If you have additional info about any of the listed bands - or one that should be listed but is not - please don't hesitate to mail me!
Curly brackets, "{" and "}", mean that the enclosed band or artist is itself an entry in the list.
-Q-
Queensrÿche:
Geoff Tate (vo, ke), Michael Wilton (gu), Chris DeGarmo (gu), Eddie jackson (ba), Scott Rockenfield (dr) (1983)
Founded in 1981 in Seattle in the US, Queensrÿche started out as a Heavy Metal band
in the NWOBHM tradition, or perhaps even lending influences from earlier acts such
as {Deep Purple}. And it was in this tradition that their debut album,
Queensrÿche, was released in 1983 (a shorter version had been released on
their own label as the EP Queen of the Reich earlier the same year.)
On the following two albums, The Warning from 1984 and Rage for Order
released in 1986, Queensrÿche built up a larger audience, but also began to move away
from their basic Heavy Metal roots towards a sound more inspired by progressive
rock.This sound was all the more prominent on the 1988 concept album Operation: Mindcrime (see image). Featuring a story involving main character "Nikki", a young lost soul, "Mary", a prostitute turned nun, "Father William", an evil priest and "Doctor X", the classical mad megalomaniac, Operation: Mindcrime told a dreary, violent and surprisingly captivating story . This ambitious album featured orchestral arrangements and Queensrÿche managed to form a very distinct sound that combined the elaborate qualities of the progressive rock of the seventies and the hard hitting agression of Heavy Metal. A sound, by the way that seemed to please the crowds, as Operation: Mindcrime stayed on the charts for over a year. Operation: Mindcrime was to be Queensrÿche's last album of the eighties.
Queensrÿche.com - official site.
Operation Mindcrime (117 K) from Operation Mindcrime (© Capitol Records)Quiet Riot:
Kevin DuBrow (vo), Carlos Cavazo (gu), Rudy Sarzo (ba), Frankie Banalli (dr) (1983)
Coming into the eighties, Quiet Riot had just lost their talented guitarist Randy Rhoads to {Ozzy Osbourne}. Nevertheless, they managed to get a massive hit with a cover of Slade's Cum On Feel the Noize, the single from their first album of the decade, Metal Health, released in 1983. Inspired by this success Quiet Riot hung on to their pop-influenced Hard Rock on their 1984 album Condition Critical. Just to be on the safe side, they even included a Slade cover, Mama Weer All Crazee Now on this album as well. Unfortunately the magic formula didn't seem to work anymore and Quiet Riot never managed to come close to the sales figures of Metal Health, neither with this album, nor with QR 3 from 1986 or 1988's release Quiet Riot. After a number of member changes, Quiet Riot broke up in 1988.
Pointless trivia: Carlos Cavazo and Rudy Sarzo both had brothers playing in another Heavy Metal band, {Hurricane}.
Quiet Riot Online - official site. Seems to be downKevin DuBrow's official site.
Metal Health (153 K) from the album of the same name (© CBS Records)Quireboys:
Spike Gray (vo), Guy Bailey (gu), Ginger (gu), Nigel Mogg (ba), Chris Johnstone (ke), Coze (dr) (1988)
In the mid eighties, Glam Metal was bigger than ever, and the Glam Metal capital of the world was without a doubt Los Angeles, thanks to bands like {Mötley Crüe} and {Guns n' Roses}. You'll be surprised to know, then, that Qiureboys were in fact a British band. Starting out as "The Queerboys" (and before that "The Pretty Girls"), Quireboys did arguably come from a much bluesier direction that the aforementioned L.A. bands though, something which was still prevailing when they eventually entered Sleaze City... Not surprisingly, they built up their reputation through countless gigs, including support slots for acts like Guns n' Roses and {Hanoi Rocks}. They released a couple of singles in the late eighties (including 7 O'Clock, which was released in 1989), but the debut album A Bit of What You Fancy wasn't released until 1990. The album immediately rose to number two on the UK charts and 7 O'Clock became a party favourite world wide, and so the eighties ended on a happy note for the Quireboys, at a time when so many other Metal bands were struggling to stay in the limelight. As a matter of fact, Glam Metal in general suffered less from the dawning of Grunge than most other flavours of Metal.
The official Quireboys site.-R-
Rage:
Peter "Peavy" Wagner (vo, ba), Thomas Gruning (gu), Jochen Schroeder (gu), Jörg Michael (dr) (1986)
Lead by songwriter Peter Wagner and originally performing under the name "Avenger", German band Rage released their first album Reign of Fear in 1986. By 1997, when Execution Guaranteed was released, guitarist Thomas Gruning had been replaced by Rudy Graf. Rudy Graf, coming straight from {Warlock} to rage, also left the band, however, and was replaced by Manni Schmidt. In fact, by the time the third album, Perfect Man, was released, Rage had also replaced their drummer Jörg Michael with Chris Ephthimiades, and as the other original members had also quit the band Rage was now a trio featuring these two new additions and Peter Wagner.
Starting out more or less a Thrash Metal band, Rage gradually transformed into more of a Power Metal band - and at times rather a melodic one at that. They had a steady fan base, at least in Europe, but never really managed to break through in a big way commercially.
Note that there was also another, less well-known, Metal band called Rage, featuring Mick Devonport, Keith Mulholland and John Mylett.
Rage On - the official Rage site.Feel the Rage - Official Rage fanclub site.
Rainbow:
Joe Lynn Turner (vo), Ritchie Blackmore (gu), Roger Glover (ba), David Rosenthal (ke), Chuck Bürgi (dr) (1983)
Another one of those really big and legendary names of Heavy Metal. Ritchie Blackmore, previously a member of {Deep Purple}, founded Rainbow in the mid-seventies, and when the eighties began Rainbow had just worked their way up to a position as one of the biggest names in Heavy Metal, especially in their home country Great Britain and in Japan. Their first album of the eighties, Difficult to Cure, confirmed their superstar status and rendered them a massive hit with the single I Surrender. Rainbow rapidly released two more albums; Straight Between the Eyes in 1982 and Bent Out of Shape in 1983, the latter containing the hit single Can't Let You Go. Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on your point of view - Ritchie Blackmore was persuaded to come back to Deep Purple, which was now reanimated, in 1984, and so Rainbow was immediately dissolved.
Whereas the other members came and went, Ritchie Blackmore was the founding member as well as the musical force behind Rainbow. He was a very talented guitar player who had the ability to combine speed, technical accuracy and the power of Heavy Metal with simple and attractive melodies. His technique as well as his sound, fueled by Fender guitars and Marshall amps, was a major source of inspiration for later guitarists such as {Yngwie Malmsteen}. On the downside, he was apparently extremely moody and hard to cooperate with, hence the frequent member changes. Roger Glover was more or less the only permanent member of rainbow (apart from Ritchie himself, of course...) and he also produced all of their albums in the eighties.
Ritchie Blackmore's official site.Joe Lynn Turner's official site.
Ratt:
Stephen Pearcy (vo), Robin Crosby (gu), Warren DeMartini (gu), Juan Croucier (ba), Bobby Blotzer (dr) (1983)
After having worked in several different constellations in San Diego and Los Angeles, Stephen Pearcy finally founded Ratt in Los Angeles in 1982. Among others, the line-up eventually included bass player Juan Croucier from {Dokken}. Ratt recorded a self-entitled mini-LP and released it on their own label in 1983, but they were soon discovered by a major label who re-released it in 1984. The full-length debut came the same year with Out of the Cellar. Not least thanks to the pop-influenced single Round and Round, Out of the Cellar was a major hit, selling over three million copies in the US. Ratt released three more albums in the eighties, none of which was able to match the sales figures of Out of the Cellar. That is not to say that Ratt were forgotten however; they remained extremely successful, not least as a live act.
As most other Glam Metal acts, Ratt played a melodic kind of Heavy Metal, sometimes bordering on pop or at least AOR, which enabled them to reach a mainstream rock audience. Ratt were inspired by seventies "party" bands like {Aerosmith}, and paradoxically their popularity may have suffered from the reunion of Aerosmith. Hence, while being quite popular in the US, they were never able to make it equally big in Europe.
The Ratt Pack - official site.Raven:
John Gallagher (vo, ba), Mark Gallagher (gu), Rob Hunter (dr) (1981)
As so many other English Metal bands, Raven emerged around the turn of the decade. Their debut album, Rock Until You Drop from 1981, was more or less faithful to the typical NWOBHM sound, i.e. featuring powerful and fairly straightforward Rock and Roll, and was reasonably successful. The second album, Wiped Out, was released in 1982 and the third, Break the Chain in 1983. Raven continued to release at least one album each year up until 1988, but perhaps owing to their moving away from the Metal sound in a more poppy musical direction, their popularity gradually decreased. On their last record of the eighties, (Nothing Exceeds Like Excess from 1988 - the first album featuring drummer Joe Hasselvander from {Pentagram}), they took a step back towards their heavier roots, but by then the heydays for Heavy Metal were already over.
