Those of you who have been following me for a while know that I am a metalhead and I love my music with a passion. From time to time I come across people who say "I used to listen to..." Well in my opinion, that just doesn't sit; metal is as much about identity as it is about the music and one does not simply abandon metal as we grow older. Anybody who doesn't get that has missed the point...
Don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean that we have to listen to the latest or even other subgenres. For example my musical taste pretty much stopped with the advent of grunge, with few exceptions such as the MetalCore band KillSwitch Engage, or Bullet for My Valentine and Steel Panther; both of the latter play an almost old school style of metal and there is a lot of parody (particularly of Twisted Sister) and even cliche with Steel Panther.
As I look back there are landmark moments that defined my tastes and every time I hear what I am about to shortlist I literally goosepimple as sound and nostalgia take over. As much as possible I have made this list sequential as they are all defining and probably other than Stargazer they are of similar impact. So without further ado let's make a start.
1) Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow.
I picked this up when I was the mere age of ten, even though the album was several years older by then. I didn't even realise that it was it was a fusion of a band called Elf, minus the guitarist and plus Ritchie Blackmore (of Deep Purple fame). Other than what my uncle had introduced me to it was the first album that was truly mine. It was the overall tone of the album that captured me and not just the stand out songs such as Man on the Silver Mountain and Sixteenth Century Greensleeves. Ballads are an exemplar of perfect musicianship whether it be the classic sounding Catch the Rainbow or the Medieval Temple of the King. All blended perfectly with Ronnie James Dio's flawless vocals.
It was a gate-sleeve album and a gateway for me.
2) My First Encounter with WASP.
It was vulgar, it was loud, and it was brash right from the cover all the way down to the lyrics. It was so strong that since his return to his Christian Roots that Blackie Lawless actually refuses to play the song any more. I am of course speaking about the infamous Animal, F**k Like a Beast. The riff is everything metal and when it kicks back in as an introduction to the second verse it is out of this world...
3) Holy Diver
Back to Ronnie James Dio. By now he had formed his own band, post his time with Rainbow and Black Sabbath. I had the We Rock single and for so long I thought that it was so cliched that I never really bought into it, but the B-Side a live performance of the almighty Holy Diver which epitomises everything that is great about the great man himself. While he has some close competitors, nobody has the sheer power that he has. This was the power the hooked me.
4) The First Minute of Ride the Lightning
This was my introduction to Metallica, and just like many old school fans I am very much rooted in their first four albums and kind of went off them when James had singing lessons (c. Black Album) to save his voice. My band loyalty was so strong that I carried on buying their albums even though i have never listened to anything post ReLoad from being to end. My uncle brought round this cassette that he was absolutely raving about and he put it in my player and pressed play. What followed was the most mindblowing single moment in my metal experience. It started with a Baroque-inspired, multi-layered acoustic piece that creates a false sense of peace and then the sound of a heavily distorted guitar that sloped into Fight Fire with Fire, which still stands as one of the most brutal and powerful riffs they have ever written.Many say Master of Puppets is their masterpiece album, and Ride and Master are their two most similar albums. But nothing will ever replace that forever defining metal moment.
5) Iron Maiden - Rime of the Ancient Mariner
I have a love hate relationship with Iron Maiden. Hate is a bit strong, but they do tend to be extremely repetitive, but having said that I do like the songs that sound a little bit different and bring something extra. Aces High and 2 Minutes to Midnight are muchness of a muchness, but Hallowed be thy Name, Powerslave and The Clansman (studio with Blaze Bayley, but I prefer live with Bruce) stand out as does Rime of the Ancient Mariner. the song I have gone for. Based on an epic poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge it in many ways has the typical Maiden sound, but then it has the creepy interlude followed by the bridge into the solo which brings things back to the beginning as the song concludes with an epic cautionary tale.
Incidentally, I have seen many of the greats and nobody... and I mean nobody... fills the stage like Bruce Dickenson.
6) Slayer - Black Magic
When it comes to Slayer people often talk about Hell Awaits, Raining Blood, South of Heaven or even Seasons in the Abyss (the song), but for me it will always be Black Magic and especially the live version from Live Undead. As is the case with much of the stuff on my list this comes down to my first listen. It was the first Slayer album I ever owned and the heaviness and unbridled aggression actually penetrated my heart with a shudder almost as though Satan's hand had grabbed hold of it and given it a big squeeze. One of the funny things was that my biological dad got it for me - at my request - as a Christmas present - before going back to his house for some food. My step-mum at that time had just become a Born-Again Christian, and I can still see her face when she saw what I had got.
7) Deep Switch - The Dark Angel
It seems that nobody except me has ever heard of them. I only came across them because of Tommy Vance's Friday Night Rock Show (see also the next item), which introduced me to a few bands and after the two I have added to my list, Nottingham based Sabbat was the most significant. They were a short-lived band from Norwich, UK, and the riff and variation just grabbed hold of my imagination and especially when the main riff kicks in again to signal the end of the guitar solo. It is another wow moment.
8) Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime.
There is nothing that this album deserves other than all of the most positive superlatives in the world. Tommy Vance was brave enough to play Suite Sister Mary (>10 minutes) on his show and I have never been so encapsulated. I just had to go out and buy the album the next day. The same could be said about Deep Switch, but the difference was that the whole album had me hooked from beginning to end. In my view it is the most complete and perfect album I have ever heard. It is a shame that Mindcrime II was nowhere near as good (and I have yet to listen to III which has just been released), but that is what happens when the bar is set so high.
I saw their former lead singer Geoff Tate in November 2024 and he is as good now as he was then.
However, if you love this check out the concert - Operation Livecrime
9) Rainbow - Stargazer
I came across this album belatedly. Sometimes to my own cost I come across something so perfect that I dare not even listen to anything else so not to sour the taste (in Queensryche's case that was a good decision) and so it wasn't until the mid ninetes that I came across this gem. The best song ever written from its thundering drum intro to the riff and soaring solo. It tells the story of a wizard who believe he can fly and he builds a tower to reach the heavens with slave labour... Ronnie and Ritchie at their finest absolutely nail it. There is a lot of amazing stuff out there and yet this one song, just like the tower of stone, looms over everything else...
10) Betrayal -Escaping the Altar
It is dark, it is evil and it is Christian! It opens with a killer riff before launching into a story about how a young naive girl makes friends with a bunch of Satanists who befriend her with the sole intention of sacrificing her to Satan. Drawn in by the coolness of the Satanic image she soon finds herself trapped as the song drops into a discordant harmony before launching into three increasingly intense guitar solos which culminate with six rounds of just about the heaviest drums known to mankind before launching into a reprise of the opening riff before it hits us with the last devastating verse that concludes with a drawn out "the dagger is coming down... down... down...
It is like Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath on steroids. Satan is doing more than "coming round the bend!"
And that my friends is my list and of course it is subjective with many notable absences. This is those songs that had the most impact on me personally and in no way does it dismiss the influence of Black Sabbath / Ozzy, Judas Priest, Saxon, Led Zepplin, Deep Purple or any of those other bands who shaped my musical tastes including a lot of so called hair-metal bands, or my guilty pleasure which is 70s glam rock and especially Slade and The Sweet.
Been a nice look back and as always stay safe and well my friends.
