I used to think Iron Maiden was considered Power Metal...but no apparently? I was just a kid when I got that idea so it's possible I was mistaken. But what? are they considered at least Proto-Power or influential?
I would say Iron Maiden are definitely early power metal, or at the bare minimum, they were extremely influential in the power metal scene, bringing the big anthemic feel to metal that power metal is known for. But if you asked me to name early power metal bands, I'd definitely put Iron Maiden up there alongside bands like Helloween and Cirith Ungol and Savatage.
By the way, if you're interested in diving into more power metal, I've got a chart of my favorites, but probably the best power metal chart on this site is Gowi's chart (unsurprisingly)
intresting... thanks for the clarification.
And I skimmed both charts. Look cool! I love that both of you have the same #1 and #2. based off this little unscientific look at where to go next with Power Metal, I think I'll revisit that Blind Guardian and listen for the first time to that Wuthering Heights album. _________________ -Ryan
ha! I know you love Maiden and all their early classics. I am less enthusiastic. The Saxon love I have may be a bit of a case of the "shiny new thing" and the unexpected immense enjoyment I felt. But also Maiden has yet to really move me down deep in mah soullll (except with "Hallowed Be Thy Name"). So, I just have much less allegiance to them. I'd say the consensus amongst metalheads is that Maiden are indisputably the greater band and all of their first 7 LPs are considered classics.
What band in your view has a run of albums that can compare to Maiden's first 5 or 7 or whatever? I think of Slayer's first 5 or 6 if their Live Decade of Aggression counts or if you count their great live EP and EP from 1984/1985 Haunting The Chapel and Live Undead.
Let's see... starting with 1969 and sticking with Hard Rock/Metal
1. Led Zeppelin
2. Black Sabbath
3. Uriah Heep
4. Blue Oyster Cult
5. Deep Purple
6. AC/DC
7. Thin Lizzy
8. Scorpions
9. UFO
Yeesh! That a lot right there!!!
Let's just explode out AC/DC so u see what I mean...
1. TNT/High Voltage
2. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
3. Let There Be Rock
4. Powerage
5. Highway To Hell
sheesh! That IS a lot! Love the enthusiasm. Now, maybe your mind doesn't work this way but, water gun to your head, which of those runs of albums do you feel are GREATER or BETTER in your eyes and to you tastes than Iron Maiden through Powerslave?
Personally I don't love Zeppelin, not a fan of that big hard rockin blues sound. Sabbath is great but not as enthusiastic as you. Had no idea you loved Uriah Heap that much and of course I love Thin Lizzy.
If I had to choose a run of albums 5 or more where I really love each album to a greater of lesser degree, it is smaller than that but maybe...
Bob Dylan 63-65 (really all the way to 69...9 albums straight gold) and ... that is it.
just kidding. I just couldn't find the time or inclination to do my usual deep dive on this question to make a top 10 favorite runs of classic albums. Priest, Mastodon, Slayer, Wilco, Prince, are probably all on the list somewhere i would think. And maybe PJ Harvey and Sonic Youth and and and ... _________________ -Ryan
sheesh! That IS a lot! Love the enthusiasm. Now, maybe your mind doesn't work this way but, water gun to your head, which of those runs of albums do you feel are [b]GREATER or BETTER in your eyes and to you tastes than Iron Maiden through Powerslave?[/b]
Personally I don't love Zeppelin, not a fan of that big hard rockin blues sound. Sabbath is great but not as enthusiastic as you. Had no idea you loved Uriah Heap that much and of course I love Thin Lizzy.
If I had to choose a run of albums 5 or more where I really love each album to a greater of lesser degree, it is smaller than that but maybe...
Bob Dylan 63-65 (really all the way to 69...9 albums straight gold) and ... that is it.
just kidding. I just couldn't find the time or inclination to do my usual deep dive on this question to make a top 10 favorite runs of classic albums. Priest, Mastodon, Slayer, Wilco, Prince, are probably all on the list somewhere i would think. And maybe PJ Harvey and Sonic Youth and and and ...
Better? Black Sabbath. That'd be it. I should also have included Judas Priest to the above list starting with Rocka Rolla ( a massively underrated gem)!!!
