The Top Ten Heavy Metal Bands of All Time (According to the New Times Blog)
Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 12:01AM Once a week, I try to make a pass and see what other media outlets are saying about Metal acts. The New Times blog of Broward-Palm Beach, Florida just posted their picks for the ten best Metal bands of all times. Some of the picks make sense, some are just out of whack. Here's the list:
1. Black Sabbath
2. Metallica
3. Judas Priest
4. Slayer
5. Mastodon
6. Motorhead
7. Iron Maiden
8. Megadeth
9. Death
10. Pantera
Iron Maiden should be at the top of the list, then Black Sabbath. I'd keep Judas Priest in the number three slot. Who doesn't belong? Mastodon, Death and maybe even Slayer.
I'll give the writer of the post credit: each band included on the list is true Metal...still, there's one big act missing: AC/DC. I have to admit astonishment at any "best of Metal list" that fails to include the mighty AC/DC.
What say you?
Reader Comments (27)
I would say it needs to be
1 - Black Sabbath
2 - Iron Maiden
3 - Judas Priest
4 - Metallica
5 - Motorhead
6 - Slayer
7 - Pantera
8 - Megadeth
9 - Anthrax
10 - Testament
And yes - Maiden should top that list. Mastodon before them? Impossible. ;)
too bad the only band i listen on there is Metallica! ha
and slayer does not deserve a spot in the top 10.
Black Sabbath is the ONLY band that stands any chance of mattering more than Maiden, because BS invented metal. Iron Maiden are the best live band I've ever seen, by a pretty wide margin. Pantera and Metallica are the only bands on my list I've not seen live, and even if Metallica is good enough live, they sold us out for too long to ever be the best metal band of all time.
I think Maiden should have been #2 or #3.
Of course, you could just mean, what the hell are they doing on this list. In which case, I agree.
A voice from the old skool...
And this is sure to perpetuate the whole Hard Rock vs. Metal conundrum. Thanks for setting the trap, Al...
Here's my...
Top 10 Metal Bands of All Time
1) Led Zeppelin - Original Metal. C'mon, yeah. So they did a fair amount of Acoustic stuff. But then there's "Immigrant Song", "When The Levee Breaks", "Nobody's Fault But Mine", "Communication Breakdown" among others, all seem Metal to me.
2) Black Sabbath - Original Metal None of the crap some "Metalheads" worship would have been possible without these guys. They just made it more catchy, whereas most of the stuff you guys consider to be true metal lacks catchiness, as in real memorable catchy riffs and hooks. That Iommi, whoa! Fingertip extensions (due to a factory accident) he fashioned from metal thimbles? Man, it doesn't get any more Metal than that. You can even hear that extra metal-ness in his playing because of the frickin' thimbles. And come on, besides his leads, these guys absolutely defined Heavy Metal with their songs.
3) AC/DC - Party Metal
4) Judas Priest - Classic Metal
5) Accept - Metal
6) Scorpions - Party Metal
7) Motley Crue - Glam Metal
8) Steppenwolf - Classic Metal (hey, man, they coined the phrase, "Heavy Metal", as in "I like smoking lightning, Heavy Metal thunder..." from "Born To Be Wild". 1968!
9) Aerosmith - Classic Metal. Okay, laff all you want and I do have 'em classified as Rock on my iTunes playlists. If certain bands you people call "Hard Rock" can influence Metal, that makes 'em Metal to me.
10) Deep Purple - Classic Metal. What is considered to be the most definitive, most recognizable Heavy Metal riff of all time?...That's right, the opening of "Smoke On The Water". Hello, did someone say, Anthrax? Never heard of 'em.
11) Saxon - NWOBHM. Let's not forget these characters were the inspiration for "Spinal Tap". In fact, Chris Guest and Harry Scherer hung out with them on Tour when they were researching and writing the movie. "Dallas 1 p.m.", "Crusader", "And The Band Played On"--Metal! And their unintentionally hilarious sell-out attempt that no one bought, 86's "Destiny" album, including their perfect butchering of Christopher Cross' soft rock classic (read, "Sap"), "Ride Like The Wind". An accidental masterpiece, if there ever was one.
