William_the_Bloody

[QUOTE=Unknown Soldier;1405174][CENTER][B][SIZE="3"]14. Van Halen [I]


This video is a good reminder as to why David Lee Roth is one of the greatest frontmen of all time. Sammy Hagar could only dream of having that much charisma and stage presence.

Looking forward to your top ten. 1980 was a good year for hard rock and metal.

Unknown Soldier

Of course and it will be much higher up on the list (at least in the top 5)

In Sammy Hagar they got a very different type of replacement, they knew they couldn't replace DLR so they went for Sammy Hagar and got a very consistent frontman instead of a charismatic one. Pity about DLR's furry white boots though

One of the greatest ever and most important for the genre.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

William_the_Bloody

Hey I like those furry white boots!!! DLR was larger than life, it suits him, lol

Anyhow I've got your top 5 worked out, I imagine not in the order I like, but I'll keep things zipped.

Unknown Soldier

Thanks because I haven't, maybe you'd be kind enough to PM me with the list, as you know it before me

__________________
Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

William_the_Bloody

Lol, if I PM you do I get to have the bands listed in the order I want. Actually if you put Maiden's debut in the top 5 then my math doesn't add up, but I don't want to throw you any spoilers... so I'm keeping your top 5 secret.

Unknown Soldier

Try it and find out.

__________________
Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Album
Def Leppard were just one of the many NWOBHM bands around at the time of its inception and much like Iron Maiden they were a band destined to get everything right from the word go. They would soon seize their opportunity to become a leading light of the NWOBHM movement, before then finally going onto to world-wide fame in just a few short years! For many a year I often overlooked Def’s debut in favour of their harder edged second album High ‘n’ Dry, but since re-listening for the 1980 list, their debut album On Through the Night has become one of my most beloved albums from the NWOBHM era and it really pains me that this album misses out on a treasured ‘Top 10’ slot due to the amazing competition out there, because On Through the Night is a great album that would easily make a top 10 in another year. Def Leppard need little introduction and from the word go they had a solid line-up (after a rocky start) in Joe Elliot-Vocals, Steve Clark-Guitar, Pete Willis-Guitar, Rick Savage-Bass and Rick Allen-Drums, and the good fortune to have producer Tom ’Colonel’ Allom who had previously worked as a sound engineer with Black Sabbath and would of course go onto work famously with Judas Priest for much of the 1980s. But before Tom Allom had produced their debut set, just a year earlier Def had reelased their 3-track E.P the simply titled The Def Leppard E.P. often referred to as Getcha Rocks Off after its best known track and this laid down the core sound of the band. As said several times already, a huge number of NWOBHM bands actually treasured melody over muscle and Def Leppard were prime proponents of this approach especially in their early days. So what makes the Def Leppard debut a very good album and also helped changed my mind on it? Firstly it reminds me of the Stray debut amost a decade earlier, in that it shows the pure adolescent desire of a band that totally knew the sound that they were looking for. Secondly they displayed their talent by incorporating all the bands that inspired them and these covered a vast array of bands from hard rock to glam rock and they did what every good band does, and that was to incorporate these influences into their own distinctive sound, rather than just making a blatant copy. Thirdly the band had that unique and nostalgic feel to their own brand of metal which from the word go was unmistakably Def Leppard! By the time of their next album though, producer Tom Allom would be gone and the renowned John Robert “Mutt” Lange would be their next producer and as they say the rest is history.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Can you heal the scars on me?

