CD: Beyond Glory Days by Beyond (2 CDs) HK Rock Legends/Hi Def Vinyl CDs/Book Format

The most famous band ever to come out of Hong Kong, Beyond formed in 1983 as a progressive rock group with ties to the Western post-punk movement. Persevering through initial public indifference, the band hit its stride in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as it released a string of commercial hits including "Glorious Days", a political anthem dedicated to the accomplishments of Nelson Mandela. Riding the success of these songs, Beyond went on to become the most famous band in southeast Asia, attracting a massive fan base across Japan, Taiwan, and Malaysia as well as southern China. Success for the band proved tragically short-lived. In 1993 Beyond's founder and lead singer Wong Ka-kui died from internal bleeding after an accidental fall during a television appearance in Japan. While his bandmates continued to play after his death, the loss of Wong's talents were self-evident: he had written over 90 percent of their previous material. The remaining members formally disbanded in 2005 and went on to pursue solo projects.

Beyond was a Hong Kong rock band formed in 1983. The band became prominent in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Mainland China, and Overseas Chinese communities. The band is widely considered as the most successful and influential Cantopop band from Hong Kong. In 1993, leader Wong Ka Kui, died at the age of 31 after an accident during the filming a show at Fuji Television in Tokyo. Beyond continued to perform and record after Wong Ka Kui's death. In 2005, the remaining members Paul Wong, Wong Ka Keung and Yip Sai Wing decided to pursue their own solo careers, and Beyond officially disbanded.

Early Years: In the early 1980s, lead vocalist Wong Ka Kui and drummer Yip Sai Wing started out as young musicians and both had interests in Pink Floyd's progressive rock. In 1983, they decided to join a music contest for "Guitar magazine" and they decided to form a band with lead guitarist William Tang (鄧煒謙) and bassist Lee Wing Chiu (李榮潮). Tang wished the band's name to convey a feeling of surpassing or going beyond themselves, so the name "Beyond" was chosen. However, the band name was not definite at the time. The band's musical style was still experimental. Wong Ka Kui and Tai Chi lead guitarist Joey Tang formed a temporary band called NASA Band that did art rock style of music with English pop. In 1984, Wong's younger brother Wong Ka Keung joined the band as bassist. At the time, the band consisted of Wong Ka Kui, Yip Sai Wing, Wong Ka Keung and new lead guitarist Chan Sze On (陳時安). Chan soon had to leave for a foreign country, leaving the band without a lead guitarist. In 1985 Paul Wong joined the band to replace him. In the early years, time was difficult for the band. They rented out Caritas Hong Kong for a mini concert called "Forever waiting concert" and invited people. Not a single record company showed up, and the audience was indifferent to the band. In 1986, the band rented a studio to record the album Goodbye Ideal (再見理想). Lau Chi Yuen (劉志遠) then joined Beyond as lead guitarist and keyboardist. At the time Small island, Tat Ming Pair and Beyond made a recording together. Small island was scheduled to go to a July 1986 Pan-Asian Music Festival in Taipei, and Beyond was added to the schedule. Beyond was well liked and they joined another festival that same year. They would then sign with Kinn's Music record company.

Commercial Success: In 1987, Beyond produced the second album. The album Arabian Dancing Girls (阿拉伯跳舞女郎) was one of the band's first commercial hits. They soon were in a new music underground trend along with a few number of bands, such as Tai Chi, Cocos and Raidas. Lau Chi Yuen left the band in 1988, leaving the band with four members only. In 1989, Beyond became the first Hong Kong band to perform in Beijing at the Capital Indoor Stadium. Since Beyond's songs were in Cantonese (instead of Mandarin), the performance was not well received by the audience. Before the stadium was filled, half the people had already left. However, they still considered the concert a success. Beyond started to gain popularity following the release of the hit song "Grand Land" (大地). They would soon win their first musical awards, the 1988 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation and 1989 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards. In 1990, they released one of their signature songs, "Glorious Years" (光輝歲月). The song was about racism and the struggle of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. The song was a huge hit, and had a fresh sound that stood out from the sea of love songs that dominated the Cantopop scene in Hong Kong. The song was from the band's album Party of Fate (命運派對), which sold extremely well, achieving triple platinum. In 1991, Beyond released another critically acclaimed song "Amani" from the album Hesitation (猶豫). The song was written during Beyond's trip to Tanzania. As suggested by the title, which means "peace" in Swahili, the song is about the plight of war-ravaged Africa and the yearning for world peace. Part of the song's lyrics were written in Swahili. The song is still often used by Hong Kong's human rights bands to spread the message of peace. In the same year, Beyond made their first appearance on Japan's NHK station. They immediately signed with record company Amuse. Beyond started to become a more international band, and began to focus more time in Japan and Taiwan. The album Continue the Revolution (繼續革命) achieved commercial and critical success. In May 1993, Beyond released the album Rock and Roll (樂與怒) which included the song "Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies" (海闊天空). That song would become Wong Ka Kui's last song with the band.