12) Riot - Metal. Yeah, ok, "Swords and Tequila" and "Fire Down Under" are cool but let's go for uncool and hilarious--Check out "Metal Soldiers" off the "Privilege of Power" album, I dare say, the last great Metal album out the door before your Grunge/Death Metal dominated. This album is so Metal, it even has big band jazz horns on it! "On Your Knees" and really the whole album, even the ballads, is really quite an achievement. A real study in overkill, if you ask me. Could this dude sing any higher? Can anyone shred faster? They even cover a jazz fusion tune from the 70's, Al DiMeola's "Racing With The Devil On A Spanish Highway". I believe the guitarist's tongues are firmly in cheek during the dual shredathons and while the singer in shattering the Baccarat with his high octive calls to the wild.
13) Iron Maiden - NWOBHM. My friend Phil, who's British, classifies this as what's known in England as "Greaser Metal", hahaha!!! Alright, guys, don't get weird, I actually like some of it. It's just that anoying bass player, who bugs me, that's all. I do love Dickenson's solo effort, "Tattooed Millionaire" particularly his cover of AC/DC's "Sin City", If no one here can get past the Hark Rock label you've saddled AC/DC with, Dickenson sure aa hell has metalized them with his rendition of this killer opus.
14) Guns n' Roses - Classic Metal. "Welcome To The Jungle", anyone? Saw 'em 6 times including after "Appetite" had only been out for 2 weeks. Deafening.
15) Lizzy Borden - Metal. "Red Rum", Give "Em The Axe", "Me Against The World", et al, this sure sounds like Metal to me. And catchy at that. He started to lose the plot ("Started to..." Ha,ha,ha!!!) with Master of Disguise. Everything before is pure "American Metal". Saw 'em 3 times.
Sorry, guys, no Metallica, though I do like parts of "Ride The Lightning" and "Master of Puppets". Oh, and their best song is someone else's...Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy". I find Lars Ulrich particularly annoying, also. He sure does hold himself in high regard, doesn't he? Too bad, no matter how hard he hits his kit, he just ain't rock'n'roll. I don't mind Hetfield, though.
I know I'm opening myself up for criticism here, but here's how I came up with the formula for the list, and, yes, as you can see, personal taste does enter into it, ss well as what one considers to be Metal, or in my case, what I humbly consider to be Metal, which I know will open me up to much scrutiny from this esteemed crowd of Bring Back Glam followers. One thing I'm sure we can agree on. This is one helluva site. She's always surprising me with what she comes up with. Especially some new "old" METAL band from back in the day. And this is coming from someone who considers himself a thoroughly misinformed know-it-all!
I'm not going to classify someone into my Top !0 just because they a candidate is considered to be a big "Metal" act based solely on sales and media hype brainwashing. It's about listenability! And image! It's almost like half of this crap gets considered based on unlistenability (Anthrax -- who's most popular and catchiest song was a cover of "Radio Friendly New Wave/Jazz boy, Joe Jackson, "Got The Time", which still blows because they blow. Even partied with that unibrow Scott what's-his-name with the shorts--Hey, and I'm sorry, but frickin' shorts fallin' off your ass ain't metal!)and even hangin' with the dude didn't change my mind about those clowns, let alone make me bother to look up that clowns last name. In fact that guy came across as distinctly "Unmetal" to me. I saw Slayer at Roseland in NYC back in the day. I practically fell asleep at how boring that was. I'd rather just go to the dog pound with a Charvelle and a Mesa Boogie Amp cranked up to 11 and just strum one chord randomly to achieve the same effect. Hey, Slayer would have one a Grammy (wait, didn't they win one or at least were nominated, laughable, like almost everything else about the Grammy's)if they had a category for "Best Comedy Metal Album". But I digress. Here's my formula and it's as random as my guitar skills, which are nil, but here goes...
In the words of Billy Gibbons, "It's gotta have crunch".
It's gotta be loud (Aerosmith, believe it or not, actually held the record for highest decibels for like 5 minutes on the Toys In The Attic Tour in '75, yes louder than Sabbath, OMG, or in this case, OMD).
It's gotta be catchy. That's just me. Sorry, guys, just cuz the singer barks like a dog (Slayer, James Hetfield, et al), the guitarists can shred (Kurt Hammett and whoever those other greaseers are you guys worship)doesn't make it good, adn I'm sorry, ok, yeah, they are regarded as Metal, they might even be technically competent but that ain't goin' on my list.
