Anniversary Series - 1989!

Another month, another Anniversary Article!  1989 is an interesting year, as rock was in the middle of a lot of transition.  Grunge and alternative rock was slowly growing, pop metal was as big as ever, thrash and death metal were finding their audiences, and other genres were bubbling up.  Here's how this year went!

The year starts of with a number of big hits, as Skid Row and Warrant release their debut albums.  The former provided "18 to Life," "Youth Gone Wild," and the big ballad "I Remember You," while Warrant was about the "Down Boys" and "Heaven."  Great White would soon follow with ...Twice Shy, and the sort of title track cover song "Once Bitten Twice Shy."

However, the beginning of the year, saw other iconic releases, such as Doro's Force Majeure, her first album on her own, Metal Church picking up Mike Howe for Blessing in Disguise, and Dream Theater released their debut with When Dream and Day Unite, carving a small niche for progressive metal that they would widen later.  Meanwhile, Seattle was getting a taste of the future with Nirvana's debut Bleach and Soundgarden's Louder than Love.  In the midst of all this, Jon Anderson would leave Yes and form a group with former Yes members called Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe.  Their self-titled album would be a unique prog rock highlight for the year.

As the year goes on, we get more epic hits, with Mötley Crüe's Dr. Feelgood being a massive single factory, including the title track, "Kickstart My Heart," and "Same Ol' Situation."  Alice Cooper would comeback with his own take on the genre with "Poison," John Sykes would form Blue Murder and record their debut album, while his former bandmates Whitesnake would carry on with Slip of the Tongue, featuring "Judgment Day."  

However, in my opinion, the winner of the year is Candlemass.  Their fourth album Tales of Creation is peak doom metal, in my opinion.  I know I don't talk much about the genre on the blog, but this album is my standard for what a good doom metal album sounds like.  From the epic riff on "Under the Oak," to the atmospheric plodding on "Dark Revelations" and "The Edge of Heaven," and even the sudden high-speed instrumental "In the Unfathomed Tower" are all highlights.  A favorite album of mine, from any year.

Wrapping things up, we see Blind Guardian's follow up Follow the Blind, featuring their classic closer "Valhalla" with Kai Hansen showing up with some vocals of his own.  Stratovarius released their debut Fright Night, being more of a speed metal group before they became power metal titans.  Guitar legend Michael Schenker teamed up with Robin McAuley and release Save Yourself, a unique team up that probably should have lasted longer.  Finally, Savatage would really lean into a Queen-like theatrical style with Gutter Ballet, definitely showing signs of where they would end up, to say nothing of their Christmas-themed spin-off.

So that's another year wrapped up again.  Once again, check out the playlist below for more, and let me know in the comments what else stands out to you from this year.  In the meantime, I've got some more albums to listen to, so keep an eye out for more reviews.  Until then, rock on!  \m/

New Videos - April 2023!

Man, it's been a busy month.  Still, I found a handful of interesting bands to go over for this set of videos, some new to me, some classic.  I'm covering quite a range of genres with this one, but that doesn't mean they all don't deserve to be played at max volume!

Yup, more Tanith.  This one definitely has more of a mellowed-out 70s jam vibe, with less of the mystery and mystique.  Still, it's a decent rocker that settles into a comfortable space, with some interesting overlapping vocal lines.  I've definitely been looking forward to their album, and I plan on getting to it soon.

Weapon (alternatively known as Weapon UK) is actually an oldschool NWOBHM band that never really got off the ground in the 80s.  But thanks to classic metal bands finding new audiences in the age of the internet, they've had something of a revival in the 21st century.  While I've never heard of them before, this clearly has the band pushing into heavy/power metal territory, and I can't deny that it's rather catchy.  

I admit I haven't played the Soul Reaver games (though I've heard good things), I definitely know good power metal when I hear it.  The song-writing gives me some Blind Guardian vibes, how it goes back and forth between aggressive and melodic passages.  I'll have to catch up with these Finns at some point.

The Dust Coda are back again, and they're starting with another high energy blues rock anthem!  It doesn't seem like they're changing things up much, but I'm okay with that, as their first two albums are some very solid retro rock, and I'll be happy to take a third!

It might be silly to call a nine-minute song a "single," but this is the second one Yes has given in anticipation of their new album next month.  It has some nice melodies and shifts, but it pretty much stays in this chilled tone the whole time, making me wish for a little more punch.

Going from light prog rock to melodic thrash might just be the biggest stretch I've done on a New Videos article!  While I'm not quite sold on their new singer, Metal Church does know how to bring the riffs and the fretwork that inspire a solid, headbang-worthy track.

Anniversary Series - 2016!

Finally, we reach 2016, and I've actually listened to a decent amount of stuff for this year, so I'll be doing a standard anniversary article for this one!  Most of what I have will be power metal and proggy stuff, but there are a few others mixed in for the playlist.

I'm going to start off with an absolutely amazing album: Rulebreaker by Primal Fear.  It was the first album of theirs I had ever listened to, and I was completely blown away.  Definitely leaning towards a Painkiller-style of power metal, it was still very epic, with tons of great riffs and energy.  With massive tracks like the title track, "The End Is Near," "Bullets & Tears," "In Metal We Trust," and "Constant Heart," it's an excellent album from top to bottom.  This was my favorite album of the year, by far!  Of course, there were other good power metal albums that came out this year.  Rhapsody of Fire, Serenity, and Avantasia provided plenty in the symphonic style, while Iron Savior and Mystic Prophecy kept things heavy.

Progressive rock and metal also had a few releases worth mentioning.  While Dream Theater stumbled with The Astonishing, DGM really knocked it out of the park with The Passage, Kansas put out their first album in 16 years with the decent The Prelude Implicit, and Jon Anderson teamed up with Roine Stolt for the dreamy, light-hearted Invention of Knowledge.  Supposedly, they had plans for a second album, but they haven't been able to find time to work it out.  I know I'd definitely be interested in what else they would create.

I know I generally don't cover thrash metal, but they had a decent year as well, with Metallica and Megadeth both putting out albums.  In a bit of a surprise for me, I actually preferred the Megadeth album.  Part of it was that Metallica had gotten back into bad habits with a double album that sounded a lot like Load and Reload, which I've never liked.  "Atlas Rise" was probably the only track I really liked from Hardwired...To Self-Destruct.  However, the other part is that Megadeth picked up Kiko Loureiro from Angra, making the guitar-work on Dystopia quite slick and powerful.  Oh, and Metal Church brought Mike Howe back for XI, including the excellent thrash anthem "Reset."

Finally, I just want to make mention of Airbourne's Breakin' Outta Hell.  While I was aware that Airbourne was a lot like AC/DC, this album was the first one of theirs I listened all the way through, and I found I kept coming back to it.  While they still have the classic blues-rock sound, they pump it up with a lot of energy and power.  With songs like the title track, "It's Never Too Loud For Me," and "It's All For Rock N' Roll," they really hit a stride with an album that flat-out rocks.

So that will do it for 2016 and for this year's worth of anniversary articles.  I really do enjoy makings these, as it gives me the opportunity to see rock and metal history in a different light, so I hope you're enjoying them as well.  As always, there's a playlist below with more, and if I've missed anything, let me know.  Until then, rock on! \m/