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.
-I-
Icon:
Stephen Clifford (vo), Dan Wexler (gu), John Aquilino (gu), Tracy Wallach (ba), Pat Dixon (dr) (1984)
Icon started out as "The Schoolboys" in Arizona, USA. At one time, The Schoolboys featured guitarist David Michael-Phillips of {King Kobra} fame, and they released the EP Singin', Shoutin' before changing their name to Icon.
The debut album, simply titled Icon, was released in 1984 and attracted a fair amount of attention among metalheads. Musically, Icon was rather heavy and a bit rough and leaned towards NWOBHM. When the follow-up was released in 1985, however, the sound had softened quite a bit, and Night Of The Crime was more of a Hard Rock album. (And in my personal opinion, the songwriting wasn't really top-knotch either. Maybe Icon simply pushed the follow-up out too soon, eager to cash in on the success of their first album?). This flirt with mainstream consumers didn't work out as well as planned, though, and things got even worse as first singer Stephen Clifford and later guitarist John Aquilino left the band. The remaining members licked their wounds and recruited vocalist Jerry Harrison and keyboardist Kevin Stroller and released the casette-only(!) album A More Perfect Union. As Icon released their last album Right Between The Eyes in 1989, the keyboard was kicked out again in favour of a guitar, this time wielded by Drew Bollman. Alas, in spite of collaborating with horror legend {Alice Cooper} and releasing a solid enough album, Icon too were soon victims of the decay of Heavy Metal and eventually called it a day.
An Icon web site.Iron Angel:
Dirk Schroder (vo), Peter Wittke (gu), Sven Struven (gu), Thorsten Lohmann (ba), Mike Mattes (dr) (1985)
German Speed Metal/Thrash Metal band cast in roughly the same musical mould as {Slayer}. Iron Angel only released two albums in the eighties, Hellish Crossfire in 1985 and Winds Of War in 1986, but were still fairly popular.
Iron Maiden:
Bruce Dickinson (vo), Dave Murray (gu), Adrian Smith (gu), Steve Harris (ba),
Nicko McBrain (dr) (1981)When Iron Maiden released their self entitled debut album in 1980 they had been around for almost five years and had during that time seen a number of member changes, released a self-financed EP and gotten a record deal with EMI. Iron Maiden's aggressive and uncompromising Heavy Metal sound was distinctly out at the time in favour of other musical styles such as New Wave and Punk Rock, but together with bands like {Judas Priest} and {Saxon} Iron Maiden helped putting Heavy Metal back in the limelight. This was the birth of the NWOBHM (the New Wave Of british Heavy Metal).
The real breakthrough for Iron Maiden came with the release of the second album, Killers, in 1981. It was soon after the release of this album that Bruce Dickinson, who had previously played in {Samson}, joined the band, replacing former singer Paul Di'Anno. Iron Maiden managed not only to keep their achieved level of popularity, but increased it significantly through a series of great albums. The most well-known of these is without doubt their third one, Number of the Beast, released in 1982. This album contains the two songs that are most closely associated with the band; the title song Number of the Beast and the smash hit Run to the Hills. Unfortunately it also gained the band a false reputation as being satanists, primarilly because of the titles of the songs Number of the Beast and Children Of the Damned. The band themselves denied being satan worshipers, and closer examination of the lyrics really confirms this. In fact, Number of the Beast begins with a quote from the Book of Revelations (chapter 12, verse 12 and chapter 13, verse 18)
Soon after this came two more successful albums, Piece of Mind in 1983 and Powerslave in 1985. By this time Iron Maiden was one of the most popular rock bands in the world and toured excessively. This was documented on a live double album, Live After Death, which marked the height of their career. Even if their last two albums of the eighties, Somewhere in Time from 1986 and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son from 1988, where by no means failures, the sand of time for the kind of Heavy Metal played by Iron Maiden was running low, and their commercial success was bound to decrease.
There are of course many explanations to the success of Iron Maiden, but apart from being able to write excellent music and lyrics that stood out from your everyday Heavy Metal texts, they also possessed the energy and charisma nescessary to execute a great live show, something which was very important if you wanted to make it big in this genre. Although perhaps not being angels, they also managed to stay out of the drug related problems that haunted and spoiled the career for so many other bands at the time. And last but not least they had Eddie. Eddie, the guy in the picture above, is of course the monster featured on all of their album covers, and he also appeared in one form or another at their live concerts.
