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Post by kds on Jan 24, 2019 16:04:53 GMT -5
I was actually going to start one, but thanks for getting it going.
That's a pretty good choice.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2019 12:34:46 GMT -5
Did somebody say Hard Rock? Well, then I have to bring out the go-to hard rock group of my youth - the amazing, talented, and underrated...Blue Oyster Cult!!!!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2019 13:57:44 GMT -5
And these guys! The Dolls really had it going for a couple of years...
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Post by Wicked Lester on Jan 28, 2019 8:00:00 GMT -5
First band I ever got into as a kid was Iron Maiden. Still love classic 'Maiden.
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Post by kds on Jan 28, 2019 8:14:19 GMT -5
First band I ever got into as a kid was Iron Maiden. Still love classic 'Maiden. Iron Maiden is one of the very few legacy artists who continue to release rock solid material deep into their career. Since Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith rejoined the band twenty years ago, they've releases five stellar albums - Brave New World (2000), Dance of Death (2003), A Matter of Life and Death (2006), The Final Frontier (2010), and The Book of Souls (2015). The material on these albums, IMO, stacks up very well with their classic 80s period. Not to mention that Iron Maiden are the greatest live band on the planet. I've seen them seven times since 2003, and will be seeing them again this summer. No band comes close. For a band that's been together over 40 years to still put on stellar shows and still release stellar new music is an absolute marvel. |
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Post by kds on Jan 28, 2019 8:36:00 GMT -5
Speaking of underrated bands, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow is one of the great hard rock bands in history that few people talk about.
This gem snuck through the 1981 song tournament with very few votes.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2019 8:59:32 GMT -5
Here's a group that was huge in the U.K. but never quite caught on in the U.S. Their biggest hit was "Merry Xmas Everybody", but they did much more than that:
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Post by The Cap'n on Jan 28, 2019 9:22:05 GMT -5
Slade might not have been a big hit in the U.S., but they certainly were important. Their songs "Cum on Feel the Noize" and "Mama Weer All Crazy Now" were covered with some success by Quiet Riot in the '80s, and virtually every band I was listening to in the latter half of the '80s mentioned them as an influence.
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Post by kds on Jan 28, 2019 9:23:12 GMT -5
Slade might not have been a big hit in the U.S., but they certainly were important. Their songs "Cum on Feel the Noize" and "Mama Weer All Crazy Now" were covered with some success by Quiet Riot in the '80s, and virtually every band I was listening to in the latter half of the '80s mentioned them as an influence. Also worth mentioned that Slade did have a minor hit with Far Far Away in the 1980s in the States. |
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Post by kds on Jan 28, 2019 22:26:45 GMT -5
Speaking of underrated bands, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow is one of the great hard rock bands in history that few people talk about. This gem snuck through the 1981 song tournament with very few votes. The scope of my hard rock and metal knowledge is limited but this song grabbed on to me in the tournament and won't let go. The guitar solo section actually stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it. I've been listening to this song on repeat since then. The greatness of Ritchie Blackmore is on full display. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2019 8:46:16 GMT -5
A Hard Rock essential from the mid-1970's. I used to have their pictures on my bedroom wall! Paul, Gene, Ace, and Peter. KISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by kds on Jan 30, 2019 9:05:40 GMT -5
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Post by The Cap'n on Jan 30, 2019 9:05:52 GMT -5
Now you're speaking my language, SJS. I, too, had mid-70s KISS posters on my wall ... except that was in the mid-to-late '80s. I've said forever and still say, there isn't much better rock and roll music for early teen boys. I mean, it's sexist and dumb and all. But it's also loaded with good riffs, good melodies, catchy hooks ... great way to act out without really acting out, to rebel without really doing anything, to giggle at sexual innuendos (that it turned out were more obvious than you realized when you were twelve), and to learn guitar to. The three albums between Alive and Alive II were especially a great run.
