Anniversary Series - 1983!

After doing that massive collection of reviews for albums from 1983, I'm more than prepared for this Anniversary Article.  As I mentioned in that other article, 1983 was a pretty exciting year for rock and metal, and going over this year, it's hard to decide to what to keep and what to leave out!  Let's get into it.

Right off, we have some pretty massive releases from some great melodic rock bands.  Journey push their Frontiers with massive hits like "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" and "Faithfully."  Styx released Kilroy Was Here with the ever-catchy "Mr. Roboto" and the great ballad "Don't Let It End."  Blues-rock masters ZZ Top put out Eliminator, featuring a lot of classic rock staples like "Give Me All Your Lovin'," "Got Me Under Pressure," "Sharped Dressed Man," and of course, "TV Dinners."  (Well, okay, that last one is just a personal favorite.)

Heavy metal was just starting to break into the mainstream, starting with Def Leppard's Pyromania, with tracks like "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages" getting tons of airplay on MTV.  We also saw Mötley Crüe Shout at the Devil while displaying "Looks that Kill," but it would Quiet Riot's Metal Health that would be the first metal album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200, soaring with their cover of Slade's "Cum On Feel the Noize," beating out Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Great metal albums would continue to come out as the year went on.  Iron Maiden followed up their titanic Number of the Beast with Piece of Mind and "The Trooper."  Dio would start his own band with Holy Diver and sing about being a "Rainbow in the Dark."  Anvil and Manowar would carry on the US side of traditional metal with Forged in Fire and Into Glory Ride, respectively.  However, Metallica would provide the shot in the arm for the underground scene with their debut Kill'em All, and kickstarting thrash metal the world over.

Progressive bands would find themselves in a strange position.  Many of the old guard were suddenly finding pop success.  Genesis's self-titled album provided "That's All" and "Mama" as big radio hits, prog supergroup Asia would struggle with Alpha, despite being a very solid album, and Yes would reform around new guitarist Trevor Rabin for the massive hit "Owner of a Lonely Heart" on 90125.  However, with the review I gave last month, newcomers like Marillion and IQ were putting a new spin on what prog could sound like.

Getting to the end of the year, we have some more excellent metal to round us out.  Night Ranger's debut album Midnight Madness was big, with "(You Can Still) Rock in America," "When You Close Your Eyes," and the massive power balled "Sister Christian."  Ozzy regrouped after the disastrous death of Randy Rhoads by finding Jake E. Lee and releasing Bark at the Moon, and Accept would find international success with Balls to the Wall.  

Whew!  That was quite a lot, and there's plenty more in the playlist below, so be sure to check out what's down there.  I know that every year generally has some solid stuff, but 1983 was clearly a great year for rock and metal.  If there was anything I missed, let me know in the comments.  

Anniversary Series - 1982!

While I do apologize for the lack of posts lately, but I am certainly not going to miss out on doing another Anniversary Series article.  This time: 1982, which is a pretty solid year.  Following up on 1977 would be hard, but this year has plenty of rock and metal to celebrate.

Right off, the year starts with three pretty big albums.  First is Asia's debut, a solid pack of AOR melodic rock, and one of my favorites of all time.  And given that it was the best selling album of the year, I don't think I'm alone in that.  The next big one was Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast, kickstarting Bruce Dickinson's rise to the top of heavy metal vocalists, and catapulting the band to the heights of metal history.  This was followed by Scorpions' Blackout, with the big hit "No One Like You," helping to grow their international appeal.

As spring turns to summer, we see a landslide of melodic rock.  Toto released their massive IV album, with "Rosanna" and "Africa" become radio staples for many years to come.  Meanwhile, Magnum found themselves with Chase the Dragon, Rainbow continued their push into FM radio with Straight Between the Eyes, .38 Special gave us "Caught Up In You," Survivor told us about the "Eye of the Tiger," and the Steve Miller Band cast their spell with "Abracadabra." On top of all that, the Alan Parsons Project shift into melodic rock as well with Eye in the Sky, not only getting a big hit with the title track, but ensuring that the Chicago Bulls would have great intro music for their games for years to come.

Heavy metal was also heating up, with Anvil establishing their Metal on Metal sound, Manowar releasing their debut Battle Hymns, Twisted Sister put out their debut Under the Blade, and Judas Priest coming back from their lukewarm last album with the acclaimed Screaming with Vengeance, with the big hit "You've Got Another Thing," and the fan favorite "Electric Eye."  Accept would soon follow afterward with Restless and Wild, helping to push metal into going "Fast as a Shark," while telling us about the "Princess of the Dawn."

The rest of the year would give us a few solid rock albums.  Rush would push further into synthesizer territory with Signals, Dire Straits would warn us of the dangers of "Industrial Disease" on Love Over Gold, and Led Zeppelin would release their last, posthumous album Coda, putting a definitive capstone on their illustrious music productivity.  Closing out the year, Night Ranger would debut with Dawn Patrol, providing the big hit "Don't Tell Me You Love Me," and showing the future of rock in the 80s with their pop metal sound.