When I get to the early 70s, Uriah Heep will be right up there with Deep Purple!!! And Budgie! I forgot Budgie!!! 🤡
Last edited by Repo on 07/22/2022 20:39; edited 1 time in total
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
Hmm… that is interesting. Sabbath and Maiden. Doesn’t get more iconic than that within heavy metal.
Budgie and deep purple and Uriah heap and these bands I will have to at some point do a deep dive into. Early heavy metal and hard rock hasn’t been an area I’ve delved into. _________________ -Ryan
And I skimmed both charts. Look cool! I love that both of you have the same #1 and #2. based off this little unscientific look at where to go next with Power Metal, I think I'll revisit that Blind Guardian and listen for the first time to that Wuthering Heights album.
Lol I didn't realize me and Gowi had the same #1 and #2 for power metal. Both are amazing albums - a power metal album about Lord of the Rings is like, perfectly in my wheelhouse of things I love. And that Wuthering Heights album is fantastic, you'll dig it since you liked that Fellowship album, there were bits of Wuthering Heights in their sound. _________________ Progressive Rock
A Couple more pre-thrash classics leading up to the year 1983 (at which point I will just be focusing on Thrash albums and not so much stuff falling outside that genre)...
(Skipped this one date-of-release-wise… I will go ahead and cover this EP and also their 2nd EP. Both are contained on this compilation listed/pictured above)
Here we fucking go! Within the first second of this debut EP by the legendary Discharge you get a good sense of what this band is all about, what it represented and still represents to Anarchic/anti-state hardcore crusty punk. That iconic beat which birthed a little micro-genre called D-Beat (Discharge Beat), the slabs of filthy furious mangled guitar riff work, and that pissed off vocal telling you right off the bat where its at – “WAR IS A BLACK HOLE TO AVOID! Mutilated corpses, charcoaled flesh, litter the battlefield!”
This is an EP of 4 songs and 4.5 minutes, a bite-size piece of musical history.
As I will get into with the next EP released in May 1980 (just under 2 months later) as well as their classic Why EP and their absurdly influential debut LP, Discharge basically made an early career of writing and playing almost the same song over and over and over. There are occasional changes to the beat – not even playing that one beat at times seems like a major experimental diversion in this case – sometimes giving us some imprecise, filthy lead guitar blasts and of course different vocals and lyrics (all revolving around the abuses and obvious illegitimacy of government or state control or existence). But, mostly it’s the same and the thing is, it’s such a GREAT thing, such a PURE and inspired and inspiring thing, I am okay with it.
This is sloppy and nasty, which is kinda what I want. This isn’t as visceral and purged of all fat as they will become in Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing, but come on, it’s a pretty damn sick first attempt at somehow capturing this level of power and energy in a recording studio.
None of these tracks are subpar, although the 2nd track “They Declare It” is perhaps the least memorable. The mockery and (slight) humour of the track “But After The Gig” is cool and the song itself is a nice sonic beat down. And the closer here “Society’s Victim” has perhaps the coolest and hottest and most aggressive guitar tone of the 4 tracks. Good stuff all around.
Anyway, that’s all I’ll say about this EP. For ranking’s sake, I will lump these 2 EPs that came before their super influential Why EP and LP. They are both included in their entirety on this anthology compilation I have included above. It’s a great Comp, it’s on streaming and you should listen to it. It also includes Why and their early singles.
With this, their second stab at an EP, Discharge gave themselves a bit more time to flesh out their ideas and sound (this one is NEARLY SEVEN FUCKING MINUTES! Sheeesh, a bit overindulgent, but okay) and they come in harder and more focused and fiery than they did on their very good first EP. The sound is anarchic out of control and in the red, and the production is beautifully gloriously lofi. The bass work is what sticks out to me first, these bass tones are so sick! So thick and accentuated. On tracks like “War’s No Fairytale” and “Always Restrictions” the bassist absolute roars and steals the show.
Also the noisy, abrasive guitar leads are more prominent here and they are great. The songs are more crushing and even more fleshed out. The themes are the same and they are as usual fucking awesome. The best all around song here and one of the best hardcore punk songs full stop, is the 5th and final track “You Take Part In Creating The System”. That song encapsulates everything great about this band’s early output in under 2 minutes.