The Official Iron Maiden Home Page.The Official Paul Di'Anno Web Site.
Run to the Hills, live (115 K) (© EMI)
-J-
Jaguar:
Paul Merrell (vo), Garry Pepperd (gu), Jeff Cox (ba), Chris Lovell (dr) (1983)
Another one of the numerous NWOBHM bands that suddenly emerged in Great Britain around 1980. In Jagaur's case, it all began late in 1979 when Gary Pepperd and Jeff Cox formed the band. They released two singles before their full length debut, Power Games, arrived in 1983. In keeping with the musical style of NWOBHM colleagues like {Iron Maiden} and {Saxon}, Power Games featured good ol' basic, down to earth, no fuzz Heavy Metal. The debut album, as well as the follow-up This Time, which was released the following year, was fairly well received and saw them touring with {Girlschool} in the UK.
Unfortunately, the story of Jaguar ends here as they surprisingly disbanded in 1985, after having replaced their drummer three times in two years.
The Official Jaguar Web Site.
Out of Luck (52 K) from Power Games (© Metal Blade)
Jane's Addiction:
Perry Farrell (vo), Dave Navarro (gu), Eric A (sic) (ba), Stephen Perkins (dr) (1988)
Jane's Addiction was founded by Perry Farrell (aka Perry Bernstein) in Los Angeles in 1986. They released a live album on their own label in 1987 (Triple X), but the following year they got a record contract and released their first studio album, Nothing's Shocking, which was also their last album of the eighties. This album displayed a mixture of experimental Heavy Metal and Thrash Metal, punk and even some funk, inspired by for example Led Zeppelin, and sold rather well.
Apart from being a singer, Perry Farrell engaged in many other forms of art such as poetry, performance art, sculpturing and photography. He also designed the group's album covers, which were a bit too erotic to be accepted by the American "moral majority".
The Official Jane's Addiction site.Joan Jett:
Just like {Lita Ford}, Joan Jett was once a member of the influencial all-females group The Runaways. When the eighties began, The Runaways had split up and Joan Jett had, with the aid of producers Kenny Laguna and Ritchie Cordell, put together her own band The Blackhearts. The Blackhearts were, apart from Joan herself on vocals and guitar, Eric Ambel (gu), Gary Ryan (ba) and Lee Chrystal (dr). Together they recorded the debut album Joan Jett, released in Europe in 1980 and re-released one year later in the USA as Bad Reputation. In 1981 Eric Ambel left The Blackhearts and was replaced by Ricky Byrd, but this proved to be a bad move by mr Ambel since the single I Love Rock 'n' Roll, an Arrows-cover from the 1983 album I Love Rock 'n' Roll, became a massive commercial success and hit number one on the American charts. After this Joan Jett released a number of albums but had a tough time trying to maintain her level of fame, and it was to take until 1988 and the release of the album Up Your Alley before she got a major hit again, this time with the single I Hate Myself for Loving You.
The music of Joan Jett was rather straightforward Hard Rock with happy, almost pop-like melodies, but it also contained elements of punk and Heavy Metal.
The Official Joan Jett web site.Journey:
Steve Perry (vo), Neal Shon (vo, gu), Randy Jackson (ba), Jonathan Cain (ke), Larry Londin (dr) (1986)
The San Fransisco based group Journey had already been around for a while when they released their album Departure in 1980 (their self entitled debut album came in 1975.) Having started out like a mostly instrumental, symphonic rock band, Journey gradually tilted towards perfectionistic AOR, a concept which proved commercially successful. At least, that is, in the USA. In Europe, the band found it more difficult to reach a large audience with their unimpeacheably produced music. And among true Metal Heads in general, the kind of "Mainstream Metal" played by Journey et al was often viewed with suspicion.
The official Journey site.Judas Priest:
Rob Halford (vo), KK Downing (gu), Glen Tipton (gu), Ian Hill (ba), Dave Holland (dr) (1980)
Judas Priest was founded in Birmingham, England in the mid seventies, but the real boost for their career came in the early eighties with the advent of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM), where Judas Priest were one of the most prominent bands (if not the most prominent band) together with {Iron Maiden}, {Saxon} etc. Their first album of the eighties, British Steel from 1980, was a perfect start of the new decade. It entered the British chart at number three and sold platinum in America. Furthermore, it featured one of the most well-known Heavy Metal songs ever made (together with {Iron Maidens} Run to the Hills, {Motörhead's} Ace of Spades and a few others), Breaking the Law. Such a great success was of course all but impossible to match, but Point of Entry from 1981 was almost as successful. By the time Screaming For Vengeance was released in 1982, Judas Priest were one of the most well-known Heavy Metal bands in the world, and continued to pump out great metal melodies with songs like You've Got Another Thing Comin'. This album sold over one million copies.
