Phonebook Eater 9/10

"British Steel" is inevitably part of Heavy Metal history due to it's timeless hymns to rebellion.

One of the reasons why Judas Priest are one of the most important bands of all time is because of “British Steel”, the album that brought the band to a huge level of popularity and that showed everybody how NWOBHM was done.

With the previous album, “Hell Bent for Leather”, (aka “Killing Machine”) the band incorporated officially their leather-based image, became less dark and were more about the fun of it. That album was musically going in a direction that “Stainless Class” was really aiming for, but it had the attitude that “British Steel” perfected. Even strictly musically speaking, the band changed, influenced by some mainstream genres of the time; metallically precise rhythms, low-end guitars, cheerful melodies. A package of metal anthems that will inspire almost any metal band after that.

These anthems are full of a spirit that is almost reminiscent of the Arena Rock kind of sound, because they do sound invincible, immortal, and timeless. The lyrics can’t be completely denied, as they contribute to this sort of feeling: some cite rebellion and a tough-guy image, like in “Breaking the Law”, “United”, “Living After Midnight”, “You Don’t have To Be Old To Be Wise”. “The Rage” though is an interesting, brief description of someone getting angry, and “Metal Gods” seems to tell the story of robots taking over mankind a-la Terminator.

An album full of immense hymns to rebellion, classic songs that will bring Judas Priest up up with the great bands of music history: “Living After Midnight”, “Metal Gods”, “Breaking The Law”. The less known songs maintain just as high levels, like the immediate intro “Rapid Fire”, a more aggressive, pounding track that gives an excellent feeling right at the beginning. Later on, “United” or “You Don’t Have To Be Old To Be Wise” are still excellent dishes, as well as the last track that closes the album, “Steeler”. But “the Rage” is easily the most different song, because of it’s more stretched out nature, not as in your face but still quite intriguing in songwriting.

“British Steel” is a Metal masterpiece that will go down in history as one of the most important of it’s genre: in not even forty minutes, Judas Priest create something that still today is fun, rebellious, and daring.

Warthur Although its followup (Friends of Hell) wasn't so impressive, Witchfinder General's debut album Death Penalty was both a major influence on the doom metal scene and a really entertaining listen in its own right. Resurrected, unfortunately, shows little sign of being either. Combining a poor vocal performance from Gary Martin with humdrum Sabbath mimicry with little to none of the creativity or NWOBHM embellishments evident on Death Penalty, the album is too mired in a retro sound to serve as anything other than a nostalgia piece, and it doesn't even work well as that since it doesn't really stand up to the band's original albums.

LittleBig The X Factor is an album which definitely deserved and deserves better. Obviously, many people reject this album because Bruce Dickinson is not here and Blaze did not rise to the high expectations that people have with Iron Maiden. Blaze has a different style and lacks the vocal range that Dickinson has; and the problem of the Bailey era Iron Maiden is that Harris & co did not use Blaze properly. He sounds like a guest vocalist than the band member he was supposed to be.

The good thing about this album lies in the fact that it's different, most of the songs are mid paced, a bit repetitive at times, but they do have a nice atmosphere (like the epic Sign of the Cross, Judgement of Heaven and Blood on the World's Hands, Unbeliever just to name a few).

Harris's bass playing is great, some nice intros; Murray and Jers complete each other nicely and cleverly, there are some nice riffs and guitar leads. Blaze did a good job believe it or not and last but not least, Nicko did some nice drumming. The album's got some competent songwriting and definitely good musicianship.

Overall, this is a good album, it was a successful attempt to survive after losing Bruce Dickinson; he is surely missed here, I too sometimes wonder how this album could have sounded if Bruce had sung on it (and I have listened to live versions of Sign of the Cross and Lord of the Flies).

LittleBig Iron Maiden's second album featuring Blaze Bayley on vocals is less inspired than the first one. Unfortunately. The problem is that Harris &co did not use Blaze properly again; he still seems to be the guest vocalist, not the full member that he was supposed to be.

I used to be more tolerant towards this album some years ago, but I dislike this album these days. To me, it's Iron Maiden's weakest effort. The songs are uninspired and repetitive and drag on for too long. The only decent songs are the opener Futureal (short and straight forward, to the point, I wish they tried making more songs like that) and The Clansman (a bit repetitive, but it's got a nice atmosphere). The other two longer songs are simply dreadful, especially the Angel and the Gambler. Had this song been shorter, it could have worked much better, but the repetition is annoying, simply pointless (at least I don't see it). Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger is less annoying, but goes on for too long as well and it got boring with repeated listens.

The songs sound rushed, like doing a sloppy job just to meet a deadline; did they make this album just for contractual reasons because the musicians sound like they did not have their hearts into it.

My first one star review; frustratingly poor and uninspired.

The Truth It had been such a long time since I'd given this album a listen, years even, but I'm so glad I had the incredible urge to go on an Iron Maiden binge which is something I hadn't done in even longer.

The magic of the band is with me yet again. Somewhere In Time was perhaps the album that struck me the most when I gave all my Maiden records a listen again, it being a bit more energetic and full of a sort of raw power. Dickinson's vocals are top-notch (as always) and tracks like "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" are just really great tunes.

I guess that's what Maiden does, they keep a strikingly similar formula through most of their albums and it really works for them. Especially on this album, the band's true epitome is indefinable because of how many solid records they released but if I was held at gunpoint, I'd say this was it.

Simply a record with some great energetic tunes that aren't achieved by any other band.

Conor Fynes 'Dance Of Death' - Iron Maiden (7/10)

'Dance Of Death' marks the second chapter in Iron Maiden's six-piece lineup. Although changes within the ranks and the addition of a third guitarist would normally be something only fans would be interested in, it did mark a musical shift for the band. Starting with 'Brave New World'- an album that's been since considered one of the greatest metal albums of the new millennium- Iron Maiden brought their distinctive style back to the forefront, and haven't looked back since. Most notably, singer Bruce Dickinson was back with them, but there is also a progressive edge to the songwriting that makes this period in Iron Maiden's history arguably their most exciting. 'Dance Of Death' balances out between their classic style and more intricate composition, and despite the relatively weak album art, Maiden makes it clear that they are far from exhausting their artistic spirit.

There will certainly be those who argue that Iron Maiden have 'barely' changed their sound over the decades, but comparing their early, punk-infused energy to the symphonic grandeur of the title track on 'Death Of Death', it's undeniable that Iron Maiden have picked up some new tricks. Perhaps moreso than 'Brave New World', Iron Maiden balances two distinct approaches on this album. The first is their classic brand of songwriting, one that often uses the signature 'guitar gallop', biting solos and choruses that could get a stadium's worth of metalheads singing along. 'Rainmaker' stands out particularly in this regard, with a futuristic main riff and pleasant vocal leads from Dickinson. 'Montsegur' is arguably the most traditional Maiden track here, a song somewhat reminiscent of 'The Trooper' that could have snuck onto an earlier Maiden album without arousing much suspicion.

As many of Maiden's fans might agree however, the highlight of Iron Maiden's recent work lies in the 'epic' songs they have been focusing on. Although they flirted with longer song structures as far back as their debut album, 'Dance Of Death' truly indicates their recent preference for involving, progressive composition. Without the slightest doubt, the two highlights on 'Dance Of Death' are the occult-themed title track, and the cinematic 'Paschendale'. The first of these sees Iron Maiden going down a familiar route of storytelling, about a man abducted and taken to an undead ritual. 'Paschendale' is a tribute to the eponymous battle in WWI, attempting to give the same sense of grim reality that 'The Trooper' gave the Crimean War. Musically, both tracks represent some of the most powerful songwriting I've ever heard Iron Maiden do, opening gracefully, and dramatically building to something powerful and even symphonic. As has become the standard for Maiden, the lyrics are handled with sophistication, generally falling upon history or philosophy for inspiration.

'Dance Of Death's weakness comes in the form of songs that come close to being called 'filler'. 'No More Lies', 'Gates Of Tomorrow' and 'New Frontier' are all pleasant enough Maiden tracks, but even after giving 'Dance Of Death' many enjoyed listens, I found nothing stirring about them. Thankfully, the is more excellence than disappoint on 'Dance Of Death', and while I could have asked for a greater consistency and flow, Iron Maiden's progressive material here is some of the best work I've heard them play.

Conor Fynes 'The Number Of The Beast' - Iron Maiden (7/10)

Long held to be Iron Maiden's immortal, classic contribution to the world of metal, Iron Maiden has undoubtedly had brighter musical moments than this, but its place as a go-to essential is not unfounded. Graced with some of the band's most recognizable songs, 'Number Of The Beast' lays down a foundation for all of the Maiden work to come. With galloping rhythms, acrobatic vocals, aggressive speed and relative lyrical sophistication, Maiden's third album is a great place to start with this band's illustrious career.