All in all this longer and more fleshed out and all around better EP shows that Discharge leveled up pretty quick. I have a feeling they will continue to do so over the 18 to 24 months after this EP.
And one final point, this band is cool as hell but also they inspired a lot of cool bands. It will be even more highlighted on their next EP and their 1982 LP but it is also apparent here that they were hugely influential to Japanese Hardcore, Thrash, the development of Grindcore, crust punk and also really their marks can be heard all over Death and Black Metal albums for years to come. This band’s ultra-aggressive, heavy metallic sound and their groove and their style and attitude were just fucking nuts and I just wanna say they are cool and yeah I kinda lost steam on where I was going.
I know I know – I said somewhere that I wasn’t gonna highlight this album and band because I said that their brand of hardcore doesn’t seem so influential to Thrash (which is the point of this little preamble project). But after getting all amped up and ready to destroy the state from hearing 11 minutes of Discharge on repeat, I just wanted to give this a new listen. I wanted to hear the very very different, more artsy, more spastic, more sarcastic and humorous and sardonic approach to anarchy and music from a peer. And, well, It’s a classic and one of the first classic punk albums I remember loving. And coming back to it after sooo long was a nice return, like a conversation with an old, manic, brilliant friend.
I (mostly) stick to what I said though, unlike Bad Brains or Discharge or Charged G.B.H. and other hardcore punk bands, it is not clear to these ears of mine that the DKs had a direct influence on metal or thrash. At least and certainly not to the same degree. HOWEVER, I read somewhere that the members of Slayer, just when they started up the band, listened to The Dead Kennedys (this album or the second album) when it came out and were in fucking awe of this band, so I feel that gives me some justification to fawn a little about this goodie.
As for the album, it’s great, I love it, you (probably) love it, we all love it, I love you, you love me, we are a happy music fanily.
This is one of the most brilliant attacks on ears and minds in the history of rock music. It’s a perfect 33 minute rollercoaster full of pure rage and vicious cutting wit. The sheer number of ideas and sounds here that are all executed to perfection and integrated into the whole flow of the album is mind-boggling. Even on the “upbeat” moments, the musicians play each note and chord with such razor-sharp precision you can almost hear the hatred and disgust and mockery oozing out of their hands onto their instruments. The spindly, mercurial guitar work from East Bay Ray is nothing short of genius throughout this whole album. And, of course, Jello Biafra is a fucking legend and a force of nature that absolutely demolishes every lyrics he delivers.
The songs here are all, each one, so great in each their own unique ways. The twists and turns of the songs is, again, jarring as fuck but exhilarating and magical. The end of “Chemical Warfare” is one of the funniest and most committed-to bits I’ve ever heard. The exuberance and catchiness of the chorus of “Kill The Poor” is awesome because I get it stuck in my head and then catch myself chanting in my head the chorus and laugh. The 2 most famous songs are each epic and classic for a reason, both California Uber Alles and Holiday In Cambodia are classics and without a doubt some of the most exemplary and iconic moments in punk history. And of course the closing track is, depending on my mood, either brilliant satire and a great song OR it’s just not what I wanna hear. This time and most times, it is the former.
Overall, I stayed away from this bedrock album for too long. I’d forgotten how profoundly great it is. I will say also that there are a few brief moments that give off some metal riffage and heaviness. So, there. Mostly this is artsy, sardonic, cutting, sometimes surfy sometimes pure punk, and mostly almost indescribable music of the highest and most bold order. Adore it.
It will go to number one on my list due to my utter love of it even more so than Stained Class. But it will feel weird being up there as Priest had a much more direct influence on Thrash than DKs did. Still, I gotta be honest. I mean I don’t gotta, but I have decided to be.
I love this album. Really, I think it’s just fabulous. But I wanna just say some random things and not try to describe it. Not right away anyway.
