Unknown Soldier

Overview
After the disappointment of their previous album Animal Magnetism (it still made my 1980 list) the Scorpions were back to their very best for their eighth studio album Blackout and it would be an album which almost reached the seminal heights of 1979s Lovedrive imo one of the greatest metal albums ever recorded. The album recordings were far from straightforward as Klaus Meine lost his voice and had to undergo emergency surgery on his vocal chords, and it’s therefore amazing that he managed to quickly recover and continue on the album. Vocalist Don Dokken prior to his Dokken albums had been waiting in the wings just in case Klaus Meine hadn’t recovered and in fact had recorded some unreleased demos of the album’s tracks……interesting! This was also the first in quite some time as well, where the band shied away from their overtly sexually flavoured album covers that always tested the censors, to a far more acceptable metal album cover which features Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein on the cover in full cry from the looks of it! The album was another big seller for the band, where it reached the higher ranks of its two most important markets in the US and UK album charts where it went platinum and set the stall for their massive next release Love at First Sting. It also contained three hit singles for the band in “No One Like You” “Can’t Live Without You” and “Dynamite” with the first being one of the bands best known singles. The Scorpions were by this time very much a veteran metal band, that were covering similar metal territory to their even better known rivals Judas Priest in what could now be referred to as centric metal. Both bands had untouchable vocalists, dream guitarists and a metal that balanced itself admirably between the commercial material and the stronger stuff, as Priest would of course prove this year to startling effect on Screaming for Vengeance (further up this year’s list). Both bands would also tow the centric metal line in a period where metal would soon be polarized by its more sonic and visual extremities, which would have the decadent and pleasure seeking glam metal acts on one side and the hardcore metal extremists on the other. Finally much like Def Leppard were proving at this time, the only way to truly crack the golden nugget of the US market was to play a huge amount of shows to the widest fanbase possible and the Scorpions were doing just that and none came any bigger at this time than the San Bernardino Festival where they played in front of 375,000 fans.

Verdict
Blackout is often regarded as the band’s best album (even though I prefer both Lovedrive and Love at First Sting over it) it achieves this accolade as far as critics go, largely due to its position as being the bands most complete record in terms of encompassing all the elements that made the Scorpions such a complete metal band and laid the roots for Love at First Sting. Even though I would dispute this and say that this was done on Lovedrive and even before that in some instances as well. Blackout as an album consists of the catchy pop metal that was so en-vogue around this time, with stellar tracks like the album’s second single “Can’t Live Without You” and its even more famous lead single “No One Like You” the archetypal Scorps commercial issue, with a sound that was often reverberated throughout their commercial stuff from this period (just think Rock You Like a Hurricane) and it came with a video that was shot at the infamous Alcatraz prison. “You Give Me All I Need” comes straight after the previous two tracks and is in much the same vein, but this time Klaus Meine’s remarkable voice is employed in that ever so recognizable melancholic style of his and and finally of this style, the b-side track “Arizona” probably ranks as the happiest sounding song on the whole album. The album also contains in “When the Smoke is Going Down” the classic power ballad again so typical of 1980s heavy metal, an area where the Scorpions usually excelled. Most importantly though the band manage to keep the metal aspect of their sound intact as well, such as on the title track “Blackout” where Klaus Meine gives us one of his great vocal deliveries and in fact he sounds so pissed off here, that it’s no wonder he shot his vocal chords on the recording of this album. This vein is continued on the track “Now” and it becomes obvious that the album cover is aimed at this kind of effort being put out by the band on these two tracks. “China White” though is the heaviest beast on this album and type of sluggish heavy pounder that the band always did so well. The guitar team of Mathias Jabs and Rudolf Schenker are as dynamic as they ever were on a Scorpions album and here amongst so many stand-out performances on the album “Dynamite” probably stands out as the pick of the bunch. Overall Blackout is another great album from the Hanover metal masters, in what was their golden era as a band and this would continue onto their next release.

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

Production- Dieter Dierks

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

The Batlord

As much as I'm lukewarm toward Klaus Meine, the rest of the band is solid, even if I don't feel they have as strong a musical personality as Priest or Maiden, so I can definitely still enjoy me some Scorpions. But if Don Dokken had become their singer I would have been out the door for good. Dokken has some alright music, but the singing just has almost no energy.

