20 league games in charge, Blackpool won just three and finished the 2013–14 season in 20th place. On 11 June 2014, almost five months after Paul Ince's dismissal, the club appointed Belgian José Riga as manager. He was Blackpool's first overseas manager.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season Blackpool suffered a major crisis with some 27 players leaving the club; just two weeks before the season started, the club had only eight outfield players and no goalkeeper. Riga was able to assemble a squad in time for Blackpool's first game against Nottingham Forest, but could still only name four substitutes instead of the permitted seven. Blackpool lost the match 2–0. On 27 October 2014, after 15 games in charge, Riga was sacked and replaced by Lee Clark.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 6 April 2015, with six league fixtures remaining, Blackpool were relegated to League One. On 2 May 2015, the final match of the Championship season against Huddersfield Town was abandoned in the 48th minute following an on-pitch protest by hundreds of Blackpool supporters regarding the actions and management style of the directors and owners. The Football League subsequently declared the result the 0–0 scoreline it was at the time of abandonment, which meant Blackpool finished the season with 26 points. Following the resignation of Lee Clark on 9 May 2015, Blackpool appointed Neil McDonald as manager on 2 June.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: In May 2016, a second successive relegation occurred, which put Blackpool in the bottom tier of English professional football for the first time in 15 years. Less than two weeks later, Neil McDonald was sacked as manager. He was replaced by Gary Bowyer, the club's eighth manager in three-and-a-half years.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: In late 2016, as the sexual abuse scandal developed, former Blackpool player Paul Stewart alleged he had been abused by Frank Roper, a coach associated with Blackpool in the 1980s.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: In May 2017, under Bowyer, Blackpool won promotion to League One after beating Exeter City 2–1 at Wembley in the play-off final. The victory meant that Blackpool became the most successful side in English play-off history, winning their fifth final.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 10 November 2017, Blackpool was put up for sale by the Oyston family. The sale included the club itself and the properties division that owns Bloomfield Road stadium.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 2 February 2018, Owen Oyston relieved Karl Oyston of his role as chairman and appointed his 32-year-old daughter, Natalie Christopher, in his place, just two weeks after appointing her to the club's board.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Gary Bowyer resigned in August 2018 after two years in charge, after the first game of the season for undisclosed reasons. He was replaced with his assistant Terry McPhillips as caretaker manager. McPhillips was made the permanent manager a month later.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 13 February 2019, the football club was put into receivership by the High Court, which forced Owen Oyston to pay ex-director Valērijs Belokoņs some of the £25m he was owed. Oyston was removed from the board of the club by the receiver on 25 February 2019. The receiver was tasked with discharging some of Oyston's assets, as well as Blackpool Football Club (Properties) Ltd, which owns the football club. The ruling could have resulted in the club being deducted 12 league points; however, this was eventually ruled against by the EFL on 11 April 2019.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 13 June 2019, Simon Sadler was announced as the new owner of the club, officially ending the Oystons' 32-year tenure, purchasing a 96.2% stake. Sadler was born and raised in Blackpool and has worked in asset management in Hong Kong since 2007. He is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Segantii Capital Management.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Terry McPhillips resigned as Blackpool manager on 5 July 2019, having informed the club's board that he had no long-term desire to be a manager. He was replaced by Simon Grayson, who returned for a second spell in charge; however, after a long run of defeats, he was sacked on 12 February 2020. Grayson's last game in charge was a 3–2 home loss to Gillingham. Liverpool U23s manager Neil Critchley was appointed head coach – the first such role for the club – as his replacement on 2 March 2020. After a curtailed regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Blackpool finished the 2019–20 season in 13th position after standings were amended to reflect a points-per-game ratio.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: At the end of the following campaign, Blackpool were promoted back to the second tier of English football, after a six-year absence, after winning the 2021 EFL League One play-off Final. It was Blackpool's sixth victory in a play-off final in eight such appearances.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 2 June 2022, Neil Critchley resigned from his role as head coach and joined Aston Villa as assistant head coach. Just over two weeks later, the club appointed its former manager Michael Appleton as Critchley's successor. Critchley told Simon Sadler he was keen to work again with Steven Gerrard and "pit himself against some of the best coaches in the world".


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Blackpool first began wearing tangerine for the 1923–24 season, after a recommendation from referee Albert Hargreaves, who officiated an international match between the Netherlands and Belgium and was impressed by the Dutchmen's colours.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Before changing to tangerine permanently, the team tried several different colours: blue-and-white striped shirts in the 1890s (becoming known as "the" Merry Stripes); a mixture of red or white shirts at the turn of the 20th century; and, during the First World War, black, yellow and red. The latter was adopted to include the colours of the flag of Belgium, a show of support for the large number of Belgian refugees that had arrived in the town. After the war, they wore white shirts and navy-blue shorts. The board introduced another change in 1934 when the team appeared in alternating dark- and light-blue stripes (which have been reintroduced several times in the mid-1990s and 2002, for Blackpool's return to the top flight in 2010 as the club's third kit, and as their away kit in 2019–20), but they bowed to public pressure in 1939 and settled on tangerine. Between 1938 and 1958 Blackpool's kit consisted of tangerine shirts, white shorts and navy blue socks. The club now uses tangerine socks, though navy was used as a secondary colour in the late 1980s and early 1990s.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Blackpool have played their home games at Bloomfield Road since 1901. The stadium's current capacity is 17,338, all-seated.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: In the summer of 2010, work was done on the stadium to prepare for the club's debut season in the Premier League. A new 5,120-capacity temporary East Stand was built, together with improvements to the floodlighting, media and medical facilities and the dugouts. Painting work was also done on the Stanley Matthews (West) Stand and the Mortensen Kop (North Stand). A new video screen was also installed. A new South Stand named after Jimmy Armfield was opened in 2010 with 3,600 seats. From the first home game in the Premier League, against Fulham on 28 August 2010, the capacity was 16,220, the highest at Bloomfield Road in 30 years.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: In the 2011–12 season, the south east corner between the Armfield Stand and the temporary East Stand was filled with an additional 500 seats, the area also incorporating the BFC Hotel, which welcomed its first guests at the end of June 2012. It was officially opened on 26 July 2012, the club's 125th anniversary. The hotel has a four-star rating, although the source of the accreditation is not specified on its website. It also houses a conference centre. From the 2015–16 season to Blackpool's homecoming game against Southend United, the East Stand had been closed to fans. In the latter part of the 2018–19 EFL League One season, away fans moved to the North-East Stand. As of the 2019–20 season, away fans are now accommodated in the East Stand.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Blackpool supporters are known by the general terms Tangerine Army or Seaside Barmy Army. Whilst Blackpool had the lowest average home attendance in the Premier League, the atmosphere generated by the home support was regarded as loud and intimidating.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: After Steve McMahon resigned as Blackpool manager in 2004, he said of the Tangerine support: "During my time here, the supporters have been fantastic and are a credit to the club. Whilst they have that support, I am sure they can go a long way. I think both on and off the pitch the club is going forward in a big way and unfortunately I'm not part of that anymore." The club was promoted three years later to the Championship, and again in 2010 to the Premier League for the 2010–11 season.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: In September 2009, freelance journalist Mike Whalley said after attending a game against Peterborough United: "The home fans certainly make plenty of noise. Bloomfield Road does not lack for atmosphere. Or a drummer. Every home game is played to a thumping drum beat." After Blackpool beat Newcastle United 2–1 on 16 September 2009, Scott Wilson of "the Northern Echo" wrote: "Almost 10,000 spectators created a hostile and intimidating atmosphere that was a throwback to footballing days gone by" while the Sky Sports match report described the Blackpool support as "boisterous".


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: On 28 August 2010 Blackpool played Fulham in their first-ever home Premier League game, in front of a crowd of 15,529, the largest attendance for over 30 years at Bloomfield Road. On Sky Sports' "Football First" programme, co-commentator Barry Horne said: "They are a fantastic crowd. I've watched a lot of Championship games here and the crowd have always been brilliant; they get behind their team." Commentator Will Cope later said: "It's deafening; deafening by the seaside. You wouldn't have thought 15,000 fans could make so much noise." After the game Fulham manager Mark Hughes also praised the home support saying that the atmosphere in the stadium would really help the team in their debut season in the Premier League.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: During the 2010–11 Premier League campaign, a decibel-metre was set up three times at each stadium, and an average then taken to indicate the loudest supporters. Despite having a capacity of 16,220, the Blackpool support was ranked the fifth-loudest, at 85 decibels.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: In January 2013, a supporters' group named SISA (Seasiders Independent Supporters Association) was formed. It folded in July the following year to become Blackpool Supporters Trust.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Blackpool's primary rival is Preston North End – the two clubs' grounds being seventeen miles apart – and matches between the two clubs are known as the West Lancashire derby. They have met 96 times across all four divisions of the Football League, including the old First Division, and eight times in either the FA Cup and League Cup (Blackpool having won none of the ties).