The Official Raven web site.
All For One (133 K) from the 1983 album of the same name (© Neat Records)Riot:
Guy Speranza (vo), Mark Reale (gu), Rick Ventura (gu), Kip Leming (ba), Sandy Slavin (dr) (1981)
Founded in 1976, Riot, as so many other bands, started out doing numerous gigs at rock clubs in their home town, New York. Quite soon they got a record deal, and in 1977 their debut album, Rock City, was released. Their first album of the eighties was Fire Down Under, and by the time this album was released in 1981, Riot had seen several members come and go and had changed record company. They had also, however, built up quite a fan base, not least in Europe, and had played the Monsters of Rock festival in England as well as beeing supporting act for {AC/DC} and {Sammy Hagar}. Despite all the turmoil, Fire Down Under is often regarded as the best Riot album ever, in strong competition with their seventies albums.
Unfortunately, singer Guy Speranza now decided to leave the band, and he was replaced by Rhett Forrester. Rhett sang on the 1982 album Restless Breed and on Born in America, released the following year, but then Mark Reale, who was the driving force of the band, decided to dissolve Riot. For a short period of time, Mark played in his own band (The Mark Reale Project, later renamed Narita, the name of Riot's second album) but in 1986, now living in Texas, he resurrected Riot. Apart from himself, the members of Riot were now vocalist Tony Moore, bassist Don VanStayern (previously in {Slayer}) and drummer Bobby Jarzombek. This lineup released Thundersteel, which was to be Riot's last album of the eighties, and is generally regarded a quite worthy comeback effort.
Riot is one of those "semi-famous" metal bands. Featuring Mark Reales elaborate guitar playing, Riot were always respected among Metal fans, but they never really managed to break through big time commercially. They are also unique in that they really developed a faster and more aggressive style over the years (with the exeption of Restless Breed) and went from more traditional Heavy Metal towards Power- and Speed Metal. Remember, this was at a time when so many other bands tended to become gradually more commercial and put their hopes to ballads when the market for Heavy Metal slowly dissappeared towards the end of the eighties.
Riotsweb.com - the Official Riot site.Rock City Angels:
Bobby Durango (vo), Mike Barnes (gu), Doug Banx (gu), Andy Panik (ba), Jackie D. Jukes (dr) (1988)
The Rock City Angels were the epitome of eighties glam-sleaze, with a snarling, bad boy image; outrageous stage names (vocalist Bobby Durango also went by the names Bobby St. Valentine and Bobby Bondage); and a reputation for partying as hard as they rocked. They were one of the hottest live bands in the emerging south Florida music scene, eventually attracting the interest of Geffen, who signed the Angels to a 6.2 million dollar contract, unheard of for a new act at the time.
This is where things get hazy. All evidence of the band's planned debut on a small independent label was erased and the Angels were sent to Memphis, where they took two years to record their second "debut" album Young Man's Blues. It was a rock 'n' roll tour de force which featured fifteen songs on a three-sided vinyl and long-playing cassette, released in 1988, but it was also the beginning of the end, as the band split shortly thereafter. Why the delay? Some blame Geffen, saying they were bought off and buried because they would have buried label-mates {Guns 'n' Roses}, others point to the band's own excesses.
Whatever the reasons, the band did turn out this one spectacular record in the eighties. One only wonders what else could have been achieved had they followed it up. An early demo was released in 2000, and the band recorded a new album that same year that has yet to appear.
Another item of interest is Johnny Depp was once a member of the band, and has a writing credit on some of the band's songs.
Special thanks to Nick Contor for writing this bio!
The official Rock City Angels website.Roughhouse:
Luis Rivera (vo), Gregg Malack (gu), Rex Eisen (gu), Dave Weakley (ba), Mike Natalini (dr) (1988)
Roughhouse originally started out in Lansdale, Pennsylvania in the USA as early as 1978, albeit with a slightly different setting. At first, they were called Teeze, and it was under this name that they released their glam-inspired debut album Teeze in 1986. The album was originally released on their own label, but it was later picked up by Roadrunner and re-released with a different song order and featuring one completely new track.
As Teeze were just about ready to release their follow-up album, it became apparent that they had to change their band name (Teeze was already taken, it seems), and thus, they were suddenly named Roughhouse. Unfortunately, they were apparently not unique enough this time either, since they were once more accused of having a band name that was already in use by another band. This time they chose to settle with the other band, and Rough House could finally be released in 1988. This time around, the Glam factor was significantly lower in favour of a more Metal-oriented sound. The single from this album, Tonight, got quite a lot of air play, and Roughhouse set out on a tour across the USA. For some reason, however, they were dropped by their record company all the same, and following a couple of member changes Roughhouse promptly disbanded in 1991.
The Official Roughhouse and Teeze Site.Running Wild:
Rolf "Rock 'n' Rolf" Kasparak (vo, gu), Preacher (gu), Stephan (ba), Hasche (dr) (1981)
It was very common for Heavy Metal bands to have a distinct image. {Kiss} had their black and white make-up, {Venom} had their satanism and Running Wild had - pirates. They were formed in the mid seventies in Germany by Rolf Kasparak under the name Granite Heart, but in 1981 they changed their name to Running Wild. Their debut full length album Gates to Purgatory was released in 1984, and one year later came Branded and Exiled. In 1986 they supported Mötley Crüe for their European tour. It was with their third album Under Jolly Roger from 1987, however, that their carrer really started moving, and by now their pirate image was also firmly established.
In 1988 they released the live album Ready for Boarding as well as their most
successful studio album, Port Royal. Times were changing and many former Metalheads
turned their back on the genre, but Running Wild struggled on and managed to keep their nose
above the surface. In 1989 they released their last album of the eighties, Death or
Glory. By now many member changes had taken place and Rolf Kasparak was the only
remaining original member, flanked by Majk Moti on guitar, Jens Becker on bass and Ian
Finlay on drums.As mentioned above, Running Wild nurtured a pirate image, which reflected both on their album covers and in their lyrics. Their music was hard-hitting Power Metal with catchy choruses along the same lines as {Manowar} and {Helloween}.
The image shows the cover of Port Royal (© Noise).
The Official Running Wild Site.
Death or Glory (146 K) from the album of the same name (© Modern Music)Rush:
Geddy Lee (vo, ba, ke), Alex Lifeson (gu), Neil Peart (dr) (1980)
The Canadian trio Rush was founded in 1969, and when the eighties began they were already an established band that were used to selling gold and even platinum. The eighties was a very productive period for the band, and when they released the album Signals in 1982 - by many considered their finest piece of work - they had already released four albums since 1980, including one greatest hits and one live album.
Rush played a perfectionistic and very elaborate, technically skilled kind of Heavy Metal. In fact, drummer Neil Peart is often mentioned as one of the most skilled drummers ever. They also left very little to chance production wise, and despite of being only three people, they managed to achieve a very symphonic sound. After Signals, Rush released one more album, Grace Under Pressure from 1984, in this tradition, but then they suddenly turned in a more electric, technology-influenced direction, and released two studio albums (Power Windows and Hold Your Fire) which took a distinct step away from Heavy Metal, even if Rush admittedly had never been the heaviest band around. On the last album of the eighties, Presto from 1989, they had, however, more or less returned to their roots.
One of the reasons why Rush may have gotten less media attention than many other bands at the time, in spite of selling just as well, was that they never really lived the the destructive Rock n' Roll myth. Unlike the majority (well many, anyway) of Heavy Metal bands, they managed to stay totally clear of scandals, drugs and image extravaganza, focusing totally on their music. Sissies...
The official Rush site.
Time Stand Still (63 K) from the album Hold Your Fire (© Polygram Records)-S-
Sacrifice:
Rob Urbinati (vo, gu), Joe Rico (gu), Scott Watts (ba), Gus Pynn (dr) (1986)
Canadian Speed/Thrash metal band. Musically, they were somewhat similar to {Slayer} but also showed a trace of the Gothic Metal of bands like {Mercyful Fate}. Their elaborate guitar work also proved that they were unusually technically talented. Sacrifice started off in Toronto in 1985 and quite soon cut a record deal with a local label,which resulted in the release of Torment in Fire after less that a year. The debut album was followed by Forward to Termination in 1987, which was their last album of the decade.