1982 sees more transitions, as AOR reaches its peak with metal coming up behind them, making it a fascinating year with a lot of variety.  As always, I've got the playlist below, and if you think I've missed something, let me know!  Until then, rock on! \m/

Last Played - December 2021 Part Two!

Round two of 2021 catch-up!  Some of these bands I haven't really talked about much this year, but some have definitely been lighting up my New Video articles.  With a good split of epic power metal and 80s hard rock, it's been a lot of fun to listen to these!  Here's what I've checked out this time.

Rhapsody of Fire - Glory for Salvation

While I did check out the singles for this album, none of them really excited me enough to share them in my articles.  However, I'm always intrigued by a story, and this band is continuing on with their Nephilim's Empire Saga from their last album.  They also continue their well-established style of symphonic power metal, full of bombast and epicness.

The story picks up with Kreel, a thrall of the evil gods known as the Nephilim, going about doing their bidding and maintaining their tyranny.  After killing a holy prophet and falling in love with his next target, a desert enchantress, he decides to defy his evil lord, but the lord kills the enchantress in retaliation, inspiring Kreel to start fighting back.  I'm assuming the next album will focus on the epic showdown as Kreel takes on his former master.  It's not much of a story, but as always with these things, it's an opportunity to hang some power metal on all the angst and melodrama.

As for the music, it's pretty typical stuff for Rhapsody of Fire.  Plenty of orchestrations to back up Giacomo Voli's vocals and the noodly guitars.  The album does start with some darker, heavier material, culminating with the 10-minute "Abyss of Pain II," before switching to a more upbeat tone for the rest of the songs, which matches the story.  While I've always kind of struggled with Rhapsody of Fire's style, I did feel this one was more on the accessible side than some of their others.  As for stand out tracks, "Terial the Hawk" moves into folk metal territory, "Son of Vengeance" and "Chains of Destiny" were solid power metal songs, and "Abyss of Pain II" is certainly epic, if a bit too long.  Fans of the band will find plenty to like, but outside of that, it's standard story-driven power metal.

Night Ranger - ATBPO

With all these new bands playing in older styles, it's nice to see some of the originals still kicking it.  Night Ranger has always been one of those bands that I consider pretty solid from the 80s, but I've never dug too deep into their catalog.  I did enjoy their last album, though, and here they are back with another set of decent, if predictable, melodic hard rock.

Fans will probably find this to be more of the same from a band who's style was set nearly from the get-go.  The album itself has an interesting flow, as it starts with a lot of energy, gets a little slower in the middle with those ballads, and then finishes with some bigger sounding songs.  Overall, there are some solid rock riffs, nice melodies, decent guitar solos, and a great vocal performance from Jack Blades.  I liked "Coming for You" and "Breakout," as they start the album well.  "Monkey" was a curious stand-out as well, with a bit of a heavier riff than the rest of the tracks.

It's always tough for some of these bands, as it can feel like their best years are behind them.  Rarely, a band can put out a great album later in their career, long after the spotlight has moved on from their style of music.  As a result, some of these later albums, such as this one, come across as a little safe.  Maybe they'll play a song or two when they tour, but otherwise, a lot of this might be forgotten.  That doesn't mean this album is necessarily bad; I definitely like what I heard.  But in the end, this is probably not one many will come back to frequently.

Eclipse - Wired

Speaking of those newer bands playing older styles, Eclipse hit my radar with their last album Paradigm.  I had heard a few singles and liked what I heard, but it wasn't until I heard the album that I was really impressed by them.  Just solid hard rock from beginning to end.  So when I saw more singles from them announcing a new album, I was definitely excited.  Now that I've finally sat down for this one, I can say that it's a solid follow-up, if not quite as strong.

The basics are certainly still here.  The riffs really rock, and the vocals really soar, making for a lot of anthemic stompers and ensuring that the album retains much of the energy and fun of the previous album.  Even the ballads get into it, often starting in somber, acoustic guitar territory before hitting with a big distorted riff out of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra playbook.  However, some of the tracks do feel a little pedestrian at times, and the album doesn't really move much from a mid-tempo pace.

That being said, those are pretty small nitpicks, and any one looking for some solid, wall-of-sound hard rock will find plenty to like.  "Roses on Your Grave" has a bit of a classic Def Leppard vibe, "Saturday Night (Hallelujah)" is a party by itself, "Twilight" is very epic with its added touch of Beethoven, and "Bite the Bullet" has some great, crunchy riffs and an interesting, ominous slide-guitar solo that builds to some more epicness.  I think some of my excitement for this band has been tempered by this album, but I feel I can continue to expect great things from these Swedes.  I should probably dig into their back catalog as well, as I know they've got plenty of albums behind them!

Brainstorm - Wall of Skulls

Brainstorm is a band I was somewhat aware of.  I had listened to their 2011 album On the Spur of the Moment and found it to be some decent heavy/power metal that's typical from Germany.  However, as 2021 got going, Brainstorm suddenly hit with a number of singles that really got my attention!  Now that I'm catching up, this was an album I was definitely looking forward to!