My last criteria, since alot of these bands sold out at is to look at them through the prism of history -- their groundbreaking moments, their influence on the genre.
And let's define Metal shall we, at least for my list..
Just stick with True Metal and the list is going to be pretty boring, limited and bleak.
Let's peel the Band Name layer off the list and redo it with a few songs representing each band and you tell me if those songs ain't metal, and therefore define the band as Metal...
1) "For Your Life", Led Zeppelin, from their'76 album, Presence. That ain't bludgeoning? Or how about "Heartbreaker" on 69's, Led Zeppelin II. You all may call this Hard Rock, but at the time this was Metal. In fact, it's been argued they invented it alongside Black Sabbath. Even their swan song, no pun intended, "In The Evening", is what I would consider to be metal. It just happens to be a little catchier , as in possessing a lick or riff that's actually good and memorable. And a helluva lead to boot. Saw 'em in '77 off "Presence". Bloody ear splitting!
2) "War Pigs", "Paranoid", Black Sabbath. I know I'm preaching to the already damned here, so I don't need to torture you with any diatribes with this selection. Check out the punk band, the Dickies' ("The World's Fastest Band") version of Paranoid, to really hear something amusing, also.
3) "Problem Child", "Sin City", "Back In Black", "Ballbreaker", AC/DC. Yeah, okay, they are at the top of the heap of what you guys consider Hard Rock, I even have 'em as "Rock" on my iTunes, but they are so consistently bad ass, crunchy and relentlessly bludgeoning, not to mention, influential. I don't care what anyone says, they never sold out, as commercialized as they may seem to have become. They're Metal in my book. Saw 'em 14 times (3 times with Bon Scott) and sorry, but anyone who's suckin' oxygen off stage between 3 rounds of encores is Metal to me.
4) "Hellion/Electric Eye", "Diamond's and Rust", The entire "Stained Class" album, "Point of Entry", etc. Judas Priest. Again, more preaching to the converted. Of course, their biggest sell-out moment is also my fave, their Pop Metal album, "Turbo".
5) "Midnight Mover", "Balls To The Wall", etc., Accept. just listen to the entire "Metal Heart" album. That defines Metal for me, at least the kind of metal I want to listen to. Hey, and the lead guitarist's wife wrote all the words to all their stuff, too! Saw 'em! Hammering!
6) The "Lonesome Crow" album for the purists, is considered a Heavy Metal classic but I'll take the songs "Can't Live Without You" and "Blackout" as some examples of what makes the Scorpions become classified as Metal to me.
7) "Livewire" (how about that video?), "Looks That Kill". Motley Crue. Say what you will, but this cuts are bludgeoning stuff to me. But, granted, you could see how these guys sold out progressively a little bit more with each passing album. But, hey, it's my kind of selling-out. It's only when they started really mailing it in with the last couple of albums, that they've just about lost me, though I do like the tune, "Saints of Los Angeles". Saw 'em 3 times. They still have their moments of bludgeon and shred in parts of their sets.
8)"Born To Be Wild", Steppenwolf. "I like smokin' lightning. Heavy metal thunder..." If Link Wray didn't invent Metal with the riff of his 50's instrumental, "Rumble", then didn't these guys invent Metal when they coined the phrase? Credit where credit is due, my friends. And let's not forget Dio's grandma for that "Bitchin'" hand gesture she gave the Metal world when she used to make it to him. Something about protecting him or somethin' (those in the know, please clarify). But that's another topic. This is supposed to be about Steppenwolf. Check out their biggest sell out moment, and last gasp, but still kinda cool, "Skullduggery". Somebody shoulda covered this, like Overkill, etc.
9)"Round and Round" (no, not Ratt, though I do think they are Metal, too) off the "Toys in The Attic" album, "Back In The Saddle", "Rat's In The Cellar". I saw these guys like 7 times including off "Rocks" and man, they sure seemed Metal to me. Positively bludgeoningly loud. It was during "Round and Round" that they shattered the decibel record. It made Time Magazine at the time.
Let the Metal Games begin.
I do hope this "Council For The Cauldron" continues...
Yours in Rock,
Metalboy
p.s. Hope this overly long "Top 10 Metal Bands of All Time" list/Metal Manifesto doesn't explode our computers. It is a fascinating subject. I'm ready to accept my verbal punishment from anyone who disagrees. That's what makes this life so interesting. Cheerz'n'Geerz, MB.