World of Disorder - the Official Sacrifice web site.Saint Vitus:
Scott Reagers (vo), Dave Chandler (gu), Mark Adams (ba), Armando Acosta (dr) (1984)
Starting out in 1979 and originally named Tyrant, Saint Vitus struggled on without a record deal for five long years before debuting with a self-titled album in 1984. Apparently, they were discovered by grandfather of Hard Core music Henry Rollins. Saint Vitus was followed by an EP and the full length album Hallow's Victim in 1985. By the time their third album, Born Too Late, was released in 1986, singer Scott Reagers had been replaced by Scott "Wino" Weinrich. Saint Vitus recorded two more full length albums in the eighties (and one EP); Mournful Cries in 1988 and V in 1989.
So, what kind of music did Saint Vitus play? Ah, don't tell me, they were discovered by Henry Rollins, so it must have been some kind of Hard Core cross-over thing, right? No, not really. Try again. Oh, wait a second, wasn't Saint Vitus the name of an old {Black Sabbath} song? So they must have been inspired by Blach Sabbath, then? Yes, spot on! Saint Vitus took the slow, heavy sound of Black Sabbath to their heart, and were among the first influential Doom Metal bands, along with acts like {Trouble} and {Candlemass}. Saint Vitus did also, however, mix their music with some elements of Punk Rock, and thus they were also an inspiration to many Death Metal bands.
Thanks to Gabriel of GL Productions for providing most of the info for this bio.
Salty Dog:
Jimmi Bleacher (vo), Pete Reeven (gu), Mike Hannon (ba), Kurt Maier (dr) (1988)
California based Salty Dog had a short but intense career in the late eighties. Salty Dog was founded in 1986 by Mike Hannon and Kurt Maier (previously in {Ratt}), and also featured guitarist Scott Lane, who was soon replaced by Pete Reeven. Not surprisingly for a California based band, Salty Dog played Sleaze Metal, but with a touch of Led Zeppelin and Progressive Metal. What's more unique, however, is that they were actually an instrumental act for some time before singer Jimmi Bleacher joined in.
Salty Dog did a number of gigs, mostly in and around Los Angeles, and in 1988 they got a record deal with a major label. The full length debut Every Dog Has Its Day (recorded in Wales in the famous Rockfield Studios and produced by Peter Collins of {Queensrÿche} fame) wasn't released until 1990, however. Alas, the album received little backup from the record company, and vocalist Jimmi Bleacher quit soon thereafter (apparenltly he was a little too fond of illegal substances). Salty Dog recruited a new singer (Darrel Beach), but never really recovered.
Samson:
Bruce Bruce (vo), Paul Samson (gu), Chris Aylmer (ba) Barry "Thunderstick" Graham (dr) (1980)
Samson were one of the trend-setting bands that emerged around 1980 in the first batch of the NWOBHM era. Head On, released in 1980, was their second album and as the name suggests it featured rather straightforward, high-energy NWOBHM rock. This album, and the followup Shock Tactics from 1981, were quite well received and saw them playing with {Iron Maiden} quite frequently. Unfortunately, this turned out to be not all good, as Bruce Bruce left Samson to join Iron Maiden in 1981, now appearing under his real name Bruce Dickinson. Thunderstick also left around the same time, and a while later Chris Aylmer called it a day. Theese three were replaced by Nicky Moore, Pete Jupp and Mervyn Goldsworthy, respectively. Anyway, Samson struggled on, despite some more member changes, and continued to release a few more album in the eighties, the last of which was Head Treatment from 1986. (They also released the mini-album And There It Is in 1988.) After the member turmoil, Samson went for a more bluesy style and did not attract as much attention as they once had. That's not to say that the quality of their work was worse, however.
The Official Paul Samson Site.Sanctuary:
Warrel Dane (vo), Lenny Rutledge (gu), Sean Blosl (gu), Jim Sheppard (ba), Dave Budbill (dr) (1987)
Formed in Seattle in 1985, Sanctuary played Heavy Metal with a touch of Power Metal and even some traces of Progressive Metal. The band was discovered by {Megadeth} frontman Dave Mustaine. Not only did Dave Mustaine help Sanctuary get a record deal with a major label (Epic), he also produced their debut album Refuge Denied, which was released in 1987, and took them on the road as support act for Megadeth. Unfortunately, Refuge Denied was to be their only release of the eighties (and after Into the Mirror Black was released in 1990, Sanctuary disbanded.) Also, when all is said and done it's not unfair to say that they really owed most of their fame to having been discovered by Dave Mustaine.
Joe Satriani:
American guitarist who, before he started recording, made a living giving guitar lessons in San Francisco. He must have been quite a talanted teacher at that, since Kirk Hammet ({Metallica}) and {Steve Vai} were among his pupils. His own career took off with a blast in 1986 when he debuted with a solo album, Not of This Earth, released another full length album, Surfing With the Alien, and toured with Mick Jagger, all in one year. Surfing With the Alien did very well; in fact it managed to reach top 30 on the American Billboard chart, which is very unusual for a totally instrumental record. Both the EP Dreaming #11 from 1988 and Flying in a Blue Dream from 1989, Satriani's last album of the eighties, also featured vocals by Joe Satriani himself, however. In fact, Joe Satriani played virtually all instruments, short of drums and percussion, sung, wrote all songs and co-produced his albums. And probably delivered them to the record stores, for all I know...
Joe Satriani's guitar playing was inspired by earlier musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Eric
Clapton. His music mixes elements from many different genres. Apart from pure Heavy Metal,
Joe borrowed inspiration from jazz, blues, folk music etc. While certainly being very
technically skilled - and sometimes showing it - he also often chose melody and harmony
over technical exhibition and "guitar masturbation", a fact which may have aided in achieving
a higher level of commercial success than most other "guitar heroes".The picture shows Joe on the cover of Flying in a Blue Dream (© Relativity Records).
The Official Joe Satriani Site.
Crushing Day (135 K) from Surfing With the Alien (© Strange Beautiful Music)Savatage:
Jon Olivia (vo), Criss Olivia (gu), Keith Collins (ba), Steve Wacholz (dr) (1983)
This Florida based quartet originally started out in the late seventies as "Avatar", led by the Olivia brothers. By the time the debut album Sirens was released in 1983 they had changed their name to Savatage. They released a couple of more albums and saw a few member changes so that in 1987, when their fourth album Hall of the Mountain King was released, Keith Collins had been replaced by Johnny Lee Middleton and a second guitarist/keyboardist, Chris Caffre, had been added to the lineup. Their last album of the eighties, Gutter Ballet, came in 1989.
In their early days, Savatage were seemingly primarily inspired by NWOBHM acts such as {Iron Maiden} and Power Metal bands like {Manowar}. Over the years, however, they apparently felt the need to explore other areas of their musical talents, as they started experimenting with a more commercial sound and sometimes drifted towards the progressive. Perhaps it was this lack of musical consistency that unabled them to reach the uppermost layer of commercial success?
Savatage Fan Homepage - The official Savatage web site.Saxon:
Peter "Biff" Byford (vo), Graham Oliver (gu), Paul Quinn (gu), Steve Dawson (ba),
Pete Gill (dr) (1980)In the mid-seventies, Biff Byford and Paul Quinn founded the band "Son Of A Bitch" in Yorkshire, England. Whereas they may have thought this to be a cool name for a Heavy Metal band, record company representatives et al were less impressed, and consequently the name of the band was changed to Saxon. When the eighties began, the band had just released their self-entitled debut album under this name, and they were well on their way to establishing theirselves as one of the most important and influential bands in the current NWOBHM movement, together with {Iron Maiden}, {Judas Priest} etc. The first two years of the eighties was a productive period for Saxon, and before the end of 1981 they had already cranked out three very successful albums (Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law, Denim and Leather) featuring several memorable tracks such as all three title tracks, Motorcycle Man, 747 (Strangers in the Night), Heavy Metal Thunder, Sixth Form Girls, Princess of the Night and And the Bands Played On. They had also in some way found the time to tour quite a lot, and as if to prove that they mastered this forum as well, they released a brilliant live album, The Eagle has Landed, in 1982. Apparently Pete Gill couldn't keep up with the pace as he left the band in 1981 to be replaced by Nigel Clockner. Pete Gill later joined {Motörhead}, a band that Saxon had toured with early on.
By now Saxon were definately one of the most popular Heavy Metal acts in England, if not quite as popular in the rest of Europe and in the USA. Perhaps in an attempt to change this, the next album, Power and the Glory, released in 1983, was more carefully produced and less "rough in the edges" than their previous albums, without compromising with speed or energy. And it seemed to work, as their popularity grew and they began touring extensively in both Europe and the States. In 1984, Saxon took their sound one step further away from their unpolished roots with the release of Crusader. This album featured an almost gothic weight and an extremely fat and heavy sound, and whereas it was a commercial success, many of the bands early fans began to wonder where Saxon were taking their music. The answer seemed to be: "To America". The remaining albums of the eighties, Innocence Is No Excuse, Rock the Nations and Destiny, were all quite well-polished and distincly more "radio-friendly" than the band's earlier works. Rock the Nations, by the way, featured Elton John (yes, that Elton John) on piano on two of the tracks, as he happened to be in the same studio as Saxon at the time of recording. Unfortunately these alums did not hold the key to the American record byuers' hearts in quite the extension that Saxon may have hoped for, but only served to alienate many of their earlier fans, at the same time as the market for Heavy Metal as a whole was plummeting.