As part of the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) movement, Iron Maiden has a very signature sound to them here, one that's likely already indelibly etched into many a metalhead's mind. Twin-harmony guitars and a rhythm section that achieves a rolling pattern, akin to the galloping of a horse, are the two distinguishing traits of the band's music. Although these songs are quite catchy, there is a technical sense to the riffs. Speed metal is obviously a factor here, although it's used moderately enough for the music to be melodic and memorable. The two most famous tracks off the record are the title track, and the crowd pleaser 'Run To The Hills'; a song that features everything that fans love about Maiden. Here, the lyrics revolve around European conquest of the New World; an ambitious topic in comparison to the bawdy 'sex and drugs and sex' themes that many metal bands of the time were into.

Iron Maiden had been a capable act with singer Paul Di'Anno, but Bruce Dickinson's voice really brings the band's sound to a new level of distinction. He is one of those singers who manages to impress in a lower range, as well as a blistering falsetto. The epic closer and highlight 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' is most indicative of this. Beginning quite slowly, Bruce is able to set the scene of a dark holding cell, then raises the intensity as it becomes clear that the protagonist is doomed to be executed. Iron Maiden's sense of refined aggression is matched perfectly with this dark subject matter, although there are certainly more upbeat moments on the record, such as the tongue-in-cheek '22 Acacia Avenue'.

'Number Of The Beast' really is a perfect place to start with Iron Maiden, even more so than any best-of compilation. Although I think the quality of music would get higher as they tread towards more progressive domains, the classic quality and consistent songwriting makes this album a winner.

RuneWalsh2112 It was quite a surprise for me to realize that I actually don't like this album as much as it's two predecessors. This is especially surprising considering that "Princess Of The Night" and "Denim And Leather" are two of my top 3 Saxon compositions. So how can this be?

First thing is first, the album couldn't have chosen a better album opener with "Princess Of The Night" being not only an amazing live track but a studio one as well! "Never Surrender" and "Out Of Control" are fun but ultimately pretty harmless tracks that have just enough staying power to hold their own ground. The first noticeable problem comes with the first tones of "Rough And Ready" and especially "Play It Loud". These tracks are just not metal enough for my taste and sound more like over-amplified hard rock tunes. Fortunately the gorgeous intro of "And The Bands Played On" kicks in just in time to keep this album afloat for a little while longer. Easily one of the best Saxon tracks that I wouldn't mind being expanded by 1-2 more minutes!

"Midnight Rider" and "Fire In The Sky" are pretty solid tracks which unfortunately get buried within this albums wide variety of compositions. Both tracks come close to recreating the magic of the two previous releases but somehow feel a bit dated (...or more like "been there, done that") by this point in time.

Since there is no real point for me to introduce this album's wonderful title track, so let me end this review by stating that "Denim And Leather" is another great Saxon classic. The album might not be as strong as its two predecessors but there is enough staying power in these compositions, especially once we start comparing them to the band's later releases. Definitely give it a go once you've experienced "Wheels Of Steel" and "Strong Arm Of The Law"!

***** star songs: Princess Of The Night (4:02) And The Bands Played On (2:48) Denim And Leather (5:27)

**** star songs: Never Surrender (3:13) Out Of Control (4:08) Midnight Rider (5:45) Fire In The Sky (3:37)

*** star songs: Rough And Ready (4:51) Play It Loud (4:11)

RuneWalsh2112 Even though the great Saxon album streak didn't start until their second album "Wheels Of Steel", once the thunder struck it was almost certain to strike again. This is essentially what happened with the release of "Strong Arm Of The Law"!

Unlike its predecessor, "Strong Arm Of The Law" starts off with lesser known but equally essential heavy metal classics "Heavy Metal Thunder" and "To Hell And Back Again". I actually happen to prefer this album's intro more than any other one from Saxon. It's a bit unfortunate that the album begins to wind down towards its halfway point with the album's title track being a rather cozy but overall too mellow Saxon track. "Taking Your Chances" kicks things back into high gear once again and "20,000 ft." pushes the envelope even further, thus making this track one of my top 3 Saxon essentials.

The final three album tracks are unfortunately not as strong, with the low point being "Sixth Form Girls", but the record still holds together excellently. It's quite amazing to see Saxon release their three essential releases ("Wheels Of Steel" to "Denim and Leather") in a time span of less than 1,5 years but that's essentially what happened. "Strong Arm Of The Law" is highly recommended to fans of Heavy Metal!

***** star songs: Heavy Metal Thunder (4:21) To Hell And Back Again (4:45) Taking Your Chances (4:20) 20,000 ft. (3:17)

**** star songs: Strong Arm Of The Law (4:39) Hungry Years (5:18) Dallas 1 PM (6:29)

*** star songs: Sixth Form Girls (4:20)

RuneWalsh2112 I've been a passive Saxon fan for merely a decade with knowledge of classic tunes like "Denim And Leather", "Princess Of The Night" and "747 (Strangers In The Night)". Unfortunately, for myself, it wasn't until recently that I've finally given Saxon a proper chance to show off their chops in the album writing department. "Wheels Of Steel" was my first studio album introduction and it's definitely an album to be reckoned with!

Right off the bat we're treated to great tracks like "Motorcycle Man", "Stand Up And Be Counted" and the aforementioned "747 (Strangers In The Night)". The album does wind down at its halfway point but the great overall quality is pretty much maintained all the way to the end, with a minor exception of "Street Fighting Gang" which unfortunately sounds a bit to straightforward for my taste.

If your unfamiliar with Saxon then "Wheels Of Steel" is definitely a great first album to break the ice. There is a great quality to these compositions that makes this record one of the essential NWoBHM classics that have only grown in admiration over the years. Highly recommended to all metal fans!

***** star songs: Motorcycle Man (4:01) Stand Up And Be Counted (3:10) 747 (Strangers In The Night) (4:58) Machine Gun (5:23)

**** star songs: Wheels Of Steel (5:59) Freeway Mad (2:41) See The Light Shining (4:56) Suzie Hold On (4:34)

*** star songs: Street Fighting Gang (3:13)

Warthur The peak of Bruce Dickinson's first stint in the band when it comes to musicianship, complexity, and artistic achievement, this semi-concept album finds the band in excellent form, fully integrating synthesisers into their sound in a way which proved that the lessons of Somewhere In Time had been well-learned. If I had to pick out one song from here as my favourite, it must be Infinite Dreams, which crams in a whole album's worth of quiet reflection, operatic bombast, and metal accomplishment into just six minutes, but more or less every track on here is a keeper. Essential Maiden, on a par with Number of the Beast or Powerslave.

bonnek My Judas Priest favorite from the 80s. The band had hit a commercial peak with "Screaming For Vengeance" and "Defenders" doesn't deviate much from the previous album. The main difference is the production, which is very thick, complete with overproduced 'gated' snare drums and bombastic production of vocals and guitars. An approach that could be coined as 'make everything sound bigger then everything else'.

The sound makes the album very dated and deprives it from Priest's usual attack and rocking power. But the quality of the songs more then makes up for that, even when things get almost unbearably cheesy, such as on the arena rock anthems "Rock Hard Ride Free" and "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll". Almost too silly to be true, but still Priest make even these songs work. They would be a lot less lucky with that sort of songs on the "Turbo" disaster.

This album couldn't possibly sound more 1984 then it does, but the dated sound is part of its charm. Priest's best from the 80s for me, though it must be said they started to sound like a bunch of old men compared to the more uncompromising 'young and violent' style of the upcoming thrashers of that time.

Warthur There's little doubt in my mind that Somewhere In Time isn't quite as good as the preceding Powerslave, but at the same time it's still a very good Maiden album which is somewhat underrated in the band's catalogue. The main sticking point for me is probably Wasted Years, a flirtation with a more commercial style of metal which, whilst it doesn't actually stray into hair metal territory, often seems as though it's threatening to. Beyond that song, however, the band do a decent job of incorporating synthesisers into their sound and present more epic, progressive songwriting of the sort that by this point was what we all expected of them.

Conor Fynes 'Fear Of The Dark' - Iron Maiden (7/10)

Despite having one of the band's best-known crowd favourites, Iron Maiden's 'Fear Of The Dark' is a somewhat less successful album for the legends, at least critically speaking. My first experience with the band, the album may have more of a personal significance to me, and while proving to be one of the band's less consistent works, there is some great music here from the band. While not as good as the true classic material of the band, 'Fear Of The Dark' is an at-times wonderful collection of tracks from one of metal's most enduring acts.

