Heavy Metal & Hard Rock thread

[kpic]

Reading the 'Old People thread' and the posts by Stryker & Dark Horse got me thinking that we need an official Heavy Metal thread (we can also add in 'Hard Rock' in here as there may be some crossing-over) - Depending on your age, I suppose some Punk cross-over would apply and though it's not really my thing, the Metal variations like Death\Black Metal and Glam if you like...

My introduction to Heavy Metal was through my older sister who took me to my first concert at some point around 1976 (Alice Cooper), I have no memory of the actual music other than being on peoples shoulders so I could watch (I would have been about 8) but I definitely remember the 'show'!

I got more into the music by 1982\1983 when I discovered Manowar, Judas Priest & Iron Maiden, thinking back I suppose that year (1982-1983) was a huge push for Metal with pivotal albums (yes I had the albums) by those bands, throw in Venom that had some wild Punk-Metal cross-over thing happening called 'Black Metal' and some 'new' sound from a band called Metallica.

Thanks to my sister and her friends I had a wide exposure to concert going, later on I had friends more around my age and more importantly driving age so we were able to hit numerous concerts.

I suppose it was helpful that we were in the central NJ area with so many venues around us...

We had NYC for a long haul if needed; L'Amour, Ritz\Studio54 & MSG (I went to CBGB but not for a concert), but Philly & NJ was our main-stay.

In Philly you had the Spectrum for the big shows, the Tower Theater for the mid-range shows\bands and then clubs like The Empire, Theater of the Living Arts (TLA) on South Street (still open!) and some others that I can't recall.

In NJ it was all clubs; the Satellite club was near us so that was our regular spot, City Gardens was in Trenton so not too far away, it was mostly a Punk club but had Metal there at times as well and though at that time there was a clear spilt from Punk to Metal music I had friends in both camps so I didn't care who I went with and who we saw (though oddly the only real Punk band I can recall seeing live was the Cro-Mags) I can't remember any of the others. The thing about City Gardens is that it was smack deep in an African-American neighborhood, the Metal crowd was a bit more subdued but when going with the Punk crowd, they were definitely more confrontational and I can remember several big fights in the parking lot with the locals, after it was over everyone would just go back to what they were doing and we'd head into the club! Oh yeah there was a club in Asbury Park as well but I can't remember what it was called.

Thinking back when I thought about writing this I went through my head thinking about the shows I've seen and yeah, it's a lot but here are some of my favorite memories;

These would be in no particular order but I suppose these first three are my favorite bands given I've seen them most often;

#1 is Manowar - I saw them for the Fighting the World tour, twice for the Kings of Metal tour and twice for the Triumph of Steel tour, but my best memory is during the KOM tour and in Philly (I think it was the Empire club), me and my friends got there early and on the billboard was 'Man-O-War', we saw a guy outside and told him about how it should just be one word and he thanks us and tells us the band is inside rehearsing why don't you just go in early and hang a bit - didn't have to tell us again - we head in and sure enough they are up on stage rehearsing and just some people milling around, afterwards it was very casual and so we went up and talked to Scott & Ross, they were way cool! Joey and Eric were doing their own thing so I never got to meet them but I was a member of their fan-club and on night Joey and Eric called me out of the blue just to say 'hey' and we talked for about 15 minutes, I told them about that story, they thought it was funny but they said they were more interested if I had any pictures of my girlfriend naked that I could mail them. So that connection there will always keep them #1 to me - As far as them being the 'loudest band in the world', yeah they definitely were in my book, I mean we're talking about 2-3 days after the concerts of just hearing a low hum. Now days when my wife when she tells me that my hearing is going bad, I just remind her how many Metal shows I've been to and five of those were Manowar, so yeah, of course it's bad!

#2 is Iron Maiden - Hearing Number of the Beast & Piece of Mind albums back to back (1982\1983), I mean they were just on another level! I saw them first for Piece of Mind tour, then again for Powerslave (this tour became the Live After Death album), Somewhere in Time, No Prayer for Dying and then there were a few co-headlining tours. These were all at the Spectum as expected for a band of their stature except for the last time I saw them in 2005 (maybe 2006?) was in Camden NJ at the Camden Waterfront.

#3 is Judas Priest - British Steel\POE was ok to me (I didn't like any of their earlier rock stuff) but Screaming for Vengeance was like a hit to the head! I wasn't able to see them on that tour but I did see them for Defenders of the Faith, Turbo (and yes I absolutely loved this album I don't care what anyone said at the time), Ram it Down & Painkiller twice + a later tour they were co-headlining with Alice Cooper. As with Maiden these were all at the Spectrum\NYC (MSG) as expected of a band their stature.

The rest of the bands I've seen & enjoyed (there are some I like and I am probably forgetting a lot I saw and not mentioning as I wasn't really there to see them but they were 'there')

Helloween, Armored Saint, Megadeth, Doro, WASP, Metal Church, King Diamond, The Mentors (uh, absolutely hilarious and totally offensive!), oh yeah GWAR too, though I remember more of the show than of the music

Motorhead - Oddly I likely have seen them a lot as they opened for a lot of the bands I listed.

