Great Metal Albums of 1983: Krokus- Headhunter

 

Like Quiet Riot, Krokus were another heavy metal band in 1983 who will forever be considered one hit wonders by the so called mainstream music world but boy what a song it was. Whenever I hear "Screaming in the Night," I am blown away by it now as I was back then. The way the lead guitar comes in supported by bass and drums on the intro just sounds ear catchingly eerie. It used to send a chill up me and Marc Storace's vocals added to that eerie feeling.Then when the guitars kick in, things just explode into metal euphoria. It is definitely in my top five of all time metal songs. I think that the only reason it's not number one is that the guitar solo lets it down. Only slightly but enough to keep it off number one.

Now, as I said for probably the 710,534th time, one song doesn't make an album, so the question is: Does the rest of "Headhunter" measure up? Obviously, there are no songs on it that stand up to the big single. Still, the rest of the album is pretty cool. The title track may only be a mediocre opener but "Eat the Rich" more than makes up for it. The two tracks that follow "Screaming in the Night" are more classic metal tunes and of the two, I prefer "Nightwolf." There's almost a Judas Priest vibe on it but the weird thing is that Rob Halford does a guest backing vocal on the other track, "Ready to Burn." However, after those two tracks comes my second favourite song on the album, "Stayed Awake All Night." This two was released as a single but is not as memorable as the first one. Maybe it's because the song is more melodic than the others, sounds a bit like The Who, but all I know is that I like it. The final three tracks carry "Headhunter" out very well. "Stand and Be Counted" is a strong track and the instrumental, "White Din" is interesting. Unlike the opener, "Russian Winter" is a very nice closer, if not one of the better tracks on the album.

At the time, what impressed me the most about Krokus at the time was the fact they were Swiss. Back then, I naively thought that all the best metal bands came from the US, UK or Canada, the Scorpions being the exception. I was glad that a band came from another country because fast forwarding to now, we can say that heavy metal is truly world wide and it may have just started here.

Track Listing:

1. Headhunter
2. Eat the Rich
3.  Screaming in the Night
4. Ready to Burn
5. Nightwolf
6. Stayed Awake All Night
7. Stand and be Counted
8. White Din
9. Russian Winter

[caption id="attachment_3557" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Krokus[/caption]

Marc Storace- vocals

Fernando Von Arb- lead guitar

Mark Koehler- rhythm guitar

Chris von Rohr- bass, piano, percussion

Steve Pace- drums

Additional Vocals:

Rob Halford- backing vocals on "Ready to Burn"

Jimi Jamison- backing vocals

Unfortunately, in spite of a cool album with a great single, like Quiet Riot, Krokus would fade from mainstream attention for the same reason. Their follow up albums wouldn't be a great as the ones they made in 1983. That's all the more reason to enjoy "Headhunter." For me, it's Krokus's best album.

Next post: Anvil- Forged in Fire

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Great Metal Albums of 1983: Quiet Riot- Metal Health

 

Here's one reason why I was so excited about music in the Autumn of 1983. In the months leading up to when my household finally acquired MTV, we were still relying on the late night, half hour programme called "Video Rock" for our television musical feed. One video got a lot of play on that show, though I liked it and the song from the very first viewing. Sorry, no 80smetalman points for guessing it because I think you all know that it was "Cum On Feel the Noize" by Quiet Riot. Seeing this video and hearing the song, sometimes on radio, it was no wonder I was so pumped up when I went to see them open for Black Sabbath in the November. Black Sabbath/Quiet Riot is definitely in my top ten of concerts I've seen in my life. However, I didn't have to buy the album, "Metal Health" back then because my sister did. Of course, I borrowed it quite a lot.

Some misguided rock officianadoes, at least they think they are, have marked Quiet Riot as one hit wonders because later albums weren't as commercially successful as "Metal Health" and the follow up single, "Mental Health," only reached 31 in the charts. Hey, who gives a stuff about that? Obviously, these so-called experts never sat down and listened to the album because if they had, they would have been completely blown away. I know I was.