I find it interesting that you mention influence on a genre as one of your criteria, then you discount both Slayer and Death. slayer's album Reign in Blood is one of the most influencial albums ever released as far as the subgenre of thrash metal goes. Regardless of what you think of Slayer, that album's influence cannot be denied. Before Reign in Blood, most thrash releases were buried under tons of reverb and slapback echo, greatly reducing the impact of the music. rick Ruben was able to bring the instruments and vocals to the forefront, creating 30 minutes of pure brutality that never let up. when this album came out in 1986, I was seventeen years old and had already been a thrash fan for about two years, but from the first note of "angel of Death", I just knew that this album would launch thrash into the stratosphere which, to a degree, it did for a couple years. thus, I think slayer had tremendous influence on the genre which is why they belong in any top 10 metal list.
Likewise, the band Death is extremely important in the development of extreme metal. Chuck Schuldiner was so ahead of his time when it came to death metal riffing and vocal style -- a pioneering influence on the genre to be sure.
So, fully understanding that this is just my own opinion, here is my top 10:
1. Black Sabbath
2. Judas Priest
3. Deep Purple
4. Motorhead
5. Iron maiden
6. AC/DC
7. Slayer
8. Overkill
9. Death
10. Metallica (although Lars is definitely a loudmouth jack ass.)
It's so funny that I was just thinkin' about Blue Cheer when I was just swimmin' in the Gulf of Mexico about 2 hours ago and thought to myself, how the hell (sorry, Christian) could I forget (love "Vincibus Eruptum") them. I come back from my swim and run and lo and behold, here's Bob's post mentioning Blue Cheer. Not to justify overlooking them, but I think I'm scarred and in denial about them because I foolishly traded a mint original press of "Vincibus" for the Buzzcock's "Fast Cars" EP on clear vinyl which I then traded for something I don't even remember. What the hell?!
Well, it was '78 and I was 17, at the time. But WTH!, why didn't I keep "Vincibus". I remember the cover was embossed, too! Their version of "Summertime Blues" is killer and you are right, Bob, they are ultra influential. Don't think for a minute Iommi and Page didn't take a good listen to that, let alone Clapton's Les Paul/Marshall rig he had set up in BBC Studios at the protestations of the BBC labcoats for the recording of 66's "John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers" album, for which Page was an assistant engineer. Hmmmm...what rig did Page switch to (he'll admit it) after he saw that set up? The story goes...supposedly Page calmed down the BBC studio staff. They were protesting Clapton riggin' the mics 10 feet away from the amps. They proclaimed, "You can't do that". Page, rubbing his chin, observing Clapton adjusting the mics. Page, apparently chimed in, "Oh, yes he can." And as we all know, so did Page! And he picked up the Les Paul. And he got the Marshall stacks and never looked back. Too bad Clapton did and went all Strat and Mellow on us. He used to really crank way back when. Then again, your boy in Iron Maiden's got 'em and so did Blackmore (knew a chick who's brother named their Black Lab "Blackmore" back then. Now that's rock and roll!) 'til he set it down one day for a mandolin, a pilgrim hat and some emerald green minstrel golf knickers.
Also, I was thinking beyond my personal taste while I was running 8 miles listening to stuff like (don't cringe, Bob):
1) Can't Live Without You, Scorps
2) The Hellion/Electric Eye, Helloween (from that Priest Tribute album)
3) Fire And Ice, Cinderella
4) Heart And Soul, Wildside
5) Looks That Kill, Motley
6) Cold Blood, Kix
7) Play Dirty, Poison
8) Toast Of The Town, Pretty Boy Floyd
9) Party All Night, Quiet Riot
10) Reach For The Sky, Slaughter
11) House Is On Fire, Sleez Beez
12) Wrong Is Right, Accept
13) Killing Floor, Cold Sweat
14) Noise Level Critical, Tigertailz
15) O.F.R., Nitro
16) Breaking All The Rules, Ozzy
etc...
I hope that last one redeemed me for at least a moment, Bob.