The next album, Defenders of the Faith from 1984 (see image, © CBS)
continued in the same tradition and featured, for example, Freewheel Burning.
But as was the case for so many other Heavy Metal bands at the time, when Thrash-
and Speed Metal was getting more attention, time was perhaps beginning to catch up
with Judas Priest. Maybe in an effort to keep up with current trends, Turbo,
released in 1986, revealed a completely new and distinctly more electronic sound
for Judas Priest. Whether they were dissatisfied with the sound or the sales
figures, the group returned to a more basic Heavy Metal sound in 1988 with their
last album of the decade, Ram It Down, but the damage was already done,
and they never managed to reach the heights of the mid eighties.With the exception of Turbo, Judas Priest played a very straightforward, basic, hard-hitting kind of "no bull" Heavy Metal, but without compromising with good melodies. Their sound was dominated by the two lead guitars and Rob Halford's characteristic, high pitched voice. The band also indulged more than most in classic Heavy Metal paraphernalia such as Leather, studs and motorcycles. The only exception was that while long hair almost seemed to be compulsory if you wanted to graduate from Heavy Metal school at the time, Rob Halford actually sported a quite short hair style. Rob Halford was also gay, an unusual thing for a singer in a culture so filled with machismo (the only other example I can think of off the top of my head is Pete Gill from Saxon and Motörhead). Hear Rob himself talk about this in this MTV interview. Ironically, it is no secret that Rob borrowed much of the Leather, studs and rubber that is today so closely associated with Heavy Metal from the gay community.
On a totally unrelated note, in the late eighties Judas Priest were accused (in the USA, where else...) of having caused the death of two young men who had committed suicide after having listened to Judas Priest records. The fact that the young men had access to drugs and a shot gun was apparently irrelevant... Eventually, the group were completely acquitted.
The Official Judas Priest Web Site.
Freewheel Burning (120 K) from Defenders of the Faith (© CBS)
-K-
Keel:
Ron Keel (vo, gu), Bryan Jay (gu), Marc Ferarri (gu), Kenny Chaisson (ba), Bobby Marks (dr) (1984)
When Ron Keel and {Yngwie Malmsteen} abandoned {Steeler} after only one album, Ron Keel went on to form his own band, Keel (just like Yngwie with his Rising Force). Featuring rather straightforward Heavy Metal/Hard Rock along the same lines as {Mötley Crüe}, Keel released their first album Lay Down The Law, which was produced by Ron Keel himself, in 1984. After the debut album, drummer Bobby Marks left the band and was replaced by Dwain Miller.
Apparently, Gene Simmons of {Kiss} had taken a liking to the band, and hence it was he who produced Keel's second effort, The Right To Rock from 1985. Gene Simmons also produced the third album, The Final Frontier, which was released in 1986 and contained a cover version of Bruce Springsteens hit song Because The Night, made popular by Patti Smith. The Final Frontier also featured an impressive display of guest musicians, including {Joan Jett}, Mitch Perry from {MSG} and Gene Simmons. Keel released their final record of the eighties, Keel, in 1987, after which they supposedly felt badly treated by their record company and called it a day.
The Official Keel Website.Kick Axe:
George Criston (vo), Larry Gillstrom (gu), Raymond Arthur Harvey (gu), Victor Langen (ba), Brian Gillstrom (dr) (1982)
Founded in Canada in the mid seventies by brothers Victor and Gary Langen, Kick Axe changed members a couple of times (including Gary being replaced by Brian Gillstrom) before settling on the setting mentioned above in 1982. As the popularity of Heavy Metal increased, it didn't take long for Kick Axe to land a record deal and start recording their debut album. The result, Vices, was released in 1984. Vices is considered a very fine piece of Heavy Metal in the American tradition (think {Van Halen}), but for some reason (possibly due to slightly more complex melodies and a bit more experimental song writing compared to most of their peers in the "Mainstream Metal" genre) the debut album failed to top any charts. Nonetheless, Heavy Metal Shuffle was at least a hit in the Metal community, the album eventually sold well enough, and Kick Axe went on tour as supporting act for {Judas Priest} among others.
