Iced Earth - Night Of The Stormrider (1991)

Iced Earth's second album has, thankfully, a new vocalist in John Greely, as well as drummer Rick Secchiari (both of whom would be gone after this), although band leader Jon Schaffer trades vocals with Greely throughout.
It's a concept piece about a man who is tempted by dark forces to do evil, which he gives into, before realising he is doomed to Hell and cannot go back. That's a brief overview of it, anyway. Like their 1990 self-titled debut, it's really in the speed metal vain, and I like the galloping rhythms found here, but the lack of much in the way of melodies makes it rather humdrum for me, even though the choral touches in the opening "Angels Holocaust" are nice.
It would be four more years before this American band brought out their next album; I'm afraid Iced Earth isn't doing a lot for me so far.

**

Gamma Ray - Sigh No More (1991)

Gamma Ray's second album is rather disappointing after their excellent debut HEADING FOR TOMORROW.  It's steadier, certainly less in the power metal veign, as it covers more serious topics like the Gulf War at the time. Not that there's anything wrong with this, but the material, while serviceable, just isn't all that great, and there isn't a song I can remember off hand. I have "Heaven Can Wait" running through my head at the moment, and when one sits down to listen to an album, and comes away thinking of a song from another album of that band, then there's probably something wrong.

**1/2

Helloween - Pink Bubbles Go Ape (1991)

Ah, the infamous "Pink Bubbles Go Ape". Reviewing albums (or movies) with bad reputations can be as daunting as reviewing ones with good.  And since I gave Helloween's previous "Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II" just three stars, how can I go and justify giving this one the same rating?
I can see why a lot of people would have disliked the record at the time of its release, thanks in part to its title and cover (songs being called things like "Heavy Metal Hamsters" wouldn't have helped either), and also because the music veers from their established speed formula (apart from "Someone's Crying") to more steady hard rock. And the little opening, title ditty sounds like it would be more at home in a serious moment of "Play School."
But some of the music is quite good, like "Number One", "Goin' Home" and "The Chance", and I suggest the album would have been received better if it was the debut of an up and coming group.
So, in short, yes, a bit disappointing for fans of Helloween, but taken on its own, "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" is still quite a good listen.

***



Rage - Reflections Of A Shadow (1990)

Rage's fifth album is one of their best to date, being catchy and enjoyable, with rather personal lyrics.  "Flowers That Fade In My Hand" is Peter Wagner's tribute to his father, who had died not long before, while "Wild Seed" focuses on offspring who are neglected as children, and then get into a life of crime.
Best songs for me include "Reflections Of A Shadow" and "Nobody Knows" (even though the latter is not much more than a song about sex).

***1/2



Iced Earth - Iced Earth (1990)

American band Iced Earth started as something of a speed (although it's not that consistently fast) metal band with some progressive touches, and I admit this debut doesn't do a lot for me.  Gene Adam's rather strangulated vocals are something of an acquired taste, and there is not a lot of melodious interest, but the opening "Iced Earth" isn't bad, and I like the haunting bells in "Life And Death." The lyrics are full of Hell and death and... you know, suchlike. Not really occultic, just gloomy.  There are also two instrumentals.

**

Blind Guardian - Tales From The Twilight World (1990)

Oh wow. This  is what I've been waiting for.
This is power metal.  It's fast. Fast is exciting. And exhilarating.
And it's melodious.  The roaring vocals just sweep me away, and the guitar work is terrific. "Traveler In Time" (based on "Dune") sets the standard for what is to follow, with such highlights as "Lost In The Twilight Hall" and "The Last Candle" (inspired by the Dragon Lance books, three of which I've read), while also shining is "Goodbye My Friend" which is, rather bizarrely, about E.T. It's as far away from John Williams' classical score that one could imagine, and it is quite impossible to see it being played while Elliot is shedding tears, but it's still a fine song.
Other pieces include the only slow track here, "Lord Of The Rings" based on, well, "The Lord Of The Rings", and "Tommyknockers" takes its cue from the Stephen King story.
And, see, this is another thing I like. Not "I love you, oohh aah" or "Satan is my Lord". Interesting subjects to accompany breathtaking music.
I like Blind Guardian. I like them a lot.
Keep them coming.

****1/2

Axxis - II (1990)

Axxis' second album is more pleasingly melodious rock, if rather perfunctionary, although I still can't go for Bernhard Weiß's vocals. The positive "Touch The Rainbow" is good, if a bit too light for "true" metal, and "Hold You" is a reasonable ballad.
There were three years before this German band's next studio album, THE BIG THRILL, so it will be interesting to see if there's any progress made by then.

***

Gamma Ray - Heading For Tomorrow (1990)

After Kai Hansen left Helloween and dabbled briefly in Blind Guardian, he started his own band, Gamma Ray, and hit bullseye straight away with this sometimes terrific debut.

