Bonfire (originally Cacumen) is a German hard rock band, founded in Ingolst… Read Full Bio ↴Bonfire (originally Cacumen) is a German hard rock band, founded in Ingolstadt, Germany in 1972.

Cacumen (1972-1986)

In 1972 in the West German town of Ingolstadt a teenage guitarist, Hans Ziller, put together a rock band called Cacumen with his brother Karl, who also played guitar, and gathered a group of friends to complete the band. The name of the group was from a school test Hans had taken; it translates from Latin to mean "the top of a mountain". For the next six years the band played at local small venues but had a fan base in their home town. In 1978 the group consisted of Hans and Karl on guitars, Horst Maier on guitar (in 1983, Horst's last name would become Maier-Thorn), Hans Hauptmann on bass and Hans Forstner on drums. The band was seeking a replacement singer at that time; Claus Lessmann, a fellow student of Hans', was hired.

Claus was previously in the bands Ginger and Sunset, was known for his harmonic vocals and fit in perfectly with Cacumen. With this line-up, the band had a chance to start branching out to venues outside Ingolstadt. A recording entitled Riding Away was made, which featured the song Wintertale on the flip side in 1979. The group used this opportunity to begin touring clubs, schools and even parking lots. The fan base grew and Cacumen was finally signed to an independent label. At this time, Karl departed the group. The self titled Cacumen album was released in 1981 and featured a new version of Riding Away.

Cacumen got in contact with Hanns Schmidt-Theissen, who owned a small music studio (Hanns had played with the group on the Riding Away single and was supporting the band at live venues on keyboards). Since funds were low, Hanns helped them out; they recorded the album Bad Widow at his studio in Rodgau / Germany in 1982. Hanns also tried to get the group a contract but was unsuccessful.

The fan base of the band was growing and more performances were planned. In 1983, Robert Prskalowicz replaced Hans Hauptmann on bass and this group became the well-known Cacumen band. The group was later signed by BMG and received a make-over; Robert and Hans Forstner were no longer members as of March 1985, after departing upon deciding they couldn't commit to the group full time. Their replacements were Joerg Deisinger (previously with Rascal and Dynasty) on bass and Dominik Huelshorst from Darxon on drums. The group also donned the stereotypical image of an 80s hard rock group. Finally, the company requested a name change, as they thought Cacumen would be too difficult to pronounce and not as marketable a name as they desired. After a brainstorming session the name Bonfire was chosen, which came into effect in May 1986.

Bonfire, the First Coming (1986-1994)

Bonfire's worldwide début album, Don't Touch the Light, was released in June 1986. During recording of the follow-up album, in May 1987, Dominik was fired due to musical differences and Bonfire proceeded to release their next album, Fireworks, as a quartet, the drums being recorded by Ken Mary from Fifth Angel. Two versions of this album exist: the worldwide version and the North American version (the cover of which features the four members as well as the song 'You Make Me Feel', taken from their début album).

Between the second and third albums, Bonfire went through many changes. Although Tommy Wagner performed on drums for a TV spot, a new drummer needed to be hired. In December 1987, Edgar Patrik from Sinner, Samson and Tyran Pace joined. In July 1988, during the Fireworks Tour, Horst had to leave due to his rheumatism becoming too much of a crippling factor to play guitar on stage. Taking his spot in August was Angel Schleifer, formerly of Doc Savage, Red Alert, Sinner, Mad Max, Pretty Maids and Helter Skelter. The tour proceeded and at its completion the band settled down to collaborate for a new album. At this time, Hans had problems with the record company and the band's management, due in part to his family commitments at the time. Albeit with reluctance, he was fired from the group in June 1989 due to the lack of commitment and Bonfire carried on as a quartet. Bonfire's first two albums were the only to be released commercially in North America.

Despite the business decision, Claus and Hans maintained a great friendship. When Hans formed his own group, Claus was asked to write songs as well as perform vocals. The record company wouldn't allow him to do so, however, leaving Hans to find a replacement singer for his new band, EZ Livin'.

