Heavy Metal. It means so many things to so many people. To an outsider, Heavy Metal is devil worship in spikes and leather. To Hardcore or Speed Metal fans, the ultimate manifestation of mindless aggression. For Hair Metal fans, it's a celebration of life in the most decadent beer binging way. And to a music geek like me, Metal is simply full commitment to the act of Rocking. Don't think twice about it, just hammer on that guitar solo and shout choruses about your Mean Streak (Y&T, for those keeping score).
One gift I received last Christmas took a little time to take in and that was the incredible four disc Heavy Metal Box. Charting the growth of Metal from the early 70's to it's peak in the 80's. the Heavy Metal Box offers a mind blowing mix of classic Metal. A range of acts are featured covering most of the major sub genres of this ranging from Speed to Hair to Comedy and back again. Like any box set of a genre, licensing prevents it from being definitive (for example, no Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, AC/DC, Van Halen, or Ozzy are here) yet there are enough heavy hitters brought in (Metallica, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden) to keep things interesting. What's really great is the more obscure bands are represented as well, bands like Overkill, Helloween, Hanoi Rocks and Testament are included. These groups I only had passing knowledge of and probably knew their T-Shirts due to fans wearing them than their actual music.
The first disc covers the 70's charting the progression of Metal. Surprisingly, the box does not start off or refer to Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" which is the song most commonly credited as the birth of the genre. Instead, it leads off with a three minute version of Iron Butterfly's "In-Da-Gadda-Da-Vida" (who knew a short version existed?). The 70's show Metal's progression from the Blues/Boogie Rock scene with Deep Purple's "Highway Star", Blue Oyster Cult's "Godzilla" and UFO's "Lights Out" to light the way.
The second disc focuses a bit on the British New Wave Of Heavy Metal, or BNWOHM. Many of the bands that influenced Metallica are on disc 2, bands like Tigers of Pan Tang, Merciful Fate, Diamond Head and Blitzkreig. Standard bearers of BNWOHM Judas Priest and Iron Maiden bring in prime cuts like "You Got Another Thing Comin" and "The Number of the Beast". Tellingly, Metallica is placed at the end of disc 2 with "Whiplash". (It's hard to believe now, but there was a time when Def Leppard was considered part of BNWOHM. I'm not F-F-F-F-Foolin'.)
The third disc dives into Metal's heady Hair Band period. Ratt, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Krokus, Cinderella and a few other "poser" bands bring in the big anthems and shredding guitar solos. Both intentional (Spinal Tap) and unintentional (Stryper) comedic bands are included too (Remember Stryper? The Yellow and Black attack Christian Metal band that threw bibles from the stage Stryper? They sounded great but it was tough to get past that gimmick. Honestly). Some of the Speed Metal scene gets some love here too with Anthrax's "Caught in a Mosh" and Megadeth's "Peace Sells" in for good measure. Plus Accept's "Balls To The Walls", you gotta love that.
Disc 4 brings it too a close by showing the Hair Metal's switch from aerosol canned Led Zep light (Whitesnake's "Still of the Niigghhhtt!) to slightly down and dirty (Great White, Skid Row) to a more brutal sound (Metallica, Slayer and Pantera) before being wiped off the face of the earth by Grunge in the early 90's.
While probably no box set could fully capture the Metal experience, this set makes great choices in what to include. A real treat for me was getting or in some cases hearing for the first time some of the lesser known bands. Ywgnie Malmsteen is a guitarist I've always liked a lot but didn't have any of his stuff. Same with the Michael Schekner Group, finally I have some MSG. Best of all, the set comes with Savatage's "Hall Of The Mountain King". I'm a big fan of that band's name, it just sounds cool like people should have kids just so they can name them Savatage.
And what better way to wrap up this post than having the video from that band. Hmmm...maybe I should legally change my name. I could be Mr. Savatage. How cool would that be? Would I like fries with that?? No, Mr. Savatage will have the salad instead please. Heh Heh, Savatage.