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Unknown Soldier

I'd pretty much agree with that appraisal of Don Dokken as a vocalist even though I quite like him. he certainly does lack vocal energy compared to Klaus Meine, in fact he sounds like Klaus Meine without any vocal chords.

..... and also stop complaining about the Scorps and go and listen to China White as that song seriously kicks butt!

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
The Rods were sometimes seen as America’s answer to Motorhead, in that the band were a rough ‘n’ ready trio who took the punk line when it came to dishing out their bullish yet melodic and loud sound. For many a year I had never listened to this band, for the simple reason that I was never really aware that they were a heavy band. I kind of incorrectly guessed that they were a punkish band in the mould of say The Ramones (based on their name) with a sound that had been inspired by the bubblegum and proto-punk sounds of the 1950s and 1960s, so when I finally did get around to listening to them several years ago I was in for a real treat! The first album I heard was their debut release Rock Hard 1980, which was soon reorded track-wise once they’d signed up to a major label in Arista who rereleased this album under the name of The Rods in 1982 and on both occasions the album just missed my final cut for both 1980 and 1981 despite its obvious quality. The band’s second or third album (depending on your perspective) was a different affair altogether and exploded the sound of The Rods right down your stereo system. The band were a trio that consisted of guitarist/vocalist David Feinstein, a cousin amongst all things of esteemed ‘Metal God’ Dio and both had featured in the bluesy rock outfit Elf many years earlier. The other two members were drummer Carl Canedy who would later go on to produce a large number of thrash acts and bassist Joey DeMaio who would soon jump ship to Manowar, he would be replaced by Garry Bordonaro by the time of Wild Dogs. The band hailed from upstate New York and the whole state imo over the last decade or so, had proved to be the true hotbed of quality American heavy rock and metal, just think the Blue Oyster Cult, Riot, Sir Lord Baltimore, Dust, Kiss and more recently both Twisted Sister and Manowar. Wild Dogs should’ve been the band’s launch-pad to some kind of success, as the band who despite putting out such a good album, had also landed the desired support slot on Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast Tour in the UK throughout 1982. The album cover was again gharish and right on the money as the band went and I wonder if Tank copied them or they copied Tank here! because the album demonstrated a wild dog approach by the three members of the band, who kind of resurrected here the spirit of decade old bands like Blue Cheer, another band of course that had been too loud for their own good.

Verdict
The Rods were yet again another prime example of an American record label not realizing what a quality band that they had at their disposal, as yet again here were a band that were far more appreciated overseas than they were in their native USA. Their ‘American Motorhead’ label should’ve been the perfect marketing tool for the band, especially considering that it was about this time that Motorhead’s shining star as a creative force was starting to fade, but then again Arista Records was hardly the right kind of label for this band, in fact the label would soon drop them! The Rods sadly would never reach the heights of this fantastic album again and much like proto-metal hopefuls Bang, a band who a decade earlier had been called America’s answer to Black Sabbath, The Rods would quickly fade into the same kind of obscurity as a band like Bang as a commercial force and in fact only issued out a few more albums after this. They also decided not to jump on the glam metal bandwagon as so many other bands did to revive their fortunes either. They would also have that now very common comeback album many years later, as most of these old bands seem to do and that came out in 2011. As for the album musically, the album opener “Too Hot to Stop” is a rowdy AC/DC number that truly sets the tone of the album. A track like “Violation” is a mean sounding heavy pounder and “No Sweet Talk, Honey” evokes classic era Nazareth. Things are then speeded up for the mean and moody sounding title cut “Wild Dogs” and the band also do speed southern rock style of “Rockin’ ‘n’ Rollin’ Again”. The band are in sparkling form on the more melodic issues such as “Waiting for Tomorrow” where they cover rough ‘n’ ready melodic territory and do it in a more competent vein than say a band like Krokus would. Also whenever I listen to this song I always seem to hear a hint of Boston in it of all things! The superb “Burned by Love” is top drawer AOR infused hard rock that any number of AOR acts would’ve been proud to have called their own and “End of the Line” is nearly as good as well. The band pull all their juicy bits together for the great album closer “The Night Lives to Rock” a track that would soon go down a treat with the multitude of glam metal bands. The only question mark on the album, is the strange choice of using the Supremes cover “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” but that can easily be skimmed by. Musically the band were hardly groundbreaking, but whether The Rods played fast, medium, slow, melodic or downright heavy they were quite simply in their element on Wild Dogs. Wild Dogs is one of those classic albums that passed under the radar and anybody into AC/DC, Motorhead, Nazareth and Judas Priest will probably begin to salivate upon hearing it!