For the second album, Welcome to the Club, Kick Axe gathered some of Canada´s finest Metal performers (including Rik Emmett from {Triumph} and {Lee Aaron}) to record a cover of The Beatles With A little Help From My Friends for charity. A bit less complex and more radio-friendly than the debut album, Welcome to the Club was released in 1985 and eventually sold gold in Canada. This didn't stop guitarist Arthur Harvey from quitting the band, however, and Kick Axe continued without him. They only recorded one additional album before disbanding altogether, though; Rock the World, released in 1986.
The Official Kick Axe web site.Killer Dwarfs:
Russell Graham (vo), Bryce Trewin (gu), Angelo Fodero (ba), Darrell Millar (dr) (1981)
First of all, let me clarify that the member names above were only aliases. Apparently, the real names of the members were Russ Dwarf, Bryce Dwarf, Ange Dwarf and Darrell Dwarf. Or maybe it was the other way around... Anyway, at least singer Russel was unusually short, so the name of the band was no coincidence. (And that's a fact. Really.) The Killer Dwarfs formed in Canada in 1981 and released their self-titled debut album in 1983. The debut didn't attract much international attention, however, and it took three long years before the follow-up, Stand Tall, appeared, and by then guitarist Bryce Trewin and bassist Angelo Fodero had been replaced by Mike Hall and Ronald Meyer respectively. Forgive me, I mean Mike Dwarf and "Bad Rombo" Dwarf, of course. Anyway, Stand Tall did very well in North America, not least thanks to the MTV hit single Keep the Spirit Alive. This album, and Big Deal, released in 1988, saw the Dwarfs touring extensively, opening for acts such as {Iron Maiden}, {Saxon} and {Accept}.
Heavy Metal and Hard Rock was already on the wane, but The Killer Dwarfs managed to pump out one more equaly successful album in 1990, Dirty Weapons. But soon thereafter Mike Hall left the band, and the days of The Killer Dwarfs were numbered. But they did manage to stay alive for a couple of years more, at least. Perhaps it was their fairly unique blend of musical influenses that kept them alive longer than the average Metal act; they successfully mixed elements of both NWOBHM-style Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, AOR and even (horror!) pop.
The Official Killer Drawfs web site.King Diamond:
Having left {Mercyful Fate} in 1985, King Diamond released his first album, Fatal Portrait, with his new band King Diamond in 1986. As the name suggests this band was very closely centered around the danish singer; in fact, the guitarist Andy LaRocque (previously in the {E.F. Band}) was more or less the only other permanent member. One year later King Diamond released Abigail, a concept album which is widely recognized as King Diamond's strongest piece of work. Mr. Diamond's voice had never sounded better, LaRocque's guitar playing truly excelled, and future {Motörhead} drummer Mickey Dee hammered away like a man possesed. King Diamond continued to release records at an impressive rate, counting in at a total of five albums before the eighties were over.
King Diamond played a dark and evil kind of mixture of Death Metal, Heavy Metal and Thrash Metal, at times reminiscent of acts like {Megadeth} or {Slayer}. Lyricwise, the dark and horror-filled themes from Mercyful Fate were still present, even if the satanic aspects were much less prominent. The most noticable feature of King Diamond as well as Mercyful Fate, however, was Diamond's incredibly dynamic voice. Seemingly effortless, he could alternate between dark growls a' la Quorthon from {Bathory} and high pitched screams that would make Rob Halford of {Judas Priest} jealous.
The Official King Diamond & Mercyful Fate Web site.
A Mansion In Darkness (63 K) from the album Abigail (© Roadrunner)Kingdom Come:
Lenny Wolf (vo), Danny Stag (gu), Rick Steier (gu), Johnny B Frank (ba), James Kottack (dr) (1988)
Kingdom Come was put together by the German singer Lenny Wolf in California in the late eighties and enjoyed a very short but intensive time in the sun. Their first album, Kingdom Come, was released in 1988, and the group soon got a reputation for sounding almost exactly like the influential seventies Heavy Metal band Led Zeppelin. If they wanted to copy a sound they could certainly have chosen a worse ideal, and their debut sold gold, even if they didn't win any prizes in the originality stakes. Apparently the band were not satisfied with being classified as a Led Zeppelin copy, as the second album from 1989, In Your Face, displayed a quite different sound. Unfortunately this second effort didn't sell nearly as well, and Kingdom Come soon split up (Lenny Wolf kept on by himself, however.)
