Skull_Kollektor

I need that Daisley book, thanks! At least my girlfriend bought me the Pearcy book. Will read it in July/August lying on the beach... Need a holiday. Bad. As for the Ozzy and Sharon dynamics... I think Ozzy is an emotionally impaired selfish fuck who genuinely cares for people but has an attention span of like 16 seconds before his brains (or whatever it is that pulls his strings) force him to act like a crazy motherfucker and drop his pants, take a public dump, or attempt some other fucked up shit like peeing on monuments or snorting ants or chewing bats and the like. I wouldn't say he is (or used to be) deliberately bad, he simply couldn't be bothered by the consequences of any of his actions. He might feel guilty or regret for a moment or two... but he would always wash away his sins with alcohol and recreational drugs. He spent a whole life numbed to the point of becoming totally dumb! I don't blame Oz. He has a simple, yet somehow tormented and restless soul. Pete Way of UFO has a new book out. I read an excerpt that got published in the latest issue of the UK magazine called Classic Rock. It's about his bass playing days in the Ozzy band. Crazy anecdotes, as usual.

Well done, amico mio! Your list is very focused on the late era, which is the one of the mega huge monster successes... hard to argue with the monster best seller that you have put in your list... BUT when we are talking post 1986 hair metal there is one major seller that HAS to be featured... and that is White Lion's "PRIDE" (indeed). Vito Bratta's melodic solos are unmatched. The tunes are great in their own right too, but it's his mesmerizing playing that really sets the record apart! It's impossibly hard for me to come up with a list... so what I can do now is pay tribute to the first movers in the scene. Without these bands, there would be no Poison, no Warrant, no Guns, no Skid, no Cinderella, and so on. No nothing! Here are the most relevant records that spawned the whole movement in the early 80's, IMHO (which might not be so humble, but most certainly is mine). 1. Motley Crue - "Too Fast for Love". The real KICKSTARTER. The one on Leathur records. Nuff said. 2. WASP - "WASP". Sure, it came out in 1984, but Blackie had been a stapler for quite a while, crossing his path with Nikki and bringing New York to LA alongside his fellow former band mate in the NY Dolls and Killer Kane, Mr. Arthur Kane (who used to be the boyfriend of Stacia, the tall naked dancer that was featured as part of Hawkwind's stage show in their Lemmy days). Kickass. 3. Quiet Riot - "Metal Health". Famously known as the first heavy metal record to top the Billboard Pop Chart. If you ask me, it is not. Led Zeppelin did that multiple times, but obviously Led Zeppelin would be offended if you called them heavy metal. So it shall go down as the first heavy metal album in history to top the Billboard Chart and take pride in it! In 1983 they jumped ahead of competition. They made it to the Us Festival alongside Ozzy, Ratt, the Scorps, Motley, Triumph from Canada and the kings of the Strip, Van Halen (whose performance on that occasion was sub par... The best were The Scorpions, closely followed by Quiet Riot... Triumph ruled too, but their repertoire is inferior... Ozzy was coked outta his mind, which is good, but the Jake E Lee incarnation of his band was still warming up). Motormouth Dubrow lost momentum right away bad mouthing every other musician on the planet. In their Randy Rhoads days were part of the Starwood scene that also featured the self proclaimed "American Deep Purple" aka Legs Diamond, Starz, Angel (whenever they were in LA) and bands like Xciter (with George Lynch) and Dante Fox (soon to become Great White). BTW it is fairly obvious that VAN HALEN is the single most important hard rock band to come out of Los Angeles in the 70's. 4. Ratt - "Out of the Cellar". This record initially outsold "Shout at the Devil"! First example of the typical Beau Hill production. He went on to do every other band. Roxx Gang, the Storm, Warrant, Europe, Kix (check out "Midnite Dynamite", he used the exact same vocals processing that he used on Stephen Pearcy's vocals), you fucking name it! Huge seller. Super solid band and charismatic singer... up until then, of course. Pearcy overnight became notorious as THE OTHER asshole on the Strip (right next to Vince, of course). The songs were mostly courtesy of the big man, Robbin Crosby, also known as THE KING. Rightfully so, he is sorely missed. The Ratt EP is also mandatory to understand the early Strip scene. 