Anyway, while I was listening, I thought for a moment, okay, let's set aside my personal taste (since when did tsste have anything to do with Metal, hahaha!!!) and think more about this and put together a list of the all time greats that might include stuff that isn't exactly my cup of tea, but is taken very seriously by very serious Metalheads (obviously, I don't view this stuff seriously, one of the criteria for my own list is the stuff has to strike me as genuinely funny and inane for me to like it and it's gotta be catchy). Let's build in what the Serious Metal encompasses...
1) Usually the lyrics are not about "Fast Cars, Fast Food and Fast Women (In That Order)", (a title of a song I never bothered to write back in the late 70's) or whatever insipid subject most of the Party Metal is about. No, it's gotta be about...
a) Medieval Warrior Imagery
b) Hell
c) Death
d) Cannibalism
e) Alienation
f) Suicide
g) Murder
h) The Devil
i) Bad Weather
j) The Apocalypse
h) Blood
i) Nuclear Assault
j) Chemical Warfare
k) Necrophelia
l) Halloween
m) The Lord Of The Rings
n) Castles and Moats
p) Rumplestiltskin
There ain't no "Can't you see it in my eyes, this could be our last goodbye" ("Carrie" by Europe) crap goin' on with this bunch, no siree. Also, it helps if the words are delivered unintelligibly and in a monotone bark with the occasional scream and shriek thrown in for good measure. Also , if half of it is off-key, all the better.
2) The stuff has to be anti-melody and all discordant chording (no clean crunch a la Dokken for these boys, oh no!)
and dissonant feedback and either ultra fast shredding and guitar pyrotechnics and ultra slow, bludgeoningly thumping chugging on one note for as long as possible to the point of the idea of listening to chalk across a blackboard might be a relief.
3) Poorly recorded (gotcha on the Rick Rubin treatment for Slayer. I'll listen again)
So, it's time to embrace the notion, "I don't have to like it to know whether it's good or not" (My Dad blew 40 large sending me to Art School from '79 to '81 for me to figure out at least that much out on my own when I saw that everyone is a critic, myself included, but very few are legitimate artists).
Anyway, all this in mind, here's another take on a list that's a slight variation on the theme of the post...
The Most Important Metal Bands of All Time
1) Blue Cheer ("Vincibus Eruptum")
2) Steppenwolf ("The Pusher", "Born To Be Wild")
3) Iron Butterfly (okay, "Inna Godda Da Vida" is a joke novelty record like "The Monster Mash" but there's no denying, it is still influential despite all that)
4) Black Sabbath (Early stuff and '76's "Technical Ecstasy" for laffs, my faves)
5) Led Zeppelin (Presence album, et al)
6) Deep Purple ("Highway Star" and Machine Head, yeah!)
7) Alice Cooper ("Love It To Death", "Billion $ Babies"
8) Judas Priest ("Exciter", my fave JP tune)
9) AC/DC (Angus! Shook the man's hand twice. He was so hyper he shook it, spun around and shook it again!)
10) Iron Maiden (that cartoon character dude makes it for me but not the bass player so they neg each other out. Like I said before, like Dickinson's "Tattooed Millionaire" album, personally.
11) Metallica
Remember, I really don't like Metallica except for their Queen cover of "Stone Cold Crazy" and some pieces of "Master of Puppets" and "Ride the Lightning". I only like "Run To The Hills" and "2 Minutes to Midnight" or whatever the hell it is, when it comes to Maiden, but I do appreciate 'em, goin' by my Art School observation.
