The Official Hard Rock / Classic Metal Music Discussion and Memorabilia Thread!

[bl5150]

I know Paul's a big fan of Keel , so this may interest you sir.

https://www.knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=15283

[bl5150]

It's a bit O/T for this thread but I know Kade will see it here.

I just got through my first listen to the new Kamelot and I'll rate it 70% at this point.   For the most part it was pleasant enough to listen to but I had no desire to hear any song a second time , which is never a good sign.   It's decent.

It's almost not worth mentioning yet again but the production on most of these recent albums is horrible.  Kamelot have always had quite a loud, busy production but - just to compare- I went back and played a song or two off Karma afterwards and , although I wouldn't call that album a sharp production , there was a very noticeable difference in favour of the older album.

Quite often I was straining to even tell if there was a rhythm guitar in there amongst all the noise - it's just all so muddy when everything kicks in.

So.....worth a listen for Kamelot diehards but that's about it IMHO.

[TAC]

I've never been able to get into Kamelot.

[jjrock88]

I've never heard one song from them

[Evermind]

It's a bit O/T for this thread but I know Kade will see it here.

I just got through my first listen to the new Kamelot and I'll rate it 70% at this point.   For the most part it was pleasant enough to listen to but I had no desire to hear any song a second time , which is never a good sign.   It's decent.

It's almost not worth mentioning yet again but the production on most of these recent albums is horrible.  Kamelot have always had quite a loud, busy production but - just to compare- I went back and played a song or two off Karma afterwards and , although I wouldn't call that album a sharp production , there was a very noticeable difference in favour of the older album.

Quite often I was straining to even tell if there was a rhythm guitar in there amongst all the noise - it's just all so muddy when everything kicks in.

So.....worth a listen for Kamelot diehards but that's about it IMHO.

I've posted my opinion about it in Kamelot thread and I wrote a review for this album at LOMM, but I guess I'll reply here too, even though it's definitely offtopic.

I rate this album a bit more generously than you, Brent, it's about 8/10 for me, but I'm a big fan of Kamelot overall, so I might be just a bit biased here. But I've decided to reply precisely because of your thoughts about this album's production.

And well, I totally agree with what you wrote. On the first listen the mix is just startling, and on some songs I couldn't even hear what the vocalist is singing. When you become familiar with the songs, the lines are clear, but when the choruses kick in, there is the vocalist and then there is everything else. The keyboards, drums, bass and guitar are distinguishable in the intros and on the verses, but choruses are muddy as hell - as you said. I feel like they're trying to be more modern with this approach, and I guess it works, but this decision is definitely not the best for them.

[wolfking]

It's a bit O/T for this thread but I know Kade will see it here.

I just got through my first listen to the new Kamelot and I'll rate it 70% at this point.   For the most part it was pleasant enough to listen to but I had no desire to hear any song a second time , which is never a good sign.   It's decent.

It's almost not worth mentioning yet again but the production on most of these recent albums is horrible.  Kamelot have always had quite a loud, busy production but - just to compare- I went back and played a song or two off Karma afterwards and , although I wouldn't call that album a sharp production , there was a very noticeable difference in favour of the older album.

Quite often I was straining to even tell if there was a rhythm guitar in there amongst all the noise - it's just all so muddy when everything kicks in.

So.....worth a listen for Kamelot diehards but that's about it IMHO.

As I stated this is pretty much how I felt about their last album, and people are saying that this new album is weaker, so I'm not expecting much.  Production these days can make or break a record really.

[bl5150]

I expect to have the results for the best of 1987 up within the next 24 hrs now that my listening and research is finished.   With my perfectionsit streak in full swing I once again turned it into a monumental task and ended up reviewing/checking out/ruling out hundreds of albums. 

At this point I think I have covered the best years of the genre . From here I will no longer set myself the task of doing a set year by such and such a date as ,in order to do it in any sort of timeframe, it has required me to listen to nothing but a given year for an extended period which can become a bit of a chore after a while. The long waits also detract from what I originally wanted the thread to be........which was a good turnover of trivia and Top Tens etc....  On the positive side I have discovered a few hidden jewels during the research process .

