Knights of Unicron (band)

The Knights of Unicron are a rock band from their own special little continuity.

"Rock 'n' roll angels bring thy hard rock hallelujah."

Are you ready to rock!? No? Well, too bad!!

The Knights of Unicron (formerly Bumblebee and the Hive) are Cybertron's most legendary bot 'n roll band, shredding the faces off headbangers from one side of the galaxy to the other. They've got amps that go to 11 and armadillos in their trousers; there ain't nothin' gonna derail this crazy train!

Except for petty infighting. Yeah, that sure did it.

Though a mutual love of hot licks and cheap tricks brought them together, bickering and "creative differences" tore them apart. By the 1990s, the Knights of Unicron were no more and the landscape of bot 'n roll would never be the same.

Until 2014, when they got back together. These things work in cycles.

Core members:

• Optimus Prime (lead vocals)
• Soundwave (back-up vocals)
• Megatron (guitar)
• Smooth Jazz (keytar)

Instrument members:

• Laserbeak (guitar)
• Ratbat (keytar)

Former members:

• Bumblebee (lead vocals, Bumblebee and the Hive era)

Other members:

• Starscream (manager)
• Vehicons (roadies)
• Arcee (Yoko Ono)

Behind the Music

This is what hipsters on Cybertron wear.

In 1978, Bumblebee founded the bot 'n roll group Bumblebee and the Hive and they skyrocketed to the top with their song "Cybertronian Rhapsody". A year later, Bumblebee shredded his vocal processor and was forced to leave the band. A record store clerk then took his place as lead singer, taking on the stage name Optimus Prime and leading to the band's new identity as the Knights of Unicron.

For the next three years, the Knights of Unicron produced hit after hit with albums such as Look What the Bot Dragged In, Dark Side of the Matrix and Sonic Interference (with the song "Thunder Touch" tearing up the charts). Though 1982 brought another hit single, "Space Bridge Over Troubled Energon", it also brought Prime's girlfriend Arcee into the fold with her increasingly intrusive "creative influence". Her demands eventually saw Prime remove his vocals from the song "Space Eater", much to the chagrin of guitarist Megatron and band manager Starscream.

In a world of rock parodies, Optimus Prime would be Meatloaf...

In 1983, the concept album Purple Energon and its accompanying tour bombed. Prime and Arcee rolled out the Concert to Heal Iacon benefit show without the involvement of the other Knights of Unicron, creating further rifts amongst the band. The band decided to "take a break" from each other and Optimus Prime found success with his solo albums Ride the Energon and Bot Out of Chaar. They regrouped in 1984 and launched their comeback Cybertronian Democracy tour. To ease expenses, Megatron hired a troop of Vehicon roadies who became intensely loyal to him. Following tensions during their performance at Crystal City, Megatron walked out of the band, taking the Vehicons with him.

With the Knights of Unicron disbanded, the members resorted to petty rivalries: When Megatron threw a VIP concert, Optimus countered with a free benefit concert and so on. During an epic-length battle of the bands at nightclub The Forge, former Knights keytarist Smooth Jazz had his sonic circuits permanently damaged by Megatron, ending his performing career. As the years passed, Megatron amassed a huge cult following. Former Knights back-up vocalist Soundwave found success in his own way, siring pop protégés Ratbat and Rumble who hit it big as a duo. Things would crash soon after, though, as Soundwave's duo were caught in a sound-syncing scandal and Optimus Prime's new concert network "The Matrix of Music" got him embroiled in legal battles with Megatron over bootleg concert recordings. The file-sharing network Botster also threatened the profits of the former band-mates.

By 2014, each member of the Knights found success in other areas of the industry: Optimus and Megatron with their own bands, Soundwave as a snotty judge on hit show "Cybertron's Got Talent", and Smooth Jazz as producer for bands like New Bots on the Block, CyberSync and the Backstreet Bots. Through unknown means, the Knights of Unicron were able to put aside their differences and reunite for the Till All Are One tour. Even ex-member Bumblebee was invited to come back and work the vocal sampler from back stage.

Beginning on planet Earth, spanning the galaxy and ending on planet Cybertron, the tour would be the biggest in the band's history...

2014 Till All Are One touring locations

Optimus the Patriot.

According to the back of the official 2014 Till All Are One tour T-shirt, the Knights of Unicron visited the following venues:

• Mt. St. Hilary Amphitheater - Planet Earth
• Autobot City Metroplex - Planet Earth
• Ft. Max Forum - Planet Earth
• The Cobra Terrordrome - Planet Earth
• Boulder Hill - Planet Earth
• Paradron Disco - Planet Paradron
• Galactic Games Stadium - Athenia Outpost
• Trypticon Dinobase - Planet Chaar
• The Sharkticon Pit - Planet Quintessa
• The Veil of Remembrance - Autobot Mausoleum
• Sinister Tympanic Membrane - Planet Unicron
• Petro-Rabbit Cantina - Alpha IX
• Vestial Emporium - Hydrus IV
• Wreckstock - Planet of Junk
• Niter Slave Mines - Golgonath Seven
• Mumu-Obscura - Eigerson 48 System
• Baron Von Joy's - Planet Gobotron
• Zarak's Palace - Planet Nebulos
• Kranix Memorial Stadium - Planet Lithone
• Thirteenth Legion Outpost - Planet Antilla
• The Plasma Pit - Thrull
• The Snu-Snu Club - Planet Femax
• Maccadam's Old Oil House - Planet Cybertron
• Toxic Sludge Swamps - Planet Cybertron
• The Smelting Pool - Planet Cybertron
• Iacon Stadium - Planet Cybertron

Games

Transformers: Legends

Does he look like a lion or like Lion?

When the Knights of Unicron became in need of lineup changes, Megatron and Optimus Prime began to battle over which of them would be the group's frontman. Autobot Jazz, a new musician on the scene, intended to put himself up for a position in the band, and attended the audition with his friends Laserbeak and Ratbat ready to show the band their smooth grooves. Outcomes varied Knights of Unicron

Toys

• Knights of Unicron

The glorious Knights of Unicron set features redecoes of the Fall of Cybertron and War for Cybertron Optimus Prime, Jazz, Megatron and Soundwave toys with hair and clothing accessories to resemble a metal band. They also come with redecoes of Animated Laserbeak and Ratbat to use as instruments, because there isn't quite enough insanity in this world.

• Optimus Prime
• Megatron
• Soundwave
• Smooth Jazz

Merchandise

• Several T-shirts were available as part of the Knights of Unicron promotion... most of which didn't become available until several months after San Diego Comic-Con. The "Till All Are One" tour shirt was available at San Diego Comic Con, then later made available on We Love Fine's website. A few months later, the Optimus Prime "Bot Out of Chaar" and the "Dark Side of the Matrix" shirts were made available through Think Geek's website. The art for the latter two designs was created by Ninjaink. Ninjaink also provided the list of venues on the back of the "Till All Are One" tour shirt, while the front design (the Iron Maiden homage) was by an in-house artist at Hasbro.

Notes

• The Knights of Unicron are a tricky beast to define, continuity-wise. Much of their backstory draws from the Aligned continuity family and its Binder of Revelation, with Orion Pax the clerk, Megatron commanding Vehicons and Bumblebee losing his voice. Meanwhile, there's an obvious eighties influence on the whole thing, with the year 1984 and numerous other Generation 1 references found throughout the supporting material.

External links

• Behind The Music: The Volatile History of 'The Knights of Unicron', Cybertron's Greatest Band