Starting out as a true "working class band", Saxon played pure, raw, straightforward Heavy Metal with a flare for catchy Rock n' Roll riffs, featuring two lead guitars. Apart from a gigantic metal eagle covered with spotlights (and a short experiment involving knight outfits following the release of Crusader), Saxon also kept their image and live appearances as pure and naked as their music, but all the same they soon built up a reputation as a live act based solely on charisma and energy. Just like their NWOBHM stablemates in Iron Maiden, they put more energy into writing lyrics than the average Metal act, though. This is aparent in songs like 747 (Strangers in the Night) (about an aeroplane in distress), Princess of the Night (about a steam engine, no less) and Red Alert (about the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident.) Perhaps it was this lack of gimmicks that kept them from taking that final step into becoming one of the really big names of Rock n' Roll.
The image shows the band on the cover of the And the Bands Played On single (© Carrere).
The Official Saxon web site.The Ultimate Saxon Tribute Site - a nice, personal Saxon site.
And the Bands Played On (154 K) from Denim and Leather (© Carrere)Michael Schenker:
See {MSG}.
Scorpions:
Klaus Meine (vo), Rudolph Schenker (gu), Matthias Jabs (gu), Francis Bucholz (ba), Herman Rarebell (dr) (1980)
Founded in Germany around 1970, Scorpions was already a well-established and popular Heavy Metal act when the eighties began. Their status was further strengthened with the release of Animal Magnetism in 1980, their first album after some troubled years with many member changes. Animal Magnetism went gold in the USA, and naturally Scorpions wanted to release a follow up quickly and strike while the iron was hot. Unfortunately the album was delayed, as Klaus Meine had lost his voice, and rumour even had it that he had left the band. But in 1982 Blackout was released to wide acclaim, and the ballad single No One Like You was a massive hit. The next album, Love At First Sting, released in 1984, added to the success and again Scorpions managed to produce an extremely successful single, Rock You Like a Hurricane. Love At First Sting eventually went double platinum.
Scorpions now embarged on a massive and successful tour, which was documented on the live album World Wide Live, and then decided to take a well-deserved break. They returned in 1988 with the album Savage Amusement and released another gold-selling ballad as the single, Rhythm of Love. Thus, Scorpions managed to reach the end of the decade with their level of commercial success maintained on a far higher level than most other Heavy Metal bands at the time.
As is the case with so many other Heavy Metal bands that managed to reach fame and fortune outside of the traditional Metalhead community, like {Def Leppard} or {Bon Jovi}, Scorpions were definately among the more mainstream and less aggressive of the lot. They were also not afraid to risk their Rock n' Roll image by releasing grandious "power ballads" as singles. This is not the whole truth, though, as there is no doubt that there was also a lot of hard work behind their success. Also, they were generally held in higher regard among "true" Metal Heads than most other ballad-addicted Metal acts at the time, perhaps because they had really played a big part in shaping eighties Heavy Metal rather than jumping on the band wagon towards the end of the decade.
And yes, Rudolph Schenker is the brother of Michael Schenker (see {MSG}). If fact, Michael Schenker used to be a member of Scorpions back in the seventies.
The Official Scorpions web site.The Scorpions Home Page - Another site about Scorpions. I assume.
Rock You Like a Hurricane (56 K) from Love at First Sting (© Harvest)Sea Hags:
Ron Yocom (vo), Frankie Wilsey (gu), Chris Schlosshardt (ba), Adam Maples(dr) (1985)
Sea Hags has it's roots in Seattle, USA, but was formed in San Francisco in 1985. Not surprisingly, the band members were heavily influenced by the Californian "Sleaze Metal" that was emerging at the time, giving birth to acts such as {Guns n' Roses} and {Cinderella}, but they also added a fair bit of Glam to their musical mix. Starting up a new band and trying to break through is never easy. Of course, it helps slightly if you have the kind of support that Sea Hags enjoyed: Kirk Hammet from {Metallica} helped them with their demo and Ian Astbury, lead singer in {The Cult}, offered to produce their debut album.
When the debut album, imaginatively titled Sea Hags, was finally released in 1989, it was produced by Mike Clink who had previously worked with Guns n' Roses' on Appetite for Destruction and who would later go on to produce {Megadeth}. Sea Hags generally got good reviews, even if it didn't sell as well as expected. Alas, the debut album was also to be Sea Hags' only release before disbanding, not least owing to the excessive drug abuse that would eventually lead to the death of bass player Chris Schlosshardt. Apparently they tried just a tad bit too hard to live the Rock myth and made the exact same mistake as the guys in Guns n' Roses, ie. they should have focused a little more on the Rock n' Roll (and sex) and a little less on the drugs. An all too common mistake...
Sepultura:
Max Cavalera (vo, gu), Jairo T (gu), Paulo Jr (ba), Igor Cavalera (dr) (1984)
Brazilian band formed in 1984, which was also the year that they released their first album, Bestial Devastation. It was with the three later albums of the eighties, Morbid Visions from 1985, Schizophrenia from 1986 and not least the classic Beneath the Remains from 1989, that Sepultura reached a larger audience and eventually became the largest rock band in Brazil, however. After the release of Schizophrenia, Andreas Kisser took over from Jairo T. As the eighties ended, Sepultura still had their greatest moments ahead of them, such as the groundbreaking album Chaos A.D. from 1993.
Sepultura means "grave" in Portugese, which might suggest that Sepultura was a Death Metal band. And to a certain extent that is true, but Sepultura also had a lot in common with more melodical Thrash Metal bands such as {Metallica} and {Slayer}. Furthermore, their lyrics often focused on the social and political situation in, primarily, Brazil, which is definately not the lyric subject of choice for most Death Metal acts... Never the less, they played an important part in the birth of Death Metal as a genre.
The Official Sepultura Site.
Stronger Than Hate (57 K) from Beneath the Remains (© Roadrunner)Shogun:
See {Tokyo Blade}.
Shotgun Messiah:
Bo "Zinny Zan" Stagman (vo), Harry "Cody" Kemppainen (gu), Tim "Tim Tim" Sköld (ba), Pekka "Stixx" Ollinen (dr) (1989)
Featuring {Easy Action} vocalist Zinny Zan, and originally named Shylock, Shotgun Messiah started out in Sweden in the early eighties. Over the years, the band released a few demos and changed their name to King Pin, but despite writing a whole bunch of good songs, it wasn't until 1988 that they released their debut album, Welcome To Bop City (produced by Harry and Tim). Soon after this, the members moved to Los Angeles in order to make it big. And once again they changed their name, this time to Shotgun Messiah. Rumour has it that it was in fact Marvel Comics that forced them to change their name, since "King Pin" was one of their trade marks ("King Pin" is the name of one of Spiderman's arch enemys.) Be that as it may, Welcome To Bop City was remixed and re-released in 1989 under the name Shotgun Messiah. Even though the album got many great reviews, it didn't sell exceptionally well, however.
It's somewhat surprising that Shotgun Messiah never really managed to make a name for themselves, as Harry Cody and Tim Sköld were definately talented songwriters. Musically, they played Heavy Metal/Hard Rock in the sleazy Hollywood tradition of {Mötley Crüe}, but it was evident that the band members were more musically skilled than most. In fact, their guitar work was often as elaborate as that of many so called "neo classical" acts. Perhaps the primary reason for their lack of success was that they got their brake to late, when the popularity of Heavy Metal and Hard Rock was on the wane.
Bop City (146 K) from Shotgun Messiah (© Relativity Records)Shy:
Tony Mills (vo), Steve Harris (gu), Mark Badrick (ba), Pat Mckenna (ke), Alan Kelly (dr) (1982)
Shy was formed in Birmingham, England in 1982. Playing melodic Hard Rock or Heavy Metal reminiscent of {Def Leppard}, the band recorded and released their debut album Once Bitten ... Twice Shy the next year, apparently paying many of the expences themselves. Once Bitten ... Twice Shy was fairly well received and landed Shy a record contract with a major label. Sadly, bass player Mark Badrick now quit the band, but Shy didn't really lose any momentum due to this. Instead they quickly recruited a new bassist, Roy Davis, and began touring and writing material for a follow-up album. The result was Brave the Storm, which was released in 1985. Thanks to their new record deal, Brave the Storm was significantly more well-produced than it's predecessor, and a new period of touring followed. The next album, Excess All Areas, released in 1987, saw yet another musical change for the band as many of the songs were co-written by various american artists, including Don Dokken from {Dokken}. Involving lots of external people in the making of a record may not always be a good idea, but this time it obviously worked (or maybe it was because the band member's hairs had reached unprecedented sizes?) as Excess All Areas sold quite well and is generally considered to be Shy's best album effort.