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Post by The Cap'n on Jan 30, 2019 9:08:39 GMT -5
That's a shame. The least surprising thing I've ever read in my life, but still a shame. |
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Post by kds on Jan 30, 2019 9:15:40 GMT -5
That's a shame. The least surprising thing I've ever read in my life, but still a shame. I'm glad Ace said something though. Gene and Paul have treated Ace and Peter like afterthoughts for years now (20x worse than anything Mike Love says about any of the Wilsons IMO). Considering Ace recently played with Gene, I thought there was some fence mending that might've lead to the original lineup getting together for their "farewell," but I don't see it happening now. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2019 9:22:50 GMT -5
No, I haven't seen it. That's a hell of an article, but not surprising. That being said, I am disappointed because I like to see groups reunite. I'm sentimental like that. I haven't followed KISS closely through the years but I've read Gene Simmons say those things about Ace and Peter several times in interviews. It's almost Mike Love-like. He wants things in the touring band his way, dependable, no surprises, and he thinks Ace and Peter are not reliable. I read an interview with Peter Criss a year or so ago and I didn't even think he was interested in getting back in the band. He's basically semi-retired, isn't he? Maybe Ace and Peter could "jump on the stage" for a song or two but that's about it. Simmons could relent and allow that. It would get attention and Gene loves the attention. |
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Post by kds on Jan 30, 2019 9:27:38 GMT -5
No, I haven't seen it. That's a hell of an article, but not surprising. That being said, I am disappointed because I like to see groups reunite. I'm sentimental like that. I haven't followed KISS closely through the years but I've read Gene Simmons say those things about Ace and Peter several times in interviews. It's almost Mike Love-like. He wants things in the touring band his way, dependable, no surprises, and he thinks Ace and Peter are not reliable. I read an interview with Peter Criss a year or so ago and I didn't even think he was interested in getting back in the band. He's basically semi-retired, isn't he? Maybe Ace and Peter could "jump on the stage" for a song or two but that's about it. Simmons could relent and allow that. It would get attention and Gene loves the attention. Gene would let that happen if it would be profitable. For my money, Gene is a far bigger jerk than Mike Love can ever aspire to be. But, I doubt Ace and Peter would be in favor of it at this point, as both have moved on. I recently read Peter Criss's book, and he only returned to the band for a brief stint in 2003 because he was offered a ton of money to help rescue him from some debts, but he said he didn't enjoy it one bit, and was more than happy to leave the band again. |
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Post by The Cap'n on Jan 30, 2019 9:34:23 GMT -5
I think kds is right: this is one reunion (re-reunion? re-re-reunion?) that frankly ought not happen, probably. We know how it ends (again). Gene and Paul have both said a lot of awful things about the other two, Gene especially. He has been worse than Mike Love, because he doesn't even say it with Mike's maybe condescending, but at least superficially courteous veneer of familial love. ("I love my cousin(s), I wish they didn't hurt themselves with drugs.") He's usually a jerk about it, just mean. In recent years it seems to me that Paul has been a little better about it, but he's had his moments too.
If I were Ace or Peter, and I were still getting whatever checks I was due from the organization, I'd just live my life. One big perk of the makeup and costumes is that most casual fans barely know the difference anyway. (Hell, most Beach Boys fans barely know the difference, and there's no Spaceman or Catman makeup to hide the non-originals.)
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Post by kds on Jan 30, 2019 10:24:06 GMT -5
I think kds is right: this is one reunion (re-reunion? re-re-reunion?) that frankly ought not happen, probably. We know how it ends (again). Gene and Paul have both said a lot of awful things about the other two, Gene especially. He has been worse than Mike Love, because he doesn't even say it with Mike's maybe condescending, but at least superficially courteous veneer of familial love. ("I love my cousin(s), I wish they didn't hurt themselves with drugs.") He's usually a jerk about it, just mean. In recent years it seems to me that Paul has been a little better about it, but he's had his moments too.
If I were Ace or Peter, and I were still getting whatever checks I was due from the organization, I'd just live my life. One big perk of the makeup and costumes is that most casual fans barely know the difference anyway. (Hell, most Beach Boys fans barely know the difference, and there's no Spaceman or Catman makeup to hide the non-originals.)
And, I don't know the specifics, but I'm pretty sure Ace and Peter got paid pretty well for Gene and Paul to pass their "characters" onto Tammy Thayer and Eric Singer. Right now, Ace seems pretty content doing his thing, releasing music, and playing club shows, while Peter is content in retirement mode after a few health issues. |
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Post by kds on Jan 31, 2019 8:47:05 GMT -5
On the topic of early hard rock, I'm a fairly recent Uriah Heep convert, and I think their 70s material is stellar, but they never got the acclaim given to Led Zeppelin, or even Deep Purple (who are criminally underrated in their own way)
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Post by Jason (The Real Beach Boy) on Jan 31, 2019 10:05:38 GMT -5
At the risk of eliciting uproarious laughter, I've been getting back into Yngwie Malmsteen's 80s material a lot more lately. The dude walks a fine line between godly and self-parody nowadays but back in the 80s he had some amazing songs and some of the best vocalists in metal (Jeff Scott Soto, Mark Boals, Joe Lynn Turner) and the Johansson brothers behind him. Marching Out and Trilogy are classic 80s metal albums, accessible enough but with enough prog/shred moments to satisfy the wanker devotees.