5. Great White - Same. A wonderful record with loads of heavy metal guitars, amazing arrangements and the outstanding vocal talent of Jack Russell. I said it before, I will say it again. Had he had the looks of a Vince Neil or a Bret Michaels, GW would have been the winners and, to quote Dubrow, WINNERS TAKE ALL. He looked like the ugly motherfucker he is, so Motley Crue got the Lion's share. 6. Dokken - "Tooth and Nail". The debut album, "Breaking the Chains", showed some promise, but this one totally outshines (RIP Chris Cornell) it! Lynch gave all the Ozzy gunslingers and Van Halen wannabes a run for their money with his ingeniously constructed tapping master class in the title track. It's not about overcomplexity, it's about goddamn TASTE! And power too! Also check out the riff of "When Heaven Comes Down". Kiss already had a song with that riff ("Not for the Innocent" on the "Lick it Up" record), but it went on to become the typical Lynch riff. Funnily enough, musicians refer to those descending semitones as chromatic... but in Italy a journalist was inspired by the word to apply the concept of CHROME to basic hard rock. For that reason, Italian hair metal connoisseurs (yes, I am not the only one, there's many) refer to the sort of hard rock that leans on the heavy metal side as CHROMED hard rock (as in covered by an extra layer of slick metal). "When Heaven Comes Down" is like a blueprint for CHROMED HARD ROCK. Want more? Check out "Unchain the Night" from Dokken's follow up record, "Under Lock and Key". 7. Steeler - Same. Ron Keel teams up with Yngwie Malmsteen under Mike Varney's supervision. "Cold day in Hell" is a classic. Rik Fox on bass had ties with both WASP and Angel. 8. Stryper - "The Yellow and Black attack". I'm not the biggest Stryper fan on Earth, but when I saw them play live some 8 or 9 years ago they blew the place to the ground! They are gifted, God has been kind on them. Tim Gaines used to play in STORMER, one of the first Strip bands to use the pentagram. Then he found Christ (or the other way around), quit booze, drugs and witchery... The music was still wicked, though! 9. Black n Blue - Same. Hailing from Portland, Oregon. They came to Los Angeles with two fellow Portland bands: Wild Dogs and Malice. B'n'B were the most melodic of the three. "Hold on to 18" shoud have been HUGE. Dieter Dierks at the helm for this first record. Solid heavy metal. Tommy Thayer was good here. 10. Rough Cutt - Same. It only came out in 1985, but Rough Cutt definitely belong to the first wave of southern Californian heavy metal. Born from a rib of Ratt, the Paul Shortino led band found its place in the heart of Ronnie James and Wendy Dio. In later years a succession of singers tried out for them, including none other than Joe Leste of Bango Tango fame. Rough Cutt were very good, but just not as good as the above nine bands. So here you go. These are the Top 10 albums of the Very First Wave of Southern Californian Hair Metal! Save this post for posterity, it's PLATINUM. Very nice list, but this is a capital sin! "Back for the Attack" is Dokken's FOURTH! 1 Breaking the Chains 2 Tooth and Nail 3 Under Lock and Key 4 Back for the Attack Also... I LOVE the Neil Kernon produced "Under Lock and Key"! It does have some UBER heavy and fast tunes. "When The Lightning Strikes Again", for instance. They opened the Judas Priest "Turbo" tour while promoting this record... Lucky for them that the Priest toned down their heaviness for this tour, so there wouldn't be so much of a starking contrast! Imagine Dokken opening the "Painkiller" promotional tour!