So........thanks for your patience.  I will continue to work very gradually on say 1988-1992 but it'll be a "done when it's done" sorta thing.

Once the discussion for 1987 dies down I'll try and get some of those Top Tens underway and perhaps we can run it like Kev is running the 80's thread where I'll specify the topics and people can PM me with any bands/ideas they want covered.

[TAC]

Looking forward to the list.

[wolfking]

Looking forward to the list.

[bl5150]

OK folks - here it is - my take on the best albums of 1987.  I think this is a year that's important to many of us in these parts and so I expect plenty of dissent     As before I've rated these albums "present day" rather than allowing big points for life influence as I did in my Top 50 - it hasn't worked out too different in the end anyway.

The Top 10 contains a wide variety of artists from hair metal to basic hard rock (bordering on melodic rock/AOR) to instrumentals and classic metal. Even a live album which normally ain't my thing.   I can't see myself having the stamina to do this again in the melodic rock/AOR thread and so , where there were songs on an album sitting on either side of the divide I have allowed them into this list.

A few happenings for the year:

- Udo departs Accept
- Headbangers Ball debuts on MTV *unfortunately this wasn't shown much in Oz
-Nikki Sixx almost tops himself with a heroin overdose


The top 10 was tough to judge and I've ended up with a tie for 1st and a 3 way tie for 10th.    The "missed by a bees dick" entries all scored 90+ and there were stacks of 88's and 89's , so it's highly likely that any glaring omissions that you see had a high rating but just missed.    The HM's below that I have just done alphabetically so that you can easily see if your faves got a mention.  As in past years an album had to get a rating of 80%+ to make the list at all and there are 74 albums all up 

Feel free to tell me but I can only think of one album that may seem an obvious shock miss and that's Anthrax's Among The Living. It does little for me , but Spreading The Disease is an all time fave....so go figure.I also expect that many will find that I have over rated the Gary Moore and under rated the GnR.  And of course Tim thinks all Savatage is over rated      Just remember that the lowest rating in the Top 10 is 91% so we're talking fractions of greatness here.

Without further ado ,here's the list.....

THE TOP 10 OF 1987

1) Whitesnake : 1987 / Whitesnake (TIE)
1) Ozzy Osbourne: Randy Rhoads Tribute (TIE)
3) Dokken: Back For The Attack
4) Joe Satriani: Surfing With The Alien
5) Gary Moore : Wild Frontier
6) Savatage: Hall of the Mountain King
7) Jimmy Barnes: Freight Train Heart
8) Guns 'N Roses: Appetite For Destruction
9) TNT : Tell No Tales
10) Grim Reaper: Rock You To Hell (TIE)
10) Shy : Excess All Areas (TIE)
10) Vinnie Moore: Mind's Eye (TIE)


Missed By A Bee's Dick:

White Lion: Pride
KISS: Crazy Nights
Triumph: Surveillance
Lizzy Borden: Visual Lies


