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

Started working my way through the list.

Queen - Queen
I'm really not a fan of Queen's later Karaoke fodder, but their early albums certainly have some good stuff on them. "Son and Daughter" is the stand-out track for me, with a great doomy riff and some real in-your-face lyrics. "Modern Times Rock n Roll" is a great little moment of pure energy. I also like "Keep Yourself Alive" as an opening track, but the rest of the album doesn't do much for me.

Montrose - Montrose
To my shame, this is the first time I've ever heard this album. It didn't blow me away, but it is a pretty good album. It has a few major weak points, most notably the closing track. But the whole album has a real edge to it, with some aggressive riffage, killer drumming and on-target vocals. "Rock the Nation" is the highlight for me, and I also loved it when that main riff kicks in on "Space Station #5." Lush.

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
Another new discovery for me. I'm not sure I'll be listening to it again - a bit too outside my borders of taste - but I can agree that it has some seriously great guitar-work and some pretty impressive drumming (especially on Birds of Fire and One Word). And if Foro thinks it's a wonderful album, who am I to judge?

Part 2 of my comments tomorrow!
 
Thanks for mentioning Birds! It's an excellent, excellent album and very metal-inclined, as far as jazz goes. McLaughlin is a demon.

Queen's debut leaves me very cold - apart from the first track and My Fairy King, nothing here impresses me that much. Liar and Rat are tolerable, too.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is right below Sabotage as my #2 Sabbath album. Experimental, funny, catchy, full of amazing riffs.
 
I'd like to give credit to Hawkwind's live album Space Ritual. Key factors besides the music itself are the production and Lemmy's bass playing. This all resulted in a heavy album. Awesome to hear that bass locking in with the drums and Dave Brock's guitar. Nik Turner's hypnotic saxophone playing and Dik Mik and Del Detmar's innovative use of audio generator/electronics and synthesizer make the feast complete.

Extra charm for me is hearing pre-Marlboro Lemmy singing on some songs, most notably on Space is Deep and Seven by Seven! His backing vocal is a perfect match with Brock. Play loud and enjoy:

Not heavy metal in particular but certainly solidly rocking and of some influence on Sabbath.
According to Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath, while recording their fifth album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Tony Iommi suffered from writer's block and was not able to produce any riffs, which had been the main body of the band's songs. After listening to the Moontan album, Iommi had an epiphany and wrote a riff that ended up being the main riff of title song "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath".
Click to expand...
And I guess it doesn't hurt mentioning one album by the band Steve Harris is a huge fan of. ;)
Golden Earring - Moontan. On this record we find the iconic Radar Love but there's more: Vanilla Queen is a wonderful epic with a memorable instrumental section. Check how this develops! Such an awesome bass/guitar line popping up. If I'd ever see that live I don't think I would mind hearing this going on for an hour. I recommend the following, big time! Live version 1975:

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath by Sabbath is an album I am (still!) appreciating more and more these days. It doesn't have some of the darkness of previous and later work, but it sounds as if a lot of time was put into it. Not necessarily a great recipe but here it resulted in some nice arrangements. Some songs aren't that to the point or right in your face, but with some patience I can appreciate some beautiful parts. Fluff is weak but the rest of side A rocks! I am not entirely over the moon by the end of the title track (goes on a little too long) but for the rest it's great. Killing Yourself to Live has some really heavy work and then follow three softer, experimental tracks. Some odd moments but I can stand them!

Check all the instrumentation on this one:
  • Ozzy Osbourne – vocals (all tracks), synthesizer (tracks 5 and 6), handclaps (track 7)
  • Tony Iommi – guitars (all tracks), piano (tracks 3, 4, and 6), synthesizer (tracks 5 and 6), harpsichord (track 3), organ (track 7), flute (track 7), handclaps (track 7), bagpipes (track 8)
  • Geezer Butler – bass guitar (all tracks), synthesizer and mellotron (6), handclaps (track 7), nose flute (track 8)
  • Bill Ward – drums (all tracks except 3), bongos (track 1), timpani (tracks 6 and 8), handclaps (track 7)
  • Rick Wakeman – piano and Minimoog (track 4)
  • Will Malone – conductor, arranger
  • The Phantom Fiddlers - strings (track 8)
 
Last edited:
Glad to see Mahavishnu getting some attention. I understand that Jazz fusion isn't for everyone, but hopefully people at least find it contextually interesting.

