The Yearly Metal Project (With a Twist - See inside): 1982

[Mosh]

You're not the only one! I was introduced to late 80s/early 90s Aerosmith long before their 70s stuff so Get A Grip was one of my first albums and I still have a soft spot for it. Besides the sappy ballads, there are some really hard bluesy rockers.

I wasn't impressed by the first Motorhead. The energy and aggression was there, but the memorable songs weren't.

 

[mckindog]

Two bands that have been chugging along in the second layer of public acclaim had songs among their finest moments this year:

Mosh, Lizzy closes it out its classic Robertson/Gorham run here.
Like to hear your thoughts about those albums.

 

[Mosh]

I had Bad Reputation on the other day. Lizzy is one of the bands on these lists that I make sure to listen to ASAP. Both albums in 1976 are awesome and among the best of that year. As for Bad Reputation, I enjoyed it a lot, but you can tell they've become comfortable in their sound by this point. It has everything you expect from a TL album without the excitement of Jailbreak. That doesn't mean it's bad, but I can see how this album has been somewhat forgotten compared to the previous two (especially Jailbreak). The title track is definitely the best, but I also like Soldier of Fortune, Killer Without a Cause, and Dear Lord. I would actually say it would be a good introduction to the band for new listeners. It has the heavy moments, the more melodic/folky moments.

As for UFO, I haven't heard Lights Out yet but I'll get to it soon. So far every UFO album I've heard (save for the early psychedelic stuff) has me thinking "I should be listening to Strangers In the Night right now". They're definitely starting to come off as a band where the live album is all you need.

Right now I'm listening to Quartz. This is good stuff! There's a bit of gallop, twin guitar leads, and crushing riffs. It's a bit ahead of its time, I wonder why this band never took off.

 

[Shadow]

I'm not the greatest fan of Bad Reputation - and I suspect the band wasn't either, considering how few of the songs ended up on Live and Dangerous the years after. The production is perhaps the primary problem (ah, accidental alliteration!). "Soldier of Fortune", for instance, would have worked with either a punchier guitar tone (think "Emerald"), or a deeper, thicker, menacing sound. As it is, it sounds lifeless and plodding, and the same problem affects most of the other songs. It's too bad, really, because the songwriting is hardly significantly worse than on the '76 albums or Black Rose, all of which I enjoy a lot more. "Opium Trail" is an overlooked pearl though.

 

[Mosh]

It seems like they were going for a more polished, almost commercial tone on that album, despite not having the appropriate material for that sort of song. It's missing the raw aggression of previous albums.

 

[DJMayes]

As for UFO, I haven't heard Lights Out yet but I'll get to it soon. So far every UFO album I've heard (save for the early psychedelic stuff) has me thinking "I should be listening to Strangers In the Night right now". They're definitely starting to come off as a band where the live album is all you need.

For the most part I agree with you but I think Lights Out is worth the purchase if only for Try Me, a personal favourite UFO song of mine. It doesn't make the compilations for inexplicable reasons but it's absolutely beautiful.

 

[Travis The Dragon]

Mosh, Wishbone Ash is going to be in your area in a couple months: http://wishboneash.com/tourdates/ You should definitely check them out if you get a chance.

 

[mckindog]

It seems like they were going for a more polished, almost commercial tone on that album, despite not having the appropriate material for that sort of song. It's missing the raw aggression of previous albums.

They were desperately trying to recapture the success of Boys and feeling a ton of pressure after Johnny didn't do that.
It's what led to Robertson getting canned (a bar fight that left him unable to play had the others questioning his commitment) and the substance abuse that started to take hold.

Searching for a mainstream hit was a bit of a trend for a number of bands who hadn't hit that Zep level - bands like BOC and UFO and Lizzy - in the back half of the '70s.

That said, I quite like Bad Reputation. Not that I disagree with critiques above, it's just that I appreciate the writing and diversity; I enjoy every track.

 

[Shadow]

That said, I quite like Bad Reputation. Not that I disagree with critiques above, it's just that I appreciate the writing and diversity; I enjoy every track.

Oh, it's a fine album. Lynott was at his peak around here both as a singer and a lyricist. And come to think of it, he just might be my favourite rock singer.