Bob, I will check out Death and Slayer again. How 'bout this? Back in '87 I got the Best of Metal Blade Vols. 1 and 2 and listened to it nonstop when I was out in L.A. on biz where I hung out with the Cult by the pool of the Le Parc hotel and watched 'em make fun of "Big Country" who were frolicking in the shallow end, poor boys. I went from buyin' the Cult a couple of drinks to being their glorified waiter all in the space of about 20 minutes instead of becoming their eternal party buddy, bwth, this is Rock and Roll, after all, where everyone except the errand boys are the errand boys. They also invited me to go see a band they thought was better than G'n'R called Kingdom Come, hahaha!!! I saw 'em and then L.A. Guns, Poison one afternoon on Sunset on their bikes, and WWIII (now that's comedy) at Gazzari's and rode the elevator with everyone from Barbara Mandrell to LL Cool J. I know, it sounds like a nightmare. This was pre-"Sonic Temple" and I remember going out on my balcony one morning and looking down to the street and seeing two valet's wheel out a couple of Harley's onto the street from the hotel garage and start 'em up. Then Astbury and Duffy come out and get on the bikes but don't ride 'em. No license, I assume. Either that or they didn't know how to start 'em, let alone ride 'em, hahaha. I watched this for a couple of minutes. They were leaned over the bikes talking to each other. You couldn't hear what they were saying because of the engines and I'm convinced that was the exact moment they plotted the "death" of their drummer and bass player and plugged in Sorum and that other dude just in time for the "Sonic Temple" seshes that commenced immediately after that. As far as the Harleys go, let's not forget the flowers in Astbury's hair during the "She Sells Sanctuary" era just 5 minutes before "Sonic". I wonder if these guys ever wound up ridin' those bikes? But WTH, I was a punker (with a fondness for Metal) from '77 to '84, so big deal. Interestingly, it was WGTB College Radio, Georgetown University, that turned me onto everything from Blue Cheer to Purple to The Pistols to Bowie back then when I was just a lad.
Anyway, I digress (a common occurance for ADD me, as Al will attest). Back on these Metal Blade Best Of's... Vol. 1 on Cassette had some cassette only bonus tracks not on the LP or CD. I fried my first copy out back then. Found it again on Ebay still sealed, believe it or not, a couple of years ago, and had it converted over to CD.
Anyway, the tape had a lot of amusing stuff. I found out about Lizzy Borden because they are on it ("Give 'Em The Axe" and "Red Rum"). Your boys, Slayer, are on it (kick the whole party off with "Chemical Warfare" and also kick off side two with "Necrophiliac". I guess that backs up your theory about their influence. No doubt, putting 'em up front on both sides of the Cassette as well as the other formats, sez Metal Blade knew somethin' was up with 'em.
But of real interest to me is some of the other stuff which I thought was a lot catchier and more humorous (my bag, as you know), like, "Plunging to Megadeath" by Hallow's Eve, "Ruby Eyes" by Omen, the ultra hilarious, if unintentionally, however (or is it just me), "Fear Beyond The Vision" by Nasty Savage, "Blower" by Voi Vod, and my fave here besides Borden's stuff and the bonus cuts I'm about to bring up, "Death Rider" by Omen. There's other stuff you'll like by Trouble, Celtic Frost, Fate's Warning, Hirax and Metal Church.
But it is the Bonus Tracks by...Heavy Metal drum roll, please ...these 3 that are the standouts...
1) "Listen To The Preacher" by Tyrant
and my absolute all time Heavy Heavy Metal fave cuts of the 80's...
2) "Look Of Death" by Pandemonium
3) "Posers Will Die" by Thrust
Bob, or any of The Council, for that matter, have you heard these? Totally killer and hilarious (if you don't mind me saying so) and regretably, for many of you, "catchy" (argh!). You get the sense these guys were catchy in spite of themselves. I wonder if they were pissed on playback when they realized they almost made pop records. The riffs are great and the words are beyond "bent over, losing your breath, funny" I haven't seen the albums these trax are from out on CD yet, has anyone? Bob? Had an email exchange with Matt over at Divebomb Records (Check that site out, too, Bob and Co., if you don't know him). He told me he thought one of 'em was about to be released soon and the other was about to. This was a coupla months ago. Of course, I spaced it all out until now, thanks to the discussion on "The Greatest Metal". See if you can pick up the tape on Ebay, "The Best of Metal Blade, Volume I", for the cassette only bonus tracks and crank up the Nakamichi! These two tracks are some of the best Metal I've ever heard in my life, seriously (don't let my love of Pretty Boy Floyd prevent you from chasing this stuff down. Trust me (that's "F-You" in L.A., hahaha!!!), you and all of you Hardcore Metallerz will love 'em if you haven't heard 'em. Or maybe, like I said, the trax and the albums are out on CD, finally! But don't wait! Get the LP's or find the tape, Metal Blade Best of, Vol 1. This was from 1986. Ah, like a fine vintage of True Blood...er...just kidding, uh...um...wine. It was a very good year.
Thanks for the feedback (no pun intended), Bob.
Thanks for the forum and as always, bringin' 'em back alive, Al (hope I didn't break any posting rules here, this is all new to me!)!
Cheerz to all!