Honourable Mentions


AB/CD :Victim Of Rock
Ace Frehley: Frehley's Comet
Aerosmith:   Permanent Vacation
Alice Cooper :Raise Your Fist.......
Angus :Warrior of the World
Armored Saint :Raising Fear
Autograph : Loud and Clear
Black Sabbath :Eternal Idol
Bonfire :Fireworks
Breaker :Get Tough
Brian McDonald Group :Desperate Business
Def Leppard :Hysteria
Dio :Dream Evil
Great White : Once Bitten........
Helix   : Wild In The Streets
Helloween :Keeper Of The Seven Keys
Hybrid Ice :No Rules
Icon :An Even More Perfect Union
Impellitteri   :Impellitteri EP
ISOM : Hearts On Fire
Jimmy Davis and Junction :Kick The Wall
John Norum :Total Control
Kane Roberts :Kane Roberts
Keel:Keel
King Diamond :Abigail
Leatherwolf :Leatherwolf
Lion :Dangerous Attraction
Malice :License To Kill
Mama's Boys:Growing Up The Hard Way
Meghan :Meghan (EP)
Motley Crue :Girls,Girls,Girls
MSG   : Perfect Timing
Obsession :Method of Madness
Phenomena :Dreamrunner
Pretty Maids :Future World
Racer X :Street Lethal
Rankelson :The Bastards of Rock n Roll
Raven   Life's A Bitch
Razormaid   First Cutt
Reckless :No Frills
Sammy Hagar :I Never Said Goodbye
Sanctuary :Refuge Denied
Shok Paris   : Steel and Starlight
Statetrooper :Statetrooper  ( in the context of it basically being a demo)
Stormwitch   :The Beauty and the Beast
The Cult :Electric
Tokyo Blade :Ain't Misbehavin
Tony Macalpine :   Maximum Security
Treat :Dreamhunter
Tuff Luck: Tuff Luck
Tygers of Pan Tang :Burning In The Shade
Vice   : Hot........Just Looking At You
Vicious Rumors :Digital Dictator
Warlock :Triumph and Agony
WASP :Live..............In The Raw
Wild Dogs :Reign of Terror
Wild Force :Wild Force
Y&T :Contagious
   


Phew!  Now I can start my Winger marathon in preparation for The TAC Roulette.


Fire away.

[BlobVanDam]

Whitesnake
Ozzy
Dokken
GNR
White Lion
Def Leppard

I knew Whitesnake would be top spot, or not far behind. I would have had AFD just nudge it out though. KISS and Dio are both weak showings for them imo.
I'm generally not into guitar instrumental music, and I'm not a fan of Satriani either, but Alien is a great instrumental guitar album. Crushing Day has always been a fav of mine.

[bl5150]

I agree about the Dio - it snuck in with 80%.  KISS Crazy nights has a couple of real duds on it but also has some tracks I really love so it performed well.  Kulick shreds all over it too which doesn't hurt - he never played like that again.

As far as the Satriani goes it's a good thing I haven't listened to it in years as I was totally sick of it at one point.  I played a few tracks off that for my Year 12 guitar exam and so I played it every day for a year basically

[Bolsters]

Whitesnake had to be at the top or at least close to it. Glad to see Appetite For Destruction in the top 10 aswell, and not relegated to being an honourable mention.

Surprised to see Freight Train Heart so high though, I was figuring it for an honourable mention.

[BlobVanDam]

I agree about the Dio - it snuck in with 80%.  KISS Crazy nights has a couple of real duds on it but also has some tracks I really love so it performed well.  Kulick shreds all over it too which doesn't hurt - he never played like that again.

As far as the Satriani goes it's a good thing I haven't listened to it in years as I was totally sick of it at one point.  I played a few tracks off that for my Year 12 guitar exam and so I played it every day for a year basically

Crazy Nights is the weakest of the non-makeup albums imo, with the only song I like at all being Reason To Live, and even that's not one of the essential '80s KISS tracks. Kulick always slays it with the right balance of shred and style though. I like his Revenge playing the best. It's not shreddy, but the man can rock.

I think my brother did Always With Me, Always With You for one of his year 12 guitar pieces. It must be a rite of passage for guitarists or something.

[bl5150]

Surprised to see Freight Train Heart so high though, I was figuring it for an honourable mention.

That was one that I tossed up as to whether it fits in the thread at all ,but it rocks hard enough in parts I felt.  I just think it's a really solid rock album from start to finish.

[jjrock88]

I think you have it all covered off very well Brent

Don't know much about Shy

Also surprised to see Grim Reaper rated so high

[TAC]

Great list Brent!