Unfortunately, time was beginning to catch up with Shy just as they were enjoying their finest hour. As the interest in melodic Metal began to drop, they were dropped by their record company. Perhaps in an effort to survive this transition in the musical interest of the general population, Shy developed a distinctively harder sound (we're not talking {Slayer} or anything, but still...) This enabled them to close the eighties by releasing a new album, Misspent Youth, on a new label, even if history would prove it to be only a temporary rebound...
Although they had lots of fans, Shy was never one of the most popular Heavy Metal/Hard Rock acts. That didn't stop them from touring with or supporting many of the true gigants, however. How about {Twisted Sister}, {UFO}, {Gary Moore}, {Bon Jovi} and {Enuff Z'nuff} to name but a few.
aoRock.com - A Shy web site.Skid Row:
Sebastian Bach (vo), Dave Sabo (gu), Scott Hull (gu), Rachel Bolan (ba), Rob Affuso (dr) (1989)
Founded in New Jersey in 1987, Skid Row only just had time to release one studio album, Skid Row from 1989, before the eighties were over. Containing a mainstream-adapted mix of {Bon Jovi}, {Mötley Crüe}, {Aerosmith} and other Hard Rock/Heavy Metal acts on the softer side of the scale, Skid Row was immensely successful. Much thanks to the two hit single ballads, 18 and Life and I Remember You, and also perhaps the good looks of the front figure Sebastian Bach, it sold over three million copies. Also being from New Jersey, Jon Bon Jovi promoted Skid Row, who took their music in a more aggressive direction after the debut.
No, this is not the same band as the English seventies band of the same name of which {Gary Moore} used to be a member. Nor has it got anything to do with the Skid Row that later transformed into {Nirvana}...
SkidRow.com - The official Skid Row site.Oh Say Can You Scream - Another Skid Row site.
18 and Life (50 K) from the album Skid Row (© Atlantic)Slaughter:
Mark Slaughter (vo), Tim Kelly (gu), Dana Strum (ba), Blas Elias (dr) (1989)
It so happened in Los Angeles, USA, that when {Vinnie Vincent Invasion} disbanded in 1989, Mark Slaughter, well-known for his extremely flexible vocal chords, and bassist Dana Strum went on to form their own band, Slaughter. Recruiting guitarist Tim Kelly and drummer Blas Elias, Slaughter apparently hoped to surf the wave of more pop oriented and melodic Heavy Metal that was prominent at the time (think {Bon Jovi} and {Warrant}). And this proved to be a a very successful mission, as the debut album Stick It to Ya, released just as the eighties was replaced by the nineties, was instantly successful. Fueled by the hit single Up All Night, Stick It to Ya eventually went double platinum.
It is no secret, however, that Grunge and more "alternative" musical styles were knocking more and more energetically on the Heavy Metal door at the time, and Slaughter were only to enjoy one more successful album (Fly To The Angels) before being thrown on the musical scrap heap with the rest of the bunch.
The official Slaughter site.Slaughter:
Dave Hewson (vo, gu), Terry Sadler (vo, ba), Ron Sumners (dr) (1984)
The "other" slaughter was a Canadian Thrash/Death Metal band, formed in 1984. Their brutal demo tapes were quite widespread in underground Metal circles, and they soon gained a reputation as an up and coming act. Their full-length debut, Strappado, was released in 1986 and saw the band touring with Thrash Metal celebrities such as {Celtic Frost} and fellow Canadians {Voivod}. Unfortunately, Slaughter never released another album before disbanding in 1990, despite almost finnishing the followup that would supposedly have been called Paranormal.
Slayer:
Tom Araya (vo, ba), Kerry King (gu), Jeff Haneman (gu), Dave Lombardo (dr) (1984)
Californian band, formed in 1982, that soon found a niche for themselves as "the world's fastest band". Their full length debut came in 1984 with Show No Mercy, and before long they had developed quite a cult around themselves thanks to their extreme sound and their aggressive and sometimes satanic lyrics, making an impression so extreme that it sometimes bordered on the ridiculous. Their second album, Hell Awaits, was slightly more refined but just as extreme as Show No Mercy and helped building up their reputation further.
It was with their third attempt, Reign in Blood (see image, © Def Jam), released in
1987 and produced by Rick Rubin, that Slayer managed to find the perfect mix of production,
speed, aggression and repulsive lyrics, however, and Reign in Blood is considered a
classic in the Thrash Metal genre by many. Unfortunately, Reign in Blood was just a tad
bit too provocative for their European distributor's liking, especially the song
Angel of Death, which told the story of Nazi concentration camp doctor Joseph Mengele.
Because of this, it was some time before the album reached European record stores. Slayer's
last album of the decade, South of Heaven from 1988, was a bit of a disappointment for
many of their hardcore fans in that the break-neck speed that had been the trade mark of the
band was somewhat compromised in favour of a more commercial sound, perhaps partly owing to
the (temporary) replacement of drummer Dave Lombardo for Tony Scaglione. "Commercial", by the
way, is highly out of place in comparison with... er... well, almost anything, really.Of all the early big names in Thrash Metal, such as {Metallica} and {Megadeth}, Slayer took the most extreme and aggressive path, in part thanks to incorporating more elements of hardcore in their music. They combined disturbing and provocative lyrics with furious speed, powerful riffs and frequent changes in tempo. Some claim Slayer were the first true Speed Metal band.
The Official Slayer Site.The Abyss - Comprehensive Slayer site.
Sledgehammer:
Mike Cooke (vo, gu), John Jay (ba), Ken Revell (dr) (1983)
The English band Sledgehammer was formed in Slough, not far from London, in 1978. At the time, the NWOBHM was beginning to emerge, and Sledgehammer's first single, Sledgehammer, released about a year later, was firmly cast in the NWOBHM mould. Around the same time, they debuted in front of a large audience playing the opening slot for {Motörhead}, no less.
Apart from releasing the odd single, it seems Sledgehammer spent their first few years changing bassists, but when they finally released their debut album Blood on Their Hands in 1983, the setting was the one listed above. The album was produced by {Gillan} bassist John McCoy, and by this time Sledgehammer had also changed their musical direction slightly. By now, they sounded significantly more melodic and contemplative when compared to their early works (and when compared to the majority of their NWOBHM colleagues as well, for that matter). After the relase of this first full length effort, Sledgehammer seemed to go up in smoke. The last trace of the band was an album relased in 1984 called Sledgehammer. And this was not a re-release of their debut single by the same name, but rather a re-release of Blood on Their Hands, with a few extra tracks thrown in for good measure.
S.O.D.:
Billy Milano (vo), Scott Ian (gu), Danny Lilker (ba), Charlie Benante (dr) (1985)
S.O.D., or Stormtroopers of Death, were a side-project put together by {Anthrax}-guitarist Scott Ian. The other members also played in bands like {Nuclear Assault} and M.O.D. More or less meant as a joke, S.O.D. are still considered one of the earliest and finest examples of "crossover", in short a mix of the weight and riffs of Thrash Metal and the attack and aggression of hardcore. Recorded in 1985, Speak English or Die, the first and only studio album, contained no less than 21 songs, some of which were almost normal in length, but just as many being only a few seconds. Well, at least you can't blame them for writing too epic songs, can you... Lyricwise, the songs were humourous on the surface but none the less often socially conscious and aiming to convey a message.
The Ballad of Jimi Hendrix (34 K) from Speak English or Die (© Megaforce).
Yes, this is the whole song...
Sodom:
Grave Violator/Josef "Peppi" Dominic (vo), Angelripper/Thomas Such (gu), Witchunter/Christian Dudeck (dr) (1985)
German band Sodom caused quite a stir in the Thrash Metal community when they started releasing demo tapes in the early eighties, so by the time their debut EP In The Sign Of Evil was released in 1984, they had already made a name for themselves. Together with bands like {Sepultura}, {Morbid Angel} and {Death}, Sodom really played an important role in shaping Death Metal as we know it today, and all their albums from the eighties, Obsessed by Cruelty from 1986, Persecution Mania from 1987 and Agent Orange from 1989 are more or less classics in this genre. Especially Obsessed by Cruelty is considered an important milestone in the history of Death Metal as it more or less embodies the transition from Thrash Metal to Death Metal. Plagued by frequent memeber changes and lack of a consistent development, however, Sodom didn't really manage to retain their level of popularity in the same way as, for example, their brothers in arms in Sepultura.
Needless to say, Sodom played ridiculously fast, aggressive and compromise free Metal. As for the lyric matters... well I'm sure you can guess for yourself from the name of the band...