The gang choruses of the two early songs, "Lust For Life" and "Heaven Can Wait", help make them excellent, catchy starters, and while quality varies a bit afterwards, with the likes of "Money" being a curio, but still pretty good, and "Free Time", with it's I-don't-want-to-have-to-work-at-all-I-want-to-party-all-the-time message being absolutely lame, but still oddly likeable, but things finish well with the 14+ minute title song and a cover of Uriah Heep's "Look At Yourself", which conclude what is quite an exhilarating listen.
Vocalist Ralph Scheepers is pretty good, sounding quite a bit like Bruce Dickenson, though a bit wobbly for my tastes, while Hansen himself rips into his guitar with gusto.
Look, I admit I feel a bit pretentious commenting on guitar work/solos. I couldn't play one to save myself, and screaming, whining solos often just pass me by, while others listen to them in awe. I suppose this makes my whole blog pretentious. :) Heavy metal and don't really care for guitar solos?? I didn't say that, but it just seems to take a lot to really grab me as far as they are concerned.

In any event, I already find Gamma Ray preferable to what Helloween had already released by the end of the eighties with this very enjoyable album.

****

Rage - Secrets In A Weird World (1989)

I confess I haven't listened to this album all that closely, partly because I was distracted by the cricket on the television at the time of last listening to it. I normally don't like doing that, so naughty me, but ah well...
What I did note I actually liked, with some good speed metal going on, although "Talk To Grandpa", about a medium contacting some old coot from the dead.  Hmmm...
I don't really go for the look-inside-yourself stuff of "The Inner Search" either. But, from what I can tell, it's a good album altogether, and maybe if I become more engrossed in Rage as time goes on, I'll come back to give this another chance.

***

Blind Guardian - Follow The Blind (1989)

Blind Guardian's second album is pretty much on par with their first - very fast and heavy, with such top songs as "Banish From Sanctuary" (about John The Baptist when he was in prison) and "Balhalla" (with references to Norse mythology).  Not all the tracks do something for me, but the ones that do are terrific.
Kai Hansen, currently moving from Helloween to creating Gamma Ray, sings on "Valhalla" and plays on "Hall Of The King".

***1/2

Axxis - Kingdom Of The Night (1989)

Well, Rate Your Music says they're power metal.
In truth, this German band's debut album sound like something more along the lines of 80s hair metal, with steady, rather than fast, metal.
However, it remains catchy and quite enjoyable, let down by the second half, which is not as melodious as the first, and Bernhard Weiss' annoying, nasally vocals, which has him sounding like Bob Dylan on helium.
Best songs include the opening "Living In A World" (the first song has a key change; how can I resist that??), "Young Souls" and "For A Song".

***

Stratovarius - Fright Night (1989)

Finland, the country of screaming, anti-Christian black metal bands destroying churches and each other.  I've always wanted to visit Scandinavia, although Norway and Sweden are somewhat ahead of the Finnish.
Anyway, Finland is also responsible for a few power metal bands, the leader of the pack being Stratovarius, a name I've always liked, even if I can't play the violin.
This debut, with progressive touches here and there, is a bit limp, with a thin sound (and thin singing from Timo Tolkki), but I still quite like the opening "Future Shock" and the title track. "Fright Night" is not as straight speed metal as Helloween or Blind Guardian, and not as good as either of those band's debut, but, from the listens I've had from some of their future releases, I know better is to come.
And I really like the snake on the cover.

**1/2

Rage - Perfect Man (1988)

Well, I'm listening to Rage's "Perfect Man" now on YouTube. From what I've read, it's one of the best of the band's long catalogue, so it's rather a shame that it's hard for me to find on CD. Sitting at the computer listening to an album is something I just find a bit difficult, with too many distractions, and a less comfortable seat.  I'd much rather sit in a lounge chair, put a CD in, have the booklet before me and take it from there.
Buuuuttt, beggers can't be choosers. :-) And this does sound like a really good album, certainly better than "Execution Guaranteed" - it's catchy, fast and heavy, even if not 'true' power metal (to my limited understanding, anyway).
It seems that after "Execution", the group split for a short while, before Peter Wagner brought it together again with two new members, to make Rage a trio, and a trio that was to go on to much success.
Favourite songs for me include "Wasteland" and "Don't Fear The Winter". I look forward to more from Rage, and it remains a shame that I haven't been able to get hold of this album, at least at a reasonable price.

***1/2

Virgin Steele - Age Of Consent (1988)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have an updated copy of this album, the 1997 reissue, with a different cover and sixteen songs, with added ones, others in a different order, etc.
Virgin Steele seem to be accepted as a power metal band by some, but not others (being American probably works against them - after all, we know power metal lives in Europe), and they'd done three albums before this one (I've got the first and third), and I don't really know if this fits in the category either.

