Welcome to Metal Essentials II! Attached you will find the complete brackets with all the pairings that will appear in this game. Once again, the pairings were decided based on a variety of factors, including a theme and sometimes which albums had a similar number of songs. This game will be different in that most albums will have all of their songs included. Of course future pairings will need to be adjusted, but that will be based on performance in the album's inaugural round.
For this game, we will be looking at the second half of the 1970's. Very much a transitional time in the history of Metal, you will find a changing of the guard beginning to take place. The heavy hitters of the previous game are not present. Where Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin predictably ended up in the last game's final matchup, they are nowhere to be found here. Substance abuse and a sort of musical identity crisis was beginning to consume both bands. Black Sabbath released two of their most unpopular albums before Ozzy Osbourne left the band in 1979. In the case of Zeppelin, personal tragedies and injuries plagued the makings of their last two albums. While Presence and In Through the Out Door are not as maligned as the final two Sabbath albums (the former has retained a sort of cult status), it's hard to argue that they are at the level seen during Zeppelin's peak. The death of John Bonham in 1980 forced Zeppelin to come to an end, although it's hard to imagine the band staying together much longer even if Bonham had survived.
Other prominent bands also saw a significant change. Although none of the Coverdale albums appeared in the previous game, Deep Purple enjoyed a brief period of success with a new vocalist after Ian Gillan left the band. However, after the departure of Richie Blackmore as well, it was not long before the band broke up. Some bands, such as Queen, began to shed their heavier side in favor of more commercial sounds. Of course during this time other styles of music were beginning to pick up steam. Disco and Punk largely took the wind out of Metal's sails. Needless to say, it was a time of uncertainty and the first set of challenges for a new style of music.
Which brings us to the crop of bands that will be featured in this incarnation of Metal Essentials. The late 70s brought a lot of new blood to the scene that would greatly influence the genre. Despite having existed since the late 60's, it took some time for Judas Priest to find their sound and solidify a lineup. Their first album came in 1974, but it was not until 1977 that they made their major label debut. That album will be included in the game, but for our inaugural round we will be skipping ahead to the followup: Stained Class. Recorded just months after the release of Sin After Sin, Stained Class showcases an even darker and heavier Priest. The songs are fast and aggressive. It also contains the all time class: Beyond the Realms of Death. While it took the band some time to gain ground in the commercial sphere, the influence albums like Stained Class had on later bands cannot be denied. Especially in the realm of speed and thrash Metal, songs like Exciter are seen as architects for the style (there's even a band named after Exciter).
Speaking of early Heavy Metal tracks that inspired the names of later bands, Stained Class' challenger is an album that similarly influenced the more speedy and aggressive side of Metal. Of course I'm talking about Motorhead's second album: Overkill. Motorhead formed in the mid 70s as a result of Lemmy being thrown out of the psychedelic prog rock band Hawkwind. Motorhead was another band that had a lot of growing pains early on before finding their sound. They recorded one album prior to Overkill that did not do much in the way of commercial success or attracting an underground audience. The production was incredibly rough. A few years later, Overkill came hot off the heels of the band's cover of Louie, Louie which saw some success as a single. It charted surprisingly well in the UK and is held in high regard today as the beginning of a classic run of Motorhead albums.
Motorhead's place in the Metal world is something of a disputed topic. Lemmy himself did not consider Motorhead a Metal band. Indeed, their style can be pretty straight forward rock and roll, but with more grit and aggression. That has not stopped their influence on Metal, however. Like Stained Class, Overkill had a huge influence on the faster and more aggressive styles of Metal such as Speed and Thrash. For that reason, it is included here and pitted against the Priest album.
Every song from both albums is represented in this round. From Stained Class, I added the cover of Race With the Devil which was recorded during the same sessions.
For this game, we will be looking at the second half of the 1970's. Very much a transitional time in the history of Metal, you will find a changing of the guard beginning to take place. The heavy hitters of the previous game are not present. Where Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin predictably ended up in the last game's final matchup, they are nowhere to be found here. Substance abuse and a sort of musical identity crisis was beginning to consume both bands. Black Sabbath released two of their most unpopular albums before Ozzy Osbourne left the band in 1979. In the case of Zeppelin, personal tragedies and injuries plagued the makings of their last two albums. While Presence and In Through the Out Door are not as maligned as the final two Sabbath albums (the former has retained a sort of cult status), it's hard to argue that they are at the level seen during Zeppelin's peak. The death of John Bonham in 1980 forced Zeppelin to come to an end, although it's hard to imagine the band staying together much longer even if Bonham had survived.
Other prominent bands also saw a significant change. Although none of the Coverdale albums appeared in the previous game, Deep Purple enjoyed a brief period of success with a new vocalist after Ian Gillan left the band. However, after the departure of Richie Blackmore as well, it was not long before the band broke up. Some bands, such as Queen, began to shed their heavier side in favor of more commercial sounds. Of course during this time other styles of music were beginning to pick up steam. Disco and Punk largely took the wind out of Metal's sails. Needless to say, it was a time of uncertainty and the first set of challenges for a new style of music.
Which brings us to the crop of bands that will be featured in this incarnation of Metal Essentials. The late 70s brought a lot of new blood to the scene that would greatly influence the genre. Despite having existed since the late 60's, it took some time for Judas Priest to find their sound and solidify a lineup. Their first album came in 1974, but it was not until 1977 that they made their major label debut. That album will be included in the game, but for our inaugural round we will be skipping ahead to the followup: Stained Class. Recorded just months after the release of Sin After Sin, Stained Class showcases an even darker and heavier Priest. The songs are fast and aggressive. It also contains the all time class: Beyond the Realms of Death. While it took the band some time to gain ground in the commercial sphere, the influence albums like Stained Class had on later bands cannot be denied. Especially in the realm of speed and thrash Metal, songs like Exciter are seen as architects for the style (there's even a band named after Exciter).
Speaking of early Heavy Metal tracks that inspired the names of later bands, Stained Class' challenger is an album that similarly influenced the more speedy and aggressive side of Metal. Of course I'm talking about Motorhead's second album: Overkill. Motorhead formed in the mid 70s as a result of Lemmy being thrown out of the psychedelic prog rock band Hawkwind. Motorhead was another band that had a lot of growing pains early on before finding their sound. They recorded one album prior to Overkill that did not do much in the way of commercial success or attracting an underground audience. The production was incredibly rough. A few years later, Overkill came hot off the heels of the band's cover of Louie, Louie which saw some success as a single. It charted surprisingly well in the UK and is held in high regard today as the beginning of a classic run of Motorhead albums.
Motorhead's place in the Metal world is something of a disputed topic. Lemmy himself did not consider Motorhead a Metal band. Indeed, their style can be pretty straight forward rock and roll, but with more grit and aggression. That has not stopped their influence on Metal, however. Like Stained Class, Overkill had a huge influence on the faster and more aggressive styles of Metal such as Speed and Thrash. For that reason, it is included here and pitted against the Priest album.
Every song from both albums is represented in this round. From Stained Class, I added the cover of Race With the Devil which was recorded during the same sessions.