Sodom Web Squad - official site.
Sodomy and Lust (60 K) from Persecution Mania (© SPV).
Spinal Tap:
See this entry in the thesaurus.
Statetrooper:
See {Wildfire}.
Steeler:
Ron Keel (vo), Yngwie Malmsteen (gu), Rik Fox (ba), Mark Edwards (dr) (1983)
Steeler only released one full length album; the self-titled Steeler which hit the market in 1983. And this album wasn't even that spectacular, containing a bunch of rather traditional '80s Heavy Metal tracks. What really made Steeler interesting, though, is that it featured both Ron Keel, who went on to form his own band {Keel}, and {Yngwie Malmsteen}, who of course later made a career for himself as a solo guitarist. Indeed, Yngwies typical, neo-classical guitar virtuosity is evident on the Steeler album as well. Apparently, Ron Keel and Yngwie Malmsteen didn't cooperate very well, which comes as no surprise as Yngwie at least was notorious for being difficult to work with.
Stillborn:
Kari Hokkanen (vo, ba), Ingemar Henning (gu), Erik Sandquist (gu), Peter Asp (dr) (1989)
Swedish band which played a dark, gothic kind of Heavy Metal inspired by {Black Sabbath}. Their music had much in common with Doom Metal bands such as {Candlemass}, but their image and lyrics were more satanistic than that of most Doom Metal acts. The full length debut Necrospirituals was released in 1989, and the same year Kari Hokkanen left the band and gave up his musical career all together. Kari was replaced by "Henke" (vocals) and Sami Miari (bass).
Stormtroopers of Death:
See {S.O.D.}.
Stormwitch:
Andy Aldrian (vo), Lee Tarot (gu), Steve Merchant (gu), Ronny Pearson (ba), Pete Lancer (dr) (1984)
It was the year 1981, when in a great Heavy Metal storm in the south of Germany this legendary band emerged. Their music, full of catchy melodies with epic refrains, with it's incredible rain of riffs and awesome pounding rhythm section, and of course with the singer's natural great vocals, made them known as 'The Masters Of Black Romantic'. Unfortunately Stormwitch never truly made it out of the underground scene, when other bands like {Running Wild} or {Helloween} became the leaders of the German Heavy Metal scene.
Stormwitch's record deal came very quickly, as when they arrived to Spygel Studios with plans to record their first demo tape, the boss of Spygel Studios and also the boss of Gama Records (home label of bands like Tyrant Pace, Necronomicon, Veto, Tyrant or Stranger), heard them, and... a record deal for 5 albums was ready in minutes. Their debut album was Walpurgis Night (1984). By many people, this album, and the second one, Tales Of Terror (1985) are considered the best German Heavy Metal albums in all of the 80's. Both albums (as well as the other Stormwitch albums) are today very rare. Walpurgis Night, with mighty True Metal hymns like Priest Of Evil (This is also the title of their compilation album, from the year 1998), Walpurgis Night and Skull And Crossbones, presented them with a "chains & leather & spikes" image, which was the essence of the real 80's Metal. The second album included killer tracks like for example Masque Of The Red Death (based on Edgar Alan Poe's lyric!), Sword Of Sagon, with intro in fantasy style, and the live favourite Trust In The Fire...
The year 1986 brought the Stronger Than Heaven album, which was the next milestone in Metal history. Killer tracks like Rats In The Attic (Power Metal hit), or mini metal opera Jonathan's Diary are not as popular today as Ravenlord, performed by Heavy Metal chartbreakers from Sweden, Hammerfall. As a matter of fact, one night in '97, Andy Muck, vocalist of Stormwitch, joined Hammerfall on Stage to sing with them on this track (we can see that on Hammerfall's video/dvd titled The First Crusade). But let's go back to 1986... In this time, many Thrash or Speed Metal bands started to arm themselves with leather and spikes, so Stormwitch decided to do something different. They started to wear costumes of the ancient baroque era, of the XVII and XVIII century. In this year, they started their first German tour, with Killer and Stranger as their partners.
On these first incredible 3 albums, the line up was the following: Andy Aldrian (real name: Andy Muck) on vocals, Lee Tarot (real name: Harold Spengler) on guitar, Steve Merchant on second guitar, Ronny Pearson on bass guitar, and Pete Lancer on drums. In the year 1987 commercial elements began to creep into Stormwitch's music (ballads, female vocals, keyboards etc.). The first album in this style (more commercial than before), was The Beauty And The Beast, and brought the band to the height of their popularity. In the same year, they also made a live album, Live In Budapest. The next studio album, Eye Of The Storm, the softest one in the band's history (with a remake of well-known Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart opus Rondo A'la Turca), was poorly received by their fans. Soon Lee Tarot, Steve Merchant and Ronny Pearson left the band.
The next two albums, War Of The Wizards (1992) and Shogun (1994), were recorded with a completely different line-up: Andy Muck - vocals, Damir Uzunovic - guitar, Martin Albrecht - bass guitar, Joe Gassmann - guitar and Peter Langer - drums. Special guests on War Of The Wizards were Stefan Kauffmann from U.D.O. and Stefan Raebel. While these albums were good Heavy Metal albums with great concepts and tracks, they just couldn't catch the spirit of the first 3 releases, the spirit of mighty German True Heavy Metal... But Lee Tarot didn't stop playing. In the year 1999, German label B.O. Records (also publisher of Stormwitch's compilation CD Priest Of Evil), published the debut album of his new band Tarot's Myst. This album, entitled Odyssey, is based on Homer's "Odyssey". All the adventures of Odysseus in a magic world, surrounded by giants, magicians, sirens and almighty gods, provided Harald Spengler with the vision and the perfect background for this mystical masterpiece of Classic Heavy Metal. In my opinion, this album is a real masterpiece, because Odyssey in Tarot's Myst's version, is incredible Heavy Metal opera, with a sound comparable to (such different) bands as Warlord, Ayreon and of course Stormwitch... In the booklet of Stormwitch's compilation CD is the following text, and I think that it is the perfect ending for this biography:
...May the fire burn forever, the witch is alive...
This bio was written by Bartek Gabriel. Many thanks!
The Witch is Alive! - The Unofficial Stormwitch Web SiteStryper:
Michael Sweet (vo, gu), Oz Fox (gu), Tim Gaines (ba), Robert Sweet (dr) (1985)
Founded in 1983 in California, Stryper released their first record, a mini-album by the name of The Yellow and Black Attack in 1984. Their full-length debut came in 1985 with the release of Soldiers Under Command, and some time later The Yellow and Black Attack was re-released with two extra tracks. While these records were far from failures, the real commercial breakthrough for the band came with the release of To Hell With the Devil in 1986. This album sold platinum and made quite a name for the band, not least thanks to the powerful title track. And their success continued with the release of their last album of the decade, In God We Trust.
Stryper played a popish, well-polished and distinctly American-sounding mixture of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, not awfully different from the sound of bands like {Bon Jovi} and {Def Leppard}. It was not their musical style that made them unique, however, as much as their being a christian band. Not that they were the only christian Heavy Metal act around (although they were certainly a minority), but that they focused so totally on their religion in their lyrics, record covers, outfits etc. They were, for example, keen on hosting bible study sessions instead of wild parties backstage after their concerts. Apart from the christian references, they were also one of the bands to take the "poodle haircuts, make-up and strange clothes"-look the farthest. This was especially true for lead singer Michael Sweet, who was definately one of the most androgynous looking fellows in the business.
Apart from being a member of Stryper, guitarist Oz Fox also had a side project, {Oz}. No, wait, maybe that wasn't him...
The official Stryper web site.
Soldiers Under Command (108 K) from the album of the same name (© Enigma)Suicidal Tendencies:
Mike Muir (vo), Rocky George (gu), Mike Clark (gu), Robert Trujillo (ba), Ralph J Herrera (dr) (1983)
Founded in Venice, California in 1982, Suicidal Tendencies were soon recognized for their unique mixture of hardcore and Heavy Metal. And some punk. And some Speed Metal. And even some funk. The self-entitled debut album came in 1983 and was an instant success. Unfortunately the name of the band proved to be anything but helpful in getting radio gigs and concert bookings, and the fact that their concerts often degenerated into downright riots didn't help much either. It was to take some years before the second album, Join the Army, was finally released in 1987, this time on a new label. But as if to make up for the delay it was soon followed by another one, How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today, released in 1988, which was to be the last album of the eighties for Suicidal Tendencies.
As was earlier mentioned, Suicidal Tendencies mixed a variety of different musical styles, which is probably why they were held in high esteem by Metalheads, punk rockers, hardcore fans and skaters alike. The lyrics of Mike Muir ranged from the political and socially conscious to stricly personal matters, often with a humorous touch.
