Influenced by such artists as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, the group combined eastern themes, mysticism and vivid psychedelia with acid rock.
After deciding the time was ready for the band to record and release a full-length studio album, they sent their demos to labels that published music sung in English in Finland.
[1] Walli started looking for a new drummer, and after a month of searching, heard of a promising young talent, Sami Kuoppamäki, who was studying in Los Angeles Musicians Institute.
The recording was finished, but One Inch Rock decided that they did not want to release the album after all, instead opting to give the distribution rights to EMI Finland.
Their debut album consisted mainly of psychedelic hard rock along with a cover of Jimi Hendrix' song "Fire", which gained the group some popularity among the Finnish radio stations.
The recordings went smoothly and were finished in a few weeks and the release gig was held 29 January 1993 at Tavastia, followed by a 13 date Finnish tour.
After playing at many major music festivals in Finland in the summer of 1993, Walli was desperate for the band to gain international success.
Inspired by the Bock saga, Walli wrote and rewrote new songs for their upcoming album, which was to be called III – Tri-Logy.
[1] The album was different in style and tone compared to their two previous releases as it included more hard rock sounds, at times combined with dub reggae, techno, and synthesizers arranged by Kimmo Kajasto (from Koneveljet and Rinneradio).
The last song on the album, "The Real Thing", runs for 18 minutes and again features Sakari Kukko on saxophone, along with ambient synthesizer pads played by Kimmo Kajasto.
Walli left for India and shortly after his return to Finland, on 28 June 1995, jumped to his death from the tower of Töölö Church in central Helsinki.
Walli had lost his faith in Ior Bock's mythologies and felt ashamed for basing the band's third album on what he now perceived as deceptions.
The cult following status of Kingston Wall has also gained them a steadily growing fan base around the world, mostly thanks to the Internet.
Kingston Wall has influenced many Finnish rock groups and received cover tributes from artists such as The Rasmus ("Used to Feel Before" on their single Madness) and Amorphis ("And I Hear You Call" on My Kantele EP).
In October 2018, the band announced on their Facebook page that they would be playing a gig at Tavastia Club in Helsinki to celebrate the 50th birthday of Petri Walli.
The duo will be joined onstage by Jesper Anastasiadis, Juhani Grönroos, Esa Holopainen and Mikko Von Hertzen.
[3] All the original Kingston Wall albums and singles under the Trinity label have been since sold out and are regarded collector's items.
[4] This tribute album included techno and psychedelic trance remixes of the original Kingston Wall songs, made by such Finnish artists as Accu, Squaremeat and Texas Faggott.
The albums were remixed by Robert Palomäki, who also mixed the band live and participated in the recording sessions of II and Tri-Logy.
In this book, Kimmo Aroluoma, inspired by the tribute concert tour in 2019, aims to uncover the magic of the band by tracing the guitars played by Petri walli around Finland.