'Be Quick Or Be Dead' kicks off the album in a fairly classic Maiden fashion; a fast pace, galloping rhythm, and Bruce Dickinson's howl makes this track one that I would not have been surprised to see one of the earlier records. 'From Here To Eternity' also somewhat follows this formula. Truth be told though, Iron Maiden does take the rest of the album down a somewhat different lane. While it's certainly nothing alien to what Iron Maiden had already been doing, the music is perhaps a little more conservative in terms of speed, with many of these tracks veering towards Judas Priest's 'older' sound. Cutting straight to the point; this is done very well at times, but some songs fall off the wagon, and this may be why some fans of the band do not regard this album as highly. 'The Fugitive' and 'Judas Be My Guide' are two more straightforward tracks that really rock. While the intensity is toned down a bit, the riffs are in much the same style that Maiden had done before. Despite the subdued angle, there is still the care taken to the dual guitar harmonies. Weekend Warrior' is the only miss of a track here, with fairly uninspired guitars and facepalm-inducing lyrics. Here, Iron Maiden virtually declaws their music, and despite being released in '92, 'Weekend Warrior' sounds like it would have been some arena rock track from the heyday of the '80s. One bad apple aside, I don't think it hurts the rest of the songs.

Bruce Dickinson's voice is a point of contention for some, especially seeing as he would leave the band for the next two albums after this. Although some of the melodies are not so inspired or memorable, his voice was still in top shape, although he does not quite sound like himself here. At times, he sounds like Rob Halford- a good thing- and at others, he ad-libs away in the style of Axl Rose- a decidedly bad thing. 'Fear Of The Dark' certainly has some weaknesses to contend with, but the album's two most involving songs take it from being merely decent, to a very good album. Those two are the famed title track, and the lesser-known 'Afraid To Shoot Strangers'. The first of these evokes a maddening response from the crowd whenever its played live, and for good reason. It begins with a classic riff, then takes a breath as it gently builds into the most intense passage of the album. 'Afraid To Shoot Strangers' proceeds in much the same manner, with perhaps a more progressive direction. With these two songs alone, 'Fear Of The Dark' is more than worth a listen to a fan of the band.

Iron Maiden have gone through many phases, and 'Fear Of The Dark' falls on the brink of a rough transition for the band. All the same, there are many good songs, and even some gold to hear with this one. A painfully underrated album.

BryanT Great Individual Songs

From the moment the album begins, you know Maiden's trying something different. The opening song, "Satellite 15..." is unlike anything else Maiden has done. It's a highly experimental track, even though it's second part, "The Final Frontier" is your standard Maiden tune.

And, yes, the rest of the album is exactly what you'd expect: something different. A huge portion of the album consists of progressive epics. 5 out of the 10 songs of the album are over 8 minutes!

While each of the epics is great, they unfortunately all follow the same formula: quiet begining, loud ending. Yes, it does work. But starting slow and ending fast on all songs of the album gets quite repetitive. Why not start fast and have a slow section in the middle of the song? Maiden did it with "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". It's not like they're uncapable of it.

And this is my problem with the album. Individually, I'd give a 10 out of 10 to each song. But as an album, they don't work together. With over one hour duration, and the same formula applied to all songs, it gets quite hard to listeng to the album in it's entirety. It feels more like a collection of songs than an album. Even though I've listened to each and every song hundreds of times, I only listened to the full album in order about 3 or 4 times. It's just too tiresome. I normally pick 3 or 4 songs and listen to those, then switch to something else, as I can't stand listening to the full album.

Since I'm reviewing the album as a whole, I'll give four stars. I believe any fan of Maiden, Metal and even Progressive Rock will love the songs of the album. "Excellent addition to any metal music colletion"

Warthur Iron Maiden further refined the style of Number of the Beast and Piece of Mind with Powerslave, which included both breakout hits such as Aces High or 2 Minutes to Midnight and progressive metal epics such as the title track and, in particular, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. One of the band's most high-energy albums, the band maintain a furious pace from the opening bars of Aces High and don't let up for the full running time of the set, sustaining their momentum where most other bands would have slacked off here and there. Simply put, not a single song on this album is filler; each one is a classic part of the Iron Maiden repertoire.

Warthur Defenders of the Faith starts off well, with Freewheel Burning and Jawbreaker providing balls-to-the-wall metal in the same vein as the best picks from Screaming for Vengeance. However, over the course of the album as a whole the material just doesn't seem quite as strong as that on its predecessor; there's nothing outright wrong with it, but it's not as compelling and seems hollow. Halford sings about corpse-strewn battlefields without the passionate sincerity usually associated with his lyrics, the moronic Love Bites is far too repetitive and lasts way too long, and the second half of the album lacks a single standout track.

Warthur A fun NWOBHM album from proto-doom masters Witchfinder General which, alas, doesn't quite come up to the standards of the excellent Death Penalty. Watering down their heavy doom sound with vacuous classic rock bilge like the repetitive and tepid Music, when the band do get doomy like they did on their previous album the compositions still don't quite seem up to scratch. Perhaps if they'd given it a bit more time since recording Death Penalty they'd have been able to produce a tighter album - there's nothing wrong with it that a bit of polishing and refining couldn't fix - but they didn't, so we got an album which is just good rather than great.

Warthur Piece of Mind is a just a shade less impressive than its predecessor, The Number of the Beast, for two reasons. The first is that it's more of the same - rather than representing a sudden and impressive development of the band's sound, as the earlier album did, the album simply showcases the band continuing to make the most of Bruce's impressive vocal abilities and developing their prog-influenced song structures. The other reason is that whilst there's plenty of great songs here, there isn't a standout hit quite on the level of the title track from Number of the Beast.

But these are mild quibbles at best; the fact is, with tracks like To Tame A Land, Where Eagles Dare, Flight of Icarus and Die With Your Boots On, this is another key Maiden album which proved that their new musical direction was not exhausted yet.

Warthur Venom's second album might have provided the name for an extreme metal subgenre - and, excepting Teacher's Pet, much of the lyrical subject matter - but this piece of proto-thrash seems less groundbreaking than its predecessor, Welcome to Hell. Part of this is the general lack of musical progression apparent - the band seemed content to just make a quick rehash of Welcome to Hell rather than developing their skills, though to be fair some points like the transition from Buried Alive to Raise the Dead suggest more ambitious musical ambitions than previously.

Another part is the fact that with a less murky production job this time around, Venom's true skills become more readily appreciated - and to be honest, they're nothing special compared to the early works by the Big Four of thrash who would take the model of Welcome to Hell in genuinely interesting directions. A fun listen, but not an essential one in this day and age; I rather suspect many of the early black metal artiss based their music on what they thought this album should have sounded like as opposed to what it actually sounded like.

Warthur An excellent doom metal album from Witchfinder General - a band who were harking back to the 1970s when the decade was barely over? The primarily stylistic influence is, naturally, early Black Sabbath, but here and there I also detect a little of Judas Priest's slower tracks creeping in - particularly in the (rare) quiet acoustic moments. Fuzzy, raw, and heavy, the songs display an intriguing lyrical preoccupation with crime and punishment - not to mention Witchfinder General itself, the track the band were named after, which surely inspired future doom metal acts such as Cathedral and Electric Wizard to pen their own tributes to the classic Vincent Price movie that inspired the song. You could almost consider this a concept album of sorts, revolving around the arrest, trial, execution and disposal of a "thought criminal"; either way, it's a startlingly good debut album which deserves wider recognition from doom afficionados.

Warthur The last studio album from the Lemmy/Clarke/Taylor lineup of Motorhead is also that particular lineup's least distinguished effort. The main problem with the album isn't the songwriting - that's at least as good as it was on Overkill or Bomber - but the production. With Eddie Clarke in the producer's seat, the mix sounds all wrong for a Motorhead album - most unforgivably, the finer details of Lemmy's bass performance are almost entirely obscured, apparently for the sake of making Eddie's lead guitar more prominent in the mix. Whether that was really Eddie's intention or simply a side-effect of the fumbled production, I don't know, but the result is an album significantly less compelling than its predecessors.

Warthur With the mighty Bruce Dickinson signing on, Iron Maiden finally had a vocalist capable of handling the complex material Steve Harris and the others had wanted to compose but had held back on during the Paul Di'Anno era. Since the previous two albums had been primarily composed of material written in the early days of the group, the new songs collected here represent several years of songwriting development over Killers, explaining the startling quantum leap in the group's style. Bruce's almost operatic vocal style is perfectly suited for the selection of songs, reflecting historical incidents and making various cultural references to produce the first five-star Iron Maiden masterpiece.