Once the instrumental intro builds up, the album kicks off with tons of power and the rest of the songs do a decent job of maintaining that level of intensity.  The riffs are heavy, but they're also pretty catchy, and the solos are very tight and melodic.  However, the drumming by Dieter Bernert really nails the driving, epic vibe with his fierce double-kicking power.  Overall, this is some pretty gritty power metal, much in the vein of bands like Primal Fear, Metalium, and Bloodbound.

Not every track is a winner, as a few just seem to jog in place, but they're still decent.  Nothing really brings the album down.  The songwriting is especially tight, with no real frills or extensions, just straight-forward power metal.  "Where Ravens Fly" is a great high flying starter, "Escape the Silence" has some seriously pounding drumming, and "My Dystopia" is another fast one that really stood out to me as above the pack.  As for the mid-tempo songs, "Turn Off the Light" and "Glory Disappears" were pretty enjoyable to hear again.  "Stigmatized (Shadows Fall)" had an unexpected bit of groove, surrounded by some interesting 12/8 riffing.

The end of the album kinda tapers off in energy, but doesn't completely lose its steam.  To be honest, this album might be in my Top 5 for this year.  I knew it will be tough to decide what those five will be, and this album has definitely made it tougher!  This is some solid, crunchy, epic music and worth a look from any power metal fan who likes it on the heavy side but somehow hasn't picked this up.

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Alright, I think I've got one more article to pull together before I'm caught up with all I want to hear.  I'm certain that I've listen listened to more current-year albums this year than I have ever before!  Still, when it's all this solid, I can't complain, or at least I shouldn't, right?  Well, onto the last batch!  Until then, rock on!  \m/

New Videos - May 2021 Part Two!

I admit I'm not a fan of summer, and as the weather starts to warm up, I'm dreading the inevitable heat.  Perhaps some rock and metal will distract me from it!  Here, we have a good mix of genres as well as classic bands and some new ones I've never heard of.  Turn it up!

It's always nice to see good bands still going, and Night Ranger is one of them.  There's nothing particularly new here, as it's classic, 80s-style pop metal with synths to add some extra layers, but it's energetic and well done, with the modern production adding some nice heft to the guitars.

I'm definitely excited for Helloween's next album, and this video really amplifies that.  Nice use of dynamics, between the acoustic guitars, the noodly solos, the double-kicking bass drums, and the great harmonies on the chorus, this is some charged-up power metal from the band that invented the genre!

I guess these guys have been kicking around Norway for a while, but this is the first I've heard of them.  New singer Jørgen Bergersen has got some good vocals, augmented by some solid, mid-tempo rocking.  This has an interesting mix of pop metal with some prog-style layering, making them sound like Winger or Europe.

Yup, some more from Robin.  This one is a little heavier and crunchier, but with the dramatic keyboards and McAuley's vocals, it makes for an anthemic rocker.  I think I've shared every single from this album now.  I should probably give the rest of the album a listen!

It amazes me how many new power metal bands are starting up.  Vandor is a new one for me from Sweden, and they seem to have a good mix of Gamma Ray and Sonata Arctica.  Uptempo stuff that doesn't just rely on guitars, but keeps things rich with keys and other layering.  I will definitely be keeping an eye on this one!

I actually like thrash metal quite a bit, but most of it is outside the scope of this blog.  As for this band, I've known about them, but haven't listened to much.  Here, though, we have a great piece of melodic thrash.  The vocals are huge and the riffs are catchy, making this feel more like traditional metal, and it really works well!

New Videos - December 2018, Part 2!

You know, the more I look around, the more alive the whole rock and metal scene feels!  It's so great to know there are so many good bands out there still making great music!

I admit that I'm not as familiar with Rhapsody of Fire as I should be, but I do know they've been making story-driven symphonic power metal for 20 years now, and it would seem that their epic tales will go on.  Their new singer sounds great on this fantasy epic!

So, apparently, the lead singer of Dimmu Borgir has been doing this band on the side for years, going for more of a Motorhead approach to metal.  As it turns out, this is from what they've claimed will be their last album.  Uptempo riffs and a good-time feel will make you feel like roaring out on that motorcycle one more time!

Hey, remember last week when I was psyched over the Herman Frank last week?  Here's another one!  This is more of a slow-paced stomper with a great shout-along chorus that would have filled arenas in the 80s.  I think I'm really looking forward to this album!

Well, this is a bolt out of the blue!  I admit I don't have much knowledge of the Japanese metal scene, but I know there are a handful of power metal bands out there like this  (Galneryus comes to mind).  Very impressive!

Of course, we can't have one of these lists without some good old-fashioned AOR!  Full of anthemic lyrics, heavy guitars, and huge synths, this one from Find Me fits right next to Journey and Night Ranger for that classic 80s sound.

Let's finish this one off with something special.  And by that, I mean viking Manowar.  This is so campy and cheesy that I can't help but smile!  While the video might look pretty laughable, the music is pretty solid and epic.  For those who don't take their metal so seriously.