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Since 2012–13, a Fylde Coast derby has developed with Fleetwood Town. Eight-and-a-half miles separate Bloomfield Road and "The Fishermen"s Highbury Stadium.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: According to a survey conducted in 2019, Blackpool's other significant rivalries are with Bolton Wanderers, Burnley and Blackburn Rovers.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Up until the 2009–10 season the reserve team competed in the Central League Division One West. They have been Central League champions twice, in 1919–20 and 1949–50.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: With the first team promoted to the Premier League, for the 2010–11 season the reserves competed in the Premier Reserve League. They were in North Group B, with Blackburn Rovers, Everton, Liverpool and Sunderland. At the end of the campaign, the club withdrew from reserve league football, preferring to play such games behind closed doors.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Blackpool reintroduced reserve-team football for the 2019–20 season. They joined a regional five-team Central Division.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: The club's Academy, headed by Ciaran Donnelly, is rated as Category 3 (the highest, of four categories, being Category 1). It consists of an under-18s squad and a development squad. As of 2021, the Academy had around 140 players, ranging in age from six to twenty-one, and employed twelve full-time members of staff. Its facilities are split between Myerscough College and Blackpool's Stanley Park.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Blackpool have had 55 full-international representatives. Their first was Fred Griffiths, for Wales, in 1900. Their most recent was CJ Hamilton, for the Republic of Ireland, in 2022. In 1996, Northern Ireland's James Quinn became the club's first player in sixteen years to be selected for a full international, the previous one being Derek Spence in 1980.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Prior to 1924, there was only one Irish national team. In that year, the Republic of Ireland began playing separate matches, and that position is reflected here.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Blackpool's training ground, currently known as the e-Energy Training Centre, is located in the Squires Gate area of Blackpool's South Shore. It has been used, with minimal upkeep, since the 1940s. It was described by Blackpool manager Ian Holloway as a "hell hole" in 2009, shortly after which chairman Karl Oyston pledged to build a new facility. "We are never going back to our training ground again," explained Holloway. "Every player this club has ever had hates it, and every player we have is frightened of it. It is a horrible environment to work in." In 2009, with the training ground frozen, Holloway attempted to train on Blackpool's beach, but that too was iced over. An initial plan was to use the facilities of Fylde Rugby Club, but training is still held at the two-pitch Squires Gate, however, and no development has come to fruition.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: In August 2014, former Blackpool defender Alex Baptiste reminisced on his time at Squires Gate: "No balls in training, having to run on the beach because the pitch had been frozen for two weeks, no food after training, leaks in the Portacabins, having to buy our own weights – just random stuff like that! It was definitely an experience!"


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: In June 2020, the club purchased a modular building for the training ground. It includes changing facilities for players and staff, along with eating areas, meeting rooms and medical facilities.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: A site for a new training facility, bordering the Grange Park Estate and Baines School on Garstang Road, was purchased in May 2022. The new training facility, combined with replacing Bloomfield Road's temporary East Stand with a permanent structure, is estimated to cost between £30 and £40 million.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: There have been 37 full-time managers of Blackpool F.C. (including repeat appointments). The longest-serving manager was Joe Smith, who occupied the role for 23 years;


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Michael Appleton, meanwhile, lasted 65 days in his first stint in the role. The club has, on average, appointed a new manager just under every three years. As of March 2020, the club has had ten full-time managers in eight years.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: There have been four repeat appointments: Bob Stokoe, Allan Brown, Simon Grayson and Michael Appleton.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Blackpool were the first team to be promoted through all divisions of the Football League via the play-off system and the club has the most play-off trophies (6).


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Derek Woodman BMW sponsored the club's home shorts, while Derek Woodman Mini sponsored their away versions


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: Between the 2005–06 season and the 2009–10 season, Glyn Jones Estate Agents appeared in the back of their home shirts, while JMB Properties Ltd. appeared on the back of their away shirts. For the 2020–21 season, FTS became the back-of-shirt sponsor.


title: Blackpool F.C.

text: In August 2021, the club launched Tangerine TV as a direct replacement to the EFL's iFollow streaming service. There are four subscription levels, in addition to single-game match passes:


title: Berserk (1997 TV series)

text: Berserk, also known in Japan as is a Japanese anime television series based on Kentaro Miura's manga series of the same name. The series was produced by Nippon Television and VAP, animated by Oriental Light and Magic and directed by Naohito Takahashi. It was broadcast for twenty-five episodes on Nippon TV from October 1997 to April 1998. "Berserk" was formerly licensed for English release in North America by Media Blasters, who lost the rights to the series in 2012. "Berserk" has been well-received, with critics praising its storytelling, characters, setting, and soundtrack by Susumu Hirasawa.


title: Berserk (1997 TV series)

text: Guts is a lone mercenary warrior who wanders looking for battles, driven solely by his will to survive. After being defeated by Griffith, the ambitious and charismatic leader of a mercenary group called the Band of the Hawk, Guts becomes a full member of the group. Guts quickly rises through the ranks, becoming Griffith's best warrior. One day, Griffith shows Guts his Behelit, a mysterious demonic relic, revealing him as well his dream to rule a kingdom of his own. Three years later, the Band of the Hawk have grown in power and numbers, with Guts serving as a commander of the group. Guts encounters Immortal Zodd, a fearsome giant warrior, who after nearly killing him and Griffith, spares their lives upon seeing Griffith's Behelit, warning Guts of an inescapable death should Griffith's dream die. While recovering, Griffith starts getting closer to the king of Midland's daughter, Charlotte. At one point, Guts overhears a talk between Griffith and Charlotte, where Griffith says that he only considers a true friend someone who has their own dream. The Band of the Hawk is eventually hired by the kingdom of Midland, helping to win the Hundred Year War against the Tudor empire. In the meantime, Guts develops a closest relationship with Casca, the Hawks' unit commander and only female member. Some time later after the Hawks' victory, Guts decides to leave the group to stop living for Griffith's dream. Guts and Griffith have a duel; after an overwhelming defeat for the latter, Guts reaffirms his decision and walks away. Psychologically devastated by Guts' departure, Griffith, in a lapse of judgement, has sexual intercourse with Princess Charlotte. Griffith is imprisoned and tortured, while the Hawks are marked for death.


title: Berserk (1997 TV series)

text: Guts, who spent a year training to become a better swordsman, eventually learns that the Hawks are now outlaws and that Casca has taken the leadership. Guts goes to their aid, arriving in time as they battle a group of mercenaries. Casca has a plan to rescue Griffith from the Tower of Rebirth, where he is being held. Later on, they go into a dungeon under the Tower of Rebirth, finding Griffith mutilated, disfigured and rendered mute. Back from the escape, the Hawks feel helpless due to Griffith's condition. Casca tells Guts that she must take care of Griffith and that Guts should continue his own path. Overhearing them and desperate at what he has been reduced to, Griffith takes off in a wagon, accidentally crashing into the river. In his desolation, following a failed attempt to commit suicide by stabbing his throat into a sharp tree root, Griffith finds his Behelit, lost during his time imprisoned, and unintentionally activates it with the blood leaking from his neck, thus initiating an event called "the Eclipse", taking everyone present to another plane. The God Hand, a group of archdemons, inform Griffith that he has been chosen as their final member and he must offer his comrades as sacrifices to the "apostles", humans like Zodd who became powerful demons by sacrificing their loved ones and their own humanity. The entire Band of the Hawk are branded as sacrificial offerings; almost all of the group, except Guts and Casca, are slaughtered by the apostles. Griffith, reborn as the fifth God Hand member, Femto, rapes Casca in front of Guts. Guts, restrained by the apostles, cuts off his own left forearm and loses his right eye, in a vain attempt to stop his former friend. Guts ultimately survives the Eclipse and time later he becomes known as the Black Swordsman, starting a quest for revenge against the God Hand and the apostles.


title: Berserk (1997 TV series)

text: "Berserk" was produced by Nippon Television and VAP, animated by Oriental Light and Magic, and directed by Naohito Takahashi. The series begins with the original manga's Black Swordsman arc, continuing through the Golden Age arc, covering twelve volumes (and part of the thirteenth volume) of the manga. Its twenty-five episodes were broadcast in Japan on Nippon TV from October 8, 1997, to April 1, 1998. VAP collected the episodes on VHS, with thirteen sets released from February 1, 1998, to January 21, 1999. The series was later released on seven DVDs, from April 23 to October 22, 2003. VAP released the series on a Blu-ray box set on January 18, 2012.


title: Berserk (1997 TV series)

text: In North America, it was originally reported that Urban Vision was negotiating the license to series for English release; however, it was then confirmed that "Berserk" was licensed by Media Blasters. The English dub was produced by NYAV Post. Around 2002, there were plans to air the series on the Sci-Fi Channel; however, Media Blasters warned them that the violence would require too many cuts. Media Blasters released the series on VHS and six DVDs, under its Anime Works label, from May 28, 2002, to May 27, 2003. A complete DVD collection was released on November 16, 2004, and a remastered edition was released on March 10, 2009. In December 2012, Media Blasters announced that the rights to the series had expired.