Warthur Legend has it that the first Venom album has such a legendary lo-fi production and raw performances because the band thought they'd been booked in to produce a demo for the album, not the album itself. Whether or not this was true, the muddy souns quality on the release transformed Venom's music from a series of fast-paced NWOBHM tracks highly reminiscent of Motorhead to an altogether stranger album, an album which hinted at the sonic possibilities of the harsh soundscapes unlocked by the band.

In particular, the title track from this album is a stunning prototype for thrash metal; what Venom attained with their guitar sound through the muzzy production would be reproduced in crystal clarity by Slayer in their early material. Cronos' basswork is often lost in the mix, though where it does emerge from the fog it's raw and powerful, though not as technically accomplished as Motorhead's Lemmy (whose style is clearly an inspiration here). Abaddon's drums are a howling cacophony at the back of the mix, keeping the band driving away at what was at the time a furious pace. Where the band most resemble the black metal bands that would arise later is in the lyrical content, which embraces openly scatological and blasphemous content to an extent hitherto unseen in a metal act; musically, however, the band more closely resemble the early thrash acts who would apply increasing levels of technical proficiency to the raucous, wild sound the band describe here.

That said, though it's undeniably influential the album isn't perfect. Whilst there are compelling aesthetic reasons why the lo-fi production really does work for this material, some listeners will just find it irritating - personally, I don't, but I can see how some people might have issues with it. Secondly, the songwriting isn't at a consistently high quality. In particular, In League With Satan - whilst it has some hilariously rude lyrics - is a plodding dirge of a song, an attempt to create a simplistic piece that audience members at gigs can clap and sing along to which doesn't quite fit the denser and more interesting material surrounding it.

Still, these are niggles; on the whole, Welcome to Hell is a fascinating debut for a band with a distinctive sound straight out of the gate. I'd particularly recommend it for fans of the material Motorhead were producing around this time who aren't bothered by raw production values.

Warthur The second Paul Di'Anno album from Iron Maiden sees the band enjoying the benefits of a superior production job. Once again basing the album on tried and tested material honed to perfection in the years prior to their debut, the album is a particular tour de force for Steve Harris, whose songwriting contributions dominate and whose complex bass playing is at last able to be heard clearly. Less well-served by the improved sound quality is Paul Di'Anno, whose vocal style suited the low-fi, punkish energy of the debut but gets rather lost in the more complex material presented here; his best vocal performances are on songs such as Wrathchild or the title track, both of which hark back to the direct and aggressive style of the debut.

Warthur After the success of Living After Midnight and Breaking the Law singles from British Steel, Priest went for an album in a similarly radio-friendly style, taking those two songs as their inspiration. And, to give full credit to them, some of the songs on here are pretty good - Heading Out to the Highway and Hot Rockin', in particular, are decent up-tempo pop-metal pieces which wouldn't have seemed out of place on the previous album or as B-sides to the preceding singles.

However, that's not to say the album doesn't have issues. Fact is, the third single - Don't Go - is a plodding clunker, a stab at precisely the sort of classic rock delivery the band had otherwise left behind after Rocka Rolla. A similarly retrogressive approach can be heard on Turning Circles, Desert Plains - and, for that matter, most of the rest of the album. This is a disappointment considering that even on the commercially-leaning Killing Machine and British Steel the band had still managed to forge ahead and continue to expand the boundaries of metal, whereas this time around they seem happy to simply retread old ground and mimic more typical classic rock styles.

This difference is probably why this album gets a bad rap from Judas Priest fans, because going from British Steel to this is admittedly a bit of a shock, but I wouldn't say it's the absolute failure that it's often painted as. The fact is that even though it's a classic rock-influenced pop-metal album, it's a classic rock-influenced pop-metal album performed by Judas Priest, and even though they were giving their creativity a rest this time around, the musicianship on display is still second to none - and Heading Out to the Highway is a catchy song. But even though I would say that Point of Entry is a notch better than Rocka Rolla, I'd still rather listen to any of the albums between them rather than this one or the debut.

Warthur Motorhead handed off production of this one to Vic Maile, and they've gone on the record as saying that Vic was able to bring out the best in the band - both in terms of the production and in terms of their performance in the studio. I can believe it listening to Ace of Spades. The title track is, of course, Motorhead's most famous song, and the album itself is probably the Motorhead disc which is best known - and it deserves to be, because there's no hint of commercial compromise about it.

Rather than diluting their sound to attain a wider audience, Motorhead simply went into the studio and gave the best performance they could muster, with Maile's production giving listeners the clearest picture yet of just what the band were getting up to. Lemmy's "lead bassist" approach is on full show here, with Fast Eddie's lead guitar striving to keep up - and succeeding wonderfully. In terms of the songwriting, once again careful listeners will realise that Motorhead's customary declaration at concerts that "We play rock 'n' roll" is no empty boast - underpinning many of the tracks are classic rock and roll riffs and song structures, given a blinding, ferocious energy by the metal as hell performances and Lemmy's iconic throaty roar.

If you haven't started exploring Motorhead's discography, this is an ideal place to start; it's the obvious choice, sure, but that doesn't mean it isn't also the best choice. If you already own a Motorhead album or two but don't have this one yet, it's worth a shot. The only downside of Ace of Spades is that it leaves otherwise great albums like Overkill and Bomber in the shade; it's such a good album, even a band as great as Motorhead can't always live up to its standards.

Warthur Did you like Killing Machine - AKA Hell Bent for Leather? Well, in that case British Steel should go down well with you, since aside from a change of drummer the album is pretty much a refinement and polishing of the general approach of that album. There's the tedious attempt at a football chant that would have been better off removed from the album (United, taking the place of the predecessor's Take On the World), there's the kickass pop-metal fast tracks (Breaking the Law, Living After Midnight) and the occasional nod to the style of Sin After Sin or Stained Class (The Rage, Steeler).

On the whole, the band are on good form, new drummer Dave Holland integrating well into their sound and Rob Halford giving enthusiastic vocal performances as always. Musically speaking, however, the album is a bit less varied than Killing Machine, which had the groovey as hell title track and the intriguing ballad Evening Star to break things up a bit. Still, it's an accessible and very listenable album which will appeal to a broad range of listeners, though aside from the classic Breaking the Law I wouldn't put many pieces of here on my personal Priest "best of" list - a lot of them are rather interchangeable.

The bottom line is this: if you want a Priest album where every single song is distinctive, original, packed with personality and an inspiration to legions of metal bands following it, then go for Sin After Sin, or Stained Class, or Sad Wings of Destiny - well, in fact any Priest album whose title starts with S is a good one. If you want a Priest album which kept the band competitive against the NWOBHM scallywags who were starting to challenge them on their own turf but doesn't exactly break a whole lot of new ground compared to its predecessors, British Steel's got your back.

Warthur The first of the two Paul Di'Anno-fronted albums, and the sole Iron Maiden album released featuring Dennis Straton on guitar, this is an excellent debut album which sheds light on a band who had mastered the conventions of their major influences - traditional heavy metal with a side order of punk and prog rock - and had synthesised them into a powerful and compelling new sound for themselves. The raw production and Paul Di'Anno's no-frills shout lends itself well to highlighting the faster, punkish side of the band on songs like Prowler and the title track, whilst quiet ballads incorporating loud and heavy interjections such as Remember Tomorrow and Strange World show a strong Judas Priest influence, bearing a strong resemblance to Priest songs in a similar vein such as Here Come the Tears.

However, the track that really points the way to the band's future is The Phantom of the Opera, which combines a prog-rock influenced song structure with a lyrical concept ripped from literature and a musical delivery which perfectly balances the drama and theatricality demanded by the concept with the balls-out aggression characteristic of this album at its best. The classic Iron Maiden sound had not completely taken shape at this point, but it's in songs such as Phantom of the Opera where it can be heard the clearest, and despite the lack of the band's best-loved vocalist and one of its most talented guitarists it's a great listen which holds up well against their future classics.

Warthur Only falling very, very slightly short of the standards of the preceding Overkill or the following Ace of Spades - and that's only because the title track is very, very slightly less iconic and memorable than the title cuts from those two - Bomber continues Motorhead's ongoing fusion of heavy metal aggression and volume, punk rock attitude, and classic rock and roll songwriting.