A Tribute to Kingdom Come.King Kobra:
Mark Free (vo), Mick Sweda (gu), David Michael-Phillips (gu), Johnny Rodd (ba),
Carmine Appice (dr) (1985)Led by drummer Carmine Appice, King Kobra formed in Los Angeles in the mid eighties. Prior to this, Appice had played with among others {Ozzy Osbourne} and Rod Stewart (for whom he co-wrote the hit Do Ya Think I'm Sexy. No, really!) King Kobra debuted in 1985 with the melodic but still heavy Metal album Ready to Strike, which was very well received. It didn't sell as well as the band may have hoped though (but at least well enough to let them write the theme music for the film Iron Eagle), and on their second album Thrill of a Lifetime from 1986 King Kobra went for a distinctly more radio friendly, almost AOR sound. Unfortunately this only seemed to alienate many of their former fans without really attracting any new ones, and they ended up being dropped by their record company. Mark Free, Mick Sweda and Johnny Rodd now left the band and were replaced by guitarist Jeff Northrup, singer Johnny Edwards and bassist Larry Hart, all from the band Northrup. This new constellation saw the band return to the heavier sound of their first album, and they recorded King Kobra III, which was released in 1988 on Carmine Appice's own label, Rocker Records. Once again, however, they failed to attract the attention of the masses, and in 1989 King Kobra broke up as Carmine Appice joined John Sykes's {Blue Murder}.
After leaving the band, Mick Sweda among other things played with {Bulletboys} and {Lizzy Borden}. Johnny Rodd joined {W.A.S.P} and Johnny Edwards played with Foreigner on one album. Mark Free eventually underwent a sex change operation and is apparently now working as a secretary under the name Marcie Free.
The image shows the cover of Ready to Strike (© Capitol Records).
The Official King Kobra Web Site.Kiss:
Paul Stanley (vo, gu), Ace Frehley (gu), Gene Simmons (ba), Eric Carr (dr) (1980)Unlike the majority of the bands listed on this site, the eighties is by most fans considered a bit of a down-period for Kiss. Having been immensely popular in the late seventies, their 1980 album Unmasked was fairly unsuccessful for a Kiss album, and the concept album Music from "The Elder", released in 1981, was a downright flop. In spite of this, Kiss released two(!) more albums the next year; Killers and Creatures of the Night. The band also had some internal drug- and alcohol related problems, and in 1983 Ace Frehley was so deep down that he was replaced by {Vinnie Vincent}. Incidentally, Vinnie Vincent also left the band a year or so later to go solo.
Things were looking really bad for the group at this point of time, but luck was about to change. In 1983 they released the album Lick It Up (see picture, © Mercury), and this was a real turning point for Kiss. To begin with, they managed to conform to the currently so popular wave of melodic, American Hard Rock music. This was not least evident in the successful single/title track. Secondly, they took the bold step of appearing without the spectacular make-up and costumes that had been the band's trademark since their first appearance in New York in 1972. Rumours said that the reason was that the skin of their faces was damaged from so many years of wearing make-up, but a more probable reason is that it was a very conscious career move by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, who have always been very ambitious and hard-working. Kiss were now back in the limelight, and managed to stay there with the next album Animalize featuring the hit single Heaven's on Fire, even if some more member changes followed, and their popularity decreased along with that of most other Hard Rock and Heavy Metal acts towards the end of the eighties. They released three more albums before the end of the decade; Asylum, Crazy Nights and Hot in the Shade.
Gene Simmons has later commented on their "unmasked" period in an article in "Aftonbladet" and said that he is "not very proud of it". He also said that writing "Desmond Child/{Bon Jovi}-ish" songs is more Paul Stanley's cup of tea, whereas Gene himself is more of an down-to-earth blues guy, leaning more towards the likes of {AC/DC}. "During the eighties", Gene commented, "the bands on stage where more pretty than the girls, and I've always been more of a smelly caveman guy. With make-up on, I felt powerful and mighty, without it I was nothing".
