* Can we turn down the house lights? All right, raise up your phones. . . Gen X and older, you can raise your lighters. It’s time to bring it down a notch and play some Power Ballads. They became requisites for artists of all Metal sub-genres for awhile, from Glam/Hair/Pop to NWOBHM, traditional, and …
Europe, Candlemass, Hammerfall, Yngwie Malmsteen By Rich Catino Yup, just like the Hammerfall song ‘(We Make) Sweden Rock’, Sweden has been rocking since the 80s with great bands. A couple big names that obviously come to mind – Europe, Yngwie Malmsteen, Candlemass. But the Sweden branch of the Heavy Metal tree has many smaller branches. …
We’re off to the witch. Originally misheard as “We’re up to the witch,” ca. 1985, on my Emerson K3661A one-speaker boombox.* I had no inkling of the Satanic panic swirling around Dio’s 2nd solo masterpiece, “The Last in Line;” I was blissfully unaware of the pearl-clutching and hand-wringing over the demonic figure on his album …
Let me take you back to a bygone era. . . . True story from my long-haired teenage mallrat days, circa 1991: I tried on a fedora-type hat and looked great (if I do say so myself), but let friends talk me out of the purchase. Their fatal shot for my fashion venture was: “Don’t …
By Rich Catino Scorpions Are In The Metal Hall, So What About Accept? I previously wrote three other articles about the contributions from Germany and all the great hard rock and heavy metal names the country has given us. All of them have yet to be inducted into the Metal Hall of Fame so …
“I’m not the next Madonna, I’m the next Iron Maiden” – Lady Gaga* As much as mainstream radio tweekers love to malign Heavy Metal, many of their stars not-so-secretly want to play Hard ball. And many eventually do. Countless musicians across the decades have been drawn to ply their skills in the Hard Rock …
More Metal trash-talk! Here are the rules of the game: Single out an absolute masterpiece of an album, a timeless release from a great band that will endure until the end of eternity, full of brilliant songs and priceless treasures. We’re talking desert-island-disc material. Now identify the flaws in these diamonds. Call out the bad …
It’s time to talk some Metal trash. Here are the rules of the game: Single out an absolute masterpiece of an album. A timeless release that will endure until the end of time, full of brilliant songs and priceless treasures. We’re talking desert-island-disc material. Now identify the flaws in these diamonds. We don’t want …
By: Rich Catino As part of my Metal Hall Legacy article series, part one and two covered important German Traditional and Power Metal bands who have yet to be inducted: Helloween, Grave Digger, Running Wild, Warlock, Rage, and Sinner. Now for part three on to the Thrash titans Tankard, Sodom, Destruction, and Kreator. All also …
German Thrash: The Teutonic Big 4: Tankard, Sodom, Destruction, Kreator Read More »
What is the greatest riff of all time? “Back in Black?” “For Whom the Bell Tolls?” “The Final Countdown?” “Raining Blood?” “Popcorn” by Hot Butter? “Cowboys From Hell?” “Milano Mosh?” “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)?” “Axel F?” “Super Freak?” Beethoven’s 5th? Every Tony Iommi riff? Every Led Zeppelin song?* Don’t bother responding; the question is subjective …