David Feinstein- Guitar/Vocals
Garry Bordonaro- Bass
Carl Canedy- Drums

Production- The Rods

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
If ever I’m asked to pick out my favourite speed metal album from this period, then without a doubt it has to be Anvil’s second studio album Metal on Metal. Metal on Metal would be the second album by Toronto based Anvil, after having put out their debut Hard ‘n’ Heavy the previous year. Anvil like certain other speedsters around this time and most notably from the UK with bands like Motorhead, Tank and Raven all serve as pivotal bands in the evolution of metal at the start of the 1980s and were all bands that essentially bridged stylistically the gap between the NWOBHM and the soon to burst on the scene thrash movement. As mentioned various times already, speed metal as a principal metal genre was extremely short-lived in a historical context, as something louder and meaner would soon come along in thrash. Therefore most speed metal bands would soon jump ship to either the thrash or power metal movements, but some bands like Anvil would keep a foot in both camps, whilst still plying their root speed metal sound. As an album Metal on Metal nearly didn’t happen, as after their decent debut album Hard ‘n’ Heavy, frontman Steve ‘Lips’ Kudrow something of a metal bad boy, had declined an offer to go to Motorhead to replace another bad boy in ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke who had left Motorhead to form Fastway. Motorhead of course would finally take in another bad boy in ex-Thin Lizzy man Brian Robertson to record their much maligned Another Perfect Day album in 1983, leaving Steve ‘Lips’ Kudrow to luckily contribute to what would become Anvil’s masterpiece when it comes to their discography. Now when it came to playing ther brand of speed metal, Anvil were all about having fun despite their reputation as being a bunch of bad-ass musicians and it wasn’t uncommon for Steve ‘Lips’ Kudrow to hit the stage in bondage attire a la Fee Waybill and most of their tracks revolved around pornography as subject matter….. sweet! As said this band could really play especially drummer Robb Reiner, who is often regarded as a pioneer of the double drum bass technique, something of course that would become a mainstay of metal from the 1980s onwards. The album would have one of those typical 1980s covers that effectively demonstrated that this was a metal album, just in case there was any doubt! The album would be produced by Chris Tasangaridis who of course was one of the most consistent metal producers around and his credits are just too numerous to mention and he puts out a first rate performance on the album.

Verdict
Most speed metal bands often relied on well just speed, and if they were British it usually came with a rough ‘n’ ready attitude to match as well. But North America’s Anvil took speed metal on this their second album to unparalleled heights of power and excitement, by mixing it in with mainstream metal to produce a potent concoction. In many ways it’s a pity that Metallica made such a big splash the following year, as that would take the shine away from Anvil as an extreme metal band (or at least posturing as one) Metal on Metal starts off in the ****ing loudest and meanest way possible, with the almost uber-anthem sounding title track “Metal on Metal” which is punctuated by one of metal’s meanest sounding riffs. From the second track “Mothra” no not the Danzig song, it becomes apparent that Anvil’s brand of speed metal is going to sound somewhat different to its British counterpart, despite the obvious Judas Priest nods on the song. This classic track shifts and changes before blazing out in blistering style and the band here play beyond a lot of their contemporaries over a thrilling five minutes. The album is chocca with speed gems like “Jackhammer” “Heat Sink” “Tease Me, Please Me” right down to album closer "666" which sounds like a proto-Megadeth song! Things are then slowed down for “Tag Team” and then pumped up again on “Scenary”. Tracks like “Stop Me” demonstrate that the band also had a superb sense of melody to almost power-pop proportions when they wanted to and “March of the Crabs” is a great two minute plus instrumental which resonates with the band’s trademark sound. Overall and in comparison to albums around this time from both Raven and Tank, Anvil demonstrate a superior level to those two bands as both artists and musicians, but then again I’m a big Anvil fan so I would say this. For many a year Anvil would be seen as one of those metal relics from the 1980s that fell by the wayside, despite the fact that they were constantly dishing out albums of dubious quality to a fairly loyal fanbase. But in 2008 their fortunes changed with the release of the "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" rockumentary, which would bring the band back from the dead as it were and see the band undergo something of a rebirth as an acclaimed metal act once again, as well as finally being recognized for their services in the evolution of metal from the early 1980s and Metal on Metal surely stands as one of the best examples of this evolution. Metal on Metal also happens to be my favourite metal album of the year even though I’ve put two other albums above it, but they are both largely there for their huge impact on the metal genre as a whole.

Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow- Guitar/Vocals
Dave Allison- Guitar
Ian Dickson- Bass
Robb Reiner- Drums

Production- Chris Tsangaridis

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

The Batlord

The Rods: They kind of sound like a heavier version of UFO. Most of the time when I listen to a metal band with that much of an AOR influence that I have to settle for almost-but-not-quite-heaviness. This band has a nice amount of rawness to them though.

Anvil: No matter how many times I listen to Anvil I just can't get past their singer. He's just awful. I feel the same way about Cirith Ungol. Want to like them. Can't.

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Unknown Soldier

Despite being a tough sounding band, they had that melodic edge that took them away from being a Motorhead to a much more as you say AOR influenced band at times.

I wouldn't compare the two vocalists of those bands, as Steve Kudrow has more to offer and I'm guessing that Dave Mustaine took a lot from him. Metal on Metal of course represents as far as I'm concerned, everything great about being a mean sounding metal album before thrash came along.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
For most people The Number of the Beast is often their first port of call or exposure when getting into metal and for that reason alone it could easily be considered as being the most essential heavy metal album ever relased. In fact I actually remember when the album first came out, where the denizens of metal across the UK seemed to have finally found their true focal point as far as everything metal was concerned. As on The Number of the Beast, Iron Maiden would put out an album that was just as grand and famous as anything being put out by any other top selling artist of the day and it would also be the album that launched the band into the stratosphere! The Number of the Beast is also often seen as the Iron Maiden’s most famous album (if not their best) and it most notably sees Bruce Dickinson (ex-Samson) taking over the vocal helm with the likes of Dio and Rob Halford on how metal should be sung. Bruce Dickinson of course had come to the band to give Iron Maiden as far as band leader Steve Harris was concerned, a much wider reaching panoramic appeal in true stadium metal band tradition and in Bruce Dickinson they had an operatic vocalist whose vocal chords far exceeded the limited punk style of Paul Di’Anno. The Number of the Beast would firmly set the stall out on what heavy metal’s middle ground should be for the rest of the decade, as this would be a decade which would see the flamboyant and commercially driven glam metal bands on one side, and the aggressive extreme metal acts on the other. Through all this anarchy and upheaval to affect the genre (which would soon lead to genre splicing) the genre needed centric sounding metal bands like Iron Maiden to steer the ship through stormy seas and provide heavy metal with a solid middle ground. Iron Maiden would largely keep the whole genre on an even keel which was vital for the genre’s long term commercial aspirations, as they were guaranteed to steer the ship safely to port everytime and provide metal with its solid backbone and reference point throughout the rest of the decade and beyond. Also Iron Maiden under the tutelage of both Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris, would lay down a sound that sounded raw but polished, aggressive yet melodic, fantastic yet contemporary and all through this was a clarity of sound that would bring all the strengths of the band to the fore. The band’s trademark album covers are continued here to amazing effect by artist Derek Rigg and would continue to set the benchmark for what metal album covers should be about. As always the album name and cover would spark controversy with the conservative censors in the USA, who saw the whole thing as kind of promoting Satanism, something that was always being chucked at metal bands around this time. While here in the UK the album name and cover were just treated as another tongue-in-cheek approach by a metal band. Unsurprsingly the album makes just about every ‘must listen to metal album list’ out there and the amount of bands that have covered the songs on this album are just too numerous to mention and needless to say the album was a massive seller.