 

[mckindog]

So all you guitarists out there, why doesn't Scott Gorham get more praise?
I'm relistening to Bad Reputation (on original vinyl) and there are some wonderful guitar parts.

Solos like That Woman's Gonna Break Your Heart and Fools Gold off the previous album are so melodic, with such great tone. Really, it's close to Dave Murray quality. Tasty stuff, but you never hear anyone talk about Gorham.

Edit: just listening to Downtown Sundown, such emotional stuff.

 

[Forostar]

At least Adrian knows him (photo from some charity event, January 2016):

And I remember H was happy with Gorham on his second Psycho Motel album:

 

[Mosh]

So all you guitarists out there, why doesn't Scott Gorham get more praise?
I'm relistening to Bad Reputation (on original vinyl) and there are some wonderful guitar parts.

Solos like That Woman's Gonna Break Your Heart and Fools Gold off the previous album are so melodic, with such great tone. Really, it's close to Dave Murray quality. Tasty stuff, but you never hear anyone talk about Gorham.

Edit: just listening to Downtown Sundown, such emotional stuff.

Gorham was one of my early favorites, although my Lizzy knowledge was mostly limited to Jailbreak and their live album. He definitely has that sense of melody and an unmistakable tone. Honestly I think it's more that Thin Lizzy as a whole are just so underrated. In the US at least, they're mostly just known for one or two songs and the talent of the individual members is never discussed. I also have a theory that when there are two (or more, in Maiden's case) guitarists in a band, the individual players tend to not be recognized. Thin Lizzy gets recognized frequently for their twin guitar leads, but rarely does anyone talk about Gorham's individual playing. Same thing with Maiden, most casual listeners can't differentiate the three of them and end up just talking about them as a collective.

That said, I quite like Bad Reputation. Not that I disagree with critiques above, it's just that I appreciate the writing and diversity; I enjoy every track.

Yea that's pretty much what it comes down to for me.

 

[Mosh]

One thing I really like about Kiss Alive II is that it's all different from the first Alive, there are no repeated songs. It shows that, at least early on, Kiss was more than just a spectacle that didn't really care about the actual music, repackaging the same songs over and over again.

What I don't understand is their decision to have the fourth side be mediocre studio tracks. It's not like there was a shortage of material. There are enough songs from the last three albums missing from this set to fill it up. Take Me and Do You Love Me in particular are awesome live and nowhere to be found on this album.

 

[Mosh]

Riot - Rock City is a precursor to late 80s glam metal.

 

[Cornfed Hick]

The history, occult and horror themes of metal have become something of a cheesy cliche.
But they are awesome when done right and Secret Treaties has to be one of the genre's most influential albums in that area.
The twisted lyrics are some of the best the genre has ever produced.
They show don't tell and they're poetic, smart and about as creepy as it gets.

ME262 features WW2 from the Nazi perspective.
The dirty forbidden sex of Dominance.
The horror movie/sci-fi plots of Cagey Cretins (mindless killer), Subhuman (drowning and rebirth), Harvester of Eyes (metaphor or literal?) and Flaming Telepaths (mind control).

And then there are the elements best represented by Astronomy that were supposed to be part of the Imaginos saga — a paranoid concept album about history and alien world domination — that failed to fully form here and were revisited in the 1987 album of the same name.

It's the sorta stuff that a fan of horror and sci-fi should find irresistible.
And it definitely helped form a major element of the metal that was to come.

*****

For the record, virtually every song on this album sounds better (heavier) live.

@mckindog : An audiophile quadrophonic SACD release of Secret Treaties is in the works: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...he-way-it-was-actually-recorded-mixed.565998/.

Is that something you might be interested in?

 

[mckindog]

Never really gotten into audiophile stuff (Foro says my ears aren't good enough to appreciate that kind of thing), but I'd love to hear a better Sounding version of Secret Treaties.

 

[Forostar]

Did I? If I remember well, that comment was about the difference between mp3s and CD quality.
I'm pretty sure you can hear the difference between a "normal" CD and quadrophonic.

 

[mckindog]

Did I? If I remember well, that comment was about the difference between mp3s and CD quality.
I'm pretty sure you can hear the difference between a "normal" CD and quadrophonic.

