Unknown Soldier

Despite not really being an AC/DC fan I had still planned to put it in the top spot here, but then I had a final listen of Highway to Hell and the album that was in second spot and found I definitely thought the other album to be even better. BTW it's not Judas Priest as they had no studio release in 1979 and no chance with Floyd as I have kept prog by and large out of the listings.

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Metal Wars

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Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

William_the_Bloody

Hmmm, your right about the Priest I keep getting a release date mixed up.

I don't want to spoil your number 1, so I have three guesses, one from the UK, one from the USA and one from Germany. Two of the bands have the letter Z in their names.

The Batlord

I'm pretty sure Priest didn't have an album in '79. Their next was British Steel which was released in 1980 I believe.

And I have no idea which would be #1 here either. I figured it would either be AC/DC or Motorhead. Just Googling I see that the Scorpions, UFO, and Triumph all had albums in '79. I'm not particularly familiar with UFO, and I've never listened to Triumph, but if he gives it to the Scorpions then I'm boycotting this thread. Iron Maiden actually released their debut EP that year, but I've never heard it so I don't know its quality, and I don't know if he's counting EPs.

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William_the_Bloody

Your right, I missed that he had already put down Hell Bent for Leather, which I always think is 79 for some reason. I can't get into Priest for some reason, not even British Steel really grabs me. It is strange because I could listen to Sabbath all day, but Priest's songs just don't seem to have... the replay value???

I hope its not The Scorpions either, but wouldn't be surprised if it is, this is a very niche metal head thread which is fine by me, throwing in punk would make things to convoluted.

He's put a lot of effort into the thread, more than I could ever be bothered to do, so I won't boycott, everyone has their own musical taste. When I did my hardcore/punk countdown it was all fun and games until I got to the top 10, than I could see everyone's nose getting out of joint, lol.

Since you threw down your guesses I mind as well give my other two. Zeppelin released their final studio album in 79, far from their best release, so I am going to with some Cheap Sunglasses. ZZ Top's Degüello is my other guest.

Unknown Soldier

Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top and Thin Lizzy are the 'Z's' Lizzy have already been featured, ZZ Top usually appear in the extras section and Zeppelin were well past their best at this stage.

I'm not including EP's and you won't be boycotting anything either!

Remember UK and US release dates sometimes differed and I've used UK release dates most of the time.

As this thread is now starting to get where a lot of people first started listening to this kind of music (early to mid 1980s) more people will therefore be more knowledgeable and critical of certain entries such as me not putting a band like AC/DC in top spot.

The criteria I've used to rate the albums has been a mixture of what I personally like, what is influential, the type of impact the album had when it was released and in the future, its originality, its consistency, the opinions both positive and negative of music critics etc but when in doubt I've gone with my gut feeling which is what I've done for the no.1 spot in 1979, as I believe the album is what this journal's all about.

You say you can't get into Priest, the album that's the killer from them is Stained Class and songs like this should put hairs on your chest.

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Metal Wars

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Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
With their previous album Taken By Force (see review) the Scorpions had gone full circle musically and in the process had released their best and most accomplished album to date. The band had also established themselves as the premier metal band from the European scene and in the process had proven themselves to be one of the tightest and best quintets around. But with superstardom now surely within their grasp, their pivotal guitar maestro Uli Roth would surprisingly pack his guitar and leave the band! Uli Roth’s decision to leave came after their previous ‘Japanese tour’ (see Tokyo Tapes review) as he didn’t much care for the overtly commercial direction that the band were now heading into. He would therefore go onto form his own band, which were the less than impressive neo-classical outfit Electric Sun (well he was your typical German peace loving hippie from the 1960s and 1970s!) His replacement came in the form of the more contemporary sounding Matthias Jabs, after the band had amazingly auditioned around 140 guitarists for the vacant slot in the band, before Matthias Jabs was finally handed the plum role. His position in the band though was far from initially secure, as original guitarist and the now famous Michael Schenker having been recently ousted at UFO, came back to the band to play on the Lovedrive recordings and in the process giving the band three guitarists around this time. After the recordings for the Lovedrive album, Michael Schenker would actually stay on and Matthias Jabs’ short tenure with the band seemed up. But then on their 1979 tour Michael Schenker’s persistent alcohol addiction found him unable to play properly on that tour and after being kicked out of UFO, was now given the boot by his former brothers in the Scorpions, which in turn now left the door open for the quick return of Matthias Jabs, he would now permanently remain with the band. There was no change though in the production department, as German producer Dieter Dierks who had just about seemingly recorded with almost every German artist in existence by 1979, would still be on board to produce his fourth album with the band and Lovedrive would surely be his finest credit to date. Also I’ve previously remarked at just how great and provocative the Scorpions’ album covers usually were and Lovedrive is no exception to that rule, as it perfectly captures the euro decadence of the of the well-to-do in the back of a chauffeur driven vehicle and with some gum added in for good measure, making the album as good as it looks!

