Unknown Soldier

If Venom were a movie then they'd be classic 'B-Movie' material and rank as one of the worst b-movies ever, but like most crappy b-movies they're so bad that they actually end up being very good, as they've turned their crappiness into an art form just like Ed Wood did for example. So with this in mind I actually really enjoy listening to Venom now and again, but deep down I know their crappy limitations.

Actually most of the albums I've chosen over Venom with the exception of about four or five, I'd say you'd agree with based on your taste and I know some are albums that you actually like a lot.

Albums that are groundbreaking are usually groundbreaking in retrospect and Venom are no different really in that aspect, but where they differ from other groundbreaking bands, is that nearly all the known bands that they helped to inspire are far superior to them in nearly all aspects. What Venom have in their favour though is a big set of balls and on their first two albums they laid down the complete criteria for extreme metal, a template if you like that was essential for the growth of metal.

If my lists were just based on the most influential then they would've been no.1 on the list, but as I take so many other things into consideration with the largest factor being my own taste, Venom have lost out a lot in other areas which I've already mentioned and hell I like scuzzy metal and you can't get more scuzzy than Cirith Ungol.

Now that's a fair assessment. I've mentioned a few times how David Lee Roth's spoken voice just sounds so cool with its swagger (it does to me as a non-American anyway) and half the things he sings/speaks just couldn't be pulled off by my many others either.

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William_the_Bloody

Well I'm not a metal expert so I have to choose to pick my battles here lol, I'll just say that I find Cirith Ungol too Maiden sounding, while Venom is just awesome stripped down metal. There is a reason why everybody remembers the latter but not the former. VEEENNNNOMMMM! lol

(Hope you go a little easier on Darkthrone when you get to the 90's cheers.)

Unknown Soldier

Which is why Venom are actually quite a few places higher than Cirith Ungol

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Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Album
Like fellow Geordies Venom, Raven were another band to appear on the fledgling Neat label, but whereas Venom gave us breakneck speed with dark malice, Raven were simply just speed merchants with a rough ‘n’ ready attitude. The band were a metal trio fronted by brothers John Gallagher-bass/vocals, Mark Gallagher-guitar and Rob ‘Wacko’ Hunter-drums. It always seems amazing just how many metal bands at this time had adopted a three man line-up along the lines of Motorhead and it just goes to show how influential Motorhead were at this time, not just in musical terms but also in both image and band personnel! Over the course of this journal I’ve often mentioned how this song and that song by bands such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and more recently from the likes of Motorhead and Saxon etc were largely responsible for what would become known as ‘Speed Metal’ which of course is metal played at a blistering pace usually by highly proficient musicians. But unlike its far meaner thrash brother, it was far less abrasive and relied more on melody than on hardcore and in many ways I’d actually call Raven’s debut the first bona fide speed metal album that incorporates everything essential about the sub-genre, the band though usually just referred to their own style though by the now redundant term of ‘Athletic Rock’. Every track except the acoustic shorty “39-40” qualifies as fully fledged speed metal or almost an speed metal track. Singles like “Hard Ride” and “Don’t Need Your Money” are good single choices and “Hell Patrol” is a real belter highlighted by the high notes of John Gallagher. The album essentials are probably “Over the Top” “For the Future” “Lambs to the Slaughter” “Tyrants of the Airways” and the vital title track “Rock Until You Drop” with its guitar and bass solos. Raven were all about being a good time speed metal band and this can be noted throughout most of the album’s songs, especially with their cover of the Sweet medley “Hellraiser/Action” which actually sounds like it could’ve been on the soundtrack for the Rocky Horror Show! The real crux of the matter though for many when it comes to Raven, are surely the vocals of John Gallagher whose ‘throttled sounding screams’ and not exactly a world away from Dave Mustaine and might not be to everybody’s taste. Overall Rock Until You Drop is a straight-forward NWOBHM album that just happens to be one of the first true speed metal albums out there and there is an extended version of the album which runs upto 57 minutes as well. Even though Raven fails to gain the same type of attention as the better known Motorhead and Venom, I’m pretty certain that a number of future speed and thrash metal bands took their cue from these early Raven albums. Finally Raven were just one of the many NWOBHM bands on the Newcastle based Neat label at this time (Neat pre-dates the even more expansive Metal Blade) and this was a label that was instrumental in the promotion of heavy metal in the UK, and was responsible for giving bands like Venom, Raven, Jaguar, Cloven Hoof and Tygers of Pan Tang amongst others their initial break, in fact the label was owned by the original vocalist of the Tygers of Pan Tang Jess Cox until he sold it in 1995.