Must have playlist (concert set) for 1977 (using just the albums listed here)

Sinner
Golden Age of Leather
Bad Boy Boogie
Bad Reputation
lights Out
Love Gun
Diamonds and Rust
Too Hot to Handle
Let There Be Rock
Barracuda
Xanadu
I Love the Night
Call For The Priest/Let Us Prey
Rock n Roll Machine
Whole Lotta Rosie
I Stole Your Love
Dissident Aggressor
Nosferatu
Love to Love
Cygnus x-1
We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions

 

[Mosh]

Never really gotten into audiophile stuff (Foro says my ears aren't good enough to appreciate that kind of thing), but I'd love to hear a better Sounding version of Secret Treaties.

I would say quad mixes have a broader appeal than just audiophiles. Even on a stereo system, the mix has to be completely redone so if you're familiar enough with the album you'll probably hear a difference.

 

[Mosh]

1978

Heavy Metal
Black Sabbath - Never Say Die!
Blue Oyster Cult - Some Enchanted Evening
Budgie - Impeckable
Centaurus - Centaurus
Heavy Load - Full Speed At High Level
Judas Priest - Stained Class/Killing Machine
Krokus - Pain Killer
Quiet Riot - Quiet Riot II (Japan only)
Rainbow - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Scorpions - Taken by Force/Tokyo Tapes
Shakin' Street - Vampire Rock
Sorcery - Sinister Soldiers/Stunt Rock
Speed Limit - First Offence
UFO - Obsession
Van Halen - Van Halen

Hard Rock
AC/DC - Powerage/If You Want Blood You've Got It
Aerosmith - Live! Bootleg
April Wine - First Glance
Cheap Trick - Heaven Tonight/At Budokan (Japan)
David Coverdale - North Winds
Foreigner - Double Vision
Heart - Magazine
Molly Hatchet - Molly Hatchet
Gary Moore - Back On the Streets
Ted Nugent - Double Live Gonzo!/Weekend Warriors
Queen - Jazz
Ram Jam - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram
Rose Tattoo - Rose Tattoo
Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous
Whitesnake - Snakebite/Trouble
The Who - Who Are You
Y&T - Struck Down

Glam Rock
Alice Cooper - From the Inside
Kiss - Ace Frehley/Gene Simmons/Peter Criss/Paul Stanley


Progressive Rock
Magnum - Kingdom of Madness
Rush - Hemispheres
Saga - Saga
Styx - Pieces of Eight
UK - UK


1978 is notable for having a lot of huge live albums. Live & Dangerous, If You Want Blood..., Live Bootleg, Double Live Gonzo, and Tokyo Tapes all became legendary albums for the respective bands. I haven't heard the Blue Oyster Cult album, what is its place among the fans @mckindog ?

Other noteworthy albums: Jazz by Queen and Heaven Tonight by Cheap Trick. Of course there's also the ironically titled Never Say Die!, the last Black Sabbath album to feature Ozzy Osbourne on vocals (at least until 13). 1978 also sees the last Rainbow album with Dio and the last Quiet Riot album with Randy Rhodes. The foundation is being laid for some of the notable 80s bands. Deep Purple remains inactive, but David Coverdale kept busy with 3(!) releases this year. Meanwhile, the cracks are beginning to show in the Kiss camp as they release 4 solo albums on the same day in what many fans consider to be the beginning of the end for the original band.

Judas Priest continue to carry the flag for Metal that seemed to have been dropped by Sabbath by releasing two albums that really further the genre. They remain by far the heaviest band on the list. However, by 1978 it's not just Priest flying the flag for Metal. Lots of underground bands are starting to pop up. Some pretty interesting obscure groups on this list, including Sorcery with a debut double album. A bit of proto Doom Metal here.

Lots of cool prog rock this year too. I didn't include everything, just stuff that I felt influenced the Hard Rock/Metal scene, but the ones included here are great. Hemispheres in particular is as proggy as Rush ever got but rocks harder than most of the English bands.

The most important album on this list is perhaps the first Van Halen. Not only is it an album that is killer front to back, but it pretty much redefined rock guitar playing and set the template for virtually every Metal guitarist through the 80s.