First Aerosmith album has some solid moments, Dream On is such a cool song. Worth noting that the chord changes for Dream On were inspired by Steven Tyler's father, who was a classical pianist. I find this important as it's an early example of Hard Rock and Metal taking influences from classical music. Of all the contemporary genres (rock, pop, jazz, etc), I'd say the one that takes the most from classical music is easily Metal. A few laters we'll hear Eddie Van Halen take it to the next level, and a few years earlier we saw Iommi lift the Devil's Interval (presumably) from Gustav Holst. You could probably throw Dream On in that conversation too. It also has a fantastic buildup. I remember this was a song I was really drawn to as a kid, I found the keyboard riffs haunting and I still love the way Steven Tyler's vocals build in intensity as the song grows. The ending is also pretty eerie. The rest of the album is OK, they haven't really developed their own sound yet.

Loved Billion Dollar Babies! Alice is slowly growing on me. I kinda always wrote them off as a Kiss-esque gimmick, but I think they have slightly more to offer musically (and I say this as someone who likes Kiss). Lots of weird experimental stuff. Haven't heard Muscle of Love yet, but from my understanding it's a low point for this lineup.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is one of my favorites. It shows Sabbath getting back to that really dark sinister sound they had on Paranoid. Not that the two albums in between didn't have that, but it just seems gloomier overall. Some really pounding riffs here, especially on the title track. But you also have the uplifting (and very 70s) Spiral Architect, which is a cool way to end the album. The title track really fits the cover of the album, which Spiral Architect (the final song) fits well with the mood of the back cover. I even find Fluff to be enjoyable, even if it is appropriately titled. The only real blemish on this album is obviously Who Are You. I can't stand that song. The worst part is that it's catchy, I listened to the album this morning and it's still stuck in my head! I give them points for trying out new things though.

This early Blue Oyster Cult stuff is weird. I can't believe I'm listening to the same band that did Don't Fear the Reaper. it's interesting though. Any seasoned BOC fans want to chime in on this one? @mckindog @Dityn DJ James
Also relevant to us Maidenfans is the opening tune: The Red and the Black.

Added your albums Foro.
 
@Mosh I actually relistened to BOC's debut not too long ago. Yeah, BOC's first two are odd, but they even out at Secret Treaties (their best, and one of their heaviest imo). There's some really good tracks from their first two though: Then Came the Last Days of May, Before the Kiss a Redcap, Hot Rails to Hell, Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)... Loved those songs in high school and I still do listen to some BOC here and there.
 
Quite a ride is also The Who's Quadrophenia. Although I haven't heard several other The Who releases, this one certainly clicked immediately. Strong drumming and singing, and I like many of the melodies. Overall, an ambitious project with one of the best album closers ever: Love, Reign o'er Me.

[quote]Townshend now considers Quadrophenia to be the last great album that the Who recorded. In 2011, he said the group "never recorded anything that was so ambitious or audacious again", drawing particular praise for Moon's playing.[/quote]
 
Talking of Hawkwind's Space Ritual, I attended a 40th anniversary show in 2013 by Nik Turner and friends (Mick Slattery, Alan Davey, Thomas Crimble, Terry Ollis, a sexy girl in silver hot pants..), in a local hall 5 minutes walk from me. Fantastic and seriously loud. I'm not sure the stated lineup were all there but Davey was definitely providing the necessary bass.
 
Blue Oyster Cult – Tyranny and Mutation
I'm going to disagree with my learned friend above, and say I'd much rather listen to this than Secret Treaties. I like how they pick up the pace on Side One, with some great riffs in TRATB and Hot Rails. Side Two is weaker, but Mistress is a good closer.

Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
I've always had mixed feelings about this album. Side One is 75% awesome, but is really let down by Fluff. Side Two starts off strong, but then the last three tracks are not particularly impressive. The softer moments here don't compete with Changes or Solitude. Overall, a step down from Vol. 4 - but hey, it's still Sabbath.