First things first, this album is not on spotify or apple music nor is their a full video of it on youtube instead there is a playlist. This album has appeared and disappeared from streaming platforms over and over per the comments I am seeing on RYM and youtube etc. I don’t understand this. Obviously I have no idea the politics and nuances of what makes an iconic classic album in an artist’s discog be the only album of theirs NOT on streaming. BUT what is super annoying and illogical is that the 2020 re-recording of Lightning To The Nations is there to hear but not the widely-adored 1980 album. What nonsense. Anyway, like I said, I don’t know the reasons. Maybe there is a totally understandable reason why things are this way. But wanted to get that rant of sorts out of the way.
Next, no lies here, for the longest time I thought Diamond Head and King Diamond were either directly related or the same band. And as if that is not bad enough, somewhere along the line I learned that King Diamond came from an earlier classic band – and it was almost a 50/50 split in my mind as to whether I thought the words “Mercyful Fate” or “Diamond Head” when thinking about the painted one King Diamond.
Next random, disrelated thing I want to say, the song “Sucking My Love” in lyrical content, in tone of voice and vocal stylings, in rhythm guitar patterns and tempo, seems to be a fellatio-themed euphemistic anthem. It also happens to be nearly 10 minutes of utter badassery with a dope and almost arty groovy outro/last 3 minutes.
Next thing that is actually very pertinent to my “review”: Every track here, when it plays, is the coolest old school heavy metal riff ever written, and every song that comes after becomes that coolest riff. Okay okay, perhaps that is hyperbole – hell, it IS hyperbole – but that hyperbole is to get to a broader point: that point being – THE RIFFS HERE ARE ABSURDLY GREAT!.
The vocals, awesome they are. I love them. They reminded me, specifically the way Brian Tatler turns a melody when he is doing sort of a whining higher pitched thing, reminds me of a more modern indie or alternative rock singer. This was annoying because probably 10-15 times while listening this fucking voice and the name of the person would enter my mind and get up to the very tippy endies of my tongue and … never did I figure it out.
Next thing, cliché as it seems, “Am I Evil?” is one of the best songs ever. It’s menacing, melodic and it is one of the coolest examples of a song growing, building, adding power slowly over its 7 and a half minutes until by the end it’s a crushing proto-thrash masterpiece. The lyrics are sick and evil and coooool as fuuuuck. This song is proof of some higher power in the universe.
Next, what I forgot about until recently when I listened to this youtube playlist album compilation thing was that MOST, actually fuck it, ALLL of the songs here are kick ass. This may be my favorite NWOBHM album now. I had some vague idea before revisiting this that it was a tracklist of seven songs with the pattern of:
“solid-solid-good-MASTERPIECEWHOA!!!-solid-solid-solid”. Now I realize it is more like
Track 1, Lightning To The Nations, kick ass and classic best riff I’ve heard in NWOBHM…
Track 2, The Prince, perfect and heavier than hell and not 1 or 2 perfect metal riffs, but 3!
Track 3, Sucking My Love, almost proggy in its structure, groovy, arty, emotive, SEXY, oh and more killer riffs.
Track 4, Am I Evil?, yes, a masterpiece in every way. But now in context to rest of album, rather than being the lone peak on a solid album it is now one of several absolutely glorious peaks. (still, my track pick for this album will be Am I Evil? As cliché as that is. I have a tendency to love the tracks that are most famous from albums. Am I Evil, Holiday In Cambodia, Pay To Cum, Ace of Spades, Lexicon Devil etc etc etc… my choices are pretty chalky)
Track 5, Sweet and Innocent, not a highlight per se, but a short and sweet and not-so-innocent, angular metal banger that comes and goes and leaves the world a better place for having existed for 3 minutes.
Track 6, It’s Electric, the title explains the song, it is hot and killer and swagtastic if such stupid words are still being said. It’s punky and in-your-face and fun. Great simple riff.
Finally, Track 7, Helpless, is straight up thrash, it is so heavy and so cool, and that riff is out to cause physical harm, just a stunning and badass way to end this LP.
Yes all in all this album is great, like really great. It is SLIGHTLY frontloaded. But the back half is a damn good heavy metal experience and of course “Helpless” is a top tier track right there along side tracks 2 and 3 and 4. The vocalist is badass and steady and cool, the riffs and guitars are some of the filthiest and heaviest and coolest of this era, the name is cool, the cover sucks ass, the band rocks and this album deserves all the love it gets. Maybe it deserves even more.
