Great Metal Love Songs

Much has been said about metal love songs as of late. In fact, the Kerrang Channel recently played what was considered the greatest fifty power ballads. I didn't watch as much as I would have liked but I could agree with some of the songs, although I personally wouldn't call "How You Remind Me" by Nickelback a love song or even a ballad, but everyone has different ideas to what a ballad is.
It has been often said that every heavy metal band has its token ballad, although I don't think anyone would dare say that to Exodus and a few like minded bands. As I'm beginning to mellow with age, well just a liittle, I have been taking more notice of some of these softer songs. Today I'm going to list the ones that I think most metalhead males play to their female counterparts in the hopes it will get them laid.
                                       

• KISS- Beth
• Motley Crue- Home Sweet Home
• Poison- Every Rose Has Its Thorn
• Def Leppard- When Love And Hate Collide
• Guns and Roses- November Rain
• Jouney- Open Arms
• Rush- Closer To the Heart
• Twisted Sister- You're Not Alone (Suzette's Song)
• TNT- Lost Without Your Love
• Twisted Sister- The Price
• Thunder- A Better Man
• Extreme- More Than Words
• Little Angels- I Ain't Gonna Cry
• Aerosmith- I Don't Want to Miss a Thing
• The Scorpions- Winds of Change (Yes I know its about the collapse of the Berlin Wall, but a lot of ladies still like it)
• Def Leppard- Love Bites
• Nazereth- Love Hurts
• Slade- My Oh My
• April Wine- Just Between You and Me
• Tyketto- Standing Alone
• Pretty Boy Floyd- I Wanna Be With You
• Mass- Do You Love Me
  
• Metallica- Nothing Else Matters
• LA Guns- Ballad of Jane
• Danger Danger- One Step From Paradise
• Nelson- Love and Affection
• Dokken- Alone Again
• Crystal Ball- Silence of the Night
• Alice Cooper- You and Me
• Alice Cooper- I'll Never Cry
• Alice Cooper- Only Women Bleed
• Heart- Alone
• The Scorpions- Still Loving You
• Def Leppard- Bringing On the Heartbreak
• Heart- These Dreams
• Whitesnake- Here I Go Again
• Steelheart- I'll Never Let You Go
• Thin Lizzy- I'm Still In Love With You

Obviously, this list is in no means exhaustive and there are probably many more songs you metalheads play to your girlfriends in order to seduce them. Please, let me know your favourites.

Next post: Other metal ballads

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Great Rock Albums of the 70s: Peter Frampton- Frampton Comes Alive

""Frampton Comes Alive," everyone knows this album. If you lived in the suburbs you were issued it. It came in the mail with boxes of Tide."

Wayne Campbell

My copy of this album must have gotten lost in the mail because I never received it, although my mother did get her box of Tide. I never bought the album either, I didn't have to. Practically everyone I know had a copy of it so whenever, I went to someone's house in 1976 or 77, you could be assured that it was playing loud on the stereo. That is what happens when an album sells 6 million copies worldwide.
The thing "Frampton Comes Alive" is probably most famous for is Frampton's use of the "talk box" on two of the songs. I still remember sitting in my Sophmore biology class listening to two of my classmates debate the merits of it. Even though the talk box was only used on two songs, it was enough to catapult the single "Show Me the Way" to number 6 in the US charts and number 10 in the UK. "Show Me the Way" wasn't the only single from this album. The single "Baby I Love Your Way" reached 12 and 43 respectively in the US  and UK charts. Furthermore, it led to an entire generation, me included, trying to imitate his famous "Thank You" at the beginning of the song. Of course, many people like me can also relate to waking up in the morning feeling the same way as described in the single "Do You Feel Like We Do."

Track Listing:

1. Something's Happening

2. Doobie Wah

3. Show Me The Way

4. It's a Plain Shame

5.  All I Want to Be Is (By Your Side)

6. Winds of Change

7. Baby I Love Your Way

8. I Wanna Go to the Sun

9. Penny For Your Thoughts

10. (I'll Give You) Money

11. Shine On

12. Jumping Jack Flash

13. Lines on My Face

14. Do You Feel Like We Do

Musiscians on the album:

Peter Frampton- guitar and vocals

Bob Mayo- guitars, piano, electric piano, organ

Stanley Sheldon- bass

John Siomos- drums

There were some good live album before "Frampton Comes Alive" and many more since, but none of them achieved the success this album did. For me, it was the first live album I listened to and it is why it will always be in my mind when anyone mentions great live albums.

Next post: I will be taking a break from the Great Rock Albums of the 70s series and will write about the great heavy metal love songs.

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Great Rock Albums of the 70s: Deep Purple- Machine Head

The period of 1970-71 was obviously a great year for rock as two out of the three albums mentioned so far were made then. This post makes it three out of four as I present the "Machine Head" album by Deep Purple. Again, this is another one I didn't listen to until later in life, probably because I was only nine or ten when this album was released. However, I can say that I have definitely made up for it since and I can include it among the greats of the decade.

Needless to say, the best known track on the album is the famous "Smoke on the Water," a song known by metalheads young and old. Even after 40 years, young guitar apprentices play those famous opening riffs when they first learn to play an electric guitar. The song did for Deep Purple and "Machine Head" what "Stairway to Heaven" did for Led Zepplin on their forth album. But like Led Zepplin IV, "Machine Head" has many other great tracks on it such as "Highway Star" and "Space Truckin" which can stand on their own and make this album great.

Track Listing:

1. Highway Star

2. Maybe I'm a Leo

3. Pictures of Home

4. Never Before

5. Smoke on the Water

6. Lazy

7. Space Tuckin

Deep Purple is:

Ritchie Blackmore- guitar

Ian Gillian- vocals

 Roger Glover- bass

Jon Lord- keyboards

Ian Paice- drums

In the eyes and ears of many metalheads and ageing rockers like me, "Machine Head" will go down as Deep Purple's greatest album. When I finally got to see them live in 1985, I thought it was only fitting that the first and last songs of that concert were from this album, which I sing the praises of in "Rock And Roll Children."

Next post: Peter Frampton- Frampton Comes Alive

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to: www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available to buy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle