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!

[lawrenceRaider]

There are some pretty fantastic singers in modern Powermetal. Atilla Dorn (Powerwolf) and Joakim Brodem (Sabaton) are damn good.

[AdolfOliverBush]

I'd be tempted to put Chris Cornell at #1. IMO he and Mercury are 1A and 1B. I saw CC at the Stiefel in Salina about 6 months before he died. Based on his recent music at the time, I thought his voice was starting to go downhill, but no. He sounded exactly like the 1990s Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog version of himself. Absolutely amazing.

[kpic]

Originally Posted by Stryker

Motorhead - Orgasmatron

One of my favorite Motorhead songs, and that right there is quintessential heavy metal, if anyone asks 'What is heavy metal?' put this on.

Going back a bit to some controversial takes that were brought up earlier,

- It's interesting that on here so far Megadeth getting more love than Metallica, and I completely agree. In my circles anyway that was an odd take to have back then, and I think generally the consensus was always Metallica was better but I'll just say they were likely more 'popular'. Let's put it this way, I was given the Metallica tapes I had but I bought the Megadeth tapes, I accidentally saw Metallica live before I even knew who they were, I paid to see Megadeth live 3 times.

- Maybe I never heard enough of them but never got into or liked any bit of; AC/DC, Def Leppard or Sabbath.

- Tying a bit into the above; solo Ozzy for me is way, way, way ahead of Sabbath Ozzy.

- I mentioned some of it in the OP but I never got the hate for Turbo by Priest, and it was absolutely hated at the time (I'm not saying all the songs are great on it). I figured it was just because it followed-up Defenders that caused that and maybe because the 'synth' sound to it but it's not like they didn't do POE prior to this so that overall sound they had existed before Screaming & Defenders. Maybe I'm overly-sentimental to it because I had just got my license, I had a really hot GF at the time and seeing them live for this tour - with very few exceptions I'll always take a metal band live over studio sound.

- Ok probably, maybe the most controversial take? The one that almost got me kicked-out of my metal friends circle any time this band was brought up; the first two Motley Crue albums (Too Fast & Shout) are legit headbangin' metal albums! Get past the LA looks, the LA 'sound', the lyrics\song titles & most importantly what they did afterwards (most people default to everything after these two albums) - but there are some genuine heavy hitting and good songs in there.

[Buddy Rich]

While Metallica and Megadeth went limp like rich old men, Slayer kept plowing.

Along with old Sabbath, they're the all-time kings of metal.

[Fishpicker]

i listened to this song maybe a dozen times in the 90s. then 20 years later i watched it on youtube. i remembered all the lyrics. it must be the writing, beause my memory isnt that good

[lawrenceRaider]

Tyr combines clean vocals with a heavier sound inspired by Maiden and the like.

[AdolfOliverBush]

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by InChiefsHeaven

Megadeth was my first thrash metal over Metallica. And over the years, I don't think there should be any dispute that Megadeth is superior to Metallica on just about any level...but I also love me some Metallica.

It really depends on what you "value" in your metal. Metallica is pretty straightforward anymore, it's commercial heavy rock pretty much since the Black album on. AFAIC, Master of Puppets is their pinnacle but even then, there's no comparison to Rust in Peace.

Rust in Peace is a cross-genre masterpiece - the addition of Friedman to the band took them to a whole different level musically. It's not just one of the best thrash albums or even heavy metal albums, it's one of the best rock albums ever.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

In 1988 or 1989 I saw Manowar open up for Motorhead at the Ritz.

I would agree that Manowar was the loudest band I've ever seen. Not the best band by far, but the loudest.

Louder than Motorhead?

If they were that loud, how did you even hear the music?

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by InChiefsHeaven

Yep, front to back it's pretty awesome. That was my first Megadeth album. We had a guitar player back in the day who could thrash and we did a cover of Holy Wars...I ****ing LOVED Rust in Peace.

I checked out of Metallica after the Black Album. Haven't gotten into any of the new album yet.

They're all getting old. The one that kills me the most is Maiden. Holy shit, they've become pretty unlistenable to me, though I didn't hate "The Writing on the Wall" on their latest album.

Judas Priest continues to put out good music although the absence of both Downing and Tipton is probably going to cut their time short.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Fishpicker

name the 4 singers you put on the Mt. Rushmore of Rock

Roy Orbison
Freddie Mercury
Glenn Hughes
Dio

I gotta limit it to just metal.