I have perhaps less to say about this one than some others. Of all the albums I have covered thus far, this is the one I have the earliest memories of and experience with. This may have been the first place I turned after discovering my love for Metallica. I went to the internet (a sad ghost of what it is now) and searched for similar music. This was recommended and I was told it had a huge influence on my new fave band, and so I bought this CD.
I have heard it many, many times over the last 20 or so years. It has never been an absolute all time favorite of mine. It has never been on my Overall Chart here on BEA. I never would say it was an album I truly adored. But there has always been something about it that I greatly appreciated and admired. This is rock and roll first and foremost. Turned up to eleven in loudness and brashness with a fair helping of ballsy scorching guitar solos from Eddy and some iconic riffs and some of the most unique and recognizable vocalists ever. Some songs that I have stuck in my head off and on for a long time. Just a freight train, unstoppable, this album doesn’t present any “chill tracks” or ballads. It’s excellent.
Really when I describe this LP I say a lot of the same things as when I describe Overkill or Bomber (basically that is all I’ve heard from prime Motorhead). Hell, I have a limited vocabulary and stockpile of words to describe this sound, so I probably use the same words to describe most scrappy, badass rock and metal albums. (But I won’t dwell on my limited writing ability at this time lol). The thing that differentiates Overkill (which I recently listened to and mentioned here) and Ace of Spades is simply how familiar I am with these songs and how much they have become part of my musical DNA and also, more observable to others, the more loud and clear and impactful production. This thing absolutely dominates my headphones when I listen to it more than other Motorhead. Maybe that is a “just me” observation. But man that really struck me when I listened to this a couple times the last few days.
Sure the style of the band is badass, the individual songs are awesome (especially the title track opener, the closer “The Hammer”, “Love You Like A Reptile” etc etc) and the way it makes me feel – for just a little while anyway – like a badass biker rock star force of destructive and disruptive nature… those are all there too to make me really like this album. But the punchiness of the production and familiarity is what pushes it over Overkill and Bomber for me.
oh and "Ace of Spades", and "Jailbait" and other songs I can't remember sound truly like proto-Kill 'em all thrash more than most of this NWOBHM stuff. Ace of Spades as an album probably has about as much thrash-without-quite-being-thrash as pre-1983 metal gets.
Anyway, no more to say. See ya later. See your posts anyway. Probably won’t see your persons.
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PRE-1983 Tier List/Ranking:
MASTERPIECE, NEAR-PERFECT, ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL LISTENING: 1. Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables by Dead Kennedys (September 2nd, 1980) – exemplary track, “Holiday In Cambodia”.
2. Stained Class by Judas Priest (February 10th, 1978) - exemplary track, "Exciter"
3. Static Age by The Misfits (Recorded Jan-Feb, 1978) - exemplary track, "We Are 138"
JUST FUDGIN’ GREAT 4. Lightning To The Nations by Diamond Head (October 3rd, 1980) – exemplary track, “Am I Evil?”
5. Black Dots by Bad Brains (Recorded June 1979) - exemplary track, "Pay To Cum”
6. Ace Of Spades by Motörhead (November 8th, 1980) – exemplary track, “Ace Of Spades”
7. Wheels of Steel by Saxon (April 1980) - exemplary track, "747 (Strangers In The Night)"
8. Iron Maiden by Iron Maiden (April 14th, 1980) - exemplary track, "Phantom of the Opera"
9. Overkill by Motörhead (April 24th, 1979) - exemplary track, "Overkill"
VERY GOOD TO GREAT 10. Realities of War and Fight Back EPs by Discharge/March 31st and May 1980) – exemplary track, “You Take Part In Creating The System”.
11. (GI) by The Germs (October 1979) - exemplary track, "Lexicon Devil"
12. New Hope for the Wretched by Plasmatics (March 1980) - exemplary track, "Dream Lover"
Note: I did indeed re-evaluate my life and placed Bad Brains up above Saxon. also i removed the essential tag to 2nd tier and also removed mention of the e word in 3rd tier. this is because i don't wanna grapple with such a thing in my rankings or tiers. I mean it is still there on the top tier, but that may change shortly too.