Uriah Heep – Sweet Freedom
An enjoyable album to listen to. I quite like the diversity of stuff here, and certainly more than their follow-up Wonderworld. The opener isn't exactly heavy, but it is funky, and I love it. The epic-sounding "Pilgrim" is my other go-to track. Once you get past the feeling that the entire song is a joke, it's actually pretty awesome.

Thin Lizzy – Vagabonds of the Western World
I've never been much of a Thin Lizzy fan, and I haven't knowingly heard any of these songs before. Overall, I found this album pretty uninspiring, and very tame compared with the rest of the list. I doubt I'll revisit this one anytime soon.

King Crimson – Larks' Tongues in Aspic
Something else to file under "Not my cup of tea" (as we say in England). I find this difficult to listen to. Is the fault with me as the listener? Perhaps, but I can't like everything. Even so, comparing it with the rest of 1973's offerings, I imagine if I was alive at the time I would be excited by the sonic potential suggested by this record.

Part three of my comments on Monday...
 
Pand said:
Blue Oyster Cult – Tyranny and Mutation
I'm going to disagree with my learned friend above, and say I'd much rather listen to this than Secret Treaties. I like how they pick up the pace on Side One, with some great riffs in TRATB and Hot Rails. Side Two is weaker, but Mistress is a good closer.
Click to expand...

I see what you mean, there are great riffs on Tyranny and Mutation.
 
Larks is great for bringing us the "second King Crimson", which is a great era, and much more consistent in its output than the first one - the title track-part two is an absolute classic and a must, but I like the album as a whole. I'll be the first one to admit that for example Red is probably more consistent and probably also much friendlier to a newcomer, but still...

Never liked Vagabonds all that much. I know some people prefer this early TL era (yeah, I'm looking at you, George Starostin), but it sounds somewhat boring and uninspired to me.
 
I've realised now is a good moment to mention another band, namely one of the early purveyors of doom: Pentagram. They didn't release a full-length until 1985, but they recorded a lot of really great metal in the 70s. Their failure to secure a proper record deal at the time is one of the great tragedies of metal history. Thanks to Relapse Records, their early recordings are now available for everyone to enjoy. More recently, they've released some brand new material through Peaceville, but it's nowhere near as good as their 70s output.

I mention them now because 1973 was the year they recorded their first proper demo. Despite the subpar recording quality (cleaned up slightly by Relapse) "Forever My Queen" and "20 Buck Spin" are two of my favourite metal tracks of the year, and in my mind Vincent McAllister deserves at least one nomination for guitar solo of the year, although I don't mind which of these tracks he gets the nomination for.


 
Also worth a mention is heavy hard rock/blues band Bedlam from the UK. They only put out one album released in 73, but it's pretty great and is also notable for featuring Cozy Powell on drums who would go onto drumming for Rainbow, Sabbath, Whitesnake...


Buffalo is another band that should have made it big but for some reason didn't...Check out the riffing on this track from 1973 album Volcanic Rock.

 
Nice input!

By the way, I wish I could hear Elf. From YT their music won't play in my country. At least, not the album that was mentioned earlier.
 
You're welcome! Just make sure you update it regularly. :D
 
The Deep Purple was better than I expected. A step down for sure, but solid blues rock.

Selling England is a favorite of mine. It was my introduction to Gabriel Genesis and quickly became a favorite. Firth in Fifth blew my mind the first time I heard it. I still remember my first play through. Firth of Fifth was so intense and thrilling that I had to replay it before going on to the rest of the album! Knowing that Steve Harris was big into Genesis, I wouldn't be surprised if he lists this and Nursery Cryme as favorites. Dancing With the Moonlit Knight has some seriously heavy moments in particular. There's a feeling of reckless abandon to a lot of the high energy stuff on this album, but it's still obviously pretty tightly composed. I feel that way about a lot of Maiden too. There's a method to the madness, it's a bit more intricate than punk rock. There are also two references to Genesis in the Maiden discography. Can anybody name them?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top