Kiss are without doubt one of the most well-known rock bands of all times, not least thanks to their spectacular appearance and live shows, and if you have found your way to this web site but have still never heard of them you must have typed in the wrong URL... Their music was perhaps not experimental or innovative in any way, but Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley mastered the art of writing straightforward, catchy rock tunes, and they were a major source of inspiration for bands like {Twisted Sister} and {Mötley Crüe}. Their music, by the way, was nowhere near as hard and heavy as you might expect by their appearance. If it hadn't been for their image, at least some of their albums might not have been classified as Heavy Metal/Hard Rock at all. Anyway, much more could be said about Kiss, but just explore the net and you'll be surprised at the abundance of home pages dedicated to Kiss.
Kissonline - The Official Kiss Web Site.Kreator:
Mille Petrozza (vo, gu), Rob Fioretti (ba), Ventor (dr) (1985)
Originally called Tormentor, Kreator was formed in Germany in the mid eighties. At this time, Death Metal was just beginning to take shape, and Kreator were one of the genre's pioneers in Europe, inspired by bands like {Slayer}. The debut album Endless Pain came in 1985, and Kreator continued to release one album each year throughout the eighties. Eventually (starting with their third album, Terrible certainty) the band was extended to a quartet through the addition of guitarist Jörg Trize. Their last album of the decade, the aptly named Extreme agression, came in 1989 and was their most aggressive piece of work.
Kreator Terrorzone.
Toxic Trace (128 K) from the album Terrible Certainty (© Noise)Krokus:
Marc Storace (vo), Fernando von Arb (gu), Mark Kohler (gu), Tommy Keiser (ba), Jeff Klaven (dr) (1986)
Krokus actually formed in Switzerland in the seventies, but at that time they were really a symphonic rock band, following in the tracks of the likes of Yes. In the eighties, however, this kind of music rapidly grew out of style, and after a few member changes (Maltese-born Marc Storace took over the mike after Chris von Rohr who instead concentrated on bass, but Chris was later replaced by Tommy Keiser, who previously played guitar but was replaced by roadie Mark Kohler and the drummer Freddy Steady... never mind) Krokus had switched to rather simple, melodic Heavy Metal, inspired by bands like {Scorpions}. Krokus never really managed to get a serious breakthrough - even though the 1983 album Headhunter eventually sold platinum in the USA - and when they had their only minor single hit in 1986, a cover on {Alice Cooper's} School's Out from the album Change of Address, they were really already on their way down.
Krokus Online - the official Krokus site.
Eat the Rich (49 K) from the album Headhunter (© Noise)-L-
Lääz Rockit:
Michael Coons (vo), Aaron Jellum (gu), Phil Kettner (gu), Willy Lange (ba), Victor Agnello (dr) (1984)
Lots of thrash bands emerged in the mid/early eighties in the American Bay Area. Lääz Rockit was one of them. They debuted in 1984 with City's Gonna Burn, which was arguably more of a Power Metal album than typical Bay Area thrash. This changed on their later albums, No Stranger To Danger from 1985 and (to a larger extent) Know Your Enemy from 1987 though, and by the time their last album of the eighties, Annihilation Principle, was released in 1989 they had more or less transformed into a pure thrash band.
Fire In The Hole (126 K) from Annihilation Principle (© Enigma)L.A. Guns:
Philip Lewis (vo), Tracii Guns (gu), Mick Cripps (gu), Kelly Nickels (ba), Steve Riley (dr) (1988)
L.A. guns was formed in 1987 in Los Angeles (no, really...) by Tracii Guns, who had for a short time played in {Guns n' Roses}, which he had to leave as he failed to cooperate with the eccentric singer Axl Rose. The drummer Steve Riley formerly played for {WASP}. The debut album L.A. Guns came in 1988, but didn't cause much of a stir. The second album, Cocked and Loaded, was released one year later and was much more successful. Primarily thanks to the single The Ballad of Jayne, Cocked and Loaded went gold. Playing a well-balanced mix of Heavy Metal and Glam Metal, L.A. Guns were important ambassadors for the L.A. Glam scene, but they never managed to reach the commercial heights of their colleagues in Guns n' Roses and {Mötley Crüe}.
The official L.A. Guns site.