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Okay, I'll leave it with that for now. Next will be some more Saxon, some Angel Witch, more Iron Maiden and maybe other cool stuff. _________________ -Ryan
THE NEXT SET OF PUNK AND/OR METAL RELEASES THAT HELPED SET THE GROUNDWORK FOR THRASH METAL (these are almost entirely heavy metal releases this time. Next time is when punk just absolutely dominates the post)
[url=https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?a=15091]
Strong Arm Of The Law by Saxon [/url] Strong Arm of the Law by Saxon /November 14th, 1980
This is excellent! Like a championship NBA team that keeps the team almost completely together and runs it back for a title defense, this album is not re-inventing the excellent rock n roll heaviness nor de-emphasizing their secret weapon – amazing songwriting and catchiness. Instead they come back a few months after the fabulous Wheels of Steel and do much the same style but fine-tune the riffs and songwriting even more. This is I think slightly (ever so slightly) better than its predecessor. The whole albums flows gorgeously, the production is still some of the best I have heard from this era, the songs here are just pristine and excellent, whether heavy and metal as fuck songs like the opener “Heavy Metal Thunder”, or the more dynamic and emotional heavy metal bangers like “To Hell and Back Again”, or songs that are a bit more sentimental or at least more somber like the closer “Dallas 1 PM”, it all works well or incredibly.
Not much to say about this. I am enjoying listening to this era of metal and discovering cool new stuff. I would be lying, however, if I said I was not getting a little impatient to get to the main event and the initial reason for this build up project – listening to shit tons of thrash metal classics from 83-92. So Maybe I will have less words on average for some of these upcoming albums unless it really, REALLY rocks my world or is in that top tier of albums (of which there have so far only been 3.)
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This one did not strike me as great. I think the solos are the musicianship are solid, bright, even epic at times. Love the guitar work and riffs in particular all throughout this album. The drumming and production and songs, however? Not so much. They were fine, but maybe I was a bit underwhelmed because the pop and the production of Saxon and Maiden has been so much cooler than this in recent weeks. The heaviness and scrappiness of Motorhead and again Saxon kick this album’s ass. I really don’t hear what sets this band apart or makes them great?
The opener is catchy and good and really was badass. And, that is about all I have to say about songs. I know I need to listen again and maybe a 3rd and 4th time, but with other albums they grabbed me on first listen with something and impelled me to listen several more times. This album I have been kind of apathetic about listening to again since hearing it a couple days ago.
And really the thing that falls short of Priest, Maiden, Saxon, and Motorhead the most is the utter “mid-ness” of the vocals. They aren’t great or at least if he is a great vocalist, the production does him no favors. But I really just think he lacks any of the coolness, toughness, or even virtuosic histrionics of the other great vocalists I have heard in recent weeks within this era of heavy metal. I mean, I’m not a huge fan of Ozzy’s vocals and don’t think they are technically solid, yet even his vocals have a boatload of personality and at times especially on Sabbath’s first couple albums, they sound PERFECT for the songs. None of that can be said about this Angel Witch lead singer.
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This album just clicked for me. Not one of my all time top tops albums ever, but at least right there in the upper crust of good ol fashioned heavy metal I’ve heard from this era. On this album it is clear to me that the band has had a little more time together and more time to hone their already incredible chops and chemistry. The whole band is absolutely kick ass here. If the debut was a tour-de-force, somehow with their second album they raised the bar in terms of intensity, energy and sound. The songs perhaps are a little more memorable on their debut, but everything else to these ears is improved ever so slightly.
“Wrathchild” and some other tracks certainly have a certain punk rock grit to go along with the very UN-punk sounding music and virtuosity. “Genghis Khan” is killer instrumental rocker. “Killers” and “Purgatory” and “Murders In The Rue Morgue” and “Another Life” are also stand out tracks from this basically no-filler-all-killers album. And the more I get familiar with and the more I hear these early Maiden albums the more I wonder what would have been had Dickinson never come in and replaced Di Anno on vocals? Certainly they each have their strengths and generally Dickinson is considered the more technically skilled vocalist and also it was with the arrival of the new vocalist that Maiden took another step and then another and another and another more and more toward more Epic, iconic, long songs and finally progressive ingenuity and more and more concept-driven albums. Would Maiden have developed along those lines with their original vocalist? I don’t know. Just makes me think. I can say that while Di Anno couldn’t possibly do what Dickinson did on “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, and , likewise, I feel like Dickinson wouldn’t have been as badass on a track like “Wrathchild”. Again, just different styles.