As with many Motorhead albums, the title song is the best - this time placed as the album closer rather than kicking off the set - with an insanely catchy chorus it's almost impossible not to sing along to. Lemmy's talent as a lyricist is in full flow this time around, with Poison being a frank and emotionally raw condemnation of his absentee father and Lawman being one of the most eloquent "fuck the police" songs ever recorded. Fast Eddie gets a shot at lead vocals on Step Down, but can't really match Lemmy's iconic roar - not that anyone could expect him to, but it does mean that song is a step down compared to the rest of the album.

As far as the music goes, it's more of the classic Motorhead sound - loud as fuck bass and percussion, with Lemmy playing bass like it's another lead guitar, and fast and furious lead guitar from Fast Eddie to sweeten the deal. If you've heard one of their songs from this era - and who hasn't heard Ace of Spades? - you know what you're letting yourself in for, and you know whether you love their classic sound or hate it. If you love it, there's plenty to love here. If you hate it, well, I'm not going to convince you otherwise and Bomber probably won't either.

Warthur The legend about Lemmy is that he started playing bass by mistake - Hawkwind needed someone to play quick, he happened to be a roadie for them, they handed him a bass guitar and he started playing it like a lead guitar. Whether that's true or not, Lemmy developed a then-unique "lead bassist" style whilst in Hawkwind and based the Motorhead sound around that, plus a fat dose of speed metal aggression, and a punk rocker's appetite for good old-fashioned rock and roll.

Overkill is the album where the pieces of that formula really came together to create the classic Motorhead mode we know and love today. The title track is a bass apocalypse which is still a centrepiece of the band's live performances to this day, and closing track Limb From Limb is - when you look past the heaviness - a very traditional rock and roll number performed in an incredibly confident way. Between the two is a range of songs which begin to show the full power this trio are capable of.

Several songs are particularly notable - Capricorn and Metropolis are the two slower numbers on the album, Metropolis particularly effectively catching an oppressive and doomly atmosphere, whilst I'll Be Your Sister is an extremely odd love song rendered all the more unusual because, hey, it's Lemmy singing it. (Lemmy's famous gravelly tones are beginning to take shape here, sounding mliles away from the clean and inoffensive vocals he lent to Hawkwind tracks such as Silver Machine.)

Overall, the album's running length might not be up to much - a nose over 35 minutes unless you count bonus tracks (and I don't) - but typically of Motorhead it's 35 minutes of all (over)killer and no filler.

UMUR "Human Remains" is the debut full-length studio album by UK heavy metal act Hell. The album was released in May 2011 by Nuclear Blast Records. Hell were active in the years 1982 - 1987 but because of a string of unfortunate circumstances the band didn´t get a chance to release a full-length studio album back then. Hell had signed a deal with the Belgian label Mausoleum, but two weeks prior to the recording of what should have been the band´s debut album, Mausoleum collapsed into bankruptcy. That event left the band disillusioned and as a consequence Hell disbanded in 1987. Lead vocalist/ guitarist Dave Halliday took the break-up especially hard and committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning shortly after the band had disbanded.

All tracks on "Human Remains" were written in the period 1982 - 1987 but re-recorded for this release. Several of the tracks were written of co-written by Dave Halliday. Second guitarist/Keyboard player Kev Bower brought in his brother David Bower to fill the empty lead vocal spot (former Sabbat vocalist Martin Walkyier actually layed down vocal tracks for the full album, but no one was satisfied with the result) and former Sabbat guitarist Andy Sneap to fill the second guitarist spot. As an interesting anekdote it was actually Dave Halliday who taught Andy Sneap to play guitar back in the early eighties. In addition to his membership in Sabbat, Andy Sneap is of course also known for his numerous productions for acts like Nevermore, Arch Enemy, Kreator...etc. "Human Remains" is also graced by a trademark clear, powerful and dry Andy Sneap production.

The music on the 11 tracks, 66:00 minutes long album is heavy metal with occult themed lyrics and imagery. Despite the modern production it´s obvious that these tracks were written in the early- to mid eighties and acts like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden can be used as references but it´s especially Mercyful Fate that Hell share a lot of similarities to. The manic, mad and theatrical vocal performance by David Bower does the occult lyrics great justice and while his high pitched vocal moments are few I still think he and King Diamond have a lot in common. But the instrumental part of the music also bears a lot of similarities to Mercyful Fate. The music is generally heavier, darker and more hard edged than many of the eighties contemporaries. The longest and most theatrical tracks like "Blasphemy and the Master", "Macbeth", "No Martyr´s Cage" and especially the keyboard laden and slightly progressive "The Devil's Deadly Weapon" are great tunes that show the diversity of Hell´s music but I think it´s the harder edged and more "regular" tracks like "On Earth As It Is In Hell", "Plague And Fyre" and "Save Us From Those Who Would Save Us" that really kicks some serious ass.

Other than a production that might sound slightly too modern for the material (I would have prefered a more raw and organic sound production) I think Hell makes a pretty successful comeback to the scene with "Human Remains". It´ll be interesting to see if they follow it up with a second album of material written today and how that holds up to this one. For now I´ll just enjoy "Human Remains" and rate it with 4 stars.

bassgeezer Powerslave is the perfect example of what the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was all about. You can also hear the foundation for thrash metal to follow. Powerslave has the same exhausting pace as Megadeth’s Rust in Peace of a few years later. Even with the epic that is the Rime of the Ancient Mariner lasting a good thirteen and a half minutes at the end of the album, it is still all over too quickly for me. Steve Harris’, Bruce Dickinson’s and Adrian Smith’s song-writing skills are superbly demonstrated here. Their musicianship is completed perfectly by Dave Murray and Nicko McBrain.

Kingcrimsonprog British Steel is one of those all time classic albums, like Reign in Blood, Number Of The Beast or Paranoid. The kind of album that half the things you’ve ever read have told you is amazing and beyond reproach and the other half has told you is overrated and nowhere near the band’s best work. Sometimes its difficult to get an unbiased opinion either way.

Released in 1980, British Steel helped Judas Priest a long way in becoming the institution they are and formed a large part of the public’s perception of the band.

The album contained the hit singles ‘Breaking The Law,’ ‘Living After Midnight,’ and ‘United.’

Elsewhere; songs like ‘Rapid Fire,’ ‘Steeler,’ and ‘Grinder,’ delivered the hard and fast metal sound that helped form the basis of the thrash sound a few short years later, while tracks like ‘Metal Gods,’ and ‘You Don’t Have To Be Old To Be Wise,’ stay closer on the borders of rock.

The quality of songwriting is genuinely good and there is no filler, this is a good album plain and simple. The band took everything they had been doing over their career and compressed it down into an easy to manage collection of pure metal.

As Scott Ian is fond of stating, Judas Priest were the first band to really take up the banner of metal, to revel in the name, to champion the genre. They weren’t ashamed, they wouldn’t rather be thought of as a Blues band or a Folk band or anything else. They wanted to be metal.

The material should speak for itself as this is a great record; if you like Judas Priest you may find another album you like more, but British Steel is one of the all time classic metal albums and there’s not much you can do about that if you don’t like that situation, it may have commercial appeal, some of it may sound cheesy to you, the production may be too slick for you… but British Steel is a classic.

Kingcrimsonprog Judas Priest’s Point Of Entry was released just one year after their classic British Steel album, and the band sought to further the radio success of ‘Living After Midnight’ et al with a more commercial sound, but failed to break big critically or commercially. The album is seen as something of a disappointment for a lot of Priest fans.

Stylistically, the album isn’t the fastest or the heaviest Judas Priest album you’re likely to hear, the music is actually much closer to classic rock than to the heavy metal sound of the most loved Judas Priest albums.

Regardless of their musical directions, all albums stand or fall on the quality of the music within. For the most part; Point Of Entry is hit and miss, a mixture of good songs and songs that are unobjectionable but just kind of forgettable, had the ratio been better then the world would have been kinder to Point Of Entry, but unfortunately the album doesn’t have enough classic material to really make it a must have.

The album isn’t devoid of good moments, tracks like ‘Hot Rockin,’ ‘Heading Out To The Highway,’ and ‘Desert Plains,’ are all enjoyable. ‘All The Way,’ is perfectly good too if you don’t mind the obvious inspiration from about five famous Kiss songs.

If you like Judas Priest, you may want to check Point Of Entry out; after all you still have the guitar and vocal talent as with any Priest album, in addition to a few genuinely good songs here and there. If you are new to the band I’d advise not trying this album until you are already familiar with all the classics first.

Overall, Point Of Entry is neither good nor terrible. It certainly doesn’t deserve its awful reputation, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say it was criminally underrated either. In summary; a decent, if somewhat forgettable album.