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Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Trollheart

Just something I've noticed recently, though this could be the way you've been doing it all along: your reviews of albums are all one big paragraph, no formatting. I say this because if that's how you intend it, fine, but some people are put off by a big block of text: looks too much work. However I had problems with my last Babylon 5 writeup in that although I had formatted it, every time I went back to check it, it had all become one big block of text, and I had to redo it. About three times.

I don't know if that's happening here, I don't know if this is the way you expect it to be, but personally I think it looks a little clunky and if you are dong it deliberately I'd suggest breaking the article up into at least two paragraphs, looks tidier and less intimidating perhaps.

Just a friendly suggestion...

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Unknown Soldier

I have a big screen and the layout fits my screen, I realise that it might not suit those with laptops or smaller screens though, but as I've never seen this on a smaller screen I can't say.

Also I've always done it this way as big chunks unless it's in the top 10 which then becomes 2 big chunks. The simple fact of the matter is that I don't really like writing in paragraphs as it tends to look too bitty from an aesthetic point of view for such small reviews, but then again I realise a lot of people like things in small paragraphs. But these small reviews are only like 12 and 13 lines on my PC and look quite small.

If there is some sort of formatting I could do then fire away by PM

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Metal Wars

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Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Album
The band’s previous album Head On had seen the melodic guitar playing of band leader Paul Samson take on a more focused metal approach despite really just being a blues guitarist at heart. This combined with new singer Bruce Dickinson (still just known as Bruce Bruce at this time) had now turned the band into essential NWOBHM listening for those in the know. So by the time of their third studio album Shock Tactics Samson were surely looking to make the jump into the big league and join the likes of Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Saxon at the top of the metal pile. Now some reviews often state Shock Tactics as one of the best NWOBHM albums in its golden era at the start of the 1980s, personally I just think it’s a solid album hence its position on this year’s listings at position 12. The album starts off with the Russ Ballad penned “Riding With Angels” and like anything by Russ Ballad (the man made a career out of writing songs for others, as well as having them cover his own songs too) the song is built around that catchy and instant Russ Ballad punch. Other tracks include the rated “Nice Girl” but I think it’s just average fare though, then there is the routine “Go to Hell” and "Bright Lights" which is probably the fastest track on the album and finally there is the bluesy “Grime Crime” which really doesn’t convince in what it sets out to do. In fact a large amount of these tracks actually sound like routine Iron Maiden and that just goes to show the influence musically that Bruce Dickinson would have on Iron Maiden. The best tracks on the album are without doubt the somewhat gripping “Earth Mother” which has the vocals of Bruce Dickinson at their best and the added bonus of Paul Samson matching him on guitar. Then there is “Bloodlust” a 6 minute pounder which has touches of musical variety and then there is the equally heavy “Once Bitten” which has a great riff throughout, but the pick of the bunch is the pretty epic album closer “Communion” a song pretty much built for the vocal chords of Bruce Dickinson. After this album Bruce Dickinson would leave the band stating the dire management and record label that the band had, but of course Iron Maiden were without doubt fishing for him as well and coincidently when Samson were recording this album, Iron Maiden were in the next recording studio recording Killers! Even before his material with Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson was pretty much the full package as a vocalist and his two albums with Samson demonstrate this, but of course in Iron Maiden he had the wheels of superstardom more in his grasp, largely thanks to the powerful twin-guitar attack of Dave Murray and Adrian Smith to augment him. Shock Tactics is usually regarded as the band’s best album, but Kerrang! I’ve noted regard their 1982 album without Bruce Dickinson Before the Storm as their actual best.

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Metal Wars

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Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History