Anyway, that is all. This is great.
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St. Valentine’s Day Massacre by MotorheadGirlschool /February 1981
Kind of a cute and really intense and drunken and menacing and badass hard hard rock n roll/heavy metal 10 minute EP that Motorhead and Girlschool did together in 1981. I was curious and so found it on Youtube. Girlschool kicks ass and hold their own beside Lemmy and co. I need to check out more of their stuff at some point.
Anyway, while this doesn’t strike me as essential and more like a fun detour in the middle of these 2 band’s peaks to hang and make some bloody heavy rock n roll, it is still really good and I recommend it if you have interest in these bands.
Need to listen more. And I shall. But I really liked this. The vocals were fucking sick as hell! Very very Bon Scott-esque and super whiskey soaked and smokey and intense. The heavy bits here and the songs that were more balls to the wall early heavy metal sounding just cut like razorblades and had a force that I was happy to hear.
Toward the end there were a few softer more ballad-like tracks that I didn’t love as much, but again when they went full bore intense, they kicked ass. I am looking forward to hearing this again as well as checking out their most famous album, Restless and Wild, when it comes up in this pre-thrash project. Obviously I have heard the first song on that famous album as its often called “The First Thrash Track” but I wanna hear the whole thing a few times.
Cool band and I am glad I finally got around to them I can hear the influence they had on those early thrash bands and albums, super aggressive and kickass. Not much else to say about this album. Cool album art.
Last minute I decided to listen to this newly for my project. I was excluding live albums from my searches on RYM and also I already had this marked as played so it almost slipped this re-listen. I am glad it didn’t. Because also by remembering to check out this perhaps greatest of live albums in metal history (I know there are other goodies) it also reminded me to give a listen to Unleashed In The East by Judas Priest which I have heard once and never returned tro as well as relistening to what I thought at the time was the closest the Ramones ever came to Hardcore Punk with their 1979 classic live record It’s Alive”. I will back track chronologically in my next post and say something about those albums later. For now, in terms of harbingers of what Thrash and extreme metal would come to be, it doesn’t get much more prophetic and wild than the mighty Motorhead LIVE at their peak!
There arte indeed parts of this album like with Ace of Spades, Overkill, The Hammer, and Motorhead where this is perhaps the most badass and heavy and punishing metal got at this time. There is an added sheen of sweat and smell of booze and harshness of that live experience that takes these already quite killer and kickass tracks to a new level of intensity here. Motorhead live must have been QUITE the experience, huh?!?
Overall I tend to devalue Live albums unless the album is composed of songs only found there or in forms radically different than the studio version. An exception I can make is when the live atmosphere adds a whole lot of extra sauce and power to the songs. This album is one of those times when, despite non radical changes to the songs outside of slightly more pace and speed, there is a special extra power and atmosphere that makes some of these songs sound better than ever.
Anyway, the point is, this is great! I am majorly biased toward to studio albums about 95% of the time and this is one of those times when I still prefer studio control over live spontaneity. So I probably won’t stick this at the very top of my rankings or on the very top of my motorhead album ranks. BUT this is one I can see myself coming back to every once in awhile to soak in the sheer brutal rock n roll power of peak motorhead.
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PRE-1983 Tier List/Ranking:
MASTERPIECE, NEAR-PERFECT, ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL LISTENING:
1. Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables by Dead Kennedys (September 2nd, 1980) – exemplary track, “Holiday In Cambodia”.