Kingcrimsonprog Judas Priest’s eight studio album Screaming For Vengeance took the band to new heights of popularity when it was released back in 1982 and has since come to be regarded as an all time classic record for Heavy Metal.

Screaming For Vengeance largely lives up to its reputation, the album is very strong and the performances from the band are exceptional. Guitar solos are on top form, Rob’s vocals are varied and dynamic and the drumming is rock solid.

The album features many of Priest’s well-known tracks, such as ‘The Hellion/Electric Eye,’ ‘Riding On The Wind,’ and ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Comin.’

Part of the success of this album can be attributed to the variety herein, the material ranges from fast and exciting metal music like the title track, to slower more emotional tracks like ‘(Take These) Chains,’ and mixes songs with a more classic rock sound with those with a more 80s metal feel. No two songs sound alike, nothing feels like filler and this is a large contributing factor as to why Screaming For Vengeance is such a good record.

If you like Judas Priest, Screaming For Vengeance is obviously something you’ll want to pick up and if you are a prospective fan then it would make a fine place to start.

Kingcrimsonprog Judas Priest’s ninth studio album was released in 1984. Defenders Of The Faith is an album often celebrated by Priest fans but isn’t as famous as some of their other albums like Painkiller, British Steel or Screaming For Vengeance. The album doesn’t feature as regularly in top 100 album countdowns but don’t let that discourage you; this is a very good record indeed.

After the band’s previous album Screaming For Vengeance had taken the band to new heights of popularity, breaking the US market two years earlier, Priest had a tough job following it up.

Defenders Of The Faith does a good job of trying however. It largely follows the formula of its predecessor, only with a marginally heavier and darker edge. Tracks, such as ‘Eat Me Alive,’ and ‘Freewheel Burning,’ are the type of big and exciting Heavy Metal songs that you want from Judas Priest, and they mix neatly in with slower material like ‘Love Bites,’ or ‘Night Comes Down.’

It could be argued that Defender’s Of The Faith is a sort of perfect center of Judas Priest’s 1980s output. Not flashy or innovative, not a big departure or a new chapter but an absolutely refined and well crafted album of the sort of music you want from the band.

If you like Judas Priest, don’t overlook Defenders Of The Faith. The songs are good, the performances are good and the album has all the wailing vocals and guitar solos that the band stands for. I highly recommend it.

Kingcrimsonprog Opening with the classic double punch of `The Hellion/Electric Eye,’ you know that this concert is going to be good.

The band do their best to mix a diverse career spanning set list with playing all their biggest hits and do a pretty successful job, managing to cover a full five songs from their then new `Angel of Retribution,’ album with their big hits like `Breaking the Law,’ `Living After Midnight,’ and `You’ve Got Another Thing Coming,’ while still playing at least one song from their less famous `Point of Entry,’ `Turbo,’ and `Ram It Down,’ albums.

Musically, the band are on fire, with impressive guitar soloing, energetic on stage performances and drummer Scott Travis playing songs harder, with confidence and authority that makes them sound that much heavier and tighter. The band are playing on a fairly large stage with elaborate set pieces, risers and of course, the famous motorcycle.

Some fans have made a lot of complaints about Rob Halford’s performance here, but with the sole exception of the vocals on the track `Painkiller,’ (which, as it happens has impossibly difficult vocals to begin with) I think these complaints are pretty off the mark.

If you need proof that Rob can still reach those high notes see the `You’re Possessing Me,’ scream in `A Touch of Evil’ or indeed the entire performance of the fast and high pitched `Riding on the Wind.’

Furthermore Rob’s whole on-stage attitude is a winner, seeming genuinely pleased each and every time the crowd gets a sing along moment correct, adding little Robotic Walk gestures to `Metal Gods,’ and generally looking like he’s giving it his all, to the point where he is sweating and red in the face, not because he can’t hack it, but rather because he’s giving it his very all.

Even if you do for some reason take exception with Rob, there is simply no denying the performances of Glen, Scott, Ian and Mr. Downing who all blast away like a well oiled machine, but with the energy of a much younger band.

In terms of camera, editing, sound and mix there really isn’t anything to complain about, everything is handled well and the whole package is as slick and professional as you would hope for from a band of their size.

Overall this is a great looking and great sounding DVD from Judas Priest and that alone should have you interested, add to that an interesting set list and dismiss the complaints about Rob and you should find `Rising In The East,’ a really worthy addition to your collection.

Stephen I stumbled upon many great reading throughout the net regarding 'Human Remains' being one of the best NWoBHM thing ever came out in 2011, so I reinforce my mind with an optimistic thought that this is gonna be a blast but don't know why, I left the room disappointed after couple of spins, maybe because of the hype, or maybe Hell was lacking some big hooks that a decent heavy metal band should have in most of their songs.

After that colossal musical score overture, Hell sweeps in with a superb riffs in 'On Earth As It Is In Hell'. A truly brilliant track and when I first heard this song, my first impression is 'wow, looks like this album is truly awesome!', but then when 'Plague and Fyre' left my mouth a bitter average taste and 'The Oppresors' is as bad as it is, my faith began to deteriorate. 'Blasphemy and The Master' picks up the momentum, the riffs are great, the whole song is pretty good, but then the track is too long without a significant subtleties, that's also what happened to 'The Devil's Deadly Weapon'.

'Let Battle Commence' is fast and furious, with fantastic riffs and fiery hooks, this song along with 'The Quest', are a part of huge things within' 'Human Remains'. 'Save Us From Those Who Would Save Us' is also blasted with very powerful rhythm, but unfortunately, those four tracks are basically the best I can get out of this album. 'Macbeth' is just ridiculous, I have to admit the riffs are nice, but the spoken part is unbearable and the whole track is too average, not to admit the boring length of song they carried. 'No Martyr's Cage' is totally disposable as well.

The overwhelming average tracks and four great tracks brought down to a simple math of around 60-65% total score or equal to 2.5 stars from my point of view. This one is completely overrated, if you're looking for a superior heavy metal album of 2011, look elsewhere. Vocal work is one of their strong commodity, at some point, I can sense that he's trying to be a metal version of Geddy Lee, but the guitar part aren't very good, or in other words, any session player can simply done that easily.

Buy if it's cheap, but definitely not essential.

AtomicCrimsonRush I enjoyed this rockumentary on the Irons thoroughly because it did not try to emulate the plethora of other rockumentaries we have all seen that focus on the infighting of stage crews and band members encountering one disaster after another (Metallica, Anvil) and then at the end they all make up and play their last song together. The Spinal Tappiness of such docos is worn out now. This doco on Maiden does the opposite, very little goes wrong and the band are always in high spirits, having fun and getting on. Now they have grown up, even their families go on the road with them. They commend each other in interviews as essential to the band and all have positive things to say as to the role of each member. They like to tease the air hostesses with annoying songs to the tune of Go West, and they play tricks on each other. They reference Monty Python and other British icons. They always have time for the fans, rabid for an autograph. The music is as good as ever and they are one of the bands who actually bother to visit cities or towns that are rarely visited by other massive groups. The fans are so grateful we see them pour out adoration and even tears for their beloved Irons. One cries his soul out when getting a drumstick during a show. It is a very moving scene, he has obviously been touched by the experience.

The doco is a powerful look at how to stay together as a band, they do not drink and do drugs liberally, instead take their music seriously and give everything to the fans and into the albums. They always seem upbeat in their approach to life, and I was quite taken aback by the optimism of all concerned and it was refreshing. Being in a band and making millions should be an experience to savour, not be burdened with. The crew seem to love their work and do not take it for granted. There are none of the obligatory shots of semi naked girls or demonised shots of angry band members. Instead the band are more role models, though they know how to swear as much as the fans do. The performances are snippets of their greatest tunes, played in various venues, such as my beloved all time favourite Rime Of The Ancient Mariner. To see Dickinson piloting the Ed Force One plane is surreal and it follows a map and we are on the journey. We are also treated to a lot of info about piloting, and it is quite astonishing to see how accomplished a pilot Dicko has become. Because of his skills, the band are able to fly quickly to their destinations with all their equipment on the same plane, and this is groundbreaking.

This is the best doco I have seen on Iron Maiden. The bonus disc consists of full versions of all the songs featured in the film. A must for fans of the monsters of metal.

Certif1ed WOW!!!

Another "How did I miss these guys" band - especially as they supported Saxon in the 1980s, and Saxon were a band I saw a few times, I can tell you...

I recently found a copy of Limelight's extremely rare album in my local vinyl store, and I'm going to live with that for a few weeks before reviewing it, as it's plain, listening to this single, that there is/was a huge amount to these guys.