The Official Suicidal Tendencies Website.
Join the Army (136 K) from the album of the same name (© Caroline Records)-T-
Tank:
Alaisdair "Algy" Ward (vo, ba), Pete Brabbs (gu), Mark Brabbs (dr) (1982)
Lead by frontman Algy Ward, British NWOBHM band Tank formed in 1981 and released their first
album, Filth Hounds of Hades, in 1982. The follow-up Power of the Hunter was
released the same year. Not least thanks to the rough voice of Algy Ward, Tank sounded a lot
like fellow countrymen {Motörhead} and unsurprisingly Lemmy Kilminster apparently took
an imediate liking to the band. Filth Hounds of Hades, by the way, was produced by
Motörhead guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke. In 1983 Tank added a second guitarist, Mick Tucker.
Perhaps this contributed to their gradual drift towards a more "massive" and epic sound on
1983's This Means War, which was produced by John Verity who had previosly worked with
fellow NWOBHM rockers {Saxon}, and Honor and Blood from 1985. Whether it was due to this
new musical direction or not, the Brabbs brothers left the band between these two albums and
were replaced by guitarist Cliff Evans and drummer Graham Crallan.
Anyway, the epic sound was epithomized on the latter album in anthems like the title track
Honor and Blood, The War Drags Ever On and Kill. Interestingly,
Honor and Blood also featured a version of Don Covay's Chain of Fools, previously
recorded by among others Aretha Franklin. Despite the member changes, these were the golden years
for Tank, with support tours for {Metallica} and {Motörhead} etc. But all good things must end,
and the last album Tank released before disbanding in 1988 was Tank from 1987, which
was generally not considered one of their best efforts.From the titles of the albums and songs mentioned above (and indeed the name of the band) it would be easy to come to the conclusion that Tank had something of a fixation with war, which to a large extent seems true. Their lyrics were generally more intelligent than you might expect, however, especially after having seen the absolutely terrible artwork of some of their record covers. Unfortunately, there is a good chance that their brilliantly named fanclub, Filth Hounds of Hades Worlwide, is no longer in existence...
The image shows the cover of Filth Hounds of Hades (© Action Music).
The official Tank web site.Teeze:
See {Roughhouse}.
Tesla:
Jeff keith (vo), Frank Hannon (gu), Tommy Skeoch (gu), Brian Wheat (ba), Troy Luccketta (dr) (1986)
Named after the Serb/American inventor Nicola Tesla, Tesla started out in the mid-eighties in California, and their debut album Mechanical Resonance, released in 1986, instantly gave them lots of attention. The 1989 follow-up, The Great Radio Controversy, which was also to be their last album of the decade, was an even bigger success and the ballad Love Song hit top ten on the single charts. Tesla are mostly remembered for playing a quite radio-friendly, American kind of Hard Rock, albeit with a slightly more blues based sound than most other bands of the genre. They could, however, also be rather heavy when they were in the right mood...
The official Tesla web site.Testament:
Chuck Billy (vo), Eric Peterson(gu), Alex Skolnick (gu), Greg Christian (ba), Louie Clemente (dr) (1987)
Testament originally started out in San Francisco in the early eighties as "Legacy". It wasn't until they replaced their singer Steve Sousa (who went to {Exodus}) with Chuck Billy and recruited a second guitarist (Alex Skolnik) that things really started to happen, however. At the time, the so called "Bay Area Thrash" was on the rise, and together with bands like {Lääz Rockit} and {Heathen}, Testament were one of the bands surfing on this wave. The debut album, The legacy, was released in 1987 and was very well received by Metal Heads and critics alike. The legacy was obviously inspired by {Metallica}, but still managed to stand out from the crowd with it's heavy but yet strangely melodic and pleasant sound, combined with vanilla Heavy Metal lyrics about witchcraft and war. Extensive touring followed, mainly supporting {Anthrax} on their tour of America and Europe.
The follow-up to the debut album, The New Order, arrived in 1988. Both musically and lyrically, it followed in the footsteps of The Legacy. If anything, the songwriting was even stronger this time, if perhaps more uneven. The New Order also included a cover version of {Aerosmith's} Nobody's Fault. Anyway, it managed to confirm Testament's position as one of the major Thrash acts, and once again lots of touring followed. If The New Order and The legacy were arguably quite similar, Testament took a bolder step when they once again returned to the recording studio to make Practice What You Preach, released in 1989. This third album was as aggressive as the previous two, but yet a bit more melodic. The greatest difference, however, was the lyrics. This time, Testament were much more conscious and wrote about politics and the state of the world. It may seem like the eighties ended on a positive note for Testament, but things were in fact just starting to go downhill. But that's a different story.
TestamentLegions.com - The Official Testament site.
Trial by Fire (46 K) from the album The New Order (© Atlantic)Thin Lizzy:
Phil Lynnot (vo, ba), Scott Gorham (gu), John Sykes (gu), Darren Wharton (ke),
Brian Downey (dr) (1983)Another one of those bands that are among the really, really big names of Heavy Metal and Hard Rock, but who to be quite honest had their greatest moments in the seventies, when they produced hits like The Boys Are Back in Town and Dancing in the Moonlight, even if they were never favourites among critics even back then. None the less, they did release three studio albums in the eighties that were not half bad: Chinatown in 1980 (see image, © Vertigo), Renegade in 1981 and Thunder and Lightning in 1983, keeping up the album-release pace of their seventies. They also kept up the less flattering pace of lead gutarist changes. The albums of the eighties leaned more towards pure Heavy Metal, not least in tracks like Cold Sweat from their last album, than their previous releases had done. After Thunder and Lightning Thin Lizzy apparently felt ran over by contemporary music and disbanded.
After this Phil Lynnot continued to pursue his solo career and released an album together with one-time Thin Lizzy member {Gary Moore}, Run For Cover, in 1985. This record contained the hit single Out in the Fields. Unfortunately Phil abused almost every hazardous substance known to man, and in 1986 his lifestyle caught up with him and he deceased, only 35 years old.
Thin-Lizzy.com.TNT:
Tony Harnell (vo), Ronni Le Tekro (gu), Morty Black (ba), Morten "Diesel" Dahl (dr) (1984)
Norwegian band, debuting in 1983 with the album TNT with a slightly different setting than the one listed above and with lyrics in Norwegian. Naturally, this record didn't do very well internationally, but 1984's Knights of the New Thunder had English lyrics and got a fair share of attention. TNT's third album, Tell No Tales, did even better and even got some airtime on American radio. By the time they released their third album, Intuition, in 1989 Diesel Dahl had been replaced by Kenneth Odiin.
TNT played a rather Americanized kind of Hard Rock - at times bordering on FM Rock - featuring extremely high-pitched vocals by Tony Harnell. Their music was also quite elaborate and dynamic, almost leaning towards Progressive Metal. This was not least apparent on Intuition. With dynamic and comparatively complicated tracks like Caught Between the Tigers and Forever Shine On, it was the least accessible of TNT's albums. Which is unusual, you might add, since most other bands in the genre tended to become more and more easily accessible.
True story: Tell No Tales by TNT is one of those albums which I made a classical mistake buying: Hearing the fast and almost Speed Metal-like title track on a Heavy Metal show on the radio I rushed to the record store and bought it without listening through it. Imagine the direction of the corners of my mouth when I got home only to discover that Tell No Tales was indeed the only song on the album sounding like this, whereas the rest of the lot - with titles like 10,000 Lovers (In One) - were way, way more... well, lets just say they were more listener friendly and leave it at that...
The official TNT site.Tokyo Blade:
Alan Marsh (vo), Andy Boulton (gu), John Wiggins (gu), Andy Wrighton (ba), Steve Pierce (dr) (1985)
Originally named Killers, Tokyo Blade formed in Salsbury, UK, in 1981. Eventually, they renamed themselves Genghis Khan and finally Tokyo Blade before releasing their debut album Tokyo Blade in 1983. Tokyo Blade played a kind of Power Metal, but their music was significantly more melodic than that of other typical Power Metal bands such as {Manowar}. After the debut, Tokyo Blade did a lot of touring and released three more albums in quick succession, Night Of The Blade in 1984, Midnight Rendezvous in 1985 and Blackhearts And Jaded Spades in 1986, continuously changing various members. All in all, Tokyo Blade featured over fifteen different members over the years. Whether it was because they never really managed to break through big time or for some other reason, Tokyo Blade disbanded in 1986.
Having disbanded, some of the members were not quite ready to throw in the musical towel, and continuing in the Eastern-infuenced-band-naming-tradition, Shogun saw the light of day. Shogun never really gained that much attention and released two records before they too broke up, Shogun in 1986 and 31 Days in 1987.