2. Stained Class by Judas Priest (February 10th, 1978) - exemplary track, "Exciter"
3. Static Age by The Misfits (Recorded Jan-Feb, 1978) - exemplary track, "We Are 138"
JUST FUDGIN’ GREAT
4. Lightning To The Nations by Diamond Head (October 3rd, 1980) – exemplary track, “Am I Evil?”[/b]
5. Black Dots by Bad Brains (Recorded June 1979) - exemplary track, "Pay To Cum”
6. Killers by Iron Maiden (February 2nd, 1981) – exemplary track “Wrathchild” 7. Strong Arm of the Law by Saxon (November 14th, 1980) – exemplary track, “To Hell and Back Again”
8. Ace Of Spades by Motörhead (November 8th, 1980) – exemplary track, “Ace Of Spades”
9. Wheels of Steel by Saxon (April 1980) - exemplary track, "747 (Strangers In The Night)"
10. Iron Maiden by Iron Maiden (April 14th, 1980) - exemplary track, "Phantom of the Opera"
11. Overkill by Motörhead (April 24th, 1979) - exemplary track, "Overkill"
12. No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith by Motörhead (Recorded 28 to 30 March, 1981) – exemplary track, “Motorhead”
13. Fight Back EP by Discharge/May 1980) – exemplary track, “You Take Part In Creating The System”.
VERY GOOD with HINTS of GREATNESS
14. (GI) by The Germs (October 1979) - exemplary track, "Lexicon Devil"
15. New Hope for the Wretched by Plasmatics (March 1980) - exemplary track, "Dream Lover"
16. Realities of War EP by Discharge/March 31st, 1980) – exemplary track, “Society’s Victim”
17. Breaker by Accept (March 16th, 1981) – Exemplary track, “Run If You Can” 18. St. Valentine’s Day Massacre EP by MotorheadGirlSchool (February 1981) – exemplary track, “Please Don’t Touch”
GOOD, down to KIND OF FINE … but not my thing yet or maybe ever 19. Angel Witch by Angel Witch (December 1980) – Exemplary track, “Angel Witch”
-----------------
Okay, I'll leave it with that for now. Next will be a huge outpouring of blistering, raging, hardcore. Really, the next post is shaping up to be huge because I have to back track and listen to 2 live albums, as well as 1 archival album from 1977 that I forgot. THEN I have about 7-8 Hardcore punk EPs and LPs to listen to and discuss. I may split it up. We shall see. But whatever I do, I think you’ll like it. See you then _________________ -Ryan
You know what: there's a Saxon gig in my neighborhood on October, 12th and you know who is the support act: Diamond Head.
I haven't bought the ticket yet but I strongly think of going: what do you think?
Saxon is an all-time favorite of mine and of course these guys are getting old but I read some raving reviews on their gigs in the UK at the start of the year. And I really like their latest albums which are still full of energy (although still not reaching the heights of their classics). So for me this is a no-brainer with only one thing that is putting me off a bit: I'll need good earplugs because I have some bad experiences with indoor metal gigs with my ears ringing for a few days.
And as far as Diamond Head goes: I know Am I Evil very well from a compilation album I had in my youth but further than that I'm not very familiar with them although I heard a few of their albums recently.
And on Lightning For the Nations: I think the original album was available on Apple Music until recently (at least in Belgium) because I have the album in my playlist but it's now greyed out (so not available anymore). BUT: there now seems to appear a new re-recorded 2020 version (to which also four covers are added of The Immigrant Song, No Remorse by Metallica, aso) which I haven't heard yet so maybe I need to do just that.
Especially after reading this review:
https://www.angrymetalguy.com/diamond-head-lightning-to-the-nations-2020-review/
And thanks Mercury for your appreciative writing on Motörhead because nobody can claim to be more badass than Lemmy used to be and I can only agree with you on No Sleep Till Hammersmith.
You know what: there's a Saxon gig in my neighborhood on October, 12th and you know who is the support act: Diamond Head.
I haven't bought the ticket yet but I strongly think of going: what do you think?
Saxon is an all-time favorite of mine and of course these guys are getting old but I read some raving reviews on their gigs in the UK at the start of the year. And I really like their latest albums which are still full of energy (although still not reaching the heights of their classics). So for me this is a no-brainer with only one thing that is putting me off a bit: I'll need good earplugs because I have some bad experiences with indoor metal gigs with my ears ringing for a few days.
Hell yeah!!! Can I crash on your couch? lol. 😈 >
But, seriously. You. have. to. GO! and give us the full scoop! 😁
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