title: Berserk (1997 TV series)

text: In the United Kingdom, "Berserk" was licensed by MVM Films. The six DVDs were released from September 3, 2007, to July 7, 2008. MVM re-released the series' complete DVD collection on October 11, 2010, and the Blu-ray collection on February 6, 2017. In Australia and New Zealand, Madman Entertainment released the six DVDs between December 2, 2002, and June 18, 2003. The complete DVD collection was released on March 17, 2004, and the Blu-ray collection on February 21, 2018.


title: Berserk (1997 TV series)

text: Susumu Hirasawa composed the music for "Berserk". performed the opening theme "Tell Me Why" and Silver Fins performed the ending theme "Waiting so long". "Berserk -Forces-" was released as a single by Nippon Columbia (Teslakite) on November 1, 1997; "Tell Me Why" and "Waiting so long" were released by VAP on November 6, 1997.


title: Berserk (1997 TV series)

text: "Berserk" has been overall well received by critics. Carlo Ross of THEM Anime Reviews said that, at first, he could not get into the "dreary, depressing tone" of "Berserk", but added that as the series progresses, the viewer can meet the cast "as more than just the standard fantasy archetypes", praising the characters for their realistic portraying. He said that "Berserk"s violence was like "a classic Kurosawa film", and that just like his films, "Berserk"s lesson is that "beneath all that metal armor, these soldiers are people." Ross concluded: "If you want fantasy that really makes you think, then don't let the name fool you. "Berserk" is not about turning your brain off. Not one bit." Brittany Vincent, writing for Anime News Network (ANN), said that "Berserk" "excels in setting up this tone that defines the story, even if it happens to end abruptly without any real conclusion." Vincent wrote that the adaptation is not perfect and that it has "its share of low-quality animation at times", but that it is "an excellent stab at bringing the story to life." She also noted the omission of characters, like the elf Puck, omission that makes the series a "much more serious and foreboding affair", also stating that the anime has several moments that "speed up time or slow it down considerably." Sandra Scholes of Active Anime wrote: ""Berserk" is a hard – hitting hack and slash demonically possessed horror fantasy of relentless proportions. There’s a good chance no one has seen this type of anime before or will again. This should be in everyone’s collection."


title: Berserk (1997 TV series)

text: John Oppliger of AnimeNation said that the most appealing aspect of "Berserk" is "its ability to present exhilarating, extremely violent action while never losing sight of characterization or the continuing storyline", praising the series as well for its "very complex and unpredictable story." Rob Ghoul of PopCultureShock wrote that at first he was in for "two hours of boredom" at seeing "a generic concept, coupled with typical TV quality production", but that suddenly "a story broke out", adding that "Berserk" was not the "mundane bloodfest" he originally thought, and called it a "gripping story." Eric Frederiksen, writing for Advanced Media Network, said that it would be easy to call "Berserk" a "mindlessly violent piece of popcorn-gore", but he said that it is not about a "man with a giant sword slicing through everything in his path", adding that the story and the characters are the real focus of the show, concluding: "Part of what helps "Berserk" weather the ravages of time better than so many other shows is the sheer volume of stuff it gives us to think about, without shoving it down our throats." Chris Beveridge of AnimeOnDVD wrote: "getting something that is just plain violent – but with a purpose and story – is a real treat and change of pace. Something that doesn’t pull away from the darker side of combat in a fantasy setting […] [I]t’s a series that just grabbed me and made me watch in fascination."


title: Berserk (1997 TV series)

text: Zac Bertschy, writing for SciFi.com, stated that "Berserk" is "possibly the most mature, intelligent, and just flat-out kick-butt fantasy series to ever come across the market", adding that the series explores themes like child abuse and schizophrenia, and that it is "a major departure from other common anime fantasy series; it goes where most fear to tread." Bertschy concluded: "If you're a big fantasy fan and like mature, adult stories that aren't afraid to explore even the darkest pits of the psyche, then is for you." In another review for ANN, Bertschy said that "Berserk" is the finest example of dark fantasy available on the market and that its original manga basis "surpasses all others in terms of quality and popularity", adding that the series "remains enchanting, entertaining and truly terrifying to this day."


title: Berserk (1997 TV series)

text: Writing for Anime Jump, Mike Toole said: ""Berserk" is one of those shows that's just the Total Package-- if you're a fan of action or fantasy and can handle hard-edged, violent stories, it's just what you're looking for." Praising the characters, the "detailed, tightly-wound" plot, and the "furious" battle scenes, concluding: "If there were a such thing as "realistic fantasy," "Berserk" would be it. Altogether, the show's collective merits make it impossible to ignore—it's truly one of the good ones." Toole, in another review for ANN, called "Berserk" "a showcase of bad, weird animation", commenting that the distance of time helps to gloss over its issues. In comparing the series to the 2016 series, which was criticized for its handling of CGI, Toole wrote: "It helps that animation mistakes tend to be a bit less noticeable in 2D."


title: Berserk (1997 TV series)

text: Writing for About.com, Serdar Yegulalp said that "Berserk" is a "grim but utterly gripping fantasy that makes "Lord of the Rings" look like "Anne of Green Gables"", calling its violence "brutal and disturbing", but that it has an "epic storytelling with unforgettable characters." In another review, Yegulalp commented: "Despite its abbreviated, abortive form, and despite a relatively crude animation style, "Berserk" was, and still is, one of the best anime of its kind", adding that, like "Game of Thrones", "Berserk" "has an appeal far beyond the fantasy-adventure fans who became the show's first and most vocal champions."


title: Berserk (1997 TV series)

text: "Berserk"s soundtrack has also been praised by critics. Ross said that the opening and ending themes were "two of the least appropriate songs I have ever heard for an anime series", but that Hirasawa's background tracks are "rather memorable", highlighting "Berserk -Forces-", which he called "an object lesson in how to use a synthesizer and reverb completely wrong, and yet still come up with something interesting and fresh anyway", adding that Hirasawa's music is "an acquired taste, to be sure - people either love it or hate it." Bertschy said that the music of "Berserk" is "certainly worth praising", commenting that the score "leaps effortlessly from haunting and melodic to dark and sinister in the blink of an eye, maintaining credibility and flow throughout." Yegulalp wrote: "[Hirasawa] created the throbbing, disturbing score for the ultra-violent fantasy anime "Berserk". Some of the synthesizer and sampler techniques used sound a bit primitive today, but they're more than made up for by the haunting composition and songwriting. If the alternately joyful and sorrowful "Guts's Theme" doesn't send chills through you, there's probably not much that could." Writing for Funimation, Kathleen Townsend highlighted "Gut's Theme", and stated: "It’s particularly gentle for a world filled with evil and a fearsome protagonist willing to carve his own limbs away if it means helping those he loves. It’s peaceful and delicate, filled with hope and longing." Toole said that "Berserk"s music has"both ups and downs." On the upside, he lauded the incidental music, stating that the music is "churning and intense, and lends a well-placed sense of urgency to the show's plot", but Toole commented that the selection of compositions "is pretty small, which means that a lot of themes, especially "Forces," are used and reused incessantly. It's a good soundtrack, and an unusual one, but it gets a bit repetitive." In another review, Toole said that Hirasawa's "churning, hypnotic" musical output was "as sort of like tossing Philip Glass, Yello, and Peter Gabriel into a centrifuge." Toole highlighted "Berserk -Forces-", and said that it has become "iconic and wholly associated with the series." Toole concluded: "I appreciate "Berserk"s excellent direction and pacing and dig its atmospheric artwork, especially Kobayashi Production's awesome painting work, but it's the music that has aged the best." Friederickson wrote that Hirasawa's synth-heavy soundtrack "brings an otherworldly feeling that reminds of some of those great practical-effects-fueled '80s movies. It fits perfectly into this story where magic is beginning to emerge in a world where no one believes in it."


title: Retinol

text: Retinol, also called vitamin A, is a fat-soluble vitamin in the vitamin A family found in food and used as a dietary supplement. As a supplement it is used to treat and prevent vitamin A deficiency, especially that which results in xerophthalmia. In regions where deficiency is common, a single large dose is recommended to those at high risk twice a year. It is also used to reduce the risk of complications in measles patients. It is taken by mouth or by injection into a muscle.


title: Retinol

text: Retinol at normal doses is well tolerated. High doses may cause enlargement of the liver, dry skin, and hypervitaminosis A. High doses during pregnancy may harm the fetus. The body converts retinol to retinal and retinoic acid, through which it acts. Dietary sources include fish, dairy products, and meat.


title: Retinol

text: Retinol was discovered in 1909, isolated in 1931, and first made in 1947. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Retinol is available as a generic medication and over the counter.


title: Retinol

text: The Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for vitamin A, for a 25-year-old man, is 3,000 micrograms/day, or about 10,000 IU. In breastfeeding mothers, vitamin A intake should be 1,200 to 1,300 retinol activity units (RAE).