The Page of the Blade.Tora Tora:
Anthony Corder (vo), Keith Douglas (gu), Patrick Francis (ba), John Patterson (dr) (1989)
There is perhaps no other town in the USA that is as widely associated with music as Memphis. But Heavy Metal? Well, there was at least one eighties Metal band hailing from Memphis, and that was Tora Tora. Perhaps taking their name from the code name "Tora, Tora, Tora" used by the Japanese Navy during their attack on Pearl Harbour (but more likely from a song by {Van Halen}...), Tora Tora started out in the mid eighties. After winning a "Battle of the Bands" contest, they signed a record contract and released their debut album Surprise Attack in 1989. Surprise Attack did fairly well (it made top 50 on the charts, at least), and Tora Tora found themselves touring with the likes of {The Cult} and {L.A. guns}. Also, the single Dancing With A Gypsy was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
Tora Tora only released one more album (1992's Wild America), which didn't do as well as the debut before disbanding (only to resurface again several years later). Musically, Tora Tora belonged to the Led Zeppelin tradition.
Triumph:
Rik Emmett (vo, gu), Mike Levine (ba/ke), Gil Moore (dr, vo) (1980)
Triumph started out in Toronto, Canada in 1975. Being a Progressive Hard Rock/Heavy Metal trio from Canada, it was of course inevitable that they were to be compared to {Rush} from day one. When the eighties began (and the album Progressions of Power was released) Triumph was well on their way to building a successful career all by themselves, however, in spite of their unorthodox setting (especially for a Hard Rock act) featuring only three people, two of which sharing the role of lead singer. Their career was partly built on their reputation as an extremely spectacular live act and partly owing to increasing record sales. In fact, many fans think Triumph saw their finest hour with the release of (in particular) Allied Forces in 1981 (featuring the hit single Fight the Good Fight) and Never Surrender in 1982.
As the years went by Triumph continued to release records at a steady pace, recruited a second guitarist (Rick Santers) and basically retained their status just below superstardom. In 1988, however, frontman Rik Emmett decided to leave the band in favour of a solo career. Releasing his solo debut Absolutely in 1990 to good reviews, it was obvious that Rik Emmet did just fine without Triumph. While most fans were certain this would mark the end for Triumph as a band, the remaining members eventually decided to keep going. At first, they tried to persuade John Sykes ({Tygers of Pan Tang}/{Thin Lizzy}/{Whitesnake}) to join their ranks. Sykes, however, was busy starting up his new project {Blue Murder}, and politely turned down the offer. The choice then fell on Phil Xenides, but after a few years and the release of one more studio album, Triumph finally called it quits.
The official Triumph site.RockAndRollMachine.net - an unofficial Triumph site.
Trixter:Peter Loran (vo), Steve Brown (gu), P.J. Farley (ba), Mark "Gus" Scott (dr) (1989)
According to singer Peter Loran, he and guitarist Steve Brown started Trixter in New Jersey, USA as early as in 1983. Playing American, pop influenced Heavy Metal/Hard Rock along the lines of {Bon Jovi}, {Poison}, {Ratt} et al, it wasn't until the end of the decade that they broke through, however. And even then at least bassist P.J. Farley was still in his teens. As far as the other members go, there seems to be some dispute about their true age. Lying about your age is not a new phenomenon in the music industry, it seems... Anyway, the band started working on their ambitious first album, Trixter, in 1989. Trixter featured a comic book style album cover by Batman comic artist Neil Adams.
Says drummer Mark "Gus" Scott:
Mr. Adams was actually contacted/contracted by the art department at MCA Records (our record label at the time). The idea was to portray the band as "Super Heroes" and Neil was "the guy" to get. I guess it worked out. I really did like the cover!
Thanks to a bunch of successful singles, most notably One in a Million and Give it to Me Good, the debut album, which was released in 1990, went gold and saw the band touring with among others {Scorpions}. Trixter released two more albums during the nineties, but neither got the same amount of attention as the debut.
The band picture and sound clip are used with kind permission by Mark "Gus" Scott - thanks a lot!
Mark "Gus" Scott's web site - loads of info, pictures etc. (Seems to be down.)
One in a Million (47 K) from the album TrixterTrouble:
Eric Wagner (vo), Bruce Franklin (gu), Rick Wartell (gu), Sean McAllister (ba), Jeff Olson (dr) (1984)
As for so many others, the career of American Doom Metal band Trouble began with the appearance on a compilation album. In Trouble's case it was Metal Massacre 4. This eventually led to a record contract, and in 1984 the full length debut Psalm 9 was released. Their second album, The Skull, was released one year later. After The Skull, the rhythm section was replaced and now featured Ron Holzner on bass and Dennis Lesh on drums. In 1987, their last album of the decade, Run To The Light was released. Trouble did not disband, as so many other Metal acts did at the time. They did, however, replace their drummer once more in 1989. This time Barry Stern, previously the frontman in {Zoetrope}, stepped in.
Musically, Trouble were obviously inspired by Metal gurus {Black Sabbath} and Doom Metal pioneers {Pentagram}, and must be considered forerunners in the Doom Metal genre, starting out slightly earlier than bands like {Candlemass}. They did not endorse the satanic imagery that Black Sabbath endulged in, however. Instead, they were openly christian and referred to their own music as "White Metal" (see this entry in the thesaurus). Even if Trouble are not among the most well known of the eighties Heavy Metal acts, they had a definite impact on contemporary music and apparently inspired such prominent acts as {Metallica}.
Thanks to Gabriel of GL Productions for providing most of the info for this bio.
Trouble Heaven - a Trouble site.Twisted Sister:
Dee Snider (vo), Jay French (gu), Eddie Ojeda (gu), Mark Mendoza (ba), A.J. Pero (dr) (1984)
Twisted Sister took the Glam Metal image to it's extreme, at least as far as stage clothing and make-up goes. They had larger hairstyles, more colourful clothes and brighter make-up than just about all other bands at the time, bar {Kiss} before they removed their make-up, and maybe one or two other bands. Dee Snider even went as far as sharpening his teeth towards the end of Twisted Sister's career. Apparently, Dee himself wasn't to happy about the "Glam label", however, as he shared the following insights in an interview: I don't think Twisted Sister is 'glam' because that implies glamour, and we're not glamorous. We should be called 'Hid' because we're hideous...
Music wise they played melodic Heavy Metal with catchy choruses.
Their first two albums, Under the Blade from 1982 and You Can't Stop Rock N' Roll from 1983,
gained them some attention, but it was with their third album, Stay Hungry, released in 1984, that
they really hit the spot. On this album, Twisted Sister had honed their chorus skills to all
but perfection, and this in combination with funny and creative music videos (featuring deep
storylines such as a teacher getting his butt kicked in several different ways they weren't
exactly Ingmar Bergman epics, but they were certainly more entertaining than your everyday
live-footage-and-scantily-dressed-blond-beauties Metal video) could only mean grand slam,
especially as melodic Heavy Metal had it's heyday at the time. Stay Hungry
sold double platinum, and the singles We're Not Gonna Take It and I Wanna Rock
got more airtime than an albatross without legs.Needless to say, Twisted Sister could not live on their far out image forever, and their last two albums before they disbanded in 1987, Come Out And Play from 1985 and Love Is For Suckers from 1987 were nowhere near as successful as Stay Hungry. As so many other Metal acts at the time they failed to adapt to the rapidly changing music scene.
The image shows the lovely artwork on the cover of Stay Hungry (© Atlantic).
The official Twisted Sister site.
I Wanna Rock (54 K) from Stay Hungry (© Atlantic)Tygers of Pan Tang:
Jess Cox (vo), Robb Weir (gu), Rocky (ba), Brian Dick (dr) (1983)
One of the bands in the NWOBHM-batch that emerged in England around 1980. The Tygers released their debut album Wild Cat in 1980, an album which was a good representative of the rather rough and naked NWOBHM sound. Most other NWOBHM acts had two guitarists, and apparently the Tygers didn't want to be an exception since by the time they released their second (slightly more polished) album, Spellbound, in 1981 they had been joined by guitarist John Sykes. They had also replaced singer Jess Cox for Jon Deverill (later to appear in {Waysted}.) John Sykes didn't stay in the band for very long, however. When Crazy Nights was released in 1982 it was the last album on which he appeared. After that he went on to join {Thin Lizzy} and eventually {Whitesnake}.
Unfortunately things now started to go downhill for the band. Musically, they began to move further and further away fromn their original pure Heavy Metal sound towards an even more polished and commercial style. The lineup also started to change frequently and even though Tygers of Pan Tang did release a few more albums, starting with The Cage in 1983, they seemed to get less and less attention. It has to be said, though, that they had actually never been able to attract the same amount of attention as their more well-known NWOBHM colleagues such as {Iron Maiden}, {Saxon} and {Judas Priest}.
The official TOPT site.
