Author: Gerard

Classic albums: the 1980’s

Black Sabbath Heaven and Hell.jpg

Black Sabbath‘s second life started with this album,  Heaven And Hell (Vertigo, 1980). Ronnie James Dio‘s powerful vocals combined with Iommi ‘s riffs make it an almost unbeatable hard rock classic (review).

 

AC/DC Back in Black

AC/DC also needed a new singer on their 8th album Back In Black (Atlantic, 1980), because the charismatic Bon Scott had died. The album sold 50 million worldwide – the ultimate proof for the universal appeal of this uncomplicated and powerful rock machine (review).

 

Saxon - Wheels of Steel

Saxon‘s 2th album, Wheels Of Steel (Carrere, 1980) (reviews), and 3th album, Strong Arm Of The Law (Carrere, 1980) (review) are genre defining metal albums. The heavy yet accessible songs are prime NWOBHM.

 

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Foreigner – 4 (Atlantic, 1981)

Y & T – Earthshaker (A&M, 1981)

Journey – Escape (CBS, 1981)

Iron Maiden – The Number Of The Beast (EMI, 1982)

Hughes/Thrall – Hughes/Thrall (Epic, 1982)

Bryan Adams – Cuts Like A Knife (A&M, 1983)

Metallica – Kill ‘em All (Roadrunner, 1983)

Van Halen – 1984 (WB, 1984)

Survivor – Vital Signs (Scotti Bros, 1984)

Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet (Mercury, 1986)

David Lee Roth – Eat ‘em And Smile (WEA, 1986)

Joe Satriani – Surfing With The Alien (Relativity, 1987)

Whitesnake – 1987 (EMI, 1987)

Guns N Roses – Appetite For Destruction (Geffen, 1987)

Def Leppard – Hysteria (Vertigo, 1987)

Living Colour – Vivid (Epic, 1988)

TNT – Intuition (Phonogram, 1989)

Classic albums: 1970-1975

Cactus – Cactus (Atco, 1970)

Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath (Vertigo, 1970)

Deep Purple – In Rock (Harvest, 1970)

Ursa Major – Ursa Major (RCA, 1972)

Lynyrd Skynyrd – (Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Erd) (MCA/Sounds Of The South, 1973)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoPGi8uWDb8&list=PLsfmYXk2OnEmJgXTt4Qwmn1_Jig7YvwST

Montrose – Montrose (WB, 1973)

Alice Cooper – Billion Dollar Babies (WB, 1973)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdKlcL9Jquc&list=PL8a8cutYP7fqCJ9MchtwNfN-8SQvM1mCn

The New York Dolls – The New York Dolls (Mercury, 1973)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po-SOprZ7Nc

Bad Company – Bad Company (Island, 1974)

Rick Derringer – All American Boy (Blue Sky, 1974)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcjelba-lLI&list=PLWdIBZFP_vx5Kf3y92hL0IPZMgDwKvdNS

 

The art of lyrics: Max Webster

Canadian Max Webster (1973 – 1981) is an innovative and extremely interesting band, not only musically but also lyrically. Some claim they brought weirdness to the mainstream. This is surely true for their home country where the band was very popular. Main man Kim Mitchell became a national legend with a successful solo career that also brought some commercial success in the States with this song:

Here we focus especially on Max Websters lyrics. Almost all of them are written by someone who isn’t in the band: Pye Dubois (aka Paul Woods). The lyrics are pieces of art themselves but they fit in perfectly with the music, as these killer songs show:

April in Toledo / talking to myself / talking to myself
She’s hiding out in Lake Louise / says she’s taking a break from my face
I’ll run I’ll run to Niagara / I’ll hide I’ll hide in the dark
She wouldn’t have me for conversation no more
Her last destination was out of town
These letters from Lake Louise / sound like damn diaries of a winter freeze
Hey I’ll sing this out my window
Say I’ll treat you good / then I’ll treat you better

Second hand telegram
Lip service legal love
Second hand out of town telegram
Lip service legal love

So you’re the lawyer’s wife
How’s life on Lakeshore Road
Furs and boats caviar and moats
And your fat kitten
Is teasing your aunt
In the hall
With the liver hors d’oeuvres
She gives her guest(s)
When on call