Overview
With his famous Gibson Flying V futuristic guitar and his rock star antics to match, Michael Schenker aka Mad Michael was one of the most iconic and best guitar shredders of the 1970s and he had come to worldwide attention as guitarist of the mighty UFO several years earlier. But since his departure from UFO, it had been something of a rocky road for the awesomely talented if somewhat unstable German guitarist, as his brief return to his former band the Scorpions had shown. On his return to the Scorpions he had played on the classic Lovedrive album (see review) but this had been a short lived affair, largely due to his inability to perform on stage because of both fatigue and alcohol problems. He had also auditioned for the plum roles as guitarist in the Rolling Stones and then in Aerosmith to replace Joe Perry, who had walked out on the band in 1979 but on both occasions it was no dice. He had famously walked out in the Aerosmith audition after producer Gary Lyons had made several jokes about Nazis. Luckily though his misfortune to miss out on positions in these bands, would be to the greater benefit of the metal community as a whole, as Michael Schenker would put together one of the first and certainly one of the best guitar-orientated metal outfits to be led by a guitarist (many years earlier the multi-genre Jeff Beck had started the trend for guitarists and then it was later perfected by Ritchie Blackmore with Rainbow) Further future examples of this would soon see the likes of Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai and even a young Randy Rhoads who despite working under Ozzy Osbourne all being lauded as such. Despite being called the Michael Schenker Group, the whole project would unsurprisingly be a vehicle for Michael Schenker himself and it was only vocalist Gary Barden that would officially be the only other band member. Vocalist Gary Barden was something of a surprise choice to front Michael Schenker’s new project, because he was largely of unknown quantity within hard rock and heavy metal circles, but had managed to impress Michael Schenker with a demo. He was certainly an interesting choice as vocalists went as well, as he lacked the five star vocal ability of both Phil Mogg and Klaus Meine, two of the best in the business and Michael Schenker had worked with both of them. But what Gary Barden did have, was a gruffer vocal range than the previous two vocalists and this added a certain amount of hard rock appeal to the vocal stance of the album. Gary Barden like Dio with Ritchie Blackmore in Rainbow, would co-write nearly all the album’s material with Michael Schenker, showing his importance initially in the Michael Schenker Group. Michael Schenker’s reputation as a musician would enable him to gather some of the best session men in the business to augment his band, in jazz bassist Mo Foster, keyboardist Don Airey who had recently played on Rainbow’s Difficult to Cure and one of my favourite drummers in Simon Phillips who had done a superb job a few years earlier on Judas Priest’s Sin After Sin and familiarity would also be the key word when it came to the album producer and that was Roger Glover.

Verdict
In the 1970s self-worship was very much a way of life for some of the biggest rock stars in the world, which was hardly surprising as they stirred a God-like reverence in most rock fans, but this reverence wasn’t just reserved for the lead vocalists of the world’s most famous rock bands, because in some cases guitar legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore to name just a few were held in equal esteem. In fact Ritchie Blackmore was probably the perfect example of a guitarist extraodinaire, who was capable of dictating every aspect within his own band, right down to the hiring and firing of its band members. The more turbulent Michael Schenker would certainly continue this trend within his own band and he certainly fitted the bill when it came to guitar divas having everything revolve around them. This can be exemplified on album tracks such as the second track “Cry for the Nations” which finally gives over to Schenker completely, his guitar then animates the slow and plodding “Victim of Illusion” then there is the neat neo-classical “Bijou Pleasurette” which was unsurprisingly written by Schenker himself and also there is his stunning b-side opener the instrumental “Into the Arena” and finally the showpiece album closer "Lost Horizons" which sees Schenker at his very best. Amongst the melodramatics of Michael Schenker's guitar though, is understated vocalist Gary Barden and his gruff approach which are best heard on the storming album opener “Armed and Ready” one of the best known tracks from the album and he then gives us greater clarity much later on in the album, where he just sounds so good on the later album pair “Looking Out From Nowhere” and “Tales of Mystery” and then finally on the album’s showpiece track “Lost Horizons”. As an album the b-side is where this album’s truly at and it’s where it gains all its plaudits in my opinion, as the tracks tend to be more focused and demonstrate less unpredictable tinkering by Michael Schenker. This is largely because the songs are more focused around vocalist Gary Barden (as they should be) which is in contrast to the a-side of the album, which was guilty of being more of a vehicle for Michael Schenker’s guitar work and his overall tinkerings. It’s on the first side of the album where the album does lose points and where its more offbeat moments can be found, such as the strange desire to include a calypso beat on the opening of “Cry for the Nations” which once past that brief intro is actually a very good song. This debut album has flashes of neo-classical material that neatly fills the gap in-between what Ritchie Blackmore had done with Rainbow and what would soon happen in the early part of the 1980s concerning neo-classical metal as a whole. This album and the following MSG are usually regarded as Michael Schenker’s best work, before he started being one of those guitar divas that hired and fired on a whim.

Gary Barden- Vocals
Michael Schenker- Guitar
Mo Foster- Bass
Don Airey- Keyboards
Simon Phillips- Drums