While the two singles lead the album, there are so many great metal tunes on it and a couple I wouldn't call metal but are good nonetheless. Take "Don't Wanna Let You Go" for example. There is definitely a funk infusion on this song that is definitely not metal but is good anyway. Plus there's the tribute song to the late Randy Rhoads, "Thunderbird." It is slow and there is a piano in it but I think Randy would have still approved of it. Another observation is that lead singer Kevin DuBrow's singing style is the same on those two songs as well as the more metal ones on the album. In fact, I think he would sound the same if he sang country/western.

What raises "Mental Health" to the precipice it stands upon is the great metal tunes on here. Everyone I know agrees that "Slick Black Cadillac" is a great metal tune and the harmonizing is done so well. I can hear a Black Sabbath vibe in "Life's a Bitch" at the beginning of the song while "Breathless" is a straight forward in your face metal tune as is "Run For Cover." "Let's Get Crazy" goes more on the anthem side of things but trust me, when they played it live, it had me ready to jump out of my seat. Guitarist Carlos Carvazo is more than sufficient throughout the album but he does get his time to shine on "Battleaxe." As far as I can remember, this was the second time I heard a track where the guitarist was just given the chance to show his stuff and Carlos rises to the occasion. "Eruption" was the first.

Track Listing:

1. Mental Health (Bang Your Head)
2.    Cum On Feel the Noize
3. Don't Wanna Let You Go
4. Slick Black Cadillac
5. Life's a Bitch
6. Breathless
7. Run For Cover
8. Battleaxe
9. Let's Get Crazy
10. Thunderbird

[caption id="attachment_3552" align="aligncenter" width="272"] Quiet Riot[/caption]

Kevin Dubrow- lead vocals

Carlos Carvazo- guitar, backing vocals

Rudy Sarzo- bass, synthesizer

Frankie Banali- drums, backing vocals

Not only was did "Metal Health" propel Quiet Riot onto the metal and commercial world stage, it gave a  famous British band from the 1970s its big break in the US. Once people learned that "Cum On Feel the Noize" was originally recorded by Slade, many people like myself investigated said band further. That would mean big things for Slade with their next album, which I'll get to in time. Besides, Mrs 80smetalman met Slade back in 1979. Like, "Pyromania" by Def Leppard, "Mental Health would be considered on of THE albums of 1983. In fact, here's a piece of useless information my strange brain managed to retain: "Cum on Feel the Noize" squared off against "Photograph" on the MTV Friday night video fights. From what I remember, "Photograph" won by a landslide.

Next Post: Krokus- Headhunter

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Great Metal Albums of 1983: Black Sabbath- Born Again

 

The first concert I saw at the Philadelphia Spectrum after getting out of the marines was Black Sabbath. Having heard the album they were promoting on the tour, "Born Again," I already knew that former Deep Purple lead singer, Ian Gillan, would be fronting them. However, I still thought it was a bit strange that when they came out for the second encore, they played "Smoke on the Water." Actually, that strange feeling lasted only for a few seconds because the song worked as did Gillan singing some of the more classic Sabbath songs. I thought he did a particularly good job on "Heaven and Hell."

This begs the question, if Ian Gillan sounded so good for Sabbath, then why did so many of the so-called rock critics slate it and why isn't this album considered one of their best? Let me address the second point. When I hear "Born Again," I don't immediately start pining for the more classic Sabbath albums like "Paranoid" or "Heaven and Hell" but I won't put it on the same level as those more memorable albums either. It's a great album but not a classic. As for the critics, well, what do they know?

Ian Gillan's Deep Purple influence comes out immediately on the album. "Trashed" could have been a Purple song. At least until Tony Iommi goes into one of his trademark guitar solos in the middle of the song. Plus, I can say the same thing for "Disturbing the Priest," although the instrumental track in between those two, "Stonehenge" tries too hard to copy "E5150." My hypothesis here is that Tony and Geezer let Ian sing according to his style and bent their guitar and bass playing styles around the vocals. Personally, I think they do a damned fine job of it as well. This really shows through on the track "Zero the Hero." Unlike some critic, I don't find the song embarrassing, I quite like it, especially how Tony Iommi nails the guitar solo on it.

My favourite track on the album has to be "Digital Bitch." I love the way, they take Gillan's shrieks and Tony's guitar and fuse them together. The title track is a more slower bluesier number. Black Sabbath have been doing these for years except in the past, they did it with a much heavier guitar. They don't do that so much with this one except for the chorus. At the time, it was believed that this would be the closest Black Sabbath would come to a power ballad. Ian Gillan's voice suits the song well but then he is definitely if not the best, one of the best vocalists in rock or metal.