Sex Action (53 K) from the album L.A. Guns (© Universal Records)Leather Nunn:
Wade Williams (vo), Jerry Brewer (gu), John Gouchnour (gu), Jungle Jim Mehm (ba), Jimmy Evans (dr) (1986)
Leather Nunn started out in Florida in 1983 and spent their first years touring and slowly building up a fan base. In 1986 they released their debut album Take The Night. Take The Night featured fairly straight forward, stripped down Heavy Metal with an unresistable amount of pure energy and is today considered a rarity among collectors of American Metal, even if (or maybe because) it didn't sell exceptionally well at the time. As it turned out, Leather Nunn's first album was also to be their last. Leather Nunn embarked on a highly successful club tour to back up the album, but a car accident put an abrupt end to the saga.
Note: Leather Nunn should not be confused with the Swedish act Leather Nun (with one "N").
Leatherwolf:
Michael Olivieri (vo, gu), Carey Howe (gu), Geoffrey Gayer (gu), Matt Hurich, (ba), Dean Roberts (dr) (1984)
Leatherwolf, eh? What the heck does "leatherwolf" mean, anyway? Does it mean "leather wolf", like a toy wolf made of leather? But then again, aren't all wolfs made of leather? Or at least covered by leather (and some fur)? So maybe it really means "real, bona fide leather wolf, as opposed to toy wolf, made of another material such as wood"? But in that case, naming the band "Fleshwolf", or simply "Real Wolf", would have been easier. To be quite honest, I think a more likely theory is that "Leatherwolf" simply sounded cool and seemed like an apropriate name for a Metal band. After all, what does {Motorhead}, {Gwar}, {Whitesnake} or {Ozzy Osbourne} mean? No, wait, maybe that last example wasn't very good...
But that's not important right now. More to the point is that Leatherwolf started out in the USA in the early eighties. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1984. In 1987, they had won a contract with a major label and released their second album called... Leatherwolf?! That's right, apparently they were so pleased with their choice of band name that they felt that one measly record named Leatherwolf was certainly not enough. And it wasn't a re-release either; the two albums had no songs in common. Leatherwolf's last album of the decade was released in 1989 and was, of course, named Leatherwolf. No, I'm only kidding, it was really named Street ready. It would have been neat if it had in fact been named Leatherwolf though, wouldn't it?
Musicwise, Leatherwolf played a kind of Power Metal. Not along the lines of Steamroller bands like {Manowar}, however, but with a slightly more perfectionistic, polished – or American if you like – touch to it with high pitched-vocals and moderate use of synthesizers, that sometimes brought them close to Progressive Metal bands like {Queensr˙che}. Their having three guitarists also gave their sound a distinct, rich quality.
The Official Leatherwolf Web Site.Lee Aaron:
Lee Aaron (vo), John Albani (gu), Greg Doyle (gu), Chas Rotunda (ba), Kimio Oki (dr) (1984)
Originally named "Lee Aaron Project", Lee Aaron started out in Toronto, Canada but were more successful in Europe than on the American continent. Their debut album Lee Aaron Project was released in 1983. It's not totally unfair to say that Lee Aaron was to a certain extent at least a solo project of the female lead singer. Nonetheless, Lee Aaron released five albums in total in the eighties (Metal Queen, their most well-known effort among metalheads, in 1984, Call of the Wild in 1985, Lee Aaron in 1986 and Bodyrock, their most commercially successful album, which by the way had no connection to the movie of the same name, in 1989) and managed to continue into the nineties when so many others disbanded. The album that set off their career may have been called Metal Queen, but musically Lee Aaron were not among the heavier; definately more Hard Rock than Heavy Metal, at least on their last two albums.
The Official Lee Aaron Web Site.Legend:
Mike Lezala (vo), Peter Haworth (gu), Marco Morosino (gu), Eggy Aubert (ba), and Dave Whitley (dr) (1981)
Legend was a rather unusual NWOBHM-band. Unusual because it was founded on the Channel Island of Jersey. And unusual because the guys never quite made it big in spite of plenty of talent and skill. But perhaps the former was the very cause of the latter; It may just be me, but I certainly think of fancy sports cars and dubious bank affairs rather than Heavy Metal when someone mentions the Channel Islands...
