Music Heavy Metal & Hard Rock thread - Page 17

Reading the 'Old People thread' and the posts by Stryker & Dark Horse got me thinking that we need an official Heavy Metal thread (we can also add in 'Hard Rock' in here as there may be some crossing-over) - Depending on your age, I suppose some Punk cross-over would apply and though it's not really my thing, the Metal variations like Death\Black Metal and Glam if you like...

My introduction to Heavy Metal was through my older sister who took me to my first concert at some point around 1976 (Alice Cooper), I have no memory of the actual music other than being on peoples shoulders so I could watch (I would have been about 8) but I definitely remember the 'show'!

I got more into the music by 1982\1983 when I discovered Manowar, Judas Priest & Iron Maiden, thinking back I suppose that year (1982-1983) was a huge push for Metal with pivotal albums (yes I had the albums) by those bands, throw in Venom that had some wild Punk-Metal cross-over thing happening called 'Black Metal' and some 'new' sound from a band called Metallica.

Thanks to my sister and her friends I had a wide exposure to concert going, later on I had friends more around my age and more importantly driving age so we were able to hit numerous concerts.

I suppose it was helpful that we were in the central NJ area with so many venues around us...

We had NYC for a long haul if needed; L'Amour, Ritz\Studio54 & MSG (I went to CBGB but not for a concert), but Philly & NJ was our main-stay.

In Philly you had the Spectrum for the big shows, the Tower Theater for the mid-range shows\bands and then clubs like The Empire, Theater of the Living Arts (TLA) on South Street (still open!) and some others that I can't recall.

In NJ it was all clubs; the Satellite club was near us so that was our regular spot, City Gardens was in Trenton so not too far away, it was mostly a Punk club but had Metal there at times as well and though at that time there was a clear spilt from Punk to Metal music I had friends in both camps so I didn't care who I went with and who we saw (though oddly the only real Punk band I can recall seeing live was the Cro-Mags) I can't remember any of the others. The thing about City Gardens is that it was smack deep in an African-American neighborhood, the Metal crowd was a bit more subdued but when going with the Punk crowd, they were definitely more confrontational and I can remember several big fights in the parking lot with the locals, after it was over everyone would just go back to what they were doing and we'd head into the club! Oh yeah there was a club in Asbury Park as well but I can't remember what it was called.

Thinking back when I thought about writing this I went through my head thinking about the shows I've seen and yeah, it's a lot but here are some of my favorite memories;

These would be in no particular order but I suppose these first three are my favorite bands given I've seen them most often;

#1 is Manowar - I saw them for the Fighting the World tour, twice for the Kings of Metal tour and twice for the Triumph of Steel tour, but my best memory is during the KOM tour and in Philly (I think it was the Empire club), me and my friends got there early and on the billboard was 'Man-O-War', we saw a guy outside and told him about how it should just be one word and he thanks us and tells us the band is inside rehearsing why don't you just go in early and hang a bit - didn't have to tell us again - we head in and sure enough they are up on stage rehearsing and just some people milling around, afterwards it was very casual and so we went up and talked to Scott & Ross, they were way cool! Joey and Eric were doing their own thing so I never got to meet them but I was a member of their fan-club and on night Joey and Eric called me out of the blue just to say 'hey' and we talked for about 15 minutes, I told them about that story, they thought it was funny but they said they were more interested if I had any pictures of my girlfriend naked that I could mail them. So that connection there will always keep them #1 to me - As far as them being the 'loudest band in the world', yeah they definitely were in my book, I mean we're talking about 2-3 days after the concerts of just hearing a low hum. Now days when my wife when she tells me that my hearing is going bad, I just remind her how many Metal shows I've been to and five of those were Manowar, so yeah, of course it's bad!

#2 is Iron Maiden - Hearing Number of the Beast & Piece of Mind albums back to back (1982\1983), I mean they were just on another level! I saw them first for Piece of Mind tour, then again for Powerslave (this tour became the Live After Death album), Somewhere in Time, No Prayer for Dying and then there were a few co-headlining tours. These were all at the Spectum as expected for a band of their stature except for the last time I saw them in 2005 (maybe 2006?) was in Camden NJ at the Camden Waterfront.

#3 is Judas Priest - British Steel\POE was ok to me (I didn't like any of their earlier rock stuff) but Screaming for Vengeance was like a hit to the head! I wasn't able to see them on that tour but I did see them for Defenders of the Faith, Turbo (and yes I absolutely loved this album I don't care what anyone said at the time), Ram it Down & Painkiller twice + a later tour they were co-headlining with Alice Cooper. As with Maiden these were all at the Spectrum\NYC (MSG) as expected of a band their stature.

The rest of the bands I've seen & enjoyed (there are some I like and I am probably forgetting a lot I saw and not mentioning as I wasn't really there to see them but they were 'there')

Helloween, Armored Saint, Megadeth, Doro, WASP, Metal Church, King Diamond, The Mentors (uh, absolutely hilarious and totally offensive!), oh yeah GWAR too, though I remember more of the show than of the music

Motorhead - Oddly I likely have seen them a lot as they opened for a lot of the bands I listed.