Ciao amigos, sorry I couldn't post because I was impossibly busy because of the CFA exam which I took today... I think I failed it, but now I certainly have much more free time! Apologies to Mr Popoff. I still don't rate him. I think he sucks badly. But I do owe him an apology because a few weeks ago I read the booklet of the "Dio Years" Black Sabbath Compilation (which I probably only ever read on the day I bought it in Panama City back in 2007) to find out that he was quoted in it! Yes Sir, name and surname! So now I can say he belongs to the club, although he is still my least favorite music writer.

May I recommend Temperance to you? Maybe you're already a fan.

That's the stuff. Today I woke up and listened to half of Elvis "for lp fans only" while showering, then I moved on to Rolling Stones "Aftermath" while having breakfast, then Motorhead "Rock N Roll" on the way to work. Some 12 hours later, Chicago "Chicago V" on the way back from work and finally my own shitty songs. A pseudo power metal tune entitled "Master of Your Soul", a prog/space rock instrumental and my own trashy glam anthem "I just dig somebody else". I suck, but I like me.

Fuck yeah! And I want to stress that I love MALICE! It's so close to Priest, I cannot but adore them! I have this theory. Once upon a time in the 80's there were three bands in Portland, Oregon. One band chose the Def Leppard route, another the Judas Priest route and the third one the Saxon route. Those three bands drove all the way down to California and swapped members in the process. I am talking about Black n Blue, Malice and Wild Dogs. Those were the days.

Today I received "Total Metal - The Neat Anthology" by Atomkraft. More like pedestrian metal. Neat is something that Neat (the label) never managed to be. Yet (or shall I say consequently?), I'm loving this slab of NWOBHM.

I think I am a living fossil. A living fossil should be a species that has remained unchanged through the ages! Nonetheless, considering that I do not know shit about biology or whatever this science field is, it is very likely that I've used the wrong concept... But I ain't no paleofucker, because I don't study the heavy metal of old, I live it. The original Lp has 12 tracks! The extra 2 are reissue bonuses, including the DB one you mentioned! BTW, I love WASP and those are two amazing records! The first 4 are their best, for me. Blackie was awesome then. Still is, but lip syncs A LOT these days. Talk about abusing backing tracks... he can compete with Coverdale when it comes to such malpractice!

Save for the occasional "old but gold", I have never heard 99% of the stuff posted here ahah I'm a living fossil... Today I listened to Steamhammer and Tommy Bolin!

This is a super tough topic. At some point I will contribute, but I'll focus on the 70's, the 80's and the early 90's. My knowledge of music after 1995 is embarrassingly limited, if not nonexistent.

Exactly! Incredible lyrics and delivery. So confronting, so in yer face! With your hands on your head, or on the trigger of your gun. As a matter of fact, reading that magazine got me so hooked on the London Calling album, that it made wanna reach out to my complete collection of Mott The Hoople. Their first 3 albums and the fourth happen to be produced by the same Guy Stevens who produced London Calling. And apparently those records were among the reasons that made Mick Jones pick him up. "Mad Shadows" is brutal. The album opener tramples all over your ears!

And No TV puts Any TV to shame.

Correct, sometimes "the" matters! Anyways, I've had their albums for a coupla years, but last week I really delved into them thanks to a Commemorative French Magazine that I bought at Charles De Gaulles airport on my way back from LA a month ago. "The Guns Of Brixton" particularly resonates with me!

Nu metal = utter shit Though I did enjoy ROLLIN by Limp Bizkit when I was 13.

Clash - London Calling Mott The Hoople - Mad Shadows Tommy Bolin - Teaser

A few weeks ago I bought the third Sadus CD, "A vision of misery" on Discogs (the metal mind ltd digipak). Yesterday I bought the first two at last (on discogs as well)! F****n A, dude! Can't wait to get my hands on those metal mind digipaks ? I also ordered Love and Electric by the Cult! They will play in Milàn end of June. I might go.

Oh yeah I love Bon Scott, Midnight and T Rex!

I can only list bands from "way back". And I now realize that I can only list German bands. 1. Helloween (up to Keepers) 2. Running Wild (from Port Royal up to The Rivalry included... before that it was heavy/speed metal and after that it's been a sad joke) 3. Blind Guardian 4. Gamma Ray 5. Scanner (first two records) 6. Rage 7. Grave Digger (from "The Reaper" onwards, prior to the 90's reunion they did not use enough double bass drum) 8. Mania 9. Iron Savior 10. Primal Fear Although I have that ridiculous box set with all the Iced Earth albums until Horror Show included, I do hate them with a vengeance. Stormrider is sort of good if not great, but whenever I give a try to the other albums I get bored to death. The cover album Tribute to the Gods is also good, but those are covers... Here's a list of US 80's power(ish) metal bands I like: 1. Malice 2. Crimson Glory 3. Metal Church 4. Lizzy Borden 5. Armored Saint 6. Vicious Rumors 7. Fifth Angel 8. Leatherwolf 9. Helstar 10. Wild Dogs I'm keeping both Manowar, Omen and Virgin Steel out of this chart because I'd rather lump them in the Epic Metal camp. It's also fair to say that most of these bands used to border on straight heavy metal (Malice) or flirt with thrash metal (Metal Church, Vicious Rumors)... but hey, in the days of "Kill em All" even Metallica were labeled "power metal" or "the Us answer to "Fast as a Shark"!

I was born on the cemetery Under the sign of the moon Raised from my grave by the dead I was made a mercenary In the legions of hell Now I'm king of pain, I'm insane Some grave in Tampere, Finland. 2015.

