OFF: decent US Metal bands

[DRider]

I have to say that after 1990, I began to really question Metallica. When I
started seeing them on the covers of teeny bopper mags and "Enter Sandman"
was played to death, it was the beginning of the end of my liking them. The
mellow songs on the black album are pretty good, but there were no heavy
tunes at all. Wherever I May Room was the only good rocker. Never bought it.
Then they covered Bob Segar's "Turn The Page"-- YUCK!!
Growing up in central Ohio, I grew to hate Bob Segar. That clinched it for
me.... Then they pulled the "We're artists" thang and went after Napster.
Some of you may remember my BOC-L response to that by posting the article w/
"Metallica Sucks" as the subject.

I saw them in February 1984 in Detroit w/ Armored Saint and WASP opening.
That was killer. I maintain that from their earliest daze until the black
album, they were a GREAT metal band. But no longer.

And now to your question about decent U.S. metal bands......

First: what is heavy metal music?

Lemmy has been quoted as saying Motorhead's music is the natural progression
of Eddie Cochran - an American.

The core of most hard rock and heavy metal is The BLUES - an American music
form.

Was Jimi Hendrix heavy metal?

Some may say no, while others may say yes. One thing is for sure, any heavy
metal or hard rock guitarist that's worth a crap cites Hendrix as a major
influence. Hendrix was an American!

Calling Ratt heavy metal, as you did before is a fucking joke!

They sucked as a band, let alone as a heavy metal group.

Motley Crue - not the greatest bunch of musicians either. Yeah, they have a
couple decent tunes on Too Fast For Love and Shout at the Devil. I dig the
tune Dr. Feelgood. Tommy is a pretty good drummer, but they were better at
partying than anything else. I just don't see them as a serious group of
musicians and not worthy.

Kiss - come on dude! Yeah, they are not the best bunch of musicians, but
once again - are they truly heavy metal?? Their outfits are heavy metal.
Their stage show is heavy metal. But their songs are simplistic 3 chord
riffs. They may be responsible for many folks becoming metal heads - fans
and musicians alike. The song Parasite was thrash for 1975. Creatures of the
Night is a great record and so is Kiss Alive. They even went prog on the
Elder. They also put on one of the best shows of anybody out there. Period.
I guess they might be my guilty pleasure. Who cares?!

What about Alice Cooper?? Was his original band heavy metal? Killer is dark
and full of guitar crunch. So is School's Out. I Love The Dead - now,
there's a heavy metal topic for ya. Billion Dollar Babies - they even
rip-off Hendrix on one of the tunes on that record. See if you can figure
out which one..... Find some old video from the early 1970's and watch Glen
Buxton and Michael Bruce shred!
Then Welcome to my Nightmare - Cold Ethyl - another heavy metal topic. Alice
Cooper Goes To Hell - simply kickass! After the Coop went through the new
wave phase in the early 1980's, he went full-on metal w/ the release of
Constrictor. His stage show is pure heavy metal!

But this does not even get into the realm of what many would consider U.S.
Metal.

What about Ministry?

I saw them live on January 5, 1990 at the Phantasy Theater in Cleveland,
Ohio. The most brutal onslaught of guitars and drums I have EVER witnessed.
They could chew up many bands all over the world and spit them out!! That's
metal, right? Lookout for their upcoming relaes and subsequent tour!!

The Mind Truly IS A Terrible Thing To Taste. But I need Just One Fix!!

Have you ever heard the release by Cleveland's own Destructor: Maximum
Destruction??

My friends Pat Rabid and Dave Overkill had a kickass metal band!! If some
fuck would not have stabbed their bassist to death on New Years Eve 1987 at
their very own practice spot, they would have been huge. They never could
find a good bassist and only did a handful of gigs w/ a new bassist before
they called a quits.
A total shame really :(
Still, we had fun w/ their punk band later and some list members know of
their collaboration w/ Paul Resnik in Spacecore, who opened for Hawkwind at
the Empire.

If you are a true metal fan and you don't have Maximum Destruction in your
collection, you better hit the streets!

Then theirs the metal seen that erupted in Tampa, Florida. The most notable
band being Savatage. Power of The Night, Sirens and The Hall of The Mountain
King are quintessential metal albums. Unfortunately, the tragic death of
their guitarist in a car accident proved to be something they just could not
rebound from.....

Sure.... Ozzy is not an American by birth, but his first band was an
American band. Tommy Aldridge on drums - awesome and Randy Rhodes. Tell me
he was not a great American metal guitarist!

There was another California band called Warlord that was also great.

In 1978 Hell Razor was formed in Ottawa, Canada. The band consisted of John
Ricci (guitars), Dan Beehler (drums) and Allan Johnson (bass). In 1980, they
changed their name to Exciter and recorded a demo. This demo was sent to
Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records, who included one song from it, "World War
III", on the compilation album US Metal Volume II in 1982. Shortly after
that  Exciter was signed to Shrapel Records and in 1983 they released their
debut LP, Heavy Metal Maniac. Later that year  signed a 3-record-deal with
John Zazula's Mega Force Records and 1984 they released their second album,
Violence & Force. This album was recorded in New York and produced by Carl
Canedy (The Rods - another good metal band).

So Exciter might not be a U.S. Metal band per se. But they buttered their
bread right here and released records on U.S. metal record labels that
started the resurgence of metal across the globe. Exciter is STILL going to
this day! Long Live The Loud!!!

There were plenty of other U.S. metal bands represented on the Shrapnel and
Megaforce labels.

Then there's the bands mentioned earlier.....

Megadeth - Rust In Peace - killer
Anthrax - Fistful of Metal, Spreading The Disease, The Sound of White Noise
Exodus
Nuclear Assault
Death Angel
Manowar - first release, Sign of the Hammer, Into Glory Ride
Corrosion of Conformity
Slayer - the name says it all!!
Queensryche - Operation Mind Crime - a masterpiece!
Alice in Chains - fuck grunge - these guys were metal
Blue Cheer - early metal
Bloodrock
Trouble - their first 3 releases were great!
Monster Magnet - yeah, they ARE metal!
WASP
Armored Saint
Ted Nugent
Primus
Great White
Dream Theater
Riot - Fire Down Under!!
Guns & Roses - despise them, but many disagree
Soundgarden
Biohazard

How many guys in Halford's band are Americans?

Come on man.....

Let's get.....

INTO THE PIT!!!

Dragon Rider

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Original Message-----
From: Ben Fagin [mailto:vulcanfoundry at BLUEYONDER.CO.UK]
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 3:16 AM
Subject: Re: OFF: Other bands


Can you name any decent US Metal bands?

I think Metallica are the only one really, we met them in 1984 at Shades,
(Metal shop in soho, London W1)  remember that? Anyway, I thought they were
a
bunch of c***ts apart from Cliff Burton who was terrific, RIP.