Yours In Rock,
Metalboy!
Addendum to my previous magnum opus (hope it didn't shatter your Ray Bans, folks!)
On Bob's list he's got Overkill.
That reminded me, they did a killer cover of the Dead Boy's "Sonic Reducer" back in the Day.
Do a "before and after" listen to both of those cuts. Tell me it all ain't rock'n'roll!
Metalboy!
p.s. Both bands had/have such killer logos, too! Especially Overkill's!
I was a teenager in the mid 80s and living in New Jersey where we had an amazing underground thrash scene going on. I actually did a weekly thrash metal radio show back then so the whole thing was very exciting to me. I have the full albums of most of those bands you mentioned from the Metal blade compilations. Yes, I am admitting that I actually own Thrust's first album featuring Posers Will Die. that song is incredibly silly, but it didn't seem so when I was 16. What the hell did I know back then? LOL
at least we can both agree about the mighty Blue Cheer.
Do you still have Thrust. What a gem. "Posers Will Die" is tongue and cheek. That's the point. Great tune.
Have you heard "Look of Death" by Pandemonium?
Slayer. Dude, I saw 'em at Roseland in NYC. I'm thinkin' it was two years after Reign in Blood, as I recall the novelty was starting to wear off, just like it does with most of 'em, no matter what genre.
Look, besides not being able to decifer anything about their performance, which may have something to do with the soundsystem. I saw the Ramones there and it was sh*t for them too. However, I saw The Sex Pistols there and it the sound was perfect. At that point Steve Jones had become a "Metal" guitarist, well, you know, "The Cult" kinda Metal.
Anyway, not to launch a cannonball over the bow, but I got the impression Slayer were presenting themselves as a comedy act, as with most of these bands and by that I mean, everything from Autograph to Dokken to Fifth Angel to GnR to Morbid Angel to Poison to Overkill to W.A.S.P to Zebra. It all came in the Giftwrap of Cartoonish Humor for mass consumption and underneath that you found the heart and intelligence in both the lyrics and the music.
I remember seeing AC/DC at Madison Square Garden on the Ballbreaker Tour. Killer. It had it all. Humor. Intelligence (hahaha!!! But really! Maybe it was and is intelligent humor that's key). Balls. Riffs. Licks. Showmanship. You name it. They had it. Including Angus had Hair. And that was '98.
I remember the review in the New York Times the next day almost word for word, at least this part...
"Beneath the cartoonish veneer lurks the finest living hard rock blues guitarist on the planet".
Slayer? Yeah, it's groundbreaking. But what kinda ground? It's got nothing to with music. It's anti music. But maybe that's the point.
It's got nothin' to do with age. I like a lot of crap no matter what era it's from, whether it's frickin' Miles Davis, Frank Zappa or Buck Cherry or Wolfmother or some such crap. If I stick it needle on the record or for all you youngsters out there that haven't run out to Best Buy to buy a turntable yet clickin' on the iTunes track, and it grooves to me, I like it.
Slayer? No groove. But maybe that's the point. Slayer was like, "Don't latch your 70 !Q'd brain on repetitious hooks. Latch it onto repetitious non hooks and barking dog lyrics."
Hey, man I always thought they shoulda done a shredding cover of Sade's "Smooth Operator". But right, I forgot, might hurt the unwavering "legit cred" of Slayer. How boring. They'd have gone a lot further had they made fun out of themselves and still put the hammer down on the music.
The overly serious self importance is what killed those guys. Unless they are still out there, in which case I would reclassify it as "killing themselves off slowly". Hey, that would be a great song title for one of your bands.
Look, Rick Rubin knew Slayer was onto somethin'. Bob, also you are passionate about Slayer. I'll check it out again.
BD
p.s. Got Mastadon CD's, just don't get the fascination. Look, I'll admit it, I'm into pop. Hell, hate ta break it to ya, but if ya boil it down, hell, Sabbath is pop. At least I won't say that about Slayer. They were all about being the anti-pop, and they succeeded--which is why I didn't dig it.
Bob, know any characters who you can prompt to write something here? It's an interesting topic. Hey, you all out there? Got somethin' to say about The List?
If your including AC/DC in the top 10, where's Van Halen. Without Eddie you wouldn't have Yngwie, Dine-bag or Zakk Wlyde.