The decision to remove Hans from Bonfire troubled Claus, and after many failed attempts to break through in the North American scene and what he deemed was a failure of a fourth album, Claus left the band on September 25, 1992. His announcement was not unexpected, but did leave the remaining members the decision of who should take his place. One vocalist the group has interest in was Michael Bormann, vocalist for Letter X and his own side-project Jaded Heart, who had also previously been a member of High Voltage and the J.R. Blackmore Group. Although he was willing to sing with Bonfire, he was committed to his two other projects, so the group continued looking. Unsuccessful attempts to find a full-time vocalist led to Michael eventually becoming the new front-man of Bonfire in March 1993. He departed Letter X but remained with Jaded Heart.

Despite having a new vocalist, Bonfire seemed to be stagnating; their record company refused to release any new material that did not have Claus singing and grunge was an emerging new scene. The band suspected the end was nigh, so a live album that featured concert recordings from the Point Blank Tour and Claus on vocals was released. The album Michael had performed on was shelved (albeit to be released later as a bootleg entitled 'Bonfire - End of an Era Demos') and Bonfire performed for the last time on the 29th of July 1994, without officially breaking up.

Claus & Hans - Lessmann/Ziller to Ex (1992-1996)

While Bonfire were attempting to continue with their new lead vocalist, Claus reunited with Hans after he left the band and together they became Lessmann/Ziller in 1992, with Hans disbanding EZ Livin'. In 1993 they released an EP entitled Glaub Dran, which featured lyrics entirely in German. This was followed by a few single releases, of songs not present on the initial recording. The duo's following was slowly growing, but not in accordance with initial expectations. In 1995, Lessmann/Ziller evolved to become a group called Ex, and in May featured Joerg Deisinger on bass and Dominik Huelshorst on drums, almost a reunion of the 1986 Bonfire line-up. Claus and Hans realized that their best chance at recapturing their fan base was to become Bonfire again.

The Return of Bonfire - Charade Emerges (1996-2000)

In 1996, Claus and Hans decided to start legal proceedings to get the rights to the Bonfire name and their music from 1986 to 1992. On July 3rd, 1994, a one-time payment was made to the remaining Bonfire members and Claus and Hans renamed their Ex project to Bonfire. They reissued Glaub Dran, with additional songs in English, in 1996. In 1997 they hired Chris Lausmann (Affair and Frontline) on guitar and keyboards, Uwe Kohler (Black Tears, Paradise Leaf, Big Apple, Lipstikk, Blitzkrieg, British Steel) on bass, and Jurgen Wiehler (Backdoor Affair, Heaven Sent, Chain Reaction, Loud & Proud, EZ Livin', Parish Garden, Wet Paint and 88 Crash) on drums.

Michael and Angel also got back together in 1997, with a desire to release the shelved Bonfire album they had recorded in 1993. Joerg was not interested in being involved and Edgar had other commitments, so the reunion was a duo, and due to Claus and Hans owning the Bonfire name Michael and Angel decided to call themselves Charade. The previously shelved album was then released in 1998 in Japan, later becoming a highly sought after item. The duo continue to work together.

Worldwide exposure (2001-)

Since 1996, Bonfire has released at least one album each year and their fan base has grown, surpassing their 1980s popularity. Chris left the group in 2002 but the remaining members continued. After successfully gaining the rights to their pre-Bonfire material in 2004, the band released a five-part CD series called The Early Days. Parts 1 to 3 were reissues of the Cacumen albums, part 4 was the EZ Livin' album and part 5 was the Lessmann/Ziller album, each disc also featuring bonus material.

In 2006, Bonfire celebrated their 20th anniversary and Chris Limburg (Vice, Wet Paint and Lustfinger) took on a role as co-guitarist. A rock opera album entitled 'The Rauber' was released in 2008. A special DVD of the opera performance-- which also featured new music videos of several of the songs from the album-- was released soon afterwards and included a remixed version of their song 'You Make Me Feel'. This new version of the song is featured on the PlayStation game Sing Star.