Klaus Meine- Vocals
Matthias Jabs- Guitar
Rudolf Schenker- Rhythm
Francis Buchholz- Bass
Hermann Rarebell- Drums

Production- Dieter Dierks

Album
Loving You Sunday Morning- With its almost trademark sluggish opening riff, the song is a monster rocker and a vital component in the Scorpions cannon, all in all the song is simply 5 plus minutes of pure rock bliss and Matthias Jabs doesn’t miss a note! Another Piece of Meat- The heaviness remains here, but we now have a major change in song tempo and it’s one of the fastest songs that the band ever put out, where the band perfectly capture the pure energy from the metallic feel of the track and the track itself is simply blistering in intensity! Always Somewhere- The album’s principal ballad and the perfect example of the Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine writing partnership that would start to flower here and provide the backbone for the band over the ensuing years. Coast to Coast- Just when you think things can’t get any better, the band gives us their fourth killer track on the album in this pounding mother of an instrumental track and a song that is still an instrumental staple of their concerts. Can’t Get Enough- A return to the speed of “Another Piece of Meat” here and a song that probably would’ve worked better further down on the b-side, due to its largely later album style vibe. Is There Anybody There?- With its almost reggae style beat, the song comes across as a nice variation on the album and it earns its merits with its catchy chorus and a surprising highlight. Lovedrive- The title track delivers where it matters and combines the metal and melody of the band in perfect unison, on one of the band’s best known tracks and some essential guitar work. Holiday- Much like UFO before them, the band hit us with this slow burning ballad style closer of a track and it’s usually regarded as another band essential.

Verdict
By the time of Lovedrive the Scorpions had already trawled through five studio albums and had gone full circle musically, and now saw that a change was needed. Their earlier albums had largely played ball to the band’s own self-indulgences and had robbed them of a somewhat early lead in the music stakes, but over a series of albums they had slowly corrected this fault. The next step in their process came with the borrowing of Michael Schenker and the arrival of a more commercially dedicated guitarist in Matthias Jabs. So by the time of Lovedrive the band had completely refocused on the type of album that they wanted to put out and Matthias Jabs’ arrival would cement this focus a la Eddie Van Halen. The focus would be on putting out a metal album with a strong commercial angle, but without sacrificing the essential heaviness of the album. Lovedrive captures this to perfection and is littered with heavy stunners like the album opener “Loving You Sunday Morning” where the song comes across like a wild beast that’s luckily been kept on its chain. Then there is the all out pounding speed metal of “Another Piece of Meat” another album essential, where the band perfectly harness everything that is great about metal in a simply blistering fashion. This song is later mirrored by the b-side opener “Can’t Get Enough” which despite not being as accomplished as the previous song, still has its killer moments. The heaviness then continues on the instrumental “Coast to Coast” which actually sounds like an early version of what would become “Rock You Like a Hurricane” a few years later. The title track “Lovedrive” perfectly captures the commercial metal spirit of the album as a whole and sums up the true direction of the band. Then there is the beauty of the ballad “Always Somewhere” and it’s the type of ballad that the Scorpions would replicate to even greater commercial success in the 1980s, but the hidden surprise of the album comes in the reggae inspired “Is There Anybody There?” a true delight. Despite the musical variation on offer here, steady balladry though remains the key for the band and that returns on the nostalgic album closer “Holiday”. Lovedrive is quite simply a rollarcoaster of an album that lets everything in the Scorpions’ locker hang out and that includes the melancholic vocals of Klaus Meine, stunning guitar licks by Jabs and the Schenkers, the blending of powerful rock that is spliced with epic balladry and then all wrapped up in a metal coating! If I had to say just how good and inspirational Lovedrive as an album actually is, I’d pit it as one of the best albums that I’ve reviewed on here to date, because in just 37 glorious minutes the band don’t miss a heartbeat and deliver their masterpiece.

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Metal Wars

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Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Also Check This Out........
This is an extra album from the same year that I've chosen, that either just missed the final cut, I think could be of interest, or even from a different genre that could be of interest or influence on the hard rock/heavy metal genre.


