Kiss is demolished by UFO 14 - 2.
Our next pairing is a more unorthodox one, but it's a showcase for the more experimental side of Metal. The great thing about music in the 70s is that a lot of bands dabbled in many different styles. One style of music that had some history with Metal but didn't have a direct connection to it until the mid 80s was Progressive Rock. Considering they both largely originated in the UK, it makes sense that prog bands like Yes and Genesis ended up influencing British Metal bands. Albums like Sabbath Bloody Sabbath showed that Metal bands were paying attention to the innovations in prog music, while albums like In The Court of the Crimson King showed that the prog bands were capable of producing some really heavy music. Some bands, such as Uriah Heep, really skirted the lines between prog and metal.
I previously discussed the changing of the guard that was taking place in the late 70s for Metal, as well as the challenges the genre was facing. Progressive Rock was going through a similar phase, for many of the same reasons. Punk rock was completely anathema to the ethos of prog, to the point where many Punk bands were openly hostile to prog bands. Where Metal would later find ways to incorporate elements of the punk music into its sound, it really wasn't possible to apply the same ideas to prog (although the more forward thinking prog rockers were able to capitalize on the post punk and new wave movements, but that's for a different game on a different forum). Many of the prog bands were disbanding or undergoing major stylistic/lineup changes. Prog's equivalents to Sabbath and Zeppelin, Yes and Genesis, were no longer the torch carriers. But there were some interesting developments in the style. Where the earlier wave of prog bands were largely influenced by the psychedelic movement of the late 60s, the newer prog bands were taking on more of a hard rock and even Metal form. Bands like Rush and Kansas were clearly rooted in the American album rock scene, but were also clearly influenced by the prog of Europe.
Which brings us to the theme of this round: Metal bands sometimes sounding proggy and Prog bands sometimes sounding Heavy. While I wouldn't exactly describe any of Priest's music as prog, the fact is that they were exploring unknown musical territories in the early days. Most other Metal bands had some amount of grounding in Blues rock or some other style. The only band that was pretty much Metal and nothing else was Sabbath and even they had their bluesier side. While Priest started as a blues-rock sort of band, by 1977 they had completely shed that aspect of their sound and was now full on Metal. Since there was nothing like that before, the early Priest is very experimental and sometimes even progressive. Songs like Sinner and Call For the Priest have many twists and turns and show a pretty advanced level of musicality. The band was assisted by the technical skill of drummer Simon Phillips, who had a diverse range of influence as a session musician. He's gone on to do many proggy and Jazz related projects. Sin After Sin is also significant for the early use of double bass drums. Don't let the experimental comments fool you, this album is pure Metal. It contains some of Priest's heaviest material.
Sin After Sin was Priest's first album for a major label. The band was finally starting to refine their sound. While Sad Wings of Destiny was an important album for them, SIn After Sin is the first really focused Priest project. They no longer sound amateurish or musically uncertain. There is a lot of confidence and competence in these songs. So many entire styles of Metal can be traced back to this album, from speed to thrash to even prog metal. If Black Sabbath was the birth of Metal, Sin After Sin is Metal graduating from college.
For this round's other album, we find ourselves in Toronto Canada. No, not Rush. This is the much more obscure and not nearly as renowned, but nonetheless musically impressive, Saga. Formed in 1977, Saga was far less accessible and not nearly as successful as their Canadian prog counterparts. They have, however, retained a sort of cult status among Prog rock fans. As part of the 2nd generation of prog, they were decidedly heavier and more guitar driven than earlier prog bands. It's really easy to hear the influence of Saga on prog metal bands from the mid 80s including Dream Theater, Fates Warning, and Queensryche. While not exactly a Metal band, they were very important to the fusion of the two genres that would come later.
Images At Twilight is Saga's second album. Released in 1979, when Prog music was almost nonexistent. While not a commercial success, it did fare better than the debut. It charted in Canada and the song It's Time received some airplay. The band earned some international attention but was pretty much ignored by the UK and US, two major markets. It's not a concept album, but Images (Chapter One) and It's Time (Chapter Three) are the first entries in a suite of songs about the life of Albert Einstein. Many of the songs remain favorites among Saga fans, including Mouse In a Maze and You're Not Alone. It probably doesn't stand a chance against Priest, but hopefully some people on here will be turned on to a new band.
I wouldn't ever classify Judas Priest as a prog band and I wouldn't ever classify Saga as a Metal band. So why are they being pitted against each other and why is Saga in this game? I think lineage is important in Music. New sounds usually don't come from nowhere. They are often a reaction of current sounds and are informed by what came before. Prog metal as a genre really didn't emerge until the late 80s and it didn't flourish until the 90s. But the two genres were flirting with each other almost since the beginning.
All songs from both albums appear in the game with no additions.
Although I like the KISS song which is versus ''Doctor Doctor'', but that song is THE classic from UFO - their emblem.