title: Retinol

text: Too much vitamin A in retinoid form can be harmful. The body converts the dimerized form, carotene, into vitamin A as it is needed, so high levels of carotene are not toxic, whereas the ester (animal) forms are. The livers of certain animals, especially those adapted to polar environments, such as polar bears and seals, often contain amounts of vitamin A that would be toxic to humans. Thus, vitamin A toxicity is typically reported in Arctic explorers and people taking large doses of synthetic vitamin A. The first documented death possibly caused by vitamin A poisoning was that of Xavier Mertz, a Swiss scientist, who died in January 1913 on an Antarctic expedition that had lost its food supplies and fell to eating its sled dogs. Mertz may have consumed lethal amounts of vitamin A by eating the dogs' livers.


title: Retinol

text: Vitamin A acute toxicity occurs when a person ingests vitamin A in large amounts more than the daily recommended value in the threshold of 25,000 IU/kg or more. Often, the patient consumes about 3–4 times the RDA's specification. Toxicity of vitamin A is believed to be associated with the methods of increasing vitamin A in the body, such as food modification, fortification, and supplementation, all of which are used to combat vitamin A deficiency. Toxicity is classified into two categories: acute and chronic. The former occurs a few hours or days after ingestion of a large amount of vitamin A. Chronic toxicity takes place when about 4,000 IU/kg or more of vitamin A is consumed for a long time. Symptoms of both include nausea, blurred vision, fatigue, weight-loss, and menstrual abnormalities.


title: Retinol

text: Excess vitamin A is suspected to be a contributor to osteoporosis. This seems to happen at much lower doses than those required to induce acute intoxication. Only preformed vitamin A can cause these problems, because the conversion of carotenoids into vitamin A is downregulated when physiological requirements are met; but excessive uptake of carotenoids can cause carotenosis.


title: Retinol

text: Excess preformed vitamin A during early pregnancy is associated with a significant increase in birth defects. These defects may be severe, even life-threatening. Even twice the daily recommended amount can cause severe birth defects. The FDA recommends that pregnant women get their vitamin A from foods containing beta carotene and that they ensure that they consume no more than 5,000 IU of preformed vitamin A (if any) per day. Although vitamin A is necessary for fetal development, most women carry stores of vitamin A in their fat cells, so over-supplementation should be strictly avoided.


title: Retinol

text: A review of all randomized controlled trials in the scientific literature by the Cochrane Collaboration published in "JAMA" in 2007 found that supplementation with beta carotene or vitamin A "increased" mortality by 5% and 16%, respectively.


title: Retinol

text: Studies emerging from developing countries India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia strongly suggest that, in populations in which vitamin A deficiency is common and maternal mortality is high, dosing expectant mothers can greatly reduce maternal mortality. Similarly, dosing newborn infants with 50,000 IU (15 mg) of vitamin A within two days of birth can significantly reduce neonatal mortality.


title: Retinol

text: Retinol or other forms of vitamin A are needed for eyesight, maintenance of the skin, and human development. Other than for vision, the active compound is all-trans-retinoic acid, synthesized from retinal, in turn synthesized from retinol.


title: Retinol

text: Retinoic acid via the retinoic acid receptor influences the process of cell differentiation, hence, the growth and development of embryos. During development, there is a concentration gradient of retinoic acid along the anterior-posterior (head-tail) axis. Cells in the embryo respond to retinoic acid differently depending on the amount present. For example, in vertebrates, the hindbrain transiently forms eight rhombomeres and each rhombomere has a specific pattern of genes being expressed. If retinoic acid is not present the last four rhombomeres do not develop. Instead, rhombomeres 1–4 grow to cover the same amount of space as all eight would normally occupy. Retinoic acid has its effects by turning on a differential pattern of Homeobox (Hox) genes that encode different homeodomain transcription factors which in turn can turn on cell type specific genes. Deletion of the Homeobox (Hox-1) gene from rhombomere 4 makes the neurons growing in that region behave like neurons from rhombomere 2. Retinoic acid is not required for patterning of the retina as originally proposed, but retinoic acid synthesized in the retina is secreted into surrounding mesenchyme where it is required to prevent overgrowth of perioptic mesenchyme which can cause microphthalmia, defects in the cornea and eyelid, and rotation of the optic cup.


title: Retinol

text: Retinoic acid is an influential factor used in differentiation of stem cells to more committed fates, echoing retinoic acid's importance in natural embryonic developmental pathways. It is thought to initiate differentiation into a number of different cell lineages by unsequestering certain sequences in the genome.


title: Retinol

text: It has numerous applications in the experimental induction of stem cell differentiation; amongst these are the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells to posterior foregut lineages and also to functional motor neurons.


title: Retinol

text: Retinol is an essential compound in the cycle of light-activated chemical reactions called the "visual cycle" that underlies vertebrate vision. Retinol is converted by the protein RPE65 within the pigment epithelium of the retina into 11-"cis"-retinal. This molecule is then transported into the retina's photoreceptor cells (the rod or cone cells in mammals) where it binds to an opsin protein and acts as a light-activated molecular switch. When 11-"cis"-retinal absorbs light it isomerizes into all-"trans"-retinal. The change in the shape of the molecule in turn changes the configuration of the opsin in a cascade that leads to the neuronal firing, which signals the detection of light. The opsin then splits into the protein component (such metarhodopsin) and the cofactor all-"trans"-retinal. The regeneration of active opsin requires conversion of all-"trans"-retinal back to 11-"cis"-retinal via retinol. The regeneration of 11-"cis"-retinal occurs in vertebrates via conversion of all-"trans"-retinol to 11-"cis"-retinol in a sequence of chemical transformations that occurs primarily in the pigment epithelial cells.


title: Retinol

text: Without adequate amounts of retinol, regeneration of rhodopsin is incomplete and night blindness occurs. Night blindness, the inability to see well in dim light, is associated with a deficiency of vitamin A, a class of compounds that includes retinol and retinal. In the early stages of vitamin A deficiency, the more light-sensitive and abundant rods, which have rhodopsin, have impaired sensitivity, and the cone cells are less affected. The cones are less abundant than rods and come in three types, each contains its own type of iodopsin, the opsins of the cones. The cones mediate color vision, and vision in bright light (day vision).


title: Retinol

text: Glycoprotein synthesis requires adequate vitamin A status. In severe vitamin A deficiency, lack of glycoproteins may lead to corneal ulcers or liquefaction.


title: Retinol

text: Vitamin A is essential to maintain intact epithelial tissues as a physical barrier to infection; it is also involved in maintaining a number of immune cell types from both the innate and acquired immune systems. These include the lymphocytes (B-cells, T-cells, and natural killer cells), as well as many myelocytes (neutrophils, macrophages, and myeloid dendritic cells).


title: Retinol

text: Deficiencies in vitamin A have been linked to an increased susceptibility to skin infection and inflammation. Vitamin A appears to modulate the innate immune response and maintains homeostasis of epithelial tissues and mucosa through its metabolite, retinoic acid (RA). As part of the innate immune system, toll-like receptors in skin cells respond to pathogens and cell damage by inducing a pro-inflammatory immune response which includes increased RA production. The epithelium of the skin encounters bacteria, fungi and viruses. Keratinocytes of the epidermal layer of the skin produce and secrete antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Production of AMPs resistin and cathelicidin, are promoted by RA. Another way that vitamin A helps maintain a healthy skin and hair follicle microbiome, especially on the face, is by reduction of sebum secretion, which is a nutrient source for bacteria.


title: Retinol

text: Vitamin A may be needed for normal red blood cell formation; deficiency causes abnormalities in iron metabolism. Vitamin A is needed to produce the red blood cells from stem cells through retinoid differentiation.


title: Retinol

text: When referring to dietary allowances or nutritional science, retinol is usually measured in international units (IU). IU refers to biological activity and therefore is unique to each individual compound, however 1 IU of retinol is equivalent to approximately 0.3 micrograms (300 nanograms).


title: Retinol

text: This vitamin plays an essential role in vision, particularly night vision, normal bone and tooth development, reproduction, and the health of skin and mucous membranes (the mucus-secreting layer that lines body regions such as the respiratory tract). Vitamin A also acts in the body as an antioxidant, a protective chemical that may reduce the risk of certain cancers.


title: Retinol

text: There are two sources of dietary vitamin A. Active forms, which are immediately available to the body are obtained from animal products. These are known as retinoids and include retinaldehyde and retinol. Precursors, also known as provitamins, which must be converted to active forms by the body, are obtained from fruits and vegetables containing yellow, orange and dark green pigments, known as carotenoids, the most well-known being β-carotene. For this reason, amounts of vitamin A are measured in Retinol Equivalents (RE). One RE is equivalent to 0.001 mg of retinol, or 0.006 mg of β-carotene, or 3.3 International Units of vitamin A.


title: Retinol

text: In the intestine, vitamin A is protected from being chemically changed by vitamin E. Vitamin A is fat-soluble and can be stored in the body. Most of the vitamin A consumed is stored in the liver. When required by a particular part of the body, the liver releases some vitamin A, which is carried by the blood and delivered to the target cells and tissues.