Production- Roger Glover

__________________
Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
Formed in Barnsley South Yorkshire several years earlier, Saxon would quickly emerge as one of the leaders and principal highlights of the NWOBHM explosion that occurred in 1980. This wave of fortune was largely due to the truckload of heavy metal anthems, that the band seemed to have in abundance throughout the pivotal metal years of 1980 and 1981. In fact this creative explosion by a metal band in just two short years, has hardly been equalled since by another metal band and given the enduring quality that this material still has, it was certainly an oustanding feat by the band. Saxon though as a band, hadn’t really started that much on a high, as their debut album the simply titled Saxon and produced by ex-Argent vocalist John Verity had been a well below-par effort, which like a number of debuts from this period, was largely an un-focused set which revolved too much around what had inspired the band and would fall well short of what the band were truly capable of achieving, also the simple image of a saxon on the album cover didn’t help much either! Before choosing the name Saxon, the band had started their career back in 1976 under the name of Son of a Bitch and they were obviously listening to too much Nazareth here. But by the time of their debut album they had their principal line-up in place of Biff Byford-Vocals, Graham Oliver-Guitar, Paul Quinn-Guitar, Steve Dawson-Bass and Pete Gill-Drums, and they spent some of their time touring as support to the likes of both Motorhead and Nazareth. Saxon also initially suffered like many other fellow heavy metal bands in securing a record deal, but finally landed one surprisingly with French label Carrere to record their debut album and then onto their following breakthrough albums Wheels of Steel and Strong Arm of the Law (all quite ironic really how something so obviously British had to go French in order to get a break) By the time of their second album Wheels of Steel, the band had sensibly obtained a quality producer in Pete Hinton, who was aware of how to produce the metal anthems that the band had written, along with being able to cope with the energetic speed thrust of the band. Saxon were also quick to realise that not only were album covers vital to a new metal band’s success, but also having an image that fans could identify with. Iron Maiden of course would have ‘Eddie the Head’ and Saxon would have a great eagle that would be known as ‘Biff’s Budgie’. Saxon as a band symbolized everything that would be associated with the NWOBHM both aesthetically and musically. Aesthetically they revolved around denim, leather, booze, bikes and birds! Musically they had spiralling riffs, tight drumming, rampant vocals and a collection of heavy metal anthems and all this would be laid down on the Wheels of Steel album to stunning effect. Saxon around this time would demonstrate along with Motorhead, that they were a pivotal piece of the soon to be speed metal genre to boot as well.

Verdict
Wheels of Steel would be an album that would symbolize everything essential about the NWOBHM in 1980 and it would also have a metallic sheen to match the quality of the scorching content within. From the word go, Wheels of Steel was designed to burn rubber and that quickly becomes obvious on the album opener “Motorcycle Man” where the band quickly set the metal world alight, as they scorch their way proto-speed metal style through all four minutes of the song! Then there is virtually hardly any let-up in the pace, as the band then tackle the second track “Stand Up and Be Counted” with its killer riff reverberating throughout the track. The speed continues in earnest on the b-side of the album, with the frenzied attack of songs like “Freeway Mad” “See the Light Shining” and the strongest of the three the excellent “Street Fighting Gang” and then finally onto the album closer “Machine Gun”. The band were pretty hot as well, when it came to mid-tempo tracks that were more focused on heaviness than on speed and none came any better than the title track “Wheels of Steel” one of the band’s most famous tracks and a stellar highlight of the album. The band though were not just about irresistible testosterone powered speed and heaviness, but also about melodic metal tracks built to last like the memorable “747 (Strangers in the Night)” with its haunting ambient and the much later almost ballady “Suzie Hold On”. As for the band Wheels of Steel sees vocalist Biff Byford pretty much kicking butt throughout most of the album and the rest of the band don’t miss a beat. Wheels of Steel as an album is constantly focused around the band’s theme of bikes and cruising down freeways, and this can be heard to great effect on songs like “Motorcycle Man” “Wheels of Steel” and “Freeway Man” to name just three, and on two of those songs the band use freeway themed sound effects to their advantage. Despite the high praise I’ve heaped upon Wheels of Steel, the thinness though of some of the band’s compositions can be exposed and these are songs which often rely on the speed and the blistering guitar work of both Graham Oliver and Paul Quinn to cover things over, as at times they can be found wanting and they don’t quite pull it off and this is evident on tracks like “Freeway Mad” and “See the Light Shining” two songs which fall short of what’s expected on a classic metal album. This slight lack of quality, would ultimately be an area that leading NWOBHM rivals such as Iron Maiden and Def Leppard would end up being more proficient in, making them more durable and most importantly able to adapt their brand of metal to a wider audience as a whole. Saxon were basically metal for true metalheads and bikers and they should’ve gone down a delight on the other side of the pond, as their music was surely designed for the American market to be played while cruisng down a freeway, but sadly for the band this never happened.