Verdict
Iron Maiden fronted by Paul Di’Anno may have sounded more exciting and spontaneous, but with Bruce Dickinson at the helm the band would reach new unparalleled heights of excellence. This was thanks to their aggressive tempos, the super fast technical twin guitar team of Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, which was all underpinned by both Steve Harris and Cliver Burr and then accompanied by the power chords of Bruce Dickinson all to a superior level. In fact most of the songs on the album whether they are truly great or not featured all the spiralling dynamics of the band in full cry. Gone on the album are the street level topics of the previous two albums, to be replaced by the more grandiose subjects of fantasy, history and horror which would all be subject staples of the genre very soon anyway. Now despite its very high and lofty postion both here and in most other places on the internet, I’ve always seen The Number of the Beast as being the perfect example of ‘a flawed masterpiece’. In that the album is not as masterful as it should’ve been for an album of such standing, simply because there are a number of musical and timing variables to take into consideration when listening to it. Firstly some of the tracks were actually written with Paul Di’Anno in mind like the well known “22 Acacia Avenue” a follow-up to “Charlotte the Harlot”, it’s a good song but does feel like an ambitious Paul Di’Anno track at heart and then “Gangland” which is most definitely a Paul Di’Anno track. The main issue though is probably in the sequencing of the tracks, as I don’t think a song like “Invaders” was a good choice to start off the album and the classic “Children of the Damned” with its dynamic proportions doesn’t sit well as the album’s second track. In fact I could sift through the song sequencing on the album and raise a number of issues, because overall the album seems to have a random feel concerning its track order which is noticed by some and ignored by others. Secondly one or two tracks are probably not as great as they’re made out to be like “The Prisoner” which is based around the UK TV series, but it is saved by its middle section which serves up some masterful guitar interplay. “Invaders” is nothing special and “Gangland” belongs on the previous two albums, and the spare track “Total Eclipse” which would appear on the 1998 remaster of the album kicks the butt of both of those two songs imo. But these negatives are easily matched by everything that is great on the album and these come in the album’s four showcase tracks which are worth the price of admission alone and are capable of sweeping most of the opposition under the carpet. There is the epic “Children of the Damned” a slower Black Sabbath Dio era inspired classic. The title track “The Number of the Beast” dominated by Steve Harris’ rumbling bass and the album’s big single “Run to the Hills” which accounts the conquest of Native Americans. “Hallowed Be Thy Name” is the album’s extended classic and one of the best tracks ever put out by a metal band. The key ingredient of Iron Maiden’s popularity would revolve around the fact that serious metalheads could easily engage with the sound and image of the band, without ever compromising their true metal credentials, as the band would always deliver what they saw as serious metal, yet this serious metal was still melodic enough to equally engage casual listeners into what they saw as being true heavy metal as well. Overall this was a remarkable achievement by the band, considering that the 1980s would be flooded with bands from all sides of the heavy metal spectrum and in Iron Maiden even more so than say Judas Priest, heavy metal had an irremovable and solid heart that was firmly anchored in stone. This aspect alone, would provide the vital ingredient for the huge longevity of the band over the coming decades.

Bruce Dickinson- Vocals
Dave Murray- Guitar
Adrian Smith- Guitar
Steve Harris- Bass
Clive Burr- Drums

Production- Martin Birch

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Big Ears

Since your mention of the Anvil film, US, I've been trawling the forums for a review I thought I had written, without success. I first heard about it on a Classic Rock magazine podcast and, soon after, it was shown on TV. The film was by turns funny and moving, giving a fascinating insight into a once popular band, who found themselves out of fashion. It was also a success and almost brought the band back into the mainstream.

The reality for a number of bands is that fame comes and goes. Toto went from cult band to huge stars to obscurity and back to a cult band.

I am not an Anvil fan, nor a thrash fan, but I had sympathy for Kudrow and Reiner. Recently, I described what I thought was a thrash band, to be told they are groove metal, which shows (a) how much I know about such things and (b) how much I care for sub-genres.

Anyway, it's good to see Anvil get a mention here, as well as The Rods. Prior to Ronnie James Dio's illness, there were stories of him working with Feistein again, but it never saw fruition due to his rapid deterioration. After years of sophistication, it would have been interesting to hear Dio return to the raw sound of Elf.

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My Journal: Rabbiting On

The Batlord

Alright, US. Hurry up and put Screaming for Vengeance at #1 so we can get started with '83.

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