Not a very good list if you ask me, it uses the term "power metal" way too liberally. Dio was important to power metal but nobody in the community will point to their/his work as power metal in itself. Power Metal wouldn't be fully realized and formed until a few years later. So many people (especially on RYM) run things through their head and their opinions come off as revisionist or at best ahistorical.
Not a very good list if you ask me, it uses the term "power metal" way too liberally. Dio was important to power metal but nobody in the community will point to their/his work as power metal in itself. Power Metal wouldn't be fully realized and formed until a few years later. So many people (especially on RYM) run things through their head and their opinions come off as revisionist or at best ahistorical.
It would really help me out if you could give me YOUR Top Ten Power Metal Albums of the 80s, Gowi!!!
The important thing to know about power metal is it was still largely becoming a thing. Much like how death and black metal were still in the throes of thrash metal (and Motorhead's shadow), power metal wasn't ultimately too different than the speed metal of the era. What seperated it early on was its leaning on the influence of Manowar and Judas Priest while taking those sounds to "the next level". Power Metal wouldn't round out its sense of melody and whimsy until the mid-to-late 1990s. It has been my favorite metal genre since I was fifteen years old and it continues to have a special place in my heart.
The King. Anyone who doesn't place it at the top doesn't know what they are talking about. Helloween conceptualized what power metal could be. For some it is still the peak of the genre, for others its still the most important album to be cut in the genre.
Much like their peers, emphasis on the speed metal elements with a burst of guitar riffs that feel like you're racing in Formula 1 or NASCAR. You're zoomin' and it feels awesome.
Is it a straight speed metal record? Is it a power metal record? Metal fans have debated this one (myself included) but what can't be ignored is its influence on the likes of Cage, Slough Feg, and countless other power metal groups in the 2000s. It also slaps.
Probably as dark as Helstar's Nosferatu. Riffs are a little slower, but not by much. Not very influential to melodic power metal or epic power metal, but groups like Firewind and such might point to them consistently as their forebears.
Where it began. When I originally got into power metal I found the production too off for my taste and the melodies not up to par, but I was also comparing two different eras of the band. Still impressive that this was their debut.
Not a very good list if you ask me, it uses the term "power metal" way too liberally. Dio was important to power metal but nobody in the community will point to their/his work as power metal in itself. Power Metal wouldn't be fully realized and formed until a few years later. So many people (especially on RYM) run things through their head and their opinions come off as revisionist or at best ahistorical.
I don’t know shut about power metal or Dio - so I legit am trying to grapple with this - what features of power metal is missing with Holy Diver. I have heard that album twice and I see that it’s classified as simply Heavy Metal. And I can hear that it’s heavy metal - perhaps the very definition of that genre. But also when I think of Power Metal I think of a genre of metal very richly melodic with harmonizing and lots of traditional metal flair done with the speed and chops of well Speed Metal and also the themes seem to be epic high fantasy - brighter than earlier traditional metal and much brighter than (also quite fantastical , but I’d a devilish variety) the extreme metal that arose at the exact same time. Again; I have not the in depth experience with it. But from what I remember Holy Diver has a lot of those traits. But it is only lacking overtones of SPEED metal that I associate with power metal.
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Edit: love your list you posted as I wrote the above.
EDIT #2: I was listening to some of Holy Diver and some of Keeper of the Seven Keys just now and I can hear that the Dio album is less epic, more grounded in the rough sounds of NWOBHM and traditional metal with some pretty fast licks and riffs and tempos. But the Helloween stuff (possibly the quintessential 1980s band or sound...) was massively epic, magical and soaring, with some heft and heaviness of course but more... melody and grandeur. I suppose I can hear the difference. It still requires some strain from these untrained ears... but I can hear it. _________________ -Ryan
I don’t know shut about power metal or Dio - so I legit am trying to grapple with this - what features of power metal is missing with Holy Diver. I have heard that album twice and I see that it’s classified as simply Heavy Metal. And I can hear that it’s heavy metal - perhaps the very definition of that genre. But also when I think of Power Metal I think of a genre of metal very richly melodic with harmonizing and lots of traditional metal flair done with the speed and chops of well Speed Metal and also the themes seem to be epic high fantasy - brighter than earlier traditional metal and much brighter than (also quite fantastical , but I’d a devilish variety) the extreme metal that arose at the exact same time. Again; I have not the in depth experience with it. But from what I remember Holy Diver has a lot of those traits. But it is only lacking overtones of SPEED metal that I associate with power metal.
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Edit: love your list you posted as I wrote the above.
Vivian Campbell's guitar play is slow, methodical. It isn't just speed, its tempo. Most early power metal bands in the late eighties drew more from bands like Manowar and Priest than Dio and their contemporaries. There are also missing components and Dio, even on those early albums exist on the blurred line of traditional heavy metal and arena rock (AOR) conventions.
If you don't think there's a sonic difference between even the earliest, roughest forms of power metal...
yeah I see what you mean more, @Gowi. I did a second Edit to my last post. But I was too late! story of my life. And I also see what you mean with that last. Although, I haven't heard most of those examples... yet! _________________ -Ryan
I think with some historical revisionism present on sites like RYM it can be exceptionally difficult for newer listeners to really get a feel of the history, too.
But yeah, you'll get there. A lot of people who know power metal know what it became through epic power metal and symphonic power metal during the 2nd and 3rd waves of the genre. Not many that I've talked to remember it really was an offshoot of speed metal with some aspects on loan from traditional heavy metal (particularly in the vocals). I mean it makes sense, power metal came huge into the mainstream with Dragonforce and other acts.
Before moving to synth-ladden arena rock with their following release, Europe was a metal band. A really consistent one on this small release. With songs like "Scream of Anger" and the self-titled track it has a surprisingly amount of punch. It would make a "most slept on" list of metal albums of 1984 very easily. Reminds me of what the Scorpions, UFO, and early Riot were doing at the same time. Check it.
The Setting: Ok. This is where Maiden gets a little ridiculous. They had just put out FOUR albums in FOUR years. And were coming off their massively successful World Piece Tour that had catapulted them unquestionably as the Masters of The Metal Universe. Time for a bit of a break, wouldn't you say? Kick back. Get some beach time <The Bahamas, anyone? > Nope. Powerslavedriver Steve Harris would have none of that. Instead, he flies everyone back down to the Bahamas (where they had recorded Piece Of Mind). It was the first time they would have the same lineup for a recording. Could they possibly make Piece Of Mind Part II?!
The Listen: To try to compare this to Piece Of Mind is to miss the point. Iron Maiden were master craftsmen. And perfectionists. They weren't about to release some dodgy rehash of last year's album. Not on Harris & Dickinson’s watch. And THAT is perhaps the most striking thing about Powerslave. It does NOT sound like Piece's Of Mind Part II. It's the same lineup. The same recording studio. AND, the same producer. YET, Powerslave is something new. <It's own Brave New World >. Once more we get mystical & magical stories. Chock full o' epic, wistful solos and riffs tighter then the bark on a tree. This was not a mere sequel but, once again, transportive world building crafted from metal not of this time or place. BUT, this time it's a different world. A different place.
The Verdict: Maiden’s FIFTH essential album in as many years cements them as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Loved by all at the time of its release, Powerslave is the equal to the game-changing Piece Of Mind, where they crafted a a sound out of time and place. A sound that has never been equaled in the metal kingdom. A sound beyond NWOBHM and sound that had already started spawning the beginnings of both Power Metal and Prog Metal.
The Rating: <will easily finish in my top 5 of ‘84.>
Last edited by Repo on 11/29/2022 04:58; edited 1 time in total
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> Nope. Powerslavedriver 