My big 4 would be:

Rob Halford
Dio
Ozzy
Glenn Hughes

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by kpic

One of my favorite Motorhead songs, and that right there is quintessential heavy metal, if anyone asks 'What is heavy metal?' put this on.

Going back a bit to some controversial takes that were brought up earlier,

- It's interesting that on here so far Megadeth getting more love than Metallica, and I completely agree. In my circles anyway that was an odd take to have back then, and I think generally the consensus was always Metallica was better but I'll just say they were likely more 'popular'. Let's put it this way, I was given the Metallica tapes I had but I bought the Megadeth tapes, I accidentally saw Metallica live before I even knew who they were, I paid to see Megadeth live 3 times.

- Maybe I never heard enough of them but never got into or liked any bit of; AC/DC, Def Leppard or Sabbath.

- Tying a bit into the above; solo Ozzy for me is way, way, way ahead of Sabbath Ozzy.

- I mentioned some of it in the OP but I never got the hate for Turbo by Priest, and it was absolutely hated at the time (I'm not saying all the songs are great on it). I figured it was just because it followed-up Defenders that caused that and maybe because the 'synth' sound to it but it's not like they didn't do POE prior to this so that overall sound they had existed before Screaming & Defenders. Maybe I'm overly-sentimental to it because I had just got my license, I had a really hot GF at the time and seeing them live for this tour - with very few exceptions I'll always take a metal band live over studio sound.

- Ok probably, maybe the most controversial take? The one that almost got me kicked-out of my metal friends circle any time this band was brought up; the first two Motley Crue albums (Too Fast & Shout) are legit headbangin' metal albums! Get past the LA looks, the LA 'sound', the lyrics\song titles & most importantly what they did afterwards (most people default to everything after these two albums) - but there are some genuine heavy hitting and good songs in there.

In my group of friends, Metallica was far more popular. However, I was the only person in the group that also listened to Malmsteen, Vai, Satriani, and others. I was a Friedman fan when he was in Cacophony with Jason Becker so when he joined Megadeth, I knew it was going to be for me.

Don't really like Def Leppard AT ALL. AC/DC, I much prefer the early Bon Scott stuff. Black Sabbath is my favorite ****ing band, you asshole.

In order - Dio Sabbath, Dio, Ozzy, Ozzy Sabbath. I rank Ozzy Sabbath 4th because even though the early stuff is groundbreakingly heavy, the later stuff especially post SBS just isn't. The drugs moved them is weird directions and the riffs just aren't there and they really didn't appear again until Ozzy was gone.

I don't get the hate for Turbo either. Probably just that they departed from their sound on so many of the tracks. Bands experiment. Remember Ram It Down wasn't very popular at the time either. People just didn't like the sound. But you could totally hear the evolution that ultimately led them to Painkiller, which is one of the best metal albums of all time.

Finally, Motley Crue. I absolutely LOVE the first two albums. They busted out the hair spray for TOP and it was all downhill from there. How's this for controversial?

Kickstart My Heart might be the worst metal song of all time. I said it.

[AdolfOliverBush]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Kickstart My Heart might be the worst metal song of all time. I said it.

It's bad, but is it "Seventeen" by Winger bad?

Speaking of hair metal, I used to hate it, but my appreciation for some of it has grown over the decades. I'm a little ashamed to admit it.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by AdolfOliverBush

It's bad, but is it "Seventeen" by Winger bad?

Speaking of hair metal, I used to hate it, but my appreciation for some of it has grown over the decades. I'm a little ashamed to admit it.

I don't know that it's as bad as Winger but it's played A LOT more, even still today. And people act like Dr. Feelgood is Crue at their best when I just feel like it's Crue at their WORST.

And yeah, there's some hair metal I still listen to. I love Twisted Sister but again, they were from New York and started in the mid-70's. They also spent a good amount of time in England. They were not at all part of that Sunset Strip thing but just got lumped in, kind of like Ozzy did.

I still like Stryper but honestly, it's because their new stuff over the last 8 years or so is so much better than anything they put out in the 80's. Most of the other bands from that era I can take or leave, unless there is some guitar link - I still listen to Dokken even though it's schlock rock because George Lynch is a ****ing beast.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Kickstart My Heart might be the worst metal song of all time. I said it.