IT DOES INDEED! Freewheel burning!

Ciao!

Thank you! I think I will. You see, I don't get many outlets for this hobby of mine eheh Sure I have my share of good rocking friends, but most of the time they are content with, well, rocking! I also fancy mythology (or gossip, if you will)! Speaking of GW, I used to have Facebook and when I did, I had Mark Kendall among my connections. He posted incredibly often, almost to the point of being annoying. His typical post was a count of how many days he had spent in the light of the Lord without touching a beer, but sometimes he would also rant about Jack Russell. I'm in no position to judge either of the two, yet I cannot help but sympathize a tidy bit more for Jack Russell in this feud. I remember an incredibly harsh comment by Kendall in which he said that Russell was blessed with his voice, but never did anything to capitalize on his own talent. Like he couldn't compose music and barely came up with lyrics or something like that. I don't know nor care if it's true. What I do know is that back in the day Jack had an incredible voice!

Yeah I'm with you, he has an amazing catalogue! I mean, there's songs (especially on "Blizzard") that have been played to death and yet I'm never getting tired of them. "Crazy Train" anyone? I just wish he and his band played "Over the Mountain" more often! I think that "Let's Get Crazy" is a pretty good release. Unfortunately the shows are incomplete and the one from "Bark at the Moon" sounds better than the other one, but I find them perfectly listenable. I'm probably biased, though... Speaking about the guitar slingers that were "scouted" by Ozzy and Dio (or, more accurately, by Dana Strum and Jimmy Bain), it's amazing how poor Jake E Lee got screwed up by both! It's pretty obvious that the riff of Dio's "Don't Talk to Strangers" is the product of Jake E Lee's guitar proficiency, yet that song and the title track are the only ones off the "Holy Diver" record that were credited solely to Ronnie Dio (no band contribution). Come on, you can assume that Dio wrote "Holy Diver"'s riff by himself on a bass (actually it is not too far removed from "Heaven and Hell" and both are in A minor, like so many other hard'n'heavy riffs), but how the hell could he pretend to have come up with a riff like "Don't Talk To Strangers"'? NO WAY! Jake himself has said in many interviews that it was his own riff... Ozzy and Sharon did even worse than Ronnie and Wendy (Dio's wife... who actually was Aynsley Dumbar's EX wife... Aynsley whose 60's band was Aynsley Dumbar's Retaliation, whom were covered by Black Sabbath on their debut album - the song is "The Warning"... Aynsley who drummed for John Mayall and the original Journey incarnation... Aynsely who played drums on Whitesnake's breakthrough album, "1987" or "Serperns Albus or "Whitesnake" alongside John Sykes who was one of the three guitarists that Jimmy Bain had recommended to Dio for his solo band... Aynsley who played drums on... JAKE E LEE's solo album "Retraced" in 2005 alongside Tim Bogert... who used to play with Carmine Appice in Vanilla Fudge, Cactus and Beck, Bogert & Appice... Carmine who drummed for Ozzy when Jake was in the band during part of the "Bark at the Moon" tour, until Sharon kicked him out for, allegedly, stealing the show and being too visually loud on a stage that belonged to Ozzy... and, naturally, Carmine who founded King Kobra right after... and... Carmine who is brother to Dio's original drummer Vinny Appice of Derringer, Axis, Black Sabbath, WWIII and many more's fame... I could go on, but I'll stop :D). Sorry for the excursus in brackets... back to Ozzy and Sharon: the whole "Bark at the Moon" album is credited to Ozzy! Music & Lyrics! Could you imagine Ozzy coming up with "Bark at the moon's" monster riff? NO FUCKING WAY (would Eric Adams say)! So... those riffs, TO ME, represent the "Riffs à la Jake E Lee". On my old laptop I have a playlist with a few dozen songs each and every one of which starts with a "Riff à la Jake E Lee". To give you an example: GARY MOORE's "SPEAK FOR YOURSELF"! As Jake-y as it gets!

Good! I should be able to catch up, then! Thanks for the recommendations! BTW, that day I did go to the store, but I ended up purchasing ELP's first album (2 Cd deluxe) and Trilogy (deluxe as well)! I got some pomp in the end, just not Blind Guardian's

Your post of Cyco reminded me of the one time I saw the Dictators NYC with Handsome Dick Manitoba at the helm. He didn't exactly own the stage, but he also wore a bandana that night