Now I haven't forgotten to mention the interesting album cover. After all, I had it on a t-shirt. I always thought it very amusing even if the American religious community didn't. Now, I wish I still had that shirt.

Track Listing:

1. Trashed
2. Stonehenge
3. Disturbing the Priest
4. The Dark
5. Zero the Hero
6. Digital Bitch
7. Born Again
8. Hot Line
9. Keep it Warm

[caption id="attachment_3547" align="aligncenter" width="299"] Black Sabbath[/caption]

Tony Iommi- guitar

Ian Gillan- vocals

Geezer Butler- bass

Bill Ward- drums

Note: Bill Ward would not tour with the band for this album. Replacing him for the tour was former ELO drummer Bev Bevan

I wonder what would have happened if Ian Gillan had stuck around with Sabbath for a few more albums. Would musical history as we know it been changed? Hard to say. As we know, Ian would leave Sabbath after this and rejoin his mates Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover from Rainbow and reform that band they were in together during the early 1970s. Ian Gillan might have only recorded one album with Black Sabbath but it is definitely one to remember.

Next post: Because they supported Black Sabbath when I saw them, I thought it right that it be Quiet Riot- Metal Health

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Great Metal Albums of 1983: Rainbow- Bent Out of Shape

 

"Bent Out of Shape" would be the last album for Rainbow as we knew them. The band would break up after the tour for the album and members would go in different directions but that's a story for further down the line of metal history. I have heard this album called lackluster and the final nail in Rainbow's coffin but was it that bad? I'll be the first to admit that "Bent Out of Shape" doesn't come up to the level of the previous Rainbow album, "Straight Between the Eyes" but I don't think it's a bad album one bit.

With "Bent Out of Shape," Rainbow go towards a more keyboard dominated sound meaning it's less hard rock than what Rainbow fans were used to. Back in the 1980s, I could see how metalheads would have found that disappointing as many were distrustful of any band who incorporated keyboards in their sound. However, David Rosenthal had been with the band for several albums and had proven himself to be a more than capable keyboardist. Proof is his efforts on the intro to "Can't Let You Go," strictly superb and he does smoke on "Fire Dance." The added bonus with that song is that Ritchie Blackmore still lets you know that he can still bend the six string to do his bidding. Rainbow has always been good at the keyboard-guitar solo trade off and "Fire Dance" shows that their ability to do so hadn't gone away. If you want further proof, listen to the two instrumentals on the album. On "Anybody There" the keyboards play a support role for Ritchie to work his guitar magic and "Snowman" is a great piece of instrumental progressive rock!

It might have been that many metalheads were put off by the single, "Street of Dreams," which got a considerable amount of airplay on MTV before it was supposedly banned for its hypnotic clip. It would later be accused of showing bondage but that again, is for a later post. It is a commercial track without argument but it's not bad. In fact, it's played well. "Desperate Heart" is more of a rocker, the second hardest on the album, with "Drinking With the Devil" being the hardest.  So not everything that Rainbow had stood for for nearly a decade went out the window on the album. Besides, the closer, "Make You Move" takes things out on a hard note very well. Overall, I won't debate that "Bent Out of Shape" is more of a commercial AOR album but I didn't hate it then and I appreciate more now.

Track Listing:

1. Stranded
2. Can't Let You Go
3. Fool For the Night
4. Fire Dance
5. Anybody There
6. Desperate Heart
7. Street of Dreams
8. Drinking With the Devil
9. Snowman
10. Make Your Move

[caption id="attachment_2923" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Rainbow[/caption]

Ritchie Blackmore- guitar

Roger Glover- bass

Joe Lynn Turner- vocals

David Rosenthal- keyboards

Chuck Burgi- drums

In spite of whether "Ben Out of Shape" is a good album, Rainbow would disappear after the album. Roger Glover and Ritchie Blackmore would go and rejoin some band they were with back in the early 1970s, you might have heard of them. Not long after, lead singer, Joe Lynn Turner would reappear with his first solo album. One thing that "Bent Out of Shape" proves was that it didn't end the careers of the talented members who made up Rainbow.