Despite its harsh criticism from some quarters, I’ve always seen Kiss’ Dynasty as an interesting mix of pop inspired tunes and an album that marked the biggest change yet from the band’s early roots, as its polish was now a million miles away from those early hard rock albums right back in 1974 and 1975! To undergo this transition the band had producer and songwriter Vini Poncia on board, who had previously worked with Ringo Starr and had written some highly commercial sounding material for other artists. He was known to Kiss of course after having previously produced Peter Criss’ solo album (not exactly a great advert) and talking of Peter Criss, this would also be the last album with the original line-up of the band fully intact, as after a recent car accident Peter Criss missed large chunks of the album and session drummer Anton Fig was brought in for Peter Criss and he would stay with the band until Peter Criss officially left Kiss in 1980. Dynasty was a much maligned album for the band due to its elements of disco and pop rock, as longtime fans saw the album as a drastic change from the sound that they were used to and I guess on hearing Paul Stanley’s disco-inspired “I Was Made for Lovin You” was probably just too much for some of them, despite the fact that it’s one of the best songs on the album. Talking of Paul Stanley his other two tracks “Sure Know Something” and “Magic Touch” were amongst the strongest as well, as was Peter Criss’ very J.Geils Band sounding “Dirty Livin’”. Yet again the Ace Frehley penned tracks “Hard Times” “Save Your Love” and a cover of the Rolling Stones “2,000 Man” are as good as expected. The worst track is surely the embarrassing Gene Simmons’ “Charisma” but luckily he makes up for it with “X-Ray Eyes”. Commercially the album was huge, which inspired the band to embark on their biggest and most expensive tour to date which despite it’s initial success, finally saw audiences falling away by the bucketload most notably in the USA, which of course was the band’s biggest and most lucarative market.

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Metal Wars

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Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Albums that missed the cut.........
Other good albums worth checking out that were also released in 1976, but weren't quite good enough to make the top 10 and are listed below in no set order, so the best of the rest:

Riot
Narita 1979

Not as strong as their debut album but there’s still plenty of good stuff here, along with Mark Reale’s razor sharp guitarwork, a pity about the album cover though! Probably the best of all the albums here and just missed being selected for the 'Top 10'.

Samson
Survivors 1979

Some strong songs at its front end but overall the album’s the home made production does let things down and Paul Samson as a lead vocalist doesn’t quite cut it either. Bruce Dickinson appears on the album cover despite not singing on the album.

Trust
L'elite 1979

A gutsy sounding Gaellic metal band that bridged the gap soundwise between the likes of AC/DC and the NWOBHM on their second album and also had close links with AC/DC at the time.

Helix
Breaking Loose 1979

Canadian heavy metal band that combined both melody and brawn to their sound, which also included prog and funk but they usually failed to explode in the right places on this their debut album.

TKO
Let it Roll 1979

Glam metal band that were Seattle based and they attracted attention from the Heart management team and they had a lead singer that sounded amazingly at times like Roger Daltrey and despite early promise failed to capitalize on this early promise.

....... and despite not particularly a good album, this has to be one of the killer album covers of all time!

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Metal Wars

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Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

As one the premier metal acts in the world it was only fitting that Judas Priest should release a live set to close the decade off and the aptly titled Unleashed in the East would be that album, and would be recorded on the band’s Hell Bent for Leather Tour at the start of 1979. Judas Priest over their several previous albums had forged out one of the most identifiable sounds in metal and reached their zenith on the killer Stained Class album with its dark overtones (see review as it’s the no.1 album of 1978) and then in the same year they had released the Killing Machine (Hell Bent for Leather) album a far more commercial effort and in the space of those two albums they had given us the complete metal package. These two albums would of course go onto influence much of 1980’s metal scene to startling effect! The bulk of the material on Unleashed in the East comes from the two previous albums Stained Class and Killing Machine (Hell Bent for Leather) along with the earlier essentials the Sad Wings of Destiny and the glorious Sin After Sin and I really can’t fault the song choices on the album either, as the essentials are here. Unleashed in the East would be the band’s biggest selling album stateside and despite its negative appraisal by critics at the time who labelled it ‘Unleashed in the Studio’ due to its heavy studio enhancement, the album still ranks among one of the best live albums to be released by a metal band from this era. Personally, I would’ve liked to have seen the record label release all fifteen tracks initially instead of the nine that they actually did, but then again streamlining was the order of the day back then when it came to live albums (just think the original release of Cheap Trick’s At Budokan as a prime example of this) and it wasn’t until 2001 that an extended Japanese version of the album was released and boosted the song count upto thirteen in total. This was a shame really, as outside a bootleg album listeners had to wait until 2001 to get a proper extended version of the concert. This was quite strange really as the Scorpions just a year earlier in 1978, had seen their Tokyo Tapes album released as a double-set in its full glory and the album served as a perfect summary of the band’s history to date, in many ways Judas Priests' record label missed the opportunity to do the same thing with Judas Priest back in 1979.

Rob Halford- Vocals
K.K Downing- Guitar
Glenn Tipton- Guitar
Ian Hill- Bass
Les Binks- Drums

Production- Judas Priest/Tom Allom
Kosei Nenkin Hall & Nakano Sun Plaza, Tokyo

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Metal Wars

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Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

The Batlord

Yeah that really pisses me off. I bought that album before I knew that and now I can't help but think about it every time I listen to it. I know they released a full version but they still only have the "original" version in stores. **** that.

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