title: Retinol

text: The Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) Recommended Daily Amount (RDA) for vitamin A for a 25-year-old male is 900 micrograms/day, or 3000 IU. National Health Service daily recommended values are slightly lower at 700 micrograms for men and 600 micrograms for women.


title: Retinol

text: During the absorption process in the intestines, retinol is incorporated into chylomicrons as the ester form, and it is these particles that mediate transport to the liver. Liver cells store vitamin A as the ester, and when retinol is needed in other tissues, it is de-esterifed and released into the blood as the alcohol. Retinol then attaches to a serum carrier, retinol binding protein, for transport to target tissues. A binding protein inside cells, cellular retinoic acid binding protein, serves to store and move retinoic acid intracellularly.


title: Retinol

text: Vitamin A deficiency is common in developing countries but rarely seen in developed countries. Approximately 250,000 to 500,000 malnourished children in the developing world go blind each year from a deficiency of vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency in expecting mothers increases the mortality rate of children shortly after childbirth. Night blindness is one of the first signs of vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency contributes to blindness by making the cornea very dry and damaging the retina and cornea.


title: Retinol

text: Retinoids are found naturally only in foods of animal origin. Each of the following contains at least 0.15 mg of retinoids per :


title: Retinol

text: Many different geometric isomers of retinol, retinal and retinoic acid are possible as a result of either a "trans" or "cis" configuration of four of the five double bonds found in the polyene chain. The "cis" isomers are less stable and can readily convert to the all-"trans" configuration (as seen in the structure of all-"trans"-retinol shown at the top of this page). Nevertheless, some "cis" isomers are found naturally and carry out essential functions. For example, the 11-"cis"-retinal isomer is the chromophore of rhodopsin, the vertebrate photoreceptor molecule. Rhodopsin is composed of the 11-cis-retinal covalently linked via a Schiff base to the opsin protein (either rod opsin or blue, red or green cone opsins). The process of vision relies on the light-induced isomerisation of the chromophore from 11-"cis" to all-"trans" resulting in a change of the conformation and activation of the photoreceptor molecule. One of the earliest signs of vitamin A deficiency is night-blindness followed by decreased visual acuity.


title: Retinol

text: Many of the non-visual functions of vitamin A are mediated by retinoic acid, which regulates gene expression by activating nuclear retinoic acid receptors. The non-visual functions of vitamin A are essential in the immunological function, reproduction and embryonic development of vertebrates as evidenced by the impaired growth, susceptibility to infection and birth defects observed in populations receiving suboptimal vitamin A in their diet.


title: Retinol

text: Retinol is synthesized from the breakdown of β-carotene. First, the β-carotene 15-15'-monooxygenase cleaves β-carotene at the central double bond, creating an epoxide. This epoxide is then attacked by water creating two hydroxyl groups in the center of the structure. The cleavage occurs when these alcohols are oxidized to the aldehydes using NADH. This compound is called retinal. Retinal is then reduced to retinol by the enzyme retinol dehydrogenase. Retinol dehydrogenase is an enzyme that is dependent on NADH.


title: Retinol

text: β-carotene can be extracted from fungus "Blakeslea trispora", marine algae "Dunaliella salina" or genetically modified bacteria of the genus "Sphingomonas", or else via total synthesis using either a method developed by BASF or a Grignard reaction utilized by Hoffman-La Roche.


title: Retinol

text: The world market for synthetic retinol is primarily for animal feed, leaving approximately 13% for a combination of food, prescription medication and dietary supplement use. The first industrialized synthesis of retinol was achieved by the company Hoffmann-La Roche in 1947. In the following decades, eight other companies developed their own processes. β-ionone, synthesized from acetone, is the essential starting point for all industrial syntheses. Each process involves elongating the unsaturated carbon chain. Pure retinol is extremely sensitive to oxidization and is prepared and transported at low temperatures and oxygen-free atmospheres. When prepared as a dietary supplement or food additive, retinol is stabilized as the ester derivatives retinyl acetate or retinyl palmitate. Prior to 1999, three companies, Roche, BASF and Rhone-Poulenc controlled 96% of global vitamin A sales. In 2001, the European Commission imposed total fines of 855.22 Euros on these and five other companies for their participation in eight distinct market-sharing and price-fixing cartels that dated back to 1989. Roche sold its vitamin division to DSM in 2003. DSM and BASF have the major share of industrial production.


title: Retinol

text: In 1912, Frederick Gowland Hopkins demonstrated that unknown accessory factors found in milk, other than carbohydrates, proteins, and fats were necessary for growth in rats. Hopkins received a Nobel Prize for this discovery in 1929. One year later, Elmer McCollum, a biochemist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and colleague Marguerite Davis identified a fat-soluble nutrient in butterfat and cod liver oil. Their work confirmed that of Thomas Burr Osborne and Lafayette Mendel, at Yale, also in 1913, which suggested a fat-soluble nutrient in butterfat. The "accessory factors" were termed "fat soluble" in 1918 and later "vitamin A" in 1920. In 1931, Swiss chemist Paul Karrer described the chemical structure of vitamin A. Retinoic acid and retinol were first synthesized in 1946 and 1947 by two Dutch chemists, David Adriaan van Dorp and Jozef Ferdinand Arens.


title: Retinol

text: In 1967, George Wald was a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine "..."for their discoveries concerning the primary physiological and chemical visual processes in the eye." Photoreceptor cells in the eye contain a chromophore composed of the protein opsin and 11-cis retinal. When struck by light, 11-cis retinal undergoes photoisomerization to all-trans retinal and via signal transduction cascade send a nerve signal to the brain. The all-trans retinal is reduced to all-trans retinol and travels back to the retinal pigment epithelium to be recycled to 11-cis retinal and conjugated to opsin.


title: Retinol

text: Although vitamin A was not confirmed as an essential nutrient and a chemical structure described until the 20th century, written observations of conditions created by deficiency of this nutrient appeared much earlier in history. Sommer classified historical accounts related to vitamin A and/or manifestations of deficiency as follows: "ancient" accounts; 18th- to 19th-century clinical descriptions (and their purported etiologic associations); early 20th-century laboratory animal experiments, and clinical and epidemiologic observations that identified the existence of this unique nutrient and manifestations of its deficiency.


title: Paul Michael Glaser

text: Paul Michael Glaser (born Paul Manfred Glaser March 25, 1943) is an American actor and director best known for his role as Detective Dave Starsky on the 1970s television series, "Starsky & Hutch". In between his work writing and directing, Glaser also played Captain Jack Steeper on the NBC series "Third Watch" from 2004 to 2005, appeared as Al in several episodes of "Ray Donovan" in the 2010s, and had his first U.S. exhibition of his artwork in 2018.


title: Paul Michael Glaser

text: Paul Manfred Glaser was born March 25, 1943 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the youngest child and only son of Dorothy and Samuel Glaser, a MIT graduate and well-known Boston architect. He grew up in Brookline and Newton. He was raised Jewish, and although Dorothy was an agnostic, and the family did not observe the Shabbat, the family did celebrate the religion's major holidays, including Glaser's own bar mitzvah. Samuel designed a shul in Rhode Island. Glaser attended the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School until 1961 before transferring to the Cambridge School of Weston, completing high school. Glaser attended Tulane University, where he was roommates with film director Bruce Paltrow, majoring in theater and English with a minor in architecture and graduated in 1966. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. He earned a master's degree in fine arts from Boston University in acting and directing in 1967.


title: Paul Michael Glaser

text: Glaser found fame playing Detective Dave Starsky opposite David Soul in the television show "Starsky and Hutch", of which he directed several episodes. It ran for four seasons (1975–1979) on ABC.


title: Paul Michael Glaser

text: After the series, Glaser continued to act on television and in films, and directed the 1987 film "The Running Man" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as the 1992 film "The Cutting Edge". He also directed episodes of several TV series, including "Miami Vice", "Robbery Homicide Division" and "Judging Amy". Glaser returned to the big screen in 2003 in "Something's Gotta Give", as Diane Keaton's ex-husband, and with a brief cameo in the 2004 film version of "Starsky & Hutch", in which Starsky was played by Ben Stiller. He directed the children's film "Kazaam" starring Shaquille O'Neal. He guest starred in "The Scarlet Letter", the October 1, 2009 episode of CBS's "The Mentalist".


title: Paul Michael Glaser

text: Between 2013 and 2019, Glaser appeared as Alan in several episodes of the TV series "Ray Donovan". In an interview published in April 2018, Glaser, having not acted since that role was asked he had retired from acting, and replied, "People ask me, 'What's your favorite: acting, directing or writing?' My answer: What life occurs. It's what happens. You never know when something will cross your path. I try to stay open to everything. I'm doing a guest appearance on Grace and Frankie right now. As long as it's a good group of people, I'm open to anything. That's the thing I enjoy most about filmmaking or acting: experience." That same month, Glaser had his first American solo exhibition for his paintings and digital illustrations at Cosmo Lofts in Hollywood. The show was titled "Act 111", because his foray as an artist marked the third stage of his career, following acting in front of the camera, and writing/directing behind it.