January 15th 2009 saw the return of Dominik Huelshorst, when Jürgen left the band unexpectedly, followed by a long anticipated return to the North American stage, as the band performed at the Rocklahoma Festival on July 12th in Pryor, Oklahoma, USA.

On March 25th, 2010, Bonfire were signed to Universal Music. The album 'Branded' was released on January 22nd, 2011. The new second guitarist of Bonfire is Frank Pané, member of the German metal band Solemnity and ex-member of Red to Grey, and Valley's Eve.

In 2016, Bonfire celebrated their 30th anniversary and a new double album, Pearls, released on UDR/Warner on 18 March 2016. This recording featured past band hits that were re-recorded. At the beginning of July it was announced that Reece and the band had mutually agreed to part ways. To fill in the vacancy Michael Bormann was announced as the new frontman, but he was not be able to join the group for a few months. Alexx Stahl of Purple Rising and Roxxcalibur agreed to be a temporary singer to fulfill the band's commitments until Bormann's arrival. During that time the group agreed that Stahl put a lot of effort in to the performances, so it was agreed all around that he would become the full-time lead vocalist.

2022 - German rockers Bonfire consisting of lead vocalist Alexx Stahl, lead guitarists Hans Ziller and Frank Pané, bassist Ronnie Parkes and drummer Fabio Alessandrini have unveiled a video for their new single “Freedom Is My Belief” from their upcoming album Point Blank MMXXIII.

Band members:

Current members

Hans Ziller – lead and rhythm guitars, talkbox, backing vocals (1972–1989, 1996–present)
Frank Pané – rhythm and lead guitars, backing vocals (2015–present)
Ronnie Parkes – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
Alexx Stahl – lead vocals (2016–present)
Fabio Alessandrini – drums, percussion (2022–present)

Charade

* Michael Bormann - lead vocals, acoustic guitar (1997–present)
* Angel Schleifer - lead guitar, keyboards, programming (1997–present)

Former Members of Bonfire / Cacumen

* Karl Ziller - guitars (1972–1980)
* Hanns Schmidt-Theißen - keyboards (circa 1977-1980)
* Hans Hauptmann - bass (circa 1972-1982)
* Hans Forstner - drums (circa 1972-1986)
* Robert Prskalowicz - bass (1982–1986)
* Horst Maier-Thorn - lead guitars, rhythm guitars, backing vocals (circa 1972-1988)
* Michael Bormann - lead vocals, acoustic guitar (1993–1994)
* Angel Schleifer - lead guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals (1988–1994)
* Joerg Deisinger - bass, backing vocals, mouth drums (1986–1994)
* Edgar Patrik - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1987–1994)
* Chris Lausmann - rhythm guitar, lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1992–2002)
* Jürgen Wiehler - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1997–2009)

Bonfire's official website

Fantasy
Bonfire Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I close my eyes and I see your face
But you're not there
Like a vision
It haunts me everywhere

Every night I'm on a journey
Cold sweat in my hair
I'm going crazy

And I'm deep down in despair

I fancy nights - I'm lost in passion
I just can't wait
It's right before me
But it fades just when I wake

[Chorus]
Don't you know - I'm falling
I'm hiding in my fantasy
You know - I'm calling
But you just slip away from me
Won't you please come back again

I still hear the words like magic
Calling out your name
My search for you
Is drivin' me insane

What does it take - what can I do
Who's telling me
I want you back in my arms
Set me free

[Chorus]

I can't remember what went on in my head
Why did this happen to me - to be
Wait for an answer that I never will get
'Cause it's just my fantasy

[Chorus]

Overall Meaning

In the song "Fantasy" by Bonfire, the singer is haunted by the memory of someone who is no longer present in their life. It is clear that this person had a strong impact on the singer and they are struggling to come to terms with their absence. The lyrics "I close my eyes and I see your face, but you're not there, like a vision, it haunts me everywhere" imply that the memories of this person are so vivid that they almost feel tangible, and the singer cannot escape them. The journey the singer refers to is likely a metaphor for the mental and emotional turmoil they experience as they come to grips with their loss. The singer is desperate for this person to return, but it seems they have slipped away, and their return seems unlikely.