In all honesty, I like the Garden Of Eden sequence in the 1997 copy, so I miss that, but the terrific "The Burning Of Rome" is here, as well as "Seventeen" (I'm a bit unsure about the morals of that song though) and "Let It Roar", making this a good listen, if not a great one.

It was five years before Virgin Steele brought out their next album, so we'll have to see how they sound when I get that far.  And I will stick with them. From what I've heard of this band so far, I do like them.

***1/2

Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II (1988)

This one, along with Part 1, regularly appears in Top Power Metal Album lists, but... I don't think it's all that great. I'm not in adoration over the first either, but this one does less for me.

It's not as fast as I'd like, and the thirteen-minute title song, which really should be the major attraction, is a bit on the routine side, and "Dr Stein" is rather silly. But having said that, there are some highlights, like "Eagle Fly Free" and "I Want Out", while the concluding "Save Us" is terrific.  Okay, it wasn't on the original LP release, only coming out soon after on CD (I think), but I listened to it and find it really exciting.

After this album, Kai Hansen left to form Gamma Ray, while the remaining band took three years before the infamous "Pink Bubbles Go Ape". If I end up liking that one more than this one, that will really destroy any tiny credibility I might have as a heavy metal fan.

But I probably have none of that anyway. :-P

***

Rage - Perfect Man: unavailable, darn it

I had trouble finding Rage's third album, "Perfect Man", on CD, so I went to the ever-reliable YouTube to find it there, which I did. Unfortunately, I have had a recurrence of a problem I've had a few times this year, where my server goes very slowly, making YouTube unplayable.
Ironically, as it turns out, YouTube is the culprit. Alright, I am.  I was suspicious that maybe I was passing my monthly usage allowance, and that is indeed what's happened, but I couldn't work out why it was happening this year, when it had never happened before.  But it seems I've been using YouTube quite considerably lately (mostly for rock songs/albums), and that has messed things up.
Now, I have to wait until 3 December until my server gets back to normal again, unless I upgrade my plan, and I don't know if that would save me right now anyway. Hmm...
But in any event, I can't listen to "Perfect Man" for now (I mean, I've listened through it several times, but not "properly", which I'm due to do), and I don't really want to wait almost two weeks before I can, therefore putting virtually everything else on hold, so I might just have to give it a miss, which is a shame, since it certainly sounded to me like a good listen, and better than their previous one, but... ah well, we learn from these experiences. :)

I've got Virgin Steele's "Age Of Consent" playing at the moment (on itunes - that's alright, isn't it??).  I sat down and listened to it earlier today, but was unaware that it was a more recent edition, not the original release of 1988, with different tracks and orders and... stuff.

Eehhh, I'll sort it out. Going to listen to Helloween tomorrow. :) I'll write up a thing on that.

I've got it on CD, so it should work.

Yes. I'm sure it will.

Manowar - Kings Of Metal (1988)

This morning, I had a listen to Iron Maiden's "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son", and appreciated it for being a really good metal album. Then, tonight, I sat down to Manowar's "Kings Of Metal", from the same year.

This is metal for me. It starts with the speed of "Wheels Of Fire", and then proclaims the band's metal love with "Kings Of Metal" ("Manowar manowar, living on the road/When we're in town, speakers explode/We don't attract wimps 'cos we're too loud/Just true metal people, that's Manowar's crowd" - that's just so charming), before getting into battles and triumphs and... well, you know. Melody... chanting... and the choir in the magnificent "The Crown And The Ring (Lament Of The Kings)"... this is my kind of metal, and one can see where the likes of Rhapsody got at least part of their inspiration.
Eric Adams screams passionately throughout, and the band plays with effortless skill. Even "The Warrior's Prayer", a special-effects filled story, has something going for it.

Aaahhh... I'm growing to like Manowar now.  :)

****

P.S.  Now is a good a time as any to point out that I rarely listen to bonus tracks on CDs. With so much to listen to, the original albums are usually fine by me.  This one has "Pleasure Slave" in the middle of it, one I didn't bother with to start with, before accidently playing it. And I didn't like it, which just helps vindicate my decision.

Blind Guardian - Battalions Of Fear (1988)

Along with Helloween, Blind Guardian are the longest running power metal band in history.
Aren't they? Well, I suppose if you include Manowar, then they are, but are their early albums power metal?
Eehh, who cares? Blind Guardian are one of the longest running power metal band in history although, nowadays, they only bring out new material sporadically (about every four years).
I liked this debut more than I thought I would. Similar to Helloween's "Walls Of Jericho", it is set more in straight speed metal, but does have some surprisingly melodious appeal with the likes of "Majesty" and "Run For The Night", which does not negate the impressive heaviness. It fades a bit towards the end, but singer/bassist Hansi Kursch's vocals remain suitably angry throughout.  I'm looking forward to better from this band eventually, but "Battalions Of Fear" is a satisfying debut.

