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!

[kpic]

Now I know why Stryker was posting in the 'Old People' thread, that tour with Priest & Maiden together would have been 1981\1982!

I wasn't really fair in my original post regarding the band Hellion & its lead singer Ann Boleyn, I made it sound like she was just some hot female singer (I mean she was) but in reality she started her own band label (New Renaissance Records) when they couldn't get a major label deal (this at that time don't forget was in a heavy male dominated field) but vocally she was also right up there with the best of them.

Prior to seeing them live, this was one of the times I figured there was no way she could match belting out the songs live compared to what was on tape but she way exceeded that by a large margin. Its not even fair to label her 'for a woman singer' I'd put her right on top along with the other all-time outstanding singers from my live list; Eric Adams (Manowar), Bruce, Rob & King Diamond.

The only other time I was unexpectedly surprised like that was with Bobby Blitz (Overkill) another time I thought no way he could match singing live to what was on tape but was proven wrong.

[Fishpicker]

anybody remember this super group? former Black Sabbath members Ray Gillen and Eric Singer with Ozzys axe man, Jake E. Lee

[rocknrolla]

Originally Posted by 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

Alter Bridge??? go **** your self. Thats not hard rock or heavy metal, bubble gum bullshit!

[InChiefsHeaven]

Originally Posted by AdolfOliverBush

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).

What kills me is, I honestly feel like the vocals could be sung by a really talented vocalist for most of this stuff and it would make it better. Cannibal Corpse is a great example of "What the **** is he grumbling about?"

I hate that shit. There's a place for emotion and screaming, but when it's all garbled shit, it's...well...shit.

[InChiefsHeaven]

Originally Posted by AdolfOliverBush

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).

What kills me is, I honestly feel like the vocals could be sung by a really talented vocalist for most of this stuff and it would make it better. Cannibal Corpse is a great example of "What the **** is he grumbling about?"

I hate that shit. There's a place for emotion and screaming, but when it's all garbled shit, it's...well...shit.

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by InChiefsHeaven

What kills me is, I honestly feel like the vocals could be sung by a really talented vocalist for most of this stuff and it would make it better. Cannibal Corpse is a great example of "What the **** is he grumbling about?"

I hate that shit. There's a place for emotion and screaming, but when it's all garbled shit, it's...well...shit.

I can understand different tastes in vocal styles but the bands name is Cannibal Corpse.

Are you really expecting a song called Stripped, Raped and Strangled to be sang with a Meat Loaf vocal style?

Think of death metal vocals as an additional instrument. Nobody gives a single **** about the lyrics.

[AdolfOliverBush]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

I can understand different tastes in vocal styles but the bands name is Cannibal Corpse.

Are you really expecting a song called Stripped, Raped and Strangled to be sang with a Meat Loaf vocal style?

Think of death metal vocals as an additional instrument. Nobody gives a single **** about the lyrics.

"Don't touch that radio dial! Up next is 'I cum blood' by Michael Bublé."

[InChiefsHeaven]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

I can understand different tastes in vocal styles but the bands name is Cannibal Corpse.

Are you really expecting a song called Stripped, Raped and Strangled to be sang with a Meat Loaf vocal style?

Think of death metal vocals as an additional instrument. Nobody gives a single **** about the lyrics.

Indeed. I mean, how could they?

Thing is, I'm a vocalist, and so I pay very close attention to and give heavy weight to a band's vocals. It baffles me that you could have a band full of really damn good musicians only to have it ruined by the same flat, phlegmy growling vocals...I mean seriously, it does take some work to do that shit to your voice, but I'd hardly call it singing...

/old man Maiden fan out...

[lawrenceRaider]

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by AdolfOliverBush

"Don't touch that radio dial! Up next is 'I cum blood' by Michael Bublé."

The falsetto after the guitar solo in “****ed, Stabbed, and Eaten” moved me to tears

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by InChiefsHeaven

Indeed. I mean, how could they?

Thing is, I'm a vocalist, and so I pay very close attention to and give heavy weight to a band's vocals. It baffles me that you could have a band full of really damn good musicians only to have it ruined by the same flat, phlegmy growling vocals...I mean seriously, it does take some work to do that shit to your voice, but I'd hardly call it singing...

/old man Maiden fan out...

You need to give extreme metal more of a chance, man. It might shock you to know that a lot of those growlers and squealers can actually SING. Some of the best hardcore and extreme bands have VERY versatile singers, which creates a sort of tension in the songwriting that can be really emotionally impactful.

[Buddy Rich]

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider

Dear God almighty, that's so terrible. It's like bad 80's Heart with more tattoos.

[htismaqe]

Most of the metalheads here know I'm a massive stoner/doom fan.

My absolute favorite bands are Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Dio.

After that, it's stuff like Kyuss/QOTSA, Orange Goblin, Mastodon, The Sword, and High on Fire that gets me going. I love Motorhead. I love Ozzy's solo stuff. I also like a bit of metalcore/deathcore - bands like Phinehas and Impending Doom.

As far as controversial or disputable takes:

Megadeth > Metallica
Sabbath Dio > Sabbath Ozzy

[alpha_omega]

Originally Posted by Fishpicker

....anybody remember this super group? former Black Sabbath members Ray Gillen and Eric Singer with Ozzys axe man, Jake E. Lee

Absolutely. Solid hard rock.
Still in semi-regular rotation here.

[htismaqe]

Jake E. Lee is way underrated IMO. His work with Ozzy is brilliant and he's done some great stuff recently as well. Too bad so much of his career was consumed by the fallout from Sharon being a raging bitch.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Stryker

Judas Priest - Point of Entry

An often-overlooked but legit great album.