Ahhhhh you should be down under
Pushin’ up wheat for the hungry

Big revolutions in my black book
Written down in our teens
I gave them to Khrushchev
I lent them to Lenin

Second hand out of town telegram
Lip service legal love
Lip service second hand out of town
Lip service love

So you’re the canker banker
Hours nine to five on fantasies of gold
Vets cheques cigars Nassau
And your harness horse
Is cold cash
Cause the drugs you use work fast
Burned off and out before the race track
Urine test

Ahhhhh you should be down under
Pushin’ up wheat for the hungry

Socialutions
Written down in our teens
I mailed them to Kennedy
I typed them for Tito

Only your right hand
Knows you’re left handed

What do I know / I sat under a cloud / I looked up / ‘fraid to look down
I knew I’d cry if I didn’t clear / I knew I’d die if I didn’t hear you say
Forget that fear of gravity
You take that dream away from me / i’ll have trouble getting through the day
Get a little savagery in your life
I’ll have trouble tying my shoes
Forget that fear of gravity
I’ll laugh when it rains and dampens my hair
Get a little savagery in your life
In my cloud / I walk close never fearing the edge
Never waiting at the bend / never two-faced at a crossroads
Never wanting the edge of my cloud / tender is the night
Forget that fear of gravity gravity gravity
Forget that fear of gravity
And i’ll sit in the window without a cigarette
Get a little savagery in your life

Bonjour aux amis de malheur…
Nous sommes fous.

… Read the rest

Some fine Southern Rock bands

The US South is filled with proud, uncomplicated, honest and hard workin’ people with strong ethics. At least that’s the picture you get listening to most Southern Rock songs. Here we present some great bands from this genre.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is from Jacksonville, Florida. Their eponomous debut (1973) is a classic album. It stands at the beginning of the popularity of a new subgenre: Southern Rock. Lynyrd is best known for signature songs like Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird. But the lyrics of Simple Man, that’s on the debut album, sum up the  Southern man pretty clearly, or at least describes how the Southern man should ideally be. The lyrics can be found here.

Texas Point Blank isn’t a very widely known band. In the second half of the 1970’s they made two semi-classic albums, Point Blank (1976) and its successor Second Season (1977).… Read the rest

The year 1980 in Rock History: Essential Albums (Vol. 1)

With this post we start a new series, that focuses on specific years in the history of melodic hard rock.

For each year there will be two sections. One for the albums that made it big. These ‘essential’ albums, in the sense that aspirant fans should know them, are the high roads of rock history. The second section will cover albums that should have made it big on the basis of their quality, but didn’t. These albums, that clearly deserve a wider audience, present the roads less travelled. This section will bring you music that remained hidden for too long. You’re guaranteed to be surprised with some stunning melodies.

In this post the first part of section 1, the essential albums of 1980.

Episode 1: The Next Step for some Established Bands

At the end of the 1970s quite few bands already had established themselves as main representatives of the hard rock.… Read the rest

Interesting new albums (August 2016)

Last month some interesting Scandinavian albums saw the light of day.

Three fine melodic hard rock debut albums

Palace

Fans of 1980s style AOR can’t go wrong with Palace‘s debut album Master Of The Universe (review 1, 2, 3 & 4). Swedish quality, with excellent keyboards and guitar interplay and adventurous songs, at least within the limits of the genre. Production and vocals could’ve been even better and the refrain of No Exit gets pretty annoying once you realize the repetitive character of it, but hey, this is just a debut. The more you listen to it the more you’ll get convinced that this album could have a lasting significance. Melodicrock.nl rating: 91/100.

Cruzh

Cruzh is another new Swedish band that comes up with a debut that’s very interesting for AOR fans (review 1, 2, 3 & 4).… Read the rest

West Coast, some recent albums

West Coast has been described as well-crafted, soft-focused music mainly made and played in California. Or: California soft rock with some jazz elements thrown in. Also labeled as Yacht Rock, it’s relaxing and perfectly for a lazy sunday morning. Because most of it doesn’t qualify as melodic rock we cover it only marginally on this website.

West Coast was especially popular from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s. You can find out more about relevant artists and albums in this detailed Encyclopedia of West Coast Music. Or listening to this top 100 songs.

Most music that becomes a genre never really disappears. That’s also true for West Coast. There are still quite a few bands making West Coast music. Here we present some of them.… Read the rest