One gift I received last Christmas took a little time to take in and that was the incredible four disc Heavy Metal Box. Charting the growth of Metal from the early 70's to it's peak in the 80's. the Heavy Metal Box offers a mind blowing mix of classic Metal. A range of acts are featured covering most of the major sub genres of this ranging from Speed to Hair to Comedy and back again. Like any box set of a genre, licensing prevents it from being definitive (for example, no Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, AC/DC, Van Halen, or Ozzy are here) yet there are enough heavy hitters brought in (Metallica, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden) to keep things interesting. What's really great is the more obscure bands are represented as well, bands like Overkill, Helloween, Hanoi Rocks and Testament are included. These groups I only had passing knowledge of and probably knew their T-Shirts due to fans wearing them than their actual music.
The first disc covers the 70's charting the progression of Metal. Surprisingly, the box does not start off or refer to Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" which is the song most commonly credited as the birth of the genre. Instead, it leads off with a three minute version of Iron Butterfly's "In-Da-Gadda-Da-Vida" (who knew a short version existed?). The 70's show Metal's progression from the Blues/Boogie Rock scene with Deep Purple's "Highway Star", Blue Oyster Cult's "Godzilla" and UFO's "Lights Out" to light the way.
The second disc focuses a bit on the British New Wave Of Heavy Metal, or BNWOHM. Many of the bands that influenced Metallica are on disc 2, bands like Tigers of Pan Tang, Merciful Fate, Diamond Head and Blitzkreig. Standard bearers of BNWOHM Judas Priest and Iron Maiden bring in prime cuts like "You Got Another Thing Comin" and "The Number of the Beast". Tellingly, Metallica is placed at the end of disc 2 with "Whiplash". (It's hard to believe now, but there was a time when Def Leppard was considered part of BNWOHM. I'm not F-F-F-F-Foolin'.)
The third disc dives into Metal's heady Hair Band period. Ratt, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Krokus, Cinderella and a few other "poser" bands bring in the big anthems and shredding guitar solos. Both intentional (Spinal Tap) and unintentional (Stryper) comedic bands are included too (Remember Stryper? The Yellow and Black attack Christian Metal band that threw bibles from the stage Stryper? They sounded great but it was tough to get past that gimmick. Honestly). Some of the Speed Metal scene gets some love here too with Anthrax's "Caught in a Mosh" and Megadeth's "Peace Sells" in for good measure. Plus Accept's "Balls To The Walls", you gotta love that.
Disc 4 brings it too a close by showing the Hair Metal's switch from aerosol canned Led Zep light (Whitesnake's "Still of the Niigghhhtt!) to slightly down and dirty (Great White, Skid Row) to a more brutal sound (Metallica, Slayer and Pantera) before being wiped off the face of the earth by Grunge in the early 90's.
While probably no box set could fully capture the Metal experience, this set makes great choices in what to include. A real treat for me was getting or in some cases hearing for the first time some of the lesser known bands. Ywgnie Malmsteen is a guitarist I've always liked a lot but didn't have any of his stuff. Same with the Michael Schekner Group, finally I have some MSG. Best of all, the set comes with Savatage's "Hall Of The Mountain King". I'm a big fan of that band's name, it just sounds cool like people should have kids just so they can name them Savatage.
And what better way to wrap up this post than having the video from that band. Hmmm...maybe I should legally change my name. I could be Mr. Savatage. How cool would that be? Would I like fries with that?? No, Mr. Savatage will have the salad instead please. Heh Heh, Savatage.
Savatage - "Hall of the Mountain King"
2 comments:
WOW! What a gift! The bands you named bring back such memories. I can tell you where I lived and what I was doing by the bands that got the radio play in a place. I moved around a lot during the 80's (4 high schools in 3 years and more moving after that).
You have inspired me to write a blog about that and see how much I can remember. Thank you.
Hey SKW,
I was reading your blog and really enjoyed your post about your history. It takes a lot of courage to share a personal story. And now, to be completely incongruous...Rock ON!
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