The chorus, "Don't you know - I'm falling, I'm hiding in my fantasy, you know - I'm calling, but you just slip away from me, won't you please come back again" highlights the singer's desperation for the return of the person who has left them. The lyrics suggest that the singer is losing touch with reality and is hiding in their fantasy to cope with the pain of their loss. This could be viewed as a form of escapism where the singer is avoiding dealing with their emotions in a constructive way. The line "you just slip away from me" is especially poignant, as it highlights the unexpected nature of the person's departure, leaving the singer feeling helpless and unable to hold onto them.

Line by Line Meaning

I close my eyes and I see your face
Even when I am not with you, I still see or visualize you in my mind's eye.

But you're not there
Despite imagining your presence, it is purely imaginary, and you are not physically present.

Like a vision
The image of your face lingers in my thoughts like a vivid dream that sticks with me after waking up.

It haunts me everywhere
Thoughts of you are persistent, intrusive, and uninvited, and come to me at any time or location.

Every night I'm on a journey
In my dreams, I travel to a different place or time where I can be closer to you.

Cold sweat in my hair
These dreams and thoughts sometimes cause fear, discomfort and anxiety that feels so intense it is almost tangible.

I'm going crazy
The intensity of my emotions and my desire for you are driving me to the brink of mental instability.

And I'm deep down in despair
Although I am passionate about you, I am consumed with hopelessness because I cannot have you.

I fancy nights - I'm lost in passion
I look forward to nights, as they are the only time I can let my passion for you take over and lose myself in it.

I just can't wait
The desire to be with you is so strong that waiting to fulfill the fantasy feels unbearable.

It's right before me
When I imagine being with you, it feels so real and present, as if it is actually happening.

But it fades just when I wake
My fantasy immediately disappears upon waking up and realizing it was nothing but a dream.

Don't you know - I'm falling
I am helplessly and irreversibly falling in love with you.

I'm hiding in my fantasy
I find refuge from the pain of reality by escaping into my own invented world of desire where I can be with you.

You know - I'm calling
Even though you may be unaware of it, I am actively and desperately trying to reach out to you.

But you just slip away from me
Despite my efforts, you continue to elude me, and your love remains out of reach.

Won't you please come back again
I beseech you to return to me and give me a chance to prove my love for you.

I still hear the words like magic
The sound of your voice is so captivating that it feels almost like a spell has been cast on me.

Calling out your name
I am constantly yearning for you, always seeking your presence and waiting for an opportunity to be near you.

My search for you
I am actively and relentlessly trying to locate you, both literally and figuratively.

Is drivin' me insane
The all-consuming nature of my quest for you is putting a significant strain on my mental and emotional health.

What does it take - what can I do
I am at a loss as to what I can possibly do to win you over or make you notice me.

Who's telling me
I am left to wonder if anyone else understands my situation and can offer me advice or support.

I want you back in my arms
The only thing that can bring me peace and happiness is the thought of holding you in my arms once again.

Set me free
I am hoping that by telling you my true feelings and desires, I can release myself from the burden of my obsession and find true liberation.

I can't remember what went on in my head
The intensity and confusion of my emotions have left me feeling disoriented and dazed, unable to clearly recall my own thoughts.

Why did this happen to me - to be
I am struggling to understand why I have fallen so hard for you, why you are the one person who can complete me.

Wait for an answer that I never will get
Despite my questions and doubts, I recognize that there may never be a satisfactory explanation for the cravings of the human heart.

'Cause it's just my fantasy
I must accept that my deep love and longing for you may be nothing more than a product of my own imagination and may never be realized.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: CLAUS LESSMANN, HORST MAIER-THORN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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