Progressive Metal in 1980?

Mellotrons, complex arrangements, the whole shooting match?

Thrash metal too?

"Metal Man" is a thrash prototype, and what about those Mellotrons, eh? Judas Who?

This'll have you questioning the whole nature of metal, revising your history books, and becoming an instant Limelight fan.

Mind-blowing, and I really don't use that term often.

Flip it over, and the flanged bass of "Hold Me, Touch Me" lets you know you're in for something very, very different, and Limelight duly present a totally unique take on NWoBHM, with shades of Indie bands (when Indie bands weren't simply boys with guitars) like Kissing The Pink and other less well-known acts.

This won't be to most metal fans tastes, but Limelight were about doing their own thing, their music was all self-financed, and it ROCKS!!!

Masterpiece. No Question - although "Hold Me, Touch Me" is so very different to what you might expect that I'd imagine it would divide tastes sharply.

"Metal Man", however, goes up with Vardis' "If I Were King" and the first two Jaguar singles as a Thrash Metal template.

1967/ 1976 After the second departure from Deep Purple Ian Gillan decided to start a solo career taking up the monicker of "Gillan", as his old heavy metal band, but with new personnel. The end result is a mix between MWoBHM and Deep Purple, so that music is a pure Hard Rock with Heavy Metal structures.

In this album Gillan is a band that plays Hard Rock with Heavy Metal structure and Heavy Metal music. The interesting collaboration with the legendary Leslie West in "Hang Me Out To Dry" produces an interesting song, basically Hard Rock with distorted guitar with modern sound. The best songs, however, be sought in "Candy Horizon" that, and it is strange, knowing of the disputes with Blackmore, is similar (not only in style) to the Rainbow with J. L. Turner! "Candy Horizon" is a great Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal, melodic and catchy but not anonymous, as full of magic. "Don't Hold Me Back" is another Highlight of "Toolbox". "Don't Hold Me Back" is a personal view to Heavy AOR but full of Metal with great chorus, guitar sound similar to distorted slide guitar and great screaming, in a relaxed song. More than the axeman Steve Morris in noticeable the technique and the dynamism of Leonard Haze, a great drummer. "Pictures Of Hell" is, probably, the only full Heavy Metal song of "toolbox" but have the defect of being too similar to many of the songs of Deep Purple of 1980's and 1990's, were it not for the screaming in the vocalizes of Gillan. At the same time "Pictures Of Hell" is a great song because with magic and passion and not arid as the similar Purple's songs, because coinvolgent in vocal lines and guitar structures. For the rest "Toolbox" is a good album of Hard Rock in full Heavy Metal field.

In a good substance "Toolbox" could be an album that could scuttle Deep Purple. But, as we all know, history decided otherwise.

1967/ 1976 Lemmy, Philty "Animal" Taylor and "Fast" Eddie Clarke... A band named "Motorhead" and an album named "OverKill"! And the story of R'n'R is written with another 24 charat masterpiece! What, then, is an explosive mix of Punk and Hard Rock ... Who cares!

This albun contains: "OverKill", "Stay Clean", "Capricorn", "No Class" and "Metropolis", all Heavy Metal evergreen, characterized, like all the songs on the album, from hypnotic riffs, repeated ad nauseum. The sound is dominated by twins guitar/ bass and by the natural growl of Lemmy's voice. "Animal" Taylor is a great drummer, powerful and very bynamic. So all the songs of "OverKill" are classics. Interesting is also the fact that, if the music is Punk Metal, at the end, the riffs are very technical, fact that is not in association with Punk. As the same time the songs are very engaging. You would like to break out into a frenzied dance that never has to stop. Is this magic that makes winning "Overkill" even more of songs, aged too well.

IMHO this is "OverKill", a great album, an evergreen of R'n'R, a must (and cult) album for every music lover!

adg211288 Powerslave is the fifth studio album from UK heavy metal act Iron Maiden. It is the second of the four album run that is considered to be by the band’s classic line-up of Dickinson, Harris, Murray, Smith and McBrain that began with Piece of Mind (1983) and came to an end with Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988), though it arguably started up again as ‘classic line-up +1’ with Brave New World (2000). The album was released in 1984 and now many years later it is widely regarded to be among the group’s finest releases.

And it is very rightly so in my opinion. Given that Iron Maiden is one of those bands that has, for the most part, been very consistent with their releases (Virtual XI being the only major blip) it stands to reason that there will be a few albums that are done to absolute perfection among their number, and Powerslave is the first of three of those. Following on from the slightly disappointing Piece of Mind, Powerslave is the sound of an Iron Maiden with a renewed vigour. The music is noticeably heavier than on the previous album and the band had never sounded quite this powerful up until this point, even on the exceptional The Number of the Beast. The release is classic Iron Maiden in every sense of the term, and done at its very best on all fronts whether it be the writing, musicianship or production. Everything is just perfect.

That’s because Powerslave is an album that literally has everything that an Iron Maiden release should have. You have your metal anthems that make up the ‘single material’ of the album with the opening Aces High and 2 Minutes to Midnight, both of which number among the best known tracks by the band, with 2 Minutes to Midnight being a live staple, being played on almost every tour following the release of the album. Then you also have the closing epic, Rime of the Ancient Mariner. To date this still stands as the band’s longest song and is a re-telling of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem. It’s really at the opposite end of the spectrum to the first two songs, and this is what makes the album so great. Maiden has a sound typical to them, but they can turn that sound into songs with their own identity, and because of that it doesn’t get stale in any way.

Then you also get all the stuff that falls in between those two extremes, which includes several Maiden tracks that I’m surprised to say just don’t seem to get mentioned as much as others despite Powerslave’s overall high regard. Flash of the Blade, Back in the Village and The Duellists are all of a quality with the rest of the album, but none are names you see mentioned as often as Aces High or 2 Minutes to Midnight. The title track is one of the album’s best though, and fortunately it sees almost as much regard as the singles and Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The album also includes a rare Maiden instrumental in Losfer Words (Big 'Orra).

Powerslave is one of Maiden’s three perfect records as far as I’m concerned, but if any if that three is the best of the best then it has really got to be this one. A textbook example of a band at the top of their game, this is definitely one Iron Maiden album that everyone needs to own. Absolutely essential. Full marks without hesitation.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scored at 10.0/10)

RuneWalsh2112 This is probably my favorite compilation album of all time, which is saying a lot considering that I'm completely against compilation albums of any sorts!

Not only did this 2 CD best of-release serve as my introduction to Judas Priest but it also effected the way I would build up my album collection from there on. Albums like "British Steel" and "Painkiller" were the obvious next choices for me, followed by "Screaming For Vengeance", since these albums happen to completely dominate the track listing here; almost 50% of this compilation is compiled of these three records! I also love that this collection centers around the band's heavier and upbeat tracks while leaving out covers and even some of the anthems.

Of course it's far from a perfect collection since it almost completely neglects the band's humble beginnings by only featuring a live version of "Victim Of Change" from the two earliest albums. This can be explained by the fact that Judas Priest no longer have the publishing rights to those two albums due to label disputes, although the still own the compositions. Then there's also the question of linearity since the tracks are not compiled in any chronological order. I prefer to see it as the ultimate Judas Priest setlist that one could only dream of hearing in a live setting!

"Metal Works '73-'93" is jammed with hits that everyone should have heard at least once in their lifetime and that's why it get my seal of approval!

***** star songs: The Hellion (0:41) Electric Eye (3:39) Painkiller (6:06) Dissident Aggressor (3:07) Exciter (5:34) Breaking The Law (2:35) Hell Bent For Leather (2:41) Blood Red Skies (7:50) Before The Dawn (3:23) Ram It Down (4:48) Screaming For Vengeance (4:43) Beyond The Realms Of Death (6:53) Sinner (6:43) Freewheel Burning (4:22) Night Crawler (5:45)

**** star songs: Victim Of Changes (7:12) Eat Me Alive (3:34) Devil's Child (4:48) Delivering The Goods (4:16) Metal Gods (4:00) Metal Meltdown (4:48) You've Got Another Thing Comin' (5:09) Solar Angels (4:04) Bloodstone (3:51) Desert Plains (4:36) Heading Out To The Highway (4:53) Living After Midnight (3:31) A Touch Of Evil (5:45) The Rage (4:44) Night Comes Down (3:58)

*** star songs: Turbo Lover (5:33) Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days (4:39)

RuneWalsh2112 This is the album that I think about whenever anyone asks me about my favorite Judas Priest album from the '80s!