Biff Byford- Vocals
Graham Oliver- Guitar
Paul Quinn- Guitar
Steve Dawson- Bass
Pete Gill- Drums

Production- Pete Hinton/Saxon

__________________
Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
Continuing with their amazing period of creativity, Saxon’s third album which was entitled Strong Arm of the Law, came out just four months after their superb breakthrough on the previous Wheels of Steel album. Wheels of Steel had reached the lofty position of no.5 in the UK album charts that year and had also spawned two hit singles in the title track and “747 (Strangers in the Night)” so for any budding metal fan at the time, Saxon were surely the metal band to be into and this was a great time to be buying their music. The band had also toured the UK extensively and as leaders of the NWOBHM they were a popular draw at that years Monster of Rock festival and also would be a regular feature on Top of the Pops (for any non-Brits it was a very popular top 40 singles show usually on a Thursday evening and regular metal would feature on it in the early 1980s due to its popularity) in fact this was the first time I ever saw Saxon and I vaguely remember seeing them on TOTP several times back in the early 1980s! As a band they weren’t content to rest on their laurels and so before embarking on a European tour, the band decided to capitalise on their new found success by releasing their third album Strong Arm of the Law in 1980 (record labels were usually always pushing for a quick follow-up album to a band’s breakthrough one) but I guess the record label would’ve been surprised at the speed it was achieved at in this instance, which of course would be in just four short months! The album would be produced with the same production team and run at almost the same running time as the previous Wheels of Steel, and yet again the songs would be band compositions making the album a real band effort. Over the course of the year Saxon had demonstrated that hard work, a signature stripped-back sound and real enthusiasm had been vital cogs for their success in the UK and Europe (and they would soon go down a storm in Japan as well) and they were probably the most important band in terms of sheer energy for the success of the NWOBHM in 1980, because as with any movement that needs commercial appeal to survive, Saxon had put themselves through sheer hard work at the forefront of both media and public attention as far as metal was concerned. In fact by the end of 1980 Saxon were probably the biggest of all the NWOBHM bands in terms of popularity, even more so than their fellow leaders Iron Maiden and Def Leppard, and this was largely on the strength of having two superb commercial metal albums sitting comfortably behind them and touring virtually non-stop. Just a few years later the band’s template would be used as one of the inspirations behind the Spinal Tap film which of course was a parody of a British heavy metal band and this in many ways presented Saxon as a negative and clichéd NWOBHM band.

Verdict
On Strong Arm of the Law the breakneck speed of the previous album is still evident, but now the theme of motorcyles has largely given over to more general metal themes. So Instead of starting this album with the sound of bike engines revving, we are now treated to the bombastic approach of the album opener “Heavy Metal Thunder” which starts as the name suggests, with errrr a burst of thunder and lightning, where the atmosphere of this song sets the scene for the rest of the album. The speed of the band is there from as early as the second track “To Hell and Back Again” and remains constant throughout the album on songs like “Taking Your Chances” “20,000 FT” and the album’s lesser track “Sixth Form Girls”. The title track “Strong Arm of the Law” and the excellent “Hungry Years” demonstrate a heavy mid-tempo approach and the latter song has a distinctly blues rock feel about it. Finally there is the politically fired “Dallas 1 PM” which is something of a surprise to close the album with and the sound effects from the previous album make a brief return here, all in all these three tracks show great depth in quality from the band. Album for album Wheels of Steel tends to have greater stand out tracks, for example in its single’s material and heavy metal anthems, but in terms of songwriting Strong Arm of the Law shows a greater level of consistency, with no weak tracks in its listing either, despite the fact that it doesn’t have anything as enduring as “747 (Strangers in the Night” “Wheels of Steel” or “Suzie Hold On”. Taking this aside, I’ve always viewed Strong Arm of the Law as the stronger album for its tighter feel and greater depth, but this is a topic that most Saxon fans will debate and the debate usually focuses on the best album out of their classic trio of Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law and Denim and Leather. Again the band are super tight and Biff Byford vocals if anything can be seen to be even better on Strong Arm of the Law, for the simple reason the greater depth of the music being churned out here, gives him a better platform in which to dominate across its eight tracks. I’ve also often read on numerous reasons over the years why Saxon never quite attained the same level of success as their nearest rivals Iron Maiden or Def Leppard, and a number of these possible reasons have already been addressed and covered directly or indirectly over these album reviews. But a couple of key aspects of note here, is the fact that the band’s policy of releasing a trio of classic metal albums in such a short space of time, may not have been the best idea for the band’s longevity. Also the band’s priority markets of Britain and Europe, were dominated at the the expense of the greater US market early on and this was surely their death-knell, especially if they’d hoped to become worldwide superstars. Finally anybody looking for three essential NWOBHM albums could do far worse than the trio of killer albums put out by Saxon between 1980 and 1981, because basically what you heard with Saxon is what you got and that was honest metal built to last and one listen was normally enough to get you hooked or perhaps not.

__________________
Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History