title: Paul Michael Glaser

text: Glaser has been married twice. He married his first wife, Elizabeth Glaser, in 1980. In August 1981, she contracted HIV through a blood transfusion while giving birth to the couple's first child, Ariel. Elizabeth did not know that she was infected with the virus until four years later, when both she and Ariel became sick with a mysterious illness. When the entire family was tested, Elizabeth, Ariel and the couple's one-and-a-half-year-old son Jake were found to be HIV positive. Ariel died three years later, right after her seventh birthday. Elizabeth died December 3, 1994.


title: Paul Michael Glaser

text: Glaser later married Tracy Barone, who adopted Jake, who was 10 years old at the time. The couple had a daughter, Zoe. That marriage ended with Glaser filing for divorce in June 2007. As of 2007, Jake remained healthy, and as of 2016, had maintained his relationship with Tracy.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen with the chemical formula . It is the most commonly occurring of several aluminium oxides, and specifically identified as aluminium oxide. It is commonly called alumina and may also be called aloxide, aloxite, or alundum depending on particular forms or applications. It occurs naturally in its crystalline polymorphic phase α-AlO as the mineral corundum, varieties of which form the precious gemstones ruby and sapphire. AlO is significant in its use to produce aluminium metal, as an abrasive owing to its hardness, and as a refractory material owing to its high melting point.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Corundum is the most common naturally occurring crystalline form of aluminium oxide. Rubies and sapphires are gem-quality forms of corundum, which owe their characteristic colours to trace impurities. Rubies are given their characteristic deep red colour and their laser qualities by traces of chromium. Sapphires come in different colours given by various other impurities, such as iron and titanium. An extremely rare, δ form, occurs as the mineral deltalumite.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: AlO is an electrical insulator but has a relatively high thermal conductivity () for a ceramic material. Aluminium oxide is insoluble in water. In its most commonly occurring crystalline form, called corundum or α-aluminium oxide, its hardness makes it suitable for use as an abrasive and as a component in cutting tools.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide is responsible for the resistance of metallic aluminium to weathering. Metallic aluminium is very reactive with atmospheric oxygen, and a thin passivation layer of aluminium oxide (4 nm thickness) forms on any exposed aluminium surface in a matter of hundreds of picoseconds. This layer protects the metal from further oxidation. The thickness and properties of this oxide layer can be enhanced using a process called anodising. A number of alloys, such as aluminium bronzes, exploit this property by including a proportion of aluminium in the alloy to enhance corrosion resistance. The aluminium oxide generated by anodising is typically amorphous, but discharge assisted oxidation processes such as plasma electrolytic oxidation result in a significant proportion of crystalline aluminium oxide in the coating, enhancing its hardness.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide was taken off the United States Environmental Protection Agency's chemicals lists in 1988. Aluminium oxide is on the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory list if it is a fibrous form.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide is an amphoteric substance, meaning it can react with both acids and bases, such as hydrofluoric acid and sodium hydroxide, acting as an acid with a base and a base with an acid, neutralising the other and producing a salt.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: The most common form of crystalline aluminium oxide is known as corundum, which is the thermodynamically stable form. The oxygen ions form a nearly hexagonal close-packed structure with the aluminium ions filling two-thirds of the octahedral interstices. Each Al center is octahedral. In terms of its crystallography, corundum adopts a trigonal Bravais lattice with a space group of Rc (number 167 in the International Tables). The primitive cell contains two formula units of aluminium oxide.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide also exists in other metastable phases, including the cubic γ and η phases, the monoclinic θ phase, the hexagonal χ phase, the orthorhombic κ phase and the δ phase that can be tetragonal or orthorhombic. Each has a unique crystal structure and properties. Cubic γ-AlO has important technical applications. The so-called β-AlO proved to be NaAlO.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Molten aluminium oxide near the melting temperature is roughly 2/3 tetrahedral (i.e. 2/3 of the Al are surrounded by 4 oxygen neighbors), and 1/3 5-coordinated, with very little (<5%) octahedral Al-O present. Around 80% of the oxygen atoms are shared among three or more Al-O polyhedra, and the majority of inter-polyhedral connections are corner-sharing, with the remaining 10–20% being edge-sharing. The breakdown of octahedra upon melting is accompanied by a relatively large volume increase (~33%), the density of the liquid close to its melting point is 2.93 g/cm. The structure of molten alumina is temperature dependent and the fraction of 5- and 6-fold aluminium increases during cooling (and supercooling), at the expense of tetrahedral AlO units, approaching the local structural arrangements found in amorphous alumina.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium hydroxide minerals are the main component of bauxite, the principal ore of aluminium. A mixture of the minerals comprise bauxite ore, including gibbsite (Al(OH)), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH)), along with impurities of iron oxides and hydroxides, quartz and clay minerals. Bauxites are found in laterites. Bauxite is typically purified using the Bayer process:


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Except for SiO, the other components of bauxite do not dissolve in base. Upon filtering the basic mixture, FeO is removed. When the Bayer liquor is cooled, Al(OH) precipitates, leaving the silicates in solution.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: The product aluminium oxide tends to be multi-phase, i.e., consisting of several phases of aluminium oxide rather than solely corundum. The production process can therefore be optimized to produce a tailored product. The type of phases present affects, for example, the solubility and pore structure of the aluminium oxide product which, in turn, affects the cost of aluminium production and pollution control.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Known as alpha alumina in materials science communities or alundum (in fused form) or aloxite in the mining and ceramic communities aluminium oxide finds wide use. Annual world production of aluminium oxide in 2015 was approximately 115 million tonnes, over 90% of which is used in the manufacture of aluminium metal. The major uses of speciality aluminium oxides are in refractories, ceramics, polishing and abrasive applications. Large tonnages of aluminium hydroxide, from which alumina is derived, are used in the manufacture of zeolites, coating titania pigments, and as a fire retardant/smoke suppressant.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Over 90% of the aluminium oxide, normally termed Smelter Grade Alumina (SGA), produced is consumed for the production of aluminium, usually by the Hall–Héroult process. The remainder, normally called speciality alumina is used in a wide variety of applications which reflect its inertness, temperature resistance and electrical resistance.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Being fairly chemically inert and white, aluminium oxide is a favored filler for plastics. Aluminium oxide is a common ingredient in sunscreen and is sometimes also present in cosmetics such as blush, lipstick, and nail polish.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Many formulations of glass have aluminium oxide as an ingredient. Aluminosilicate glass is a commonly used type of glass that often contains 5% to 10% alumina.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide catalyses a variety of reactions that are useful industrially. In its largest scale application, aluminium oxide is the catalyst in the Claus process for converting hydrogen sulfide waste gases into elemental sulfur in refineries. It is also useful for dehydration of alcohols to alkenes.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide serves as a catalyst support for many industrial catalysts, such as those used in hydrodesulfurization and some Ziegler–Natta polymerizations.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide is used for its hardness and strength. Its naturally occurring form, corundum, is a 9 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness (just below diamond). It is widely used as an abrasive, including as a much less expensive substitute for industrial diamond. Many types of sandpaper use aluminium oxide crystals. In addition, its low heat retention and low specific heat make it widely used in grinding operations, particularly cutoff tools. As the powdery abrasive mineral aloxite, it is a major component, along with silica, of the cue tip "chalk" used in billiards. Aluminium oxide powder is used in some CD/DVD polishing and scratch-repair kits. Its polishing qualities are also behind its use in toothpaste. It is also used in microdermabrasion, both in the machine process available through dermatologists and estheticians, and as a manual dermal abrasive used according to manufacturer directions.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide flakes are used in paint for reflective decorative effects, such as in the automotive or cosmetic industries.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide has been used in a few experimental and commercial fiber materials for high-performance applications (e.g., Fiber FP, Nextel 610, Nextel 720). Alumina nanofibers in particular have become a research field of interest.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Some body armors utilize alumina ceramic plates, usually in combination with aramid or UHMWPE backing to achieve effectiveness against most rifle threats. Alumina ceramic armor is readily available to most civilians in jurisdictions where it is legal, but is not considered military grade. It's also used to produce bullet-proof alumina glass capable to withstand impact of .50 BMG calibre rounds.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide can be grown as a coating on aluminium by anodizing or by plasma electrolytic oxidation (see the "Properties" above). Both the hardness and abrasion-resistant characteristics of the coating originate from the high strength of aluminium oxide, yet the porous coating layer produced with conventional direct current anodizing procedures is within a 60–70 Rockwell hardness C range which is comparable only to hardened carbon steel alloys, but considerably inferior to the hardness of natural and synthetic corundum. Instead, with plasma electrolytic oxidation, the coating is porous only on the surface oxide layer while the lower oxide layers are much more compact than with standard DC anodizing procedures and present a higher crystallinity due to the oxide layers being remelted and densified to obtain α-Al2O3 clusters with much higher coating hardness values circa 2000 Vickers hardness.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Alumina is used to manufacture tiles which are attached inside pulverized fuel lines and flue gas ducting on coal fired power stations to protect high wear areas. They are not suitable for areas with high impact forces as these tiles are brittle and susceptible to breakage.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide is an electrical insulator used as a substrate (silicon on sapphire) for integrated circuits but also as a tunnel barrier for the fabrication of superconducting devices such as single-electron transistors and superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs).