Venom is my all-time favorite metal band and probably the most hilarious band to ever exist; if Cronos and company's tongues were planted any further in their cheeks...man, but people didn't get the joke until much later. Every bad horror movie cliche in three and four minute speed metal bites that made Motorhead's classics sound like dirges by comparison - a cursory look at any number of song titles (Sons of Satan, Witching Hour, Bloodlust, Heaven's on Fire, Countess Bathory, The Seven Gates of Hell...need I go on?) will more than give you an idea of the lyrical content. Not many metal bands can lay claim to having coined the name for an entire subgenre thanks to the Black Metal album. Also an amazing band to see in concert; I've never seen a mosh pit as ferocious as the one I saw in 2006 when I saw them at the Trocadero in Philly.
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Post by The Cap'n on Jan 31, 2019 10:19:00 GMT -5
Trilogy was Yngwie’s masterpiece, id say. Great album.
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Post by kds on Jan 31, 2019 10:21:46 GMT -5
At the risk of eliciting uproarious laughter, I've been getting back into Yngwie Malmsteen's 80s material a lot more lately. The dude walks a fine line between godly and self-parody nowadays but back in the 80s he had some amazing songs and some of the best vocalists in metal (Jeff Scott Soto, Mark Boals, Joe Lynn Turner) and the Johansson brothers behind him. Marching Out and Trilogy are classic 80s metal albums, accessible enough but with enough prog/shred moments to satisfy the wanker devotees. Venom is my all-time favorite metal band and probably the most hilarious band to ever exist; if Cronos and company's tongues were planted any further in their cheeks...man, but people didn't get the joke until much later. Every bad horror movie cliche in three and four minute speed metal bites that made Motorhead's classics sound like dirges by comparison - a cursory look at any number of song titles (Sons of Satan, Witching Hour, Bloodlust, Heaven's on Fire, Countess Bathory, The Seven Gates of Hell...need I go on?) will more than give you an idea of the lyrical content. Not many metal bands can lay claim to having coined the name for an entire subgenre thanks to the Black Metal album. Also an amazing band to see in concert; I've never seen a mosh pit as ferocious as the one I saw in 2006 when I saw them at the Trocadero in Philly. I'd add Rising Force and Odyssey to that list too. Those are great albums. Even some of his 90s albums - The Seventh Sign and Facing the Animal are very good. I've found that most of his 2000s albums are half great material, and half Yngwie going through the motions. Also the lone Alcatrazz album Yngwie played on - No Parole for Rock and Roll - with former Rainbow singer Graham Bonnet - is quite good. I can't really get into Venom, or most Black Metal for that matter. |
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Post by The Cap'n on Feb 1, 2019 10:21:15 GMT -5
I wasn't ever a fan and certainly haven't kept up with Tesla over the years, but when I was perusing new releases on iTunes this morning and saw they had something coming out, I was curious and sampled the single.
My recollection of Tesla from the late '80s or early '90s was that they retained a little more an organic sound than a lot of the hard rock bands of that era. A little swing and swagger, a little blues. That's why I was surprised to hear the mechanical beat of "Shock." It is so straight, so chunky, so ... boring. Even the refrain sounds like a warmed over post-grunge barely-melody (in octaves).
To be fair, I wasn't going to buy it regardless. But it's a shame if they think this is the path to relevance. (Then again, maybe it is. I don't know the market for these things these days.)
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Post by kds on Feb 1, 2019 10:28:22 GMT -5
I wasn't ever a fan and certainly haven't kept up with Tesla over the years, but when I was perusing new releases on iTunes this morning and saw they had something coming out, I was curious and sampled the single.
My recollection of Tesla from the late '80s or early '90s was that they retained a little more an organic sound than a lot of the hard rock bands of that era. A little swing and swagger, a little blues. That's why I was surprised to hear the mechanical beat of "Shock." It is so straight, so chunky, so ... boring. Even the refrain sounds like a warmed over post-grunge barely-melody (in octaves).
To be fair, I wasn't going to buy it regardless. But it's a shame if they think this is the path to relevance. (Then again, maybe it is. I don't know the market for these things these days.)
That's a pity, as Tesla's last new release of originals was a pretty strong album in 2004 called Into the Now. It even figured a minor hit in Caught in a Dream, and for a band like Tesla to score a hit in 2004 is pretty impressive. Yes, their 1980s and early 90s material was much more in line with traditional blues based rock than many of their contemporaries of the day. I've seen them in concert a couple times, but only in festivals or as an opening act, but they're great live. And singer Jeff Keith's voice has ages far better than many singers from that era. Speaking of 80s bands who were unfairly lumped in so called "hair metal," KIX is also one of the best live bands out there today. Like Keith, Steve Whiteman can still deliver. |
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