The Watch is an Italian progressive rock band from Milan, led by vocalist and principal songwriter Simone Rossetti, originally formed in 1997. Their music is inspired by classic progressive rock style of the 1970s and in particular by the music of Genesis. Melody and energy are the main aspects of The Watch music and the live dimension is one of the greatest features of the band.
History
The band was initially formed in 1997 under the name 'The Night Watch', and consisted of vocalist Simone Rossetti, guitarist Franceso Zago, bassist Antonio Mauri, keyboardist Giovanni Alessi, and drummer Diego Donadio. In this formation the band released their debut album, Twilight, before the line-up collapsed in 2000 leaving only Rossetti to continue the band under the shortened name 'The Watch'. Following the name change, Rossetti rebuilt the band with a line-up that initially consisted of himself, guitarist Ettore Salati, bassist Marco Schembri, keyboardist Gabriele Manzini, and drummer Roberto Leoni, and it is in this formation that the band released their next two albums, 2001's Ghost and 2004's Vacuum. Manzini departed following Vacuum's release and was replaced by longtime band collaborator Sergio Taglioni, who remained in the band for the fan released Live Bootleg in 2006, as well as the band's fourth studio album, 2007's Primitive, and the band's first official live album in 2008. It was at this point in 2008 that the band underwent its second major line-up change, as once again all of the members with the exception of Rossetti departed the band, with the new line-up consisting of Rossetti, drummer Marco Fabbri, guitarist Giorgio Gabriel, keyboardist Fabio Mancini, and bassist Cristiano Roversi. Further line-up changes occurred in 2009 when Mancini and Roversi departed the band and were replaced by Valerio De Vittorio and Guglielmo Mariotti respectively. It was at this point that the band once again found stability, and over the following four years would release the Planet Earth? and Timelessstudio albums, and the Green Show 2011 - Official Live Bootleg live album. In 2013 the band underwent a further line-up change when Mariotti left the band, and was replaced by Stefano Castrucci, who himself was replaced the following year by Mattia Rossetti, the son of the band's frontman Simone Rossetti. It is this line-up of the band which has produced the band's most recent studio output, in the form of 2014's Tracks from the Alps and 2017's Seven, and continues to exist to this day.