title: Aluminium oxide

text: For its application as an electrical insulator in integrated circuits, where the conformal growth of a thin film is a prerequisite and the preferred growth mode is atomic layer deposition, AlO films can be prepared by the chemical exchange between trimethylaluminum (Al(CH)) and HO:


title: Aluminium oxide

text: HO in the above reaction can be replaced by ozone (O) as the active oxidant and the following reaction then takes place:


title: Aluminium oxide

text: The AlO films prepared using O show 10–100 times lower leakage current density compared with those prepared by HO.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide, being a dielectric with relatively large band gap, is used as an insulating barrier in capacitors.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: In lighting, translucent aluminium oxide is used in some sodium vapor lamps. Aluminium oxide is also used in preparation of coating suspensions in compact fluorescent lamps.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: In chemistry laboratories, aluminium oxide is a medium for chromatography, available in basic (pH 9.5), acidic (pH 4.5 when in water) and neutral formulations.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Health and medical applications include it as a material in hip replacements and birth control pills.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: and dosimeter for radiation protection and therapy applications for its optically stimulated luminescence properties.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Insulation for high-temperature furnaces is often manufactured from aluminium oxide. Sometimes the insulation has varying percentages of silica depending on the temperature rating of the material. The insulation can be made in blanket, board, brick and loose fiber forms for various application requirements.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Using a plasma spray process and mixed with titania, it is coated onto the braking surface of some bicycle rims to provide abrasion and wear resistance.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: In its finest powdered (white) form, called Diamantine, aluminium oxide is used as a superior polishing abrasive in watchmaking and clockmaking.


title: Aluminium oxide

text: Aluminium oxide is also used in the coating of stanchions in the motorcross and mountainbike industry.


title: Euthanasia Coaster

text: The Euthanasia Coaster is a hypothetical steel roller coaster designed as a euthanasia device to kill its passengers. The concept was conceived in 2010 and made into a scale model by Lithuanian artist Julijonas Urbonas, a PhD candidate at the Royal College of Art in London. Urbonas, who has experience as an amusement park employee, stated that the goal of his concept roller coaster is to take lives "with elegance and euphoria". As for practical applications of his design, Urbonas mentioned "euthanasia" or "execution". John Allen, who served as president of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, inspired Urbonas with his description of the "ultimate" roller coaster as one that "sends out 24 people and they all come back dead".


title: Euthanasia Coaster

text: The concept design of the layout begins with a steep-angled lift that takes riders up to the top, a climb that takes a few minutes to reach. For comparison, the tallest rollercoaster is the Kingda Ka at . From there, a drop would take the train to , close to its terminal velocity, before flattening out and speeding into the first of its seven slightly clothoid inversions. Each inversion would have a smaller diameter than the one before in order to maintain the lethal 10 g to passengers while the train loses speed. After a sharp right-hand turn the train would enter a straight, where unloading of corpses and loading of new passengers could take place.


title: Euthanasia Coaster

text: The Euthanasia Coaster would kill its passengers through prolonged cerebral hypoxia, or insufficient supply of oxygen to the brain. The ride's seven inversions would inflict 10 g (g-force) on its passengers for 60 seconds – causing g-force related symptoms starting with gray out through tunnel vision to black out and eventually g-LOC (g-force induced loss of consciousness). Subsequent inversions or another run of the coaster would serve as insurance against unintentional survival of more robust passengers.


title: Euthanasia Coaster

text: Urbonas's concept drew media attention when shown as part of the HUMAN+ display at the Science Gallery in Dublin from April through June 2011. The display, designated as its 2011 'flagship exhibition' by the Science Gallery, aims to show the future of humans and technology. Within this theme, the Euthanasia Coaster highlights the issues that come with life extension. The item was also displayed at HUMAN+ exhibit at Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona in 2015.


title: Euthanasia Coaster

text: In 2012, Norwegian rock group Major Parkinson released "Euthanasia Roller Coaster", a digital single with lyrics alluding to Urbonas's Euthanasia Coaster.


title: Euthanasia Coaster

text: Lavie Tidhar's short story "Vladimir Chong Chooses to Die" incorporates Urbonas's Euthanasia Coaster into the ending.


title: Euthanasia Coaster

text: Glenn Paton's short film "H Positive" explores the motivations of a wealthy man who, upon discovering that he is dying, commissions an architect to build a Euthanasia Coaster identical to Urbonas's design. Although Urbonas is not mentioned during the film, the end credits affirm that the film was based on Urbonas's project.


title: Euthanasia Coaster

text: The novelist and short story writer David Leo Rice wrote a story called The Painless Euthanasia Coaster for Catapult Magazine.


title: Euthanasia Coaster

text: The novelist Laura Maylene Walter wrote a story for Washington Square Review that uses the idea of a euthanasia coaster.


title: Euthanasia Coaster

text: Author Amanda Saint wrote a flash fiction called "Golden Glow" which tells the story of people in the queue to get on the Euthanasia Coaster, and cites it as her inspiration for the story.


title: Euthanasia Coaster

text: Sequoia Nagamatsu's novel "How High We Go in the Dark" includes a chapter that features a euthanasia theme park for terminally-ill children, where a final roller coaster kills them before the plague does. Nagamatsu has noted Urbonas’ design as initial inspiration in interviews.


title: Art rock

text: Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an artistic statement, opting for a more experimental and conceptual outlook on music. Influences may be drawn from genres such as experimental music, avant-garde music, classical music, and jazz.


title: Art rock

text: Its music was created with the intention of listening and contemplation rather than for dancing, and is often distinguished by the use of electronic effects and easy listening textures far removed from the propulsive rhythms of early rock. The term may sometimes be used interchangeably with "progressive rock", though the latter is instead characterized in particular by its employment of classically trained instrumental technique and symphonic textures.


title: Art rock

text: The genre's greatest level of popularity was in the early 1970s through British artists. The music, as well as the theatrical nature of performances associated with the genre, was able to appeal to artistically inclined adolescents and younger adults, especially due to its virtuosity and musical/lyrical complexity. Art rock is most associated with a certain period of rock music, beginning in 1966–67 and ending with the arrival of punk rock in the mid-1970s. After, the genre would be infused within later popular music genres of the 1970s–90s.


title: Art rock

text: Critic John Rockwell says that art rock is one of rock's most wide-ranging and eclectic genres with its overt sense of creative detachment, classical music pretensions, and experimental, avant-garde proclivities. In the rock music of the 1970s, the "art" descriptor was generally understood to mean "aggressively avant-garde" or "pretentiously progressive". "Art rock" is often used synonymously with progressive rock. Historically, the term has been used to describe at least two related, but distinct, types of rock music. The first is progressive rock, while the second usage refers to groups who rejected psychedelia and the hippie counterculture in favor of a modernist, avant-garde approach defined by the Velvet Underground. Essayist Ellen Willis compared these two types:


title: Art rock

text: Art rock emphasizes Romantic and autonomous traditions, in distinction to the aesthetic of the everyday and the disposable embodied by art pop. Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman's "American Popular Music" defines art rock as a "form of rock music that blended elements of rock and European classical music", citing the English rock bands King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Pink Floyd as examples. Common characteristics include album-oriented music divided into compositions rather than songs, with usually complicated and long instrumental sections and symphonic orchestration. Its music was traditionally used within the context of concept records, and its lyrical themes tended to be "imaginative" and politically oriented.


title: Art rock

text: Differences have been identified between art rock and progressive rock, with art rock emphasizing avant-garde or experimental influences and "novel sonic structure", while progressive rock has been characterized as putting a greater emphasis on classically trained instrumental technique, literary content, and symphonic features. Compared to progressive rock, art rock is "more challenging, noisy and unconventional" and "less classically influenced", with more of an emphasis on avant-garde music. Similarities are that they both describe a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility, and became the instrumental analog to concept albums and rock operas, which were typically more vocal oriented.


title: Art rock

text: Art rock can also refer to either classically driven rock, or to a progressive rock-folk fusion. Bruce Eder's essay "The Early History of Art-Rock/Prog Rock" states that "'progressive rock,' also sometimes known as 'art rock,' or 'classical rock'" is music in which the "bands [are] playing suites, not songs; borrowing riffs from Bach, Beethoven, and Wagner instead of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley; and using language closer to William Blake or T. S. Eliot than to Carl Perkins or Willie Dixon."


title: Art rock

text: The boundaries between art and pop music became increasingly blurred throughout the second half of the 20th century. The first usage of the term "art rock", according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. As pop music's dominant format transitioned from singles to albums, many rock bands created works that aspired to make grand artistic statements, where art rock would flourish. As it progressed in the late 1960s – in tandem with the development of progressive rock – art rock acquired notoriety alongside experimental rock.


