The group of Colorado experimentalists known as Thinking Plague venture in adventurous, challenging, and sometimes knotty musical directions similar in many ways to the multi-genre explorations of European Rock in Opposition bands, although Plague members may sometimes be inclined to reject the RIO comparison. Led by guitarist and composer Mike Johnson (the sole bandmember who has been present on all the group's releases), Thinking Plague were initially formed in the early '80s by Johnson and bassist/drummer Bob Drake; after releasing an album titled A Thinking Plague on their own Endemic Records, the duo added vocalist Suzanne Lewis and released Moonsongs in 1987 for the British label Dead Man's Curve. Critical praise was glowing, and Thinking Plague continually added members -- reed player Mark Harris, keyboardist Shane Hotle -- and recorded In This Life for ReR in 1989. Though Lewis and Drake later left the area for other projects, drummer Dave Kerman (of 5uu's), vocalist Deborah Perry, and bassist/multi-instrumentalist Dave Willey of Hamster Theatre joined for In Extremis, released by the Cuneiform label in 1998. (And Johnson and Harris returned the favor by joining Willey's Hamster Theatre group.) The Early Plague Years, a remastered compilation of the group's first two albums, A Thinking Plague and Moonsongs, followed two years later. Dave Kerman subsequently left the band, and was replaced by drummer David Shamrock; the new Thinking Plague lineup released the Cuneiform CD A History of Madness in 2003. Decline and Fall followed in 2012, featuring new vocalist Elaine di Falco and drummer/keyboardist Kimara Sajn. The group returned in 2017 with more knotty and hyper-complex avant-prog on Hoping Against Hope, featuring new drummer Robin Chestnut (who played on one track of Decline and Fall) and the addition of a second guitarist, Bill Pohl, although band founder/guitarist/composer Mike Johnson remained firmly in the creative driver's seat. ~ John Bush, Rovi