Metallica - I saw them open - yes open - for Raven on the "Kill Em' All for One" tour in 1983 (I was there to see Raven LOL!) but yeah Metallica were noticeably on another level. Never saw them live again (though I did end up seeing Raven again as an opener at a later concert!), I liked RTL and MOP a lot but the next one (And Justice??) I thought lost a lot of the sound I liked on the earlier stuff.

Slayer - Saw them a few times as opener\mid-cards and though I can't say it's really my taste, I do like a few early songs, I will say the crowd was wild for them and they shred for sure!

Venom - I liked their raw cross-over sound (though probably the least talented group on this list) they were outstanding live though, saw them twice in NYC (the Ritz\Studio 54) and once again later in 1990 in Philly with the revamped band line-up.

Hellion - Regrettably I only saw them once, I suppose as they were more an LA band - but my goodness, not only did I like them musically but Ann Boleyn was a total smoke-show, I'll never forget being right up against the stage looking up at her the whole time as she's singing, that's literally the only thing I remember about that night, I was completely ga-ga over her.

A couple I never saw but really wished I had; Exciter (sad, sad face on this one, though shockingly they still tour occasionally so who knows) & Accept\UDO!
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Originally Posted by KCUnited:
**** it I know I've shared this before on here but I feel like retelling it.

In '89 I was 13 and mowing grass and whatnot for my own money. Lived outside of KC and once every month or so my parents would drive me and my brother to Oak Park or Metcalf mall.

Before one trip I was flipping through a Metal Maniacs magazine and saw a small little ad for "The Heaviest Album Ever Released!" which was Obituary's "Slowly We Rot".

I couldn't ****ing wait to get to the mall and see if they had it. They did.

On the way home, my dad, being like the all American Clark Griswold dad that he is was like "Whatcha got there champ? Lets hear it". I was like nah thats not a good idea. He got stern and insisted so I passed him the cassette.

So its my dad driving his Volvo, my mom riding shotgun (both school teachers) and me in the backseat. My dad pops in the cassette and this happens:

I need follow up here...:-) What happened when they heard it??

My story was when I was 11 years old living in Spain, summer of '82. Used to get 100 pesetas a week allowance (basically a dollar a week). We lived in an apartment off base in Barajas, just outside of Madrid. I was saving my money for a new album, unlike anything I ever owned before. Didn't want to tell my mom about it. I finally save up the 400 pesetas and go to the little record store close to us and pick it up. Bring it home, slap it on the turntable, and started rocking my little 11 year old ass off. The album changed me forever musically. My mother, who was a saint (not kidding there) came in my room and asked what I had bought. This is what she was hearing, and what she saw:

She was a bit...taken aback, especially by the album cover...but in the end, she let it go. Mom was the best.
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I love the stories in this thread.

I grew up listening to whatever my dad was listening to. So I heard a lot of The Righteous Brothers, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison and the Oak Ridge Boys. I owned a few records... Steve Martin - AWACG, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Smurfs All Star Show. My dad got me MJs Thriller album the day it came out. My dad loved showing off his Zenith turntable/console cabinet. Thriller was the album that allowed him to do that. We would have company over 3 nights a week and host Thriller listening sessions.

I listened to whatever rock was on the radio but, it was rarely hard and pretty much never heavy. I lived outside a small town so cable TV was never an option. Karate Kid came out and that was my favorite movie. I especially loved the tournament bout montage set to You're The Best Around. one night I had rented Karate Kid and a VCP. my dad came home late and brought home a VCR he had bought. I spent the night recording YRTBA repeatedly. I think I may have overdone it. I started to associate Ralph Maccio with good music.

Then, in early '86 the Crossroads movie came out. I made my mom take me to see it the first time I saw the trailer. I think it was a weekday night after my mom had worked a full shift at a hospital. and I made her drive 45 minutes and back to go see it. I must've really begged and pestered her. (I made it up to her yesterday, I took her to the early service and the late one at her church) I loved that movie and it inspired my first music purchase. I bought Robert Johnson: King of the Delta Blues on cassette. it was $3 IIRC. I collected some more blues tapes and enjoyed those a good bit. Buddy Guy greatest hits was the best tape out of those.

4 months later I was at church hanging out with a kid named Bob. he and I were both acolytes for the service. Bob was kind of a tough kid, he was 12 when I was 10, a little intimidating even tho he didnt mean to be. His older bother very brolic and he wore his battle vest to church every Sunday. I was scared of that dude. I figured he was a biker gang BAMF if hes wearing a jean jacket to church. really he was introverted because he was so massive and got treated as an adult before he was ready for it. Bob was constantly listening to his walkman and his brothers tapes. He took his earphones off once and I could barely hear music that really piqued my interest. I asked Bob what it was and he told me it was "Devil music"

"like Robert Johnson"?

