Filed under: Heavy metal, Music | Tags: british wave, Hard Rock, Heavy metal, iron maiden, paul dianno
“There may be no better place to hear how both punk and prog rock informed the New Wave of British Heavy Metal than Iron Maiden’s self-titled debut. Often overlooked and overshadowed by the glorious Bruce Dickinson years, it’s easy to forget that Iron Maiden was itself a game-changer when it appeared on the scene in 1980. That year also saw important albums from Motörhead, Saxon, and Angel Witch, but Iron Maiden vaulted its creators to the head of the NWOBHM pack, reaching the U.K. Top Five and establishing them as an outfit with the talent to build on Judas Priest’s late-’70s innovations.” (Source: Allmusic.com)
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Filed under: Hard Rock, Heavy metal, Pop/Rock | Tags: def leppard, hair, Hard Rock, Heavy metal
“More than ever before, the band’s songs on Pyromania are driven by catchy, shiny melodic hooks instead of heavy guitar riffs. Robert John “Mutt” Lange’s buffed-to-a-sheen production — polished drum and guitar sounds, multi-tracked layers of vocal harmonies, a general sanding of any and all musical rough edges, and a perfectionistic attention to detail — set the style for much of the melodic hard rock that followed. Leppard’s quest for huge, transcendent hard rock perfection on Pyromania was surprisingly successful; their reach never exceeded their grasp, which makes the album an enduring (and massively influential) classic.” (Source: Allmusic.com)
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Filed under: Hard Rock, Pop/Rock | Tags: billy squier, fm, guitar, Hard Rock
“After turning some heads with his debut, Billy Squier truly arrived with 1981’s Don’t Say No, which kicks off in spectacular fashion with the triple opening salvo of “In the Dark,” “The Stroke,” and “My Kinda Lover” — all of which become staples at rock radio. The album is a near-perfect example of early-’80s melodic hard rock, and even less enduring (but hardly inferior rockers) such as “You Know What I Like” and “Lonely Is the Night” keep up the intensity.” (Source: Allmusic.com)
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Filed under: Hard Rock, Music, Pop/Rock | Tags: blues rock, eliminator, Hard Rock, mtv, zz top
“With “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” and “Legs,” they had their greatest set of singles since the heady days of Tres Hombres, and the songs that surrounded them weren’t bad either. The songs alone would have made Eliminator one of ZZ Top’s three greatest albums, but their embrace of synths and sequencers made it a blockbuster hit, since it was the sound of the times. Yet it sounds like a mechanized ZZ Top thanks to the unflaggingly accurate grooves. Then again, that’s part of the album’s charm — this is new wave blues-rock, glossed up for the video, looking as good as the omnipresent convertible on the cover and sounding as irresistible as Reaganomics” (Source: AllMusic.com)
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