Next Post: Black Sabbath- Born Again

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Great Metal Albums of 1983: Def Leppard- Pyromania

 

Here's the album that was said to have gone multi-platinum in the US while only selling 17 copies in the UK, "Pyromaina" by Def Leppard. At first, I might have been inclined to believe that. When I went to the UK for four weeks in the summer of 1983, many English people I spoke to could only say they had heard of the band and some couldn't even say that. Furthermore, none of their singles made the Top 40 in the UK charts so wouldn't have gotten a mention on Top of the Pops. However, thanks to a tiny bit of research, I do know that "Pyromania" did get to 18 in the UK album charts.

Lots of exposure on MTV helped get Def Leppard the notice they deserved from American audiences. The videos to the first two singles "Rock of Ages" and "Photograph" were really cool. In fact, the latter retained the all time MTV Friday Night Video Fight Championship for well over a year. Does anyone remember the Friday Night Video Fights? That's for another time I guess. Video aside, "Photograph" is my all time second Def Leppard song, (number one hadn't appeared by this time.) It's just a great song in so many ways: the power chords, the harmonizing at the chorus and the guitar solo making a great concoction of a killer tune.

While released as singles, "Foolin'" and "Too Late For Love" didn't achieve the chart status as the other two but they are also brilliant songs. I was gutted when I saw Def Leppard in 1986 and they didn't play "Foolin.'" Like the Iron Maiden album I reviewed in the last post, the rest of "Pyromania" isn't filler. "Rock, Rock til You Drop" is as good an opener as any. I also have a very warm spot for "Die Hard the Hunter" and think it could have been released as a fifth single. Love the guitar solo on it. With all this, it is no wonder why many people on both sides of the Atlantic considered "Pyromania" the album of 1983.

In spite of all the success the album has enjoyed, Def Leppard did have some challenges while recording it. During the recording, the rest of the band decided they had enough of guitarist Pete Willis's alcohol problems and fired him. While Willis recorded all the rhythm guitar tracks on the album, Phil Collen was brought in to replace him and he recorded all the solos on the songs Willis was supposed to. Listening to the efforts on this album, I have to ask if we should include the guitar duo of Clark and Collen along with the greats of Tipton and Downing, Hanneman and King, Watson and Gillis to name a few.

Track Listing:

1. Rock Rock Til You Drop
2. Photograph
3. Stagefright
4. Too Late for Love
5. Die Hard the Hunter
6. Foolin'
7. Rock of Ages
8. Comin' Under Fire
9. Action! Not Words
10. Billy's Got a Gun

Joe Elliot- lead vocals

Steve Clark- guitar

Phil Collen- guitar

Rick Savage- bass

Rick Allen- drums

Pete Willis- rhythm guitar

On amusing story I heard that when Def Leppard supported Billy Squier on tour in the States in 1983, many people left after Def Leppard's set, leaving Billy Squier to play to a half empty arena. I'm not sure if this is true or not.  My sister saw them both, maybe she can shed some light on it. What I do know that "Pyromania" put Def Leppard on the world music stage in this year and rightly so.

Next post: Rainbow- Bent Out of Shape

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Great Metal Albums of 1983: Iron Maiden- Piece of Mind

 

One problem with me back in 1983 was procrastination. When I would hear about how good a particular band was or even heard a couple of songs I really liked from said band, I still wouldn't rush out and buy their album. I put it down to me being too tight with my money back then. In the case of Iron Maiden, I heard a lot of good songs from them in the early years and even saw their kick ass live show in January 1985, which is highlighted in "Rock And Roll Children," but the first Maiden album I actually bought was "Live After Death." It was then that I started to delve into their backlog of studio albums and discovered what would be my all time favourite Iron Maiden studio album, "Piece of Mind."

If I'm completely honest, I think what I liked most about "Piece of Mind" was that fact that it has many of the songs that I loved from "Live After Death" on it. What's an added bonus is that the studio versions of those songs don't sound too different from the live ones. Although when I hear "Revelations," even after all these years, I still half expect Bruce Dickinson to shout "Scream for me Longbeach!" in the middle of the song. Still, you can't go wrong with such great tracks as the one mentioned as well as two others near the top of my favourite Iron Maiden song list, "The Trooper" and "The Flight of Icarus." The weird thing about those two songs is that "The Flight of Icarus" sounds shorter in length that what it actually is and "The Trooper" sounds longer. But hey, who cares about things like that? They're both great songs, one written about a famous Greek fable while the other is about a tragic blunder in British military history, the charge of the light brigade. Both done very well set to music.