Bob: "Who? probably not".

I told him something about hellhounds and then asked if I could listen to his walkman. he kept teasing me about it being evil, I cant handle it, yada yada. He relented and told me I could listen but he was going to press play and stop. I put the phones to my ears and I heard an amazing guitar riff once and then Ozzy sung Oh, yeah. Bob pressed stop. Then we did our duties for the service. Bob made me beg him to tell me the name of the tape. He just told me the name Black Sabbath. he wouldn't tell me the album nor the song, NIB. I went to the store that afternoon and bought the Sabbath debut album because it was $4.

I wore that tape out. I bet I listened to that tape for 1500 hours or more. I actually had to buy another cassette a couple years later because the sound had degraded from so much use. I bought all but one of the sabbath albums on tape and I bought them in chronological order. I skipped the Black Abbath Seventh Star album. it was double the price of the other albums. and the cover photo was depressing. it was a photo of Tony Iommi looking forlorn and gakked out, standing in the middle of a desert.

I started listening to Seventh Star last year and damned if it isnt my favorite Sabbath album now. Iommi just cant miss. I love the collaborations that Iommi did with Glenn Hughes too.
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Originally Posted by Fishpicker:
I love the stories in this thread.

I grew up listening to whatever my dad was listening to. So I heard a lot of The Righteous Brothers, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison and the Oak Ridge Boys. I owned a few records... Steve Martin - AWACG, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Smurfs All Star Show. My dad got me MJs Thriller album the day it came out. My dad loved showing off his Zenith turntable/console cabinet. Thriller was the album that allowed him to do that. We would have company over 3 nights a week and host Thriller listening sessions.

I listened to whatever rock was on the radio but, it was rarely hard and pretty much never heavy. I lived outside a small town so cable TV was never an option. Karate Kid came out and that was my favorite movie. I especially loved the tournament bout montage set to You're The Best Around. one night I had rented Karate Kid and a VCP. my dad came home late and brought home a VCR he had bought. I spent the night recording YRTBA repeatedly. I think I may have overdone it. I started to associate Ralph Maccio with good music.

Then, in early '86 the Crossroads movie came out. I made my mom take me to see it the first time I saw the trailer. I think it was a weekday night after my mom had worked a full shift at a hospital. and I made her drive 45 minutes and back to go see it. I must've really begged and pestered her. (I made it up to her yesterday, I took her to the early service and the late one at her church) I loved that movie and it inspired my first music purchase. I bought Robert Johnson: King of the Delta Blues on cassette. it was $3 IIRC. I collected some more blues tapes and enjoyed those a good bit. Buddy Guy greatest hits was the best tape out of those.

4 months later I was at church hanging out with a kid named Bob. he and I were both acolytes for the service. Bob was kind of a tough kid, he was 12 when I was 10, a little intimidating even tho he didnt mean to be. His older bother very brolic and he wore his battle vest to church every Sunday. I was scared of that dude. I figured he was a biker gang BAMF if hes wearing a jean jacket to church. really he was introverted because he was so massive and got treated as an adult before he was ready for it. Bob was constantly listening to his walkman and his brothers tapes. He took his earphones off once and I could barely hear music that really piqued my interest. I asked Bob what it was and he told me it was "Devil music"

"like Robert Johnson"?

Bob: "Who? probably not".

I told him something about hellhounds and then asked if I could listen to his walkman. he kept teasing me about it being evil, I cant handle it, yada yada. He relented and told me I could listen but he was going to press play and stop. I put the phones to my ears and I heard an amazing guitar riff once and then Ozzy sung Oh, yeah. Bob pressed stop. Then we did our duties for the service. Bob made me beg him to tell me the name of the tape. He just told me the name Black Sabbath. he wouldn't tell me the album nor the song, NIB. I went to the store that afternoon and bought the Sabbath debut album because it was $4.

I wore that tape out. I bet I listened to that tape for 1500 hours or more. I actually had to buy another cassette a couple years later because the sound had degraded from so much use. I bought all but one of the sabbath albums on tape and I bought them in chronological order. I skipped the Black Abbath Seventh Star album. it was double the price of the other albums. and the cover photo was depressing. it was a photo of Tony Iommi looking forlorn and gakked out, standing in the middle of a desert.

I started listening to Seventh Star last year and damned if it isnt my favorite Sabbath album now. Iommi just cant miss. I love the collaborations that Iommi did with Glenn Hughes too.

I grew up on my dad's music too. He was into heavy music (for the time) as well - Zeppelin, Hendrix, Deep Purple, stuff like that. So I was always leaning towards metal from the start.

As for Seventh Star, I love it too. It's a terribly underrated album. However, the biggest reason is because it really isn't actually a Sabbath album. Tony doesn't even consider it a Sabbath album - it was supposed to be his solo album but the record label (as often happened with Sabbath) intervened and basically forced him to put the Sabbath name on it.
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