Metallica - I saw them open - yes open - for Raven on the "Kill Em' All for One" tour in 1983 (I was there to see Raven LOL!) but yeah Metallica were noticeably on another level. Never saw them live again (though I did end up seeing Raven again as an opener at a later concert!), I liked RTL and MOP a lot but the next one (And Justice??) I thought lost a lot of the sound I liked on the earlier stuff.

Slayer - Saw them a few times as opener\mid-cards and though I can't say it's really my taste, I do like a few early songs, I will say the crowd was wild for them and they shred for sure!

Venom - I liked their raw cross-over sound (though probably the least talented group on this list) they were outstanding live though, saw them twice in NYC (the Ritz\Studio 54) and once again later in 1990 in Philly with the revamped band line-up.

Hellion - Regrettably I only saw them once, I suppose as they were more an LA band - but my goodness, not only did I like them musically but Ann Boleyn was a total smoke-show, I'll never forget being right up against the stage looking up at her the whole time as she's singing, that's literally the only thing I remember about that night, I was completely ga-ga over her.

A couple I never saw but really wished I had; Exciter (sad, sad face on this one, though shockingly they still tour occasionally so who knows) & Accept\UDO!

[AdolfOliverBush]

Originally Posted by InChiefsHeaven

My son is, so I've heard some stuff. I don't hate it but I don't really pursue it.

The vocals can be hard to get used to. Yelling is one thing (Slayer, Pantera), but I tend to tune out the moment I hear some guy growling like an animal, or like he's about to vomit (Cannibal Corpse).

[lawrenceRaider]

I love Melodic Death Metal.

[lawrenceRaider]

[lawrenceRaider]

Some modernish Thrash.

[lawrenceRaider]

Crazy Finnish Space Metal.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider

Gojira is probably the best "modern" metal band from a purely talent stand point. They put on an absolutely amazing show at The Cotillion recently. Their stuff runs from death metal to progressive metal. Just an amazing band. Love how they continually evolve their sound, but you know it is Gojira regardless of album/song when you hear it.

I've never been able to get into Lamb of God or Meshuggah. Both are talented bands, just something misses for me.

I saw Gojira a few years ago at a Deftones show and had heard of them but never really listened before. The show was fine but I wasn't super into it until they closed the show with The Gift of Guilt. For whatever reason, that song resonates with me, both the music and the lyrics, so much that it almost gets me emotional.

[kpic]

I was looking up what happened to a few of these places we used to go to and as I figured most are closed now or have been demolished.

The place in Asbury Park I couldn't remember was the Stone Pony and looks like that's still around. I forgot about the Trocadero in Philly (closed just a few years ago) that was a pretty good place to go and interestingly City Gardens (closed) had Jon Stewart as bartender from 1984-1987, that was right in my time-frame so he probably poured me a beer or two at some point.

[Stryker]

OK, Dark Horse look what we have done! Let's do this!

[Stryker]

Judas Priest - Painkiller



RAMMSTEIN - Armee der Tristen



STRYPER - Murder By Pride



LOUDNESS - Jealousy



QUEENSRYCHE - Take Hold of the Flame




Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark



AIRBOURNE - Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast



VOLBEAT - Shotgun Blues



RAVEN - Mind Over Metal




DIO - The Last in Line



ACCEPT - Balls to the Wall




METAL RULES THE LAND!

[GloucesterChief]

Heavy Metal and Hard Rock bands I have seen live: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Slayer, Alter Bridge, Band-Maid, Alice in Chains, Ministry, The Cult, Alice Cooper, Dream Theater, Lamb of God, Trivium, Megadeth, Epica, Sabaton, Ghost, Hatebreed

[Stryker]

My first concert was in 1977 - KISS Alive II tour. with AC/DC - Let There Be Rock - Bon Scott

Saw Iron Maiden w/ Paul Di'Anno KILLERS tour with Judas Priest - Point of Entry

Iron Maiden - Killers, Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind and Powerslave

AC/DC - For Those About to Rock w/ Back in Black - Nashville both tours together because BIB was canceled because of weather that year.

I have way too many to list because the list is long.
Def Leppard - 1983 Pyromania 1987 Hysteria

Van Halen - Van Halen II, Women and Children First, Fair Warning, Diver Down.

Krokus - Headhunter, Warrant, Skid Row, Quiet Riot - enough

[Stryker]

METALLICA - Fade to Black



PANTERA - Cowboys from Hell



MALICE - Rockin' With You



LOUDNESS - Crazy Nights

[Stryker]

Rammstein - Angst

[Stryker]

Your gonna love this..

Rammstein - Dicke Titten

[Chief Pagan]

In junior high school and high school I was listening to psychedelic and prog rock and a little bit of punk.

I ignored metal in high school and ignored pop music, although some party music was better than other.

But I started listening to metal about five years ago and have gotten into Mettallica.

Like a lot of music I listen to, it was mostly people doing covers that got me into metal. Some of which I've posted on other threads.

Metal covers of songs from back in the day.

Like I had heard this song on the radio too many times to count. But I never really thought that much about the song. Just another okay pop song. Until I put headphones on and really listen to the emotion in this version cranked up to eleven...

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