To be completely honest, none of the band's '80s albums were completely solid due to at least one or two filler tracks featured on each of those releases. At least the highlights clearly overshadow lesser material on "Defenders Of The Faith"! This was the final great record until "Painkiller" and they really gave it their best with the dual guitar action on "Freewheel Burning", the melodic up-tempo "Jawbreaker" and straightforward rockers like "Rock Hard Ride Free" and "The Sentinel". All these tracks are big favorites of mine.

The album slowly begins to drop in quality from "Love Bites" and on, but at least it won't lose complete momentum until it's two track conclusion with the completely ridiculous "Heavy Duty" and the equally unnecessary title track. I really enjoy the fact that the tracks follow this stagnating order since it allows me to push that eject button right before the filler comes on without feeling sad for missing any more highlights!

I suppose that overall quality-wise "Screaming For Vengeance" is slightly superior but that album doesn't feature as many highlights as "Defenders Of The Faith".

***** star songs: Freewheel Burning (4:23) Jawbreaker (3:27) Rock Hard Ride Free (5:35) The Sentinel (5:03)

**** star songs: Love Bites (4:47) Eat Me Alive (3:35) Some Heads Are Gonna Roll (4:07) Night Comes Down (3:58)

*** star songs: Defenders Of The Faith (1:27)

** star songs: Heavy Duty (2:25)

RuneWalsh2112 After the complete flop that was "Point Of Entry", Judas Priest finally got their act together and released another great record!

The fast-paced album opener have been missing ever since "Stained Class" and it's a tradition that I missed dearly. The two part opener, "The Hellion"/"Electric Eye", really doesn't disappoint in that regard and delivers the goods. "Riding On The Wind" continues in the same vein while "Bloodstone" is another classic rocker that has that signature Judas Priest sound.

"(Take These) Chains" is where the album shifts gear into a more '80s sounding direction which might seem a bit out of place with the rest of the material. Surprisingly enough, this particular shift has never really bothered me. Having said that, "Pain And Pleasure" is where I draw the line since this track just never takes off.

The album's title track and "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" are well known classics that don't need any introduction, even though I've never been a huge fan of the latter. While "Fever" and "Devil's Child" complete the record with two of its best album tracks!

Some critics have given "Screaming For Vengeance" the unflattering label of being "British Steel part II". I wholeheartedly object to such a claim since this record is a huge improvement over the overrated 1980 classic. Just take it at face value and you're guaranteed a good time!

***** star songs: The Hellion (0:41) Electric Eye (3:39) Screaming For Vengeance (4:43)

**** star songs: Riding On The Wind (3:07) Bloodstone (3:51) (Take These) Chains (3:07) You've Got Another Thing Comin' (5:09) Fever (5:20) Devil's Child (4:48)

*** star songs: Pain And Pleasure (4:17)

adg211288 Virtual XI is the eleventh album by UK heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It’s the second and final album with Blaze Bayley as the band’s vocalist. After the excellent The X Factor several years before gave new life to the aging band who had at that point been going twenty years since their 1975 inception, Virtual XI comes as a surprise within the group’s discography, and for all the wrong reasons.

Although I will hold to the belief that Iron Maiden has never done a really bad album, on Virtual XI they seemed to have had a real good go. It’s their weakest release for certain. Blaze Bayley’s vocals take a noticeable drop in quality, as does the writing. In stark contrast to The X Factor Janick Gers input is extremely minimal, only being credited on the album’s closing track, Como Estais Amigos, while Dave Murray’s writing makes a return after having no writing credits on The X Factor. Unsurprisingly then that this album is mostly a Steve Harris penned affair, with Blaze being credited on three of the tracks, however despite Harris’ reputation for writing some of Iron Maiden’s greatness material, the only really great Harris track here is The Clansman. In generally though the band is on a creative low here and it shows badly.

The main issue with Virtual XI is the length of many of the songs, but the main case in point is The Angel and the Gambler. Only just falling short of the ten minute mark it is one of the band’s longest songs ever recorded, and unlike other epics such as Time of the Ancient Mariner, Caught Somewhere in Time or Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, it doesn’t warrant the title of ‘epic’ in any way. It is drawn out and repetitive to the point of being mind numbing. Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger is better but not by a very large margin and overall only three of the album’s tracks are really that great, those being The Clansman, Futureal, and Lightning Strikes Twice. The rest are very sub-par by Iron Maiden standards, and unlike some of their other albums, no amount of listening seems to be able to get this one to do a bit of growing, in fact I actually like this album a lot less now than I did when I originally got it.

For its few good tracks Virtual XI is just about pushed up into above average territory, but this is still the most disappointing output of Iron Maiden’s career. Had I been following the band back when it was originally released I think I would have lost all faith with Maiden after this one, since there hadn’t been a really great album from them since 1988’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Fortunately things get a lot better again for Maiden after this point. I suppose a die-hard fan like me will always find a place for an album like Virtual XI in their collection, but this one leaves a lot to be desired and despite the fact that the score I’ve giving this one is still slightly pushing towards the positive, I’d say that this should always be the last Maiden album you pick up. The album has its moments, but it’s certainly the dud of the Maiden discography.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scored at 5.7/10)

RuneWalsh2112 This is classical Heavy Metal album with many memorable compositions... still I can't see past the fact that it's a very overrated release.

Judas Priest were at the top of their career with the release of "British Steel" but was this really the definitive set of tracks that we the fans would want to remember them by? I surely hope not! After hearing this album more times than I should have, back when I was a teenager, it's clear that most of its momentum has become lost in time and what I get out of hearing "British Steel" today is just a very good Judas Priest album. Unfortunately, very good is not enough when we compare this record to masterpieces like "Sad Wings Of Destiny", "Stained Class" or "Painkiller".

Most of the material is great but, with the exception of "Breaking The Law", it just never reaches the higher levels of the other stand out tracks from the band's discography. It's inevitable for me to compare this release to Iron Maiden's "The Number Of The Beast" since both of these albums were and are generally hailed as the masterpieces of these two bands. Fortunately we, the fans, know better!

***** star songs: Breaking The Law (2:35)

**** star songs: Rapid Fire (4:08) Metal Gods (4:00) Grinder (3:58) United (3:35) Living After Midnight (3:31) The Rage (4:44) Steeler (4:30)

*** star songs: You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise (5:04)

adg211288 Brave New World is the twelfth album by UK heavy metal act Iron Maiden. Released in 2000 Brave New World sees Iron Maiden entering the new millennium with a reunion with singer Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith, who both return to the Iron Maiden fold after lengthy absences. Bruce replaces Blaze Bayley, the man who replaced him, while Smith’s replacement Janick Gers remains a member of the band, making Brave New World the first album to feature the band as a six-piece. The entirety of the so called classic line-up of Iron Maiden is a part of this record with the addition of Gers, and after the poor Virtual XI from 1998, things could really only be looking up for the band.

‘Looking up’ however is the understatement of the century as Brave New World sees Iron Maiden coming back with a bang. The sound is completely revitalised to the point that Brave New World is right up there at the same levels of greatness as the classics from the 80’s. The typical Maiden sound is intact and still vital in today’s heavy metal scene, but Brave New World goes beyond that as once again Iron Maiden begins to move into the heady realm of the progressive, as they once did with Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Brave New World is not as openly progressive metal as some of the band’s releases, especially the ones that follow Brave New World, but the flavours are beginning to come out with this album, especially with the lengthier tracks such as Blood Brothers, Dream of Mirrors and The Nomad, all of which stand as some of the band’s best songs.

What makes the album even better though is the aspect of variety that it offers the listening. On its predecessor Virtual XI the longer tracks were what made it a poor album as they were drawn out and repetitive, but nothing as such happens here which results in something musically epic. Variation continues to play elsewhere though with the presence of shorter tracks such as the opening The Wicker Man and The Mercenary, which represent the side of the band that does rocking ‘single material’ style songs, but manage to be no less powerful than the epics or other gems such as the title track and a personal favourite, Ghost of the Navigator. The return of Bruce Dickinson is most welcome within the band’s sound, as are the writing talents that he and Adrian Smith bring to the table. With band leader Steve Harris and guitarists Dave Murray and Janick Gers also contributing material to the album Iron Maiden stands once again as a powerful force in heavy metal.

After an inconsistent run of albums during the 90’s Iron Maiden returns to form in true style with Brave New World, and this is easily the first really great Iron Maiden release since Seventh Son of a Seventh Son twelve years beforehand. What makes it even better in a way is that it’s the first of a string of albums every bit as good as their 80’s material, and with no weak track amongst its number, I’d even say it’s better than many of them. An absolutely essential album for any self-respecting Iron Maiden fan of any description.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scored at 9.5/10)