Forostar said:
Someone oughta drag Perun to this topic. I guess he's a huge fan of this wave.
He
is.
Your first stop for the NWoBHM if you want to pass Maiden and Def Leppard is, of course,
Saxon. Some note should be taken that they were extremely early warriors and released their first (usually disregarded) album in 1979. If you want no-frills, down-to-earth, greasy and completely conservative heavy metal, look no further. Here is a band that dished out four albums that are basically "greatest hits" collections early in their career before descending into repetition, and eventually self-parody. They're still good to see live, but it's kind of like the old attic you haven't gone in to in twenty years- it desperately needs a wind of fresh air.
Of course, the four albums I am talking about are
Strong Arm of the Law,
Wheels of Steel,
Denim and Leather and
Power and the Glory, although
Crusader also deserves some mention, if only for the amazing title track.
Most other NWoBHM bands suffer(ed) from the same symptoms as Saxon did: They released all-defining metal classics early in their career and then descended into obscurity, because they could never top their first efforts.
The most notable of these is
Angel Witch. Their debut (1980) is one of the most enduring heavy metal albums of all time, and in fact one of the most heavily rotated albums in my collection. I think that
everybody should know, own and love this. It set impulses that young bands fed on even a decade later, and clearly left its mark in nearly every sub-genre of metal, including black and death metal. An absolutely essential classic, hands down.
One of my favourite NWoBHM bands is
Demon. They were much more melodic than Maiden were in the day, obviously feeding much more from 70's hard rock than punk. Still, compared to their peers, they were among the most energetic, catchy and have a much more 80's feel than many other bands. Check out their first two albums,
Night of the Demon and
The Unexpected Guest.
Don't Break the Circle off the latter was covered by Blind Guardian in 1989.
Next, I would like to mention
Holocaust. The name already suggests that they had a much darker, heavier and more evil approach than their contemporaries. They are mostly remembered for their hit,
Heavy Metal Mania (later covered by Gamma Ray), a minor metal classic. The album it is off,
The Nightcomers is another amazingly enduring however uncomfortable one, and requires a few listens to get into.
More should be something of a household name to Maiden fans, because their debut album,
Warhead (1981) featured the vocals of Paul Mario Day. The second album was a bit of a let-down, but the debut is as strong as ever, and I have a particular liking to the track
Way of the World.
White Spirit is equally crucial to Maiden fans, because they were the first band Janick Gers was ever in. They only ever released one album in 1980, but that is a really brilliant one.
Midnight Chaser should sound familiar to all of you for some reason, and
Fool for Gods is something like a bastard love child of a very drunk Pink Floyd and a very hungover Black Sabbath.
Samson is
yet another essential band for Maiden fans, and this time, I guess we all know why. Brucie wasn't at all professional yet, but still sounds good. However, the rest of the musicians are the real stars.
Thunderburst from 1980's
Head On album should also sound very familiar to all of you.
The
Tygers of Pan Tang had something of a superstar status and at least in Germany, their early albums are easy to find at record fairs. I never really got into them, but that may change.
Who's next, who's next... let's say...
Diamond Head. Contrary to popular belief, Metallica did not
only cover
Am I Evil?. Don't believe me? Then listen to
Sucking my Love and tell me if the riff starting at ca. 00:50 doesn't sound kind of familiar to you... Of course, Diamond Head are also essential listening, especially their debut,
Lightning to the Nations.
Girlschool is sort of the female version of Motörhead, and I'd guess Lemmy went over all the band members several times. Other than that, they were/are just some girls who want to have fun, and it shows... but they are also expert musicians. Again, the first two albums,
Demolition and
Hit and Run are crucial, the rest is for fans.
I'm now going to dig a bit deeper and present to you
Savage. This is the point where you leave well-produced, catchy and clean recordings and enter the real underground. Savage were a big influence on Metallica though, and their debut,
Loose 'n' Lethal (1983) is another essential, despite being rough, edgy and uncomfortably produced.
Satan is more of the same, although much heavier and much deeper (also a tad better produced). Their debut
Court in the Act (1983) is a very daring album, if I may say so.
Tank is everything the name implies. They have the subtlety of a big armoured vehicle running into a concrete wall at full speed and the sophistication of a stranded whale. However, not only their song titles (
Who Needs Love Songs?,
(She Fell in Love with a) Stormtrooper) are something to behold, and the intro to what is perhaps their best release,
Filth Hounds of Hades (1982) always puts a broad grin on my face.
Quartz is one of those bands that never had the stars aligned the right way. They had the best possible conditions for their start: An early debut, a producer named Tony Iommi, and even a guest guitar solo by Brian May! But they never made it big, despite being a great band, and so perhaps their greatest legacy is the bassline of
Mainline Rider, which was, with a few changes, used on Black Sabbath's immortal anthem,
Heaven and Hell.
I'll just drop a few more names here for now and write more about them later on (some obscure, some well-known):
A-II-Z,
Blitzkrieg,
Urchin,
Persian Risk,
Witchfynde,
Raven,
Tytan,
Lone Wolf,
Praying Mantis,
Gaskin,
Jaguar,
Tokyo Blade,
Sweet Savage,
Venom,
Sledgehammer,
Cloven Hoof,
Grim Reaper and then some. To be honest, I need to revisit a few to refresh myself on them... but that sounds like a good mission for this week.