title: Art rock

text: The earliest figure of art rock has been assumed to be record producer and songwriter Phil Spector, who became known as an auteur for his Wall of Sound productions that aspired to a "classical grandiosity". According to biographer Richard Williams: "[Spector] created a new concept: the producer as overall director of the creative process, from beginning to end. He took control of everything, he picked the artists, wrote or chose the material, supervised the arrangements, told the singers how to phrase, masterminded all phases of the recording process with the most painful attention to detail, and released the result on his own label." Williams also says that Spector transformed rock music as a performing art into an art that could only exist in the recording studio, which "paved the way for art rock".


title: Art rock

text: The Beach Boys' leader Brian Wilson is also cited as one of the first examples of the auteur music producer. Like Spector, Wilson was known as a reclusive studio obsessive who laboriously produced fantastical soundscapes through his


title: Art rock

text: mastery of recording technology. Biographer Peter Ames Carlin wrote that Wilson was the forerunner of "a new kind of art-rock that would combine the transcendent possibilities of art with the mainstream accessibility of pop music". Drawing from the influence of Wilson's work and the work of the Beatles' producer George Martin, music producers after the mid 1960s began to view the recording studio as a musical instrument used to aid the process of composition. Critic Stephen Holden says that mid-1960s recordings by the Beatles, Spector and Wilson are often identified as marking the start of art pop, which preceded the "bombastic, classically inflected" art rock that started in the late 1960s.


title: Art rock

text: Many of the top British groups during the 1960s – including members of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Who, 10cc, the Move, the Yardbirds and Pink Floyd – came to music via art school. This institution differed from its US counterpart in terms of having a less industry-applicable syllabus and in its focus on furthering eccentric talent. By the mid-1960s, several of these acts espoused an approach based on art and originality, where previously they had been absorbed solely in authentic interpretation of US-derived musical styles, such as rock 'n' roll and R&B.


title: Art rock

text: According to journalist Richard Goldstein, many popular musicians from California (like Wilson) desired to be acknowledged as artists, and struggled with this aspiration. Goldstein says that the line between violating musical conventions and making "truly popular music" caused those who did not have "strong enough egos" (in contrast to Bob Dylan and the Beatles) to be "doomed to a respectful rejection, and a few albums with disappointing sales usually meant silence. ... They yearned for fame, as only needy people can, but they also wanted to make art, and when both of those impulses couldn’t be achieved they recoiled in a ball of frantic confusion."


title: Art rock

text: Author Matthew Bannister traces "the more self-conscious, camp aesthetic of art rock" to pop artist Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground, who emulated Warhol's art/pop synthesis. Accordingly: "Warhol took Spector's combination of the disembodiment, 'distance' and refinement of high culture with the 'immediacy' of mass cultural forms like rock and roll several stages further ... But Warhol’s aesthetic was more thoroughly worked out than Spector's, which represented a transitional phase between old-fashioned auteurism and the thoroughly postmodern, detached tenets of pop art. ... Warhol's approach reverberates throughout art rock, most obviously in his stance of distance and disengagement." In 1969, the Doors also explored art rock genre on their fourth album, "The Soft Parade".


title: Art rock

text: The December 1965 release of the Beatles' "Rubber Soul" signified a watershed for the pop album, transforming it in scope from a collection of singles with lesser-quality tracks to a distinct art form, filled with high-quality original compositions. The album garnered recognition for the Beatles as artists from the American mainstream press, anticipating rock music's cultural legitimization as an art form. Writing in 1968, Gene Sculatti of "Jazz & Pop" recognized "Rubber Soul" as "the definitive 'rock as art' album" and "the necessary prototype" that major artists such as the Rolling Stones (with "Aftermath") and the Beach Boys had felt compelled to follow.


title: Art rock

text: The period when rock music became most closely aligned with art began in 1966 and continued until the mid 1970s. Academic Michael Johnson associates "the first documented moments of ascension in rock music" to the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" and the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1967). Released in May 1966, "Pet Sounds" came from Wilson's desire to make a "complete statement", as he believed the Beatles had previously done with "Rubber Soul". In 1978, biographer David Leaf wrote that the album heralded art rock, while according to "The New York Observer", ""Pet Sounds" proved that a pop group could make an album-length piece comparable with the greatest long-form works of Bernstein, Copland, Ives, and Rodgers and Hammerstein." "Pet Sounds" is also noted as the first rock concept album. In 1971, "Cue" magazine described the Beach Boys as having been "among the vanguard" with regard to art rock, among many other aspects relating to the counterculture, over the period up to late 1967.


title: Art rock

text: Jacqueline Edmondson's 2013 encyclopedia "Music in American Life" states that, although it was preceded by earlier examples, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention's debut album "Freak Out!" (June 1966) came to be seen as "the first successful incorporation of art music in a pop context". With Los Angeles as his base since the early 1960s, Zappa was able to work in an environment where student radicalism was closely aligned with an active avant-garde scene, a setting that placed the city ahead of other countercultural centres at the time and would continue to inform his music. Writer and pianist Michael Campbell comments that the album "contains a long noncategorical list of Zappa's influences, from classical avant-garde composers to obscure folk musicians".


title: Art rock

text: The Beatles' "Revolver" (August 1966) furthered the album-as-art perspective and continued pop music's evolution. Led by the art-rock single "Eleanor Rigby", it expanded the genre's scope in terms of the range of musical styles, which included Indian, avant-garde and classical, and the lyrical content of the album, and also in its departure from previous notions of melody and structure in pop songwriting. According to "Rolling Stone", ""Revolver" signaled that in popular music, anything – any theme, any musical idea – could now be realized." As with "Rubber Soul", the album inspired many of the progressive rock artists of the 1970s, and each of its songs has been recognised as anticipating a new subgenre or style.


title: Art rock

text: "Clash Music" names the Velvet Underground's debut March 1967 album "The Velvet Underground & Nico" "the original art-rock record". Bannister writes of the Velvet Underground: "no other band exerted the same grip on the minds of 1970s/1980s art/alternative rock artists, writers and audiences." Their influence would recur from the 1970s onwards to various worldwide indie scenes, and in 2006, "The Velvet Underground & Nico" was inducted into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry, who commented: "For decades [it] has cast a huge shadow over nearly every sub-variety of avant-garde rock, from 70s art-rock to no-wave, new-wave, and punk." However, when the Velvet Underground first appeared in the mid 1960s, they faced rejection and were commonly dismissed as a "fag" band. In 1982, musician Brian Eno famously stated that while "The Velvet Underground & Nico" initially sold just 30,000 copies, "everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band."


title: Art rock

text: The Beatles' Paul McCartney deemed "Pet Sounds" "the record of the time", and in June 1967, the band responded with their own album: "Sgt. Pepper's", which was also influenced by "Freak Out!" AllMusic states that the first wave of art rock musicians were inspired by "Sgt. Pepper's" and believed that for rock music to grow artistically, they should incorporate elements of European and classical music to the genre. Many British groups flowered in the album's wake; those who are listed in "Music in American Life" include the Moody Blues, the Strawbs, Genesis, and "most notably", Pink Floyd. The band's Roger Waters later stated that both "Sgt. Pepper" and "Pet Sounds" "completely changed everything about records" for him.


title: Art rock

text: Art rock's greatest level of popularity was in the early 1970s through British artists including King Crimson and Queen.


title: Art rock

text: Early in the decade, Pink Floyd released "Atom Heart Mother", with the 23-minute title track taking up the entire first side of the LP. This experiment with collaborator Ron Geesin yielded the longest unbroken Pink Floyd song on record, a suite divided into six parts, which required the band at times to utilize a choir and brass section on tour. The album was a commercial success, giving the band to its first number one record in the UK. It signaled a shift in their music from the psychedelic forays of their late '60s albums and into a period of renewed creativity in the form of longer and more progressive rock music.


title: Art rock

text: Enthusiasm for art rock explorations waned in the mid 1970s. From then to the 1990s, art rock was infused within various popular music genres. "Encyclopædia Britannica" states that its genre's tendencies were continued by some British and American hard rock and pop rock artists, and that Brian Eno's late 1970s and early 1980s collaborations with David Bowie and Talking Heads are exemplary of "the successful infusion of art rock tendencies into other popular music genres". Bowie and Eno collaborated on a series of consecutive albums called the "Berlin Trilogy", characterized as an "art rock trifecta" by "Consequence of Sound", who noted that at the time of their release, "The experimental records weren’t connecting with audiences on the scale Bowie was used to. ... New Wave had exploded, and a generation of Bowie descendants had taken the stage."


title: Art rock

text: In the 1980s, a new generation of English art rockers took the place of 1970s bands such as Roxy Music, Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Journalist Roy Trakin says: "Of course, these stalwarts can still fill Madison Square Garden and sell a great many records, as they always have, but their days of adventurous risk-taking and musical innovation are long gone – replaced by the smug satisfaction of commercial success."