***1/2

Rage - Execution Guaranteed (1987)

Although I don't know a lot about this German band, from what I gather, they do eventually develop into something along the lines of power/symphonic metal, so I'm giving them a try, and I didn't mind their debut "Reign Of Fear", but this second effort doesn't do much for me. With a Megadeth-like cover, it laments the likes of nuclear war and terrorism (from what I gather), which is all very noble but, apart from the title track, the record is really not very good.
**

Manowar - Fighting The World (1987)

Initially, the only thing I knew about Manowar was their regular appearances on Worst Album Cover lists (and I'm sure this one has made it somewhere), before getting into their actual music. And I admit to being initially disappointed with their work of the early eighties. Some good stuff, but not a lot that grabbed me.

They had a few years break, and came back with this release, and I like it. I love gang choruses, so the likes of "Fighting The World" and the rousing "Carry On" are winners, and then the record loses its way around the middle, with the rather silly "Violence And Bloodshed" and the narration-heavy (by Orson Welles) "Defender", before picking up again with "Holy War" and the concluding "Black Wind, Fire And Steel".

There seems to be some debate as to whether Manowar are really power metal (of course, they are true metal, as they love to remind us), but come on... songs of battles, standing on the cover with bare chests and lightning in the background (they're just missing swords). Yes, they need to be faster, but who knows? That might be still to come. :)

***1/2

Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 1 (1987)

Like with any genre, it's hard to say exactly when power metal really started, but the general consensus seems to be that German band Helloween are the kings of it, and their 1987 second album, Keeper Of The Seven  Keys Part 1, remains the first "true" power metal album.
I've listened to their 1985 debut, Walls Of Jericho, and it's certainly more set in straight speed metal, but the song "Guardians" gave a taste of the melodiousness that was to eventually become a feature of the genre, although it also demonstrated the shortcomings of guitarist Kai Hansen's vocals, so the group did the sensible thing and brought in Michael Kiske to take over the microphone for this release.
I've seen this record, and its sequel, appear on numerous "Best" power metal lists, so it would be tempting to say I'm a bit disappointed by it, yet it's still really good, with such songs as "I'm Alive", "Twilight Of The Gods" and "Future World" proving to be very catchy. "Future World" also showcases the positive lyrics that heavy metal, traditionally, normally veers away from, but this genre likes to embrace, although there does not seem to be much in the way of fantasy lyrics that the album title and cover would suggest.
I'm loathed to say that the album is a bit too short, as one of the banes of nineties music was the grotesque overlength of so many releases from so many different artists, but maybe I just think there could have been one or two more songs, and maybe cut down the length of the thirteen-minute "Halloween".
Anyway, this is certainly an enjoyable listen, and one which might grow on me over time.

***1/2

My Journey Is About To Begin

I've been collecting music for many, many years, after starting to buy pop/rock albums in 1984 at the age of 15. I was brought up in a Christian family with classical music, opera (my uncle, now retired, was an opera singer), and a few singles by The Beatles and The Monkees being my main musical influences.

Don't get me wrong, I still like classical (and I am still very much a Christian), but when I left school, my sister and I started listening to the radio, and got hooked by the wonderful eighties music (yes, it was wonderful!) that we heard. I started buying albums from artists like Duran Duran (my original love), Howard Jones, Nik Kersaw, a-ha and many others. As time went on, I started becoming more of a collector, going back to the seventies and the sixties.
I then got into the habit of systematically listening to them, year by year.
I'm weird.
Music from The Beatles to Pink Floyd to Duran Duran to Blur. More recently, I've delved into heavy metal, and have enjoyed the likes of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.

But, in the past couple of years, I've discovered power metal, and my musical outlook has changed.

I love it. At least, I love a lot of what I've heard so far. It has the power of metal with the melodiousness of eighties pop. I find it hard to believe I trudged through the nineties (and beyond) trying to get into alternative or grunge bands with little enthusiasm, not knowing that this wonderful genre was around. Thanks to a mixture of Wikipedia and YouTube, I have found a genre of rock that is me!

I have devoted much of my time to seeking out every power metal band I can. I have listened to many albums so far, but have never actually sat down and had a "proper" listen.
But that's going to change. It's time to start going through my power metal collection, year by year. Not just this genre. I still want to stick with other artists that are "mine" (eighties pop like Duran), and also a few other metal acts that don't make the "power" list.
But they are my prime interests now. I have a lot of catching up to do.
The title "My Power Metal Journey" is cheesy. But so is power metal.
I probably won't be starting until this weekend, or the start of next week. I'm pretty busy at work at the moment (I work at Outside School Hours Care, and I'm filling in for the co-ordinator, who is on holiday), and I don't know how much I'll write about what and when.
But we'll see how this goes. :)

Let the journey begin.