Here's mine:

1. Helloween- Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt.1
2. Guns n Roses- Appetitie For Destruction
3. Armored Saint-Raising Fear
4. Alice Cooper-Raise Your Fist And Yell
5. Whitesnake-s/t
6. Dio-Dream Evil
7. Anthrax-Among The Living
8. Metallica- The $5.98 EP
9. Kiss-Crazy Nights
10. Shy-Excess All Areas :Tie
10. Gary Moore-Wild Frontier:Tie

These are obviously my personal favorites from that year, listing them by how much I've listened to each.

B, I can't believe Keepers didn't make the Top 10. It is to Power Metal what I&W is to Progressive Hard Rock. It was musical life changing and defining for me.

Saw some great concerts in 1987.

David Lee Roth/Tesla
Alice Cooper/Megadeth
Iron Maiden/Waysted
Grim Reaper/Armored Saint/Helloween
Guns n Roses in a CLUB!
Dio/Megadeth/Savatage

...among others..

[Lowdz]

Great work.

1987 was the best year ever musically for me. So many great albums. And I bought them all  . Good job I'd just started work that year. 

1 - Vinnie Moore: Mind's Eye
2 - Dokken: Back For The Attack
3- Joe Satriani: Surfing With The Alien
4 - Keel:Keel
5 - Vicious Rumors :Digital Dictator
6 - Tony Macalpine :   Maximum Security
7 - Bonfire :Fireworks
8 - TNT : Tell No Tales
9 - Whitesnake-s/t
10 - Dio-Dream Evil

Just missing out

Def Leppard :Hysteria
Rush - Hold Your fire
Shy : Excess All Areas
Masi - Fire In The Rain
Sanctuary :Refuge Denied
Helloween :Keeper Of The Seven Keys
Mad Max - Night Of Passion
Great White - Once Bitten
Frehley's Comet - ST
White Lion: Pride
Joey Tafolla - Out Of The Sun

Biggest disappoitments

KISS - Crazy Nights
Y&T - Contagious
Love both bands but neither album was up to scratch. Both have 3-4 good tracks but too much crap too.

[TAC]

KISS - Crazy Nights
Y&T - Contagious
Love both bands but neither album was up to scratch. Both have 3-4 good tracks but too much crap too.

I enjoyed the Kiss a lot when it came out.

The Y&T was interesting, but totally uneven.

1987 was the best year ever musically for me.

I found it to be one of the weakest, if not THE weakest year of the 80's.

[wolfking]

1) Whitesnake : 1987 / Whitesnake (TIE)
1) Ozzy Osbourne: Randy Rhoads Tribute (TIE)
3) Dokken: Back For The Attack
4) Joe Satriani: Surfing With The Alien
5) Gary Moore : Wild Frontier
6) Savatage: Hall of the Mountain King
7) Jimmy Barnes: Freight Train Heart

This top 7 is absolutely perfect.

[TAC]

For some reason, I did not consider Ozzy's Tribute. I should have. It's a very underplayed live album in my collection.

[King Postwhore]

Man I wore out that Gary Moore album.

[TAC]

Man I wore out that Gary Moore album.

I think it has aged pretty well, but I thought it was a real uneven album. It took me a long time to appreciate it. Has some great songs on it for sure.
Saw him on that tour. His band was fantastic:
Neil Carter
Eric Singer
Bob Daisley

[King Postwhore]

What a lineup!  I was lucky enough to see him once opening for Rush on the GUP tour in Springfield Ma.

[TAC]

What a lineup!  I was lucky enough to see him once opening for Rush on the GUP tour in Springfield Ma.

Nice!

[wolfking]

Man I wore out that Gary Moore album.

I think it has aged pretty well, but I thought it was a real uneven album. It took me a long time to appreciate it. Has some great songs on it for sure.
Saw him on that tour. His band was fantastic:
Neil Carter
Eric Singer
Bob Daisley

The Stockholm 87 show from this tour is amazing.  I have a DVD of that one.

[Lowdz]

Man I wore out that Gary Moore album.

I think it has aged pretty well, but I thought it was a real uneven album. It took me a long time to appreciate it. Has some great songs on it for sure.
Saw him on that tour. His band was fantastic:
Neil Carter
Eric Singer
Bob Daisley

I prefer it now to how I felt back in the day.
I saaw him live several times in the 80s and it was always awesome.

[bl5150]

Also surprised to see Grim Reaper rated so high

So am I     That said Grimmett is a massively under rated vocalist.

Great list Brent!

Thanks - yours is top notch too.  Although I'm surprised that you're surprised about Helloween.    I've always said I didn't like the Keepers albums much but I massively upgraded Keepers 1 on my recent listen which meant it just snuck in , so I thought you'd be pleasantly shocked to see it in my list at all.   I wasn't shocked to see it at No 1 for yours though    The only one I really don't like at all is Among The Living.  Indians is the only track which grabs me.

Great work.

1987 was the best year ever musically for me. So many great albums. And I bought them all  . Good job I'd just started work that year. 

Thanks. I can relate to that , although I was 13 in 1987 and really just getting started , especially on the metal side of things.  I made up for it soon after though.

I can't say that there's much in your list that I dislike and 99% of them made my list.      Masi always struck me as a guitar hero who was over rated and (maybe it's just my copy) but I marked that album down big for production.  My first exposure to him was actually one of the few I have on vinyl - Attack of the Neon Shark..........had to have it because of Soto ,not Masi 

Mad Max missed out by 1%

Vicious Rumours and Great White were both close to top 10.

Rush.........well you know

The Y&T and Crazy Nights............well I've always thought Contagious really isn't that bad despite a few total duds. And Crazy Nights was one that I expected to have lower but I upgraded it quite a bit on my most recent listen.  I'm surprised (and pleased) to see TAC rate it so high.

Joey Tafolla......I hadn't listened to that in a long time and actually expected to rate it quite high but it did nothing for me on the most recent listen. 

1) Whitesnake : 1987 / Whitesnake (TIE)
1) Ozzy Osbourne: Randy Rhoads Tribute (TIE)
3) Dokken: Back For The Attack
4) Joe Satriani: Surfing With The Alien
5) Gary Moore : Wild Frontier
6) Savatage: Hall of the Mountain King
7) Jimmy Barnes: Freight Train Heart

This top 7 is absolutely perfect.

Thanks mate.   I knew you'd like Barnesy getting a gong 

Man I wore out that Gary Moore album.

Ditto .......and when TAC says it's uneven I'd also note the sound.   Is it just me or was Thunder Rising quieter than the rest??  I always had to turn it up for that song 

For some reason, I did not consider Ozzy's Tribute. I should have. It's a very underplayed live album in my collection.

I always listened to that in preference to Blizzard as the songs are just so much more alive.   One of the few live albums I've ever spent much time with.

[wolfking]

That Barnsey album is just so damn good.  Anyone of you guys into melodic rock should check out that album.  Features Neal Schon and Jonathon Cain.  Great sounding album too, produced really well.

[bl5150]

I'm only a couple of tracks into the Lepond album Tim but I'm already getting an Armored Saint vibe .  No wonder you like it

[TAC]

I'm only a couple of tracks into the Lepond album Tim but I'm already getting an Armored Saint vibe .  No wonder you like it

[jjrock88]

I'm only a couple of tracks into the Lepond album Tim but I'm already getting an Armored Saint vibe .  No wonder you like it

I should check that out too then!

[Lowdz]

I'm only a couple of tracks into the Lepond album Tim but I'm already getting an Armored Saint vibe .  No wonder you like it

Didn't do a thing for me.

[TAC]

I'm only a couple of tracks into the Lepond album Tim but I'm already getting an Armored Saint vibe .  No wonder you like it

Didn't do a thing for me.

I believe the AOR thread is calling you. 

[Lowdz]

I'm only a couple of tracks into the Lepond album Tim but I'm already getting an Armored Saint vibe .  No wonder you like it

Didn't do a thing for me.

I believe the AOR thread is calling you. 

Fully paid up member of the Death To False Metal club here! 
Just didn't find it memorable at all.