Anyway, Legend was formed in 1980, but found it difficult to make a name for themselves other than locally. Eventually, the band members financed their self-titled debut album themselves (well, I guess they could afford it, what with all the sports cars and bank affairs...) and released it in 1981. Slowly they began to attract attention, and by the time their second album Death in the Nursery (once again self-financed) was released in 1982, they were recognized as a very promising band in their own right. Sadly, one member dropping out (guitarist Marco Morosino) and another injuring himself (bassist Eggie Aubert, who was replaced by Peter Haworth's brother Neil Haworth) apparently took away the zeal, and in 1984, just as the NWOBHM movement was at it's peak, it was all over. Sadly, because it would have been interesting to hear what a band that had loads of musical talent, wrote comparatively intelligent lyrics, and were not afraid to mix {Black Sabbath} with prog rock — or even the occasional jazzy moment — could have done with a proper recording budget and some more experience. (For the record, Legend did in fact record and release another album, but that was many, many years later. Check out their home page for details.)
The official Legend site (down?).Liege Lord:
Andy Michaud (vo), Tony Truglio (gu), Paul Nelson (gu), Matt Vinci (ba),
Frank Cortese (dr) (1985)American band Liege Lord released their debut album Freedom's Rise in 1985. Around the same time guitarist Pete McCarthy was replaced by Paul Nelson. Their first album album gained enough attention to get them a record deal with Metal Blade, and on that label they released Burn To My Touch in 1987. With Burn To My Touch Liege Lord reached a much larger audience, not least in Europe. In 1988 the band setting changed slightly again and now included vocalist Joe Comeau. Unfortunately their 1988 album Master Control, which sold rather well and saw them touring both on their own and together with {Candlemass}, was to be their last album before they disbanded.
Although never quite reaching the commercial heights of their most successful colleagues, Liege Lord were, together with bands like {Manowar}, among the forerunners of Power Metal and spawned a whole school of followers.
The image shows the Master Control album cover, © Metal Blade Records.
Official Liege Lord Home Page.
Living Colour:Vernon Reid (vo, gu), Alex Mosely (ba), Greg Carter (dr) (1984)
Living Colour was put together in 1983 in New York by the London-born singer and guitarist Vernon Reid. It took a couple of years of member changes and local gigs before the group finally got a record contract in 1987. By this time Reid was the only remaining original member, now performing together with Corey Glover (vo, gu), Muzz Skullings (ba) and William Calhoun (dr). The first album, Vivid, was released in 1988 and was also the only album they released in the eighties.
Vivid featured a dynamic and unique mixture of Heavy Metal and funk, mixed up with some more soul-oriewnted tracks. The lyrics were often inspired by social issues. Living Colour were also unusual in that they were a black group in the musical world of Heavy Metal, which was for some reason heavily dominated by white artists.
The official Living Colour site.Lizzy Borden:
Lizzy Borden (vo), Gene Allen (gu), Tony Matuzak (gu), Mike Davis (ba), Joey Scott Harges (dr) (1984)
Los Angeles band Lizzy Borden debuted in 1984 with the EP Give 'Em The Axe. Their first full length album, Love You To Pieces was released the following year. Musically, they were apparently inspired by NWOBHM acts, such as {Iron Maiden}, but you could also find traces of Power Metal in their sound. The name "Lizzy Borden" was taken from the infamous American nineteenth century female axe murderer of the same name, and in keeping with this, their trademark was blood and gore; With the exception of Master of Disguise, their albums, as well as their stage shows, were distinctly tasteless in a humorous way. Lizzy Borden were unusually productive and released six albums in total for Metal Blade in the eighties, the last being the somewhat experimental Master of Disguise from 1989. All these displayed good Metal craftsmanship, but in spite of this, they never really reached the highest levels of commercial success.
The official Lizzy Borden site.Loudness:
Minoru Niihara (vo), Akira Takasaki (gu), Masayoshi Yamashita (ba), Higuchi Munetaka (dr) (1981)
Loudness rose from the ashes of an earlier band, Lazy, in 1978 and faithfully released one album each year throughout the eighties, beginning with Birthday Eve in 1981. Founded by guitarist Akira Takasaki, Loudness were from Japan, a country in which Heavy Metal was reportedly quite big, but not many bands reached the ears of metalheads in the western hemisphere. Lodness were an exception to this rule. Whereas their earlier efforts featured quite straightforward, powerful Heavy Metal, they (unfortunately?) tended to get more Americanized over the years. Their commercially most successful album was Hurricane Eyes, released in 1987.
Loudness site on Takasaki.net.Phil Lynott:
See {Thin Lizzy}.