"Die With Your Boots On" is another cross over from the live album and I really like that one as well but those don't lessen the effect the other tracks has on the album. "Where Eagles Dare" is a fantastic opener and "To Tame a Land" is a cool closer. The other three tracks on the album also contribute to "Piece of Mind's" greatness although I never really get to hear what is said in "Nicko" which is a backwards message at the beginning of "Still Life." It was included as a dig at the religious nuts who claimed Iron Maiden were Satanic on account of the "The Number of the Beast Album." On the subject of Nicko, this was the first album to feature drummer Nicko McBrain, who replaced Clive Burr. What I never knew was that Nicko used to play with guitar great, Pat Travers. Man, you learn something new every day.

Track Listing:

1. Where Eagles Dare
2. Revelations
3. The Flight of Icarus
4. Die With You Boots On
5. The Trooper
6. Still Life
7. Quest for Fire
8. Sun and Steel
9. To Tame a Land

[caption id="attachment_3532" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Iron Maiden[/caption]

Bruce Dickinson- vocals

Steve Harris- bass

Adrian Smith- guitar

Dave Murray- guitar

Nicko McBrain- drums

History has tried to state that the new wave of British heavy metal, (NWOBH) was fading by 1983. I guess that Iron Maiden forgot to pick up the memo because they put out a stellar album in that year. One can't fault "Piece of Mind" at all as it cemented their place as heavy metal legends.

Next post: Def Leppard- Pyromania

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Great Metal Albums of 1983: Ozzy Osbourne- Speak of the Devil

 

Welcome to another 1982 album that came to my attention while I was still serving with the marines on Okinawa. Even when I first heard it then, I, like many others, speculated on why Ozzy would put out an album featuring live performances of his Black Sabbath material. Further investigation turned up that the reason was that this album was a contractual obligation album with Jet Records. That could explain many things like why Ozzy has publicly renounced the album.

Another thing it explains is the shockingly bad production of the album. Yes, this is a live album but it sounds like it was recorded live at a local pub. I can hear why many people found this album off putting. A further reason was that Ozzy's drinking problem was getting to him big time. The vinyl version has pictures of a road crew member who suffered from dwarfism, bringing Ozzy drinks in between songs. It also explains why his voice wasn't tip top on "Speak of the Devil."

In spite of all my negativity here, if you really want all the Black Sabbath classics and are too cheap to go out and buy all their albums, then this is a decent substitute. Yep, all the great songs are there. "Iron Man," "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath," "Snowblind," my all time favourite Sabbath song, "War Pigs" and as always, the live show is ended with "Paranoid." They're all there although some songs sound better than others and none of them come up to the standard of when they were first recorded. Personally, I think "The Wizard" sounds the best on it.

One more positive I can add is that Ozzy always gets a good crew of musicians behind him and this is the case on "Speak of the Devil." Here, we have Brad Gillis, before he joined Night Ranger on guitar, Rudy Sarzo, who would go to Quiet Riot on bass and Tommy Aldridge on drums. When the production allows, the talents of these three men show through and make the album listenable.

Track Listing:

1. Symptom of the Universe
2. Snowblind
3. Black Sabbath
4. Fairies Wear Boot
5. War Pigs
6. The Wizard
7. N.I.B.
8. Sweet Leaf
9. Never Say Die
10. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
11. Iron Man/Children of the Grave
12. Paranoid

[caption id="attachment_2343" align="aligncenter" width="245"] Ozzy Osbourne[/caption]

Ozzy Osbourne- vocals

Brad Gillis- guitar

Rudy Sarzo- bass

Tommy Aldridge- drums

"Speak of the Devil" isn't one that is mentioned along with the other great Ozzy Osbourne albums. In fact, it has been universally agreed that a better live album would come out four years later. Don't worry, I'll post about that one in due time. Still, if you fancy a trip down memory lane and want to hear Ozzy sing some Black Sabbath classics, then this album is okay to do that.

Next post: Iron Maiden- Piece of Mind

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