SLOW SPEED DATING: (Proto)-power metal of the '70s

New format!  Shortly after I decided to start my explorations of power metal and had started blogging about power metal, after months of wishing there were a conveniently explained "starter pack" of bands or records to check out, I came across a list at metalstorm.com created by writer "ScreamingSteelUS," that I've been low-key obsessed with ever since.  A collection of power metal records that uses a very big-tent definition of the subgenre for maximum diversity?  Sounds like what I wanted.  Kept to a convenient number - ten per decade - in perfect chronological order?  I feel seen.  With explanations as to what exactly each record represents and what aspects of PM it can highlight?  Yes, please.  

Sure, one can critique.  With the biggest critique being that it's just one guy's list and is prone to the quirks inherent to that.  Of note, ScreamingSteelUS goes out of his way to frame it as "potential starting points" or "some records I think are cool that I have something to say about."  So let's be clear that the list is very explicitly not presented as a best-of, a list of essentials, or a comprehensive survey of the subgenre.  Especially since each entry has an "also recommended" section that goes along with it.  (Didn't stop him from falling over himself apologizing in the comments for the lack of Stratovarius on the main list.  Of all the major transgressions, the absence of Stratovarius seems to be the one that everyone can agree on.)  Of the bands I am already familiar with, I'd call some of the choices too obvious and others painfully arbitrary, to the point that by the end it seems like he's picking records and even bands at random.  Another like of criticism one could make, probably correctly, is how inessential the list of predecessors is.  I know I would disagree with the idea that listening to Led Zeppelin IV is in any way a prerequisite for understanding the subgenre of power metal.  But nobody's demanding perfection.  What I really wanted, as a relative novice who was much more of a novice last year, was a list of a somewhat manageable size.  A list that, were I to listen to all of the records, would in total give me a good sense of what power metal is, has been, and can be.  I do think the list accomplishes that.  And I've always kinda wanted to just sit down and listen to and write about each one...

...But who's got time for that?  It cam take me a good month to properly absorb and write about one record, let alone forty-one.  So I decided that the next best thing was to listen to a smattering of this allegedly great power metal from across the decades and react to it.  I used the highly sophisticated method of going to the artist's "top tracks" on my particular streaming service and picking the three most popular songs from each album, making a playlist, and listening to it for awhile.  (If one of the top two songs is more than ten minutes long, they only get two.  If #3 is more than ten minutes long, it gets skipped and I use #4.)

So, that's the system.  Tentative plan is that the record whose representative songs impress me the most gets a full ?Classics? Of Metal writeup, but I may ditch or tinker with that.   I'm using the '70s list in the intro article to test-drive the format here; have a few more wrinkles I'm considering once I get to the main list itself.  But that's the basic setup.

Okay, so before even getting to the power metal part, the Metalstorm list has seven choices from the '70s described as "The Before Times."  No Black Sabbath or Motörhead here; I presume that ScreamingSteelUS assumes that his readers on a metal website know about the origins of metal as a whole, and wanted to focus on the origins, as he sees them, of power metal, specifically.  Although I'm dubious about how much of the story '70s rock really is, it was a chance to taste-test a few classics, so, why not?

Deep Purple - In Rock (1970)

Represented by:  "Speed King," "Child In Time"

ScreamingSteelUS highlights:  The dual-channel attack of guitar and keys, Ian Gillian's vocal histrionics, just the song "Child In Time" in general

My thoughts:

My sense of who Deep Purple were from osmosis seems to have been way off.  I always heard that they were a band who were too full of themselves to be good funtimes rock-and-roll, while also just too dumb to live up to the intricate music that they were attempting.  Listening to these two songs*, I'm not hearing dumb.  At first they seemed all over the place, and I had snarky comments mapped out about Ray Manzarek wandering into the studio in a drugged-out stupor and then getting bored halfway through songs and wandering away.  I still think that "Speed King" is a little cringeworthy, with its numerous lyrical and musical references to iconic early rock songs coming off really awkward.  "Child In Time," on the other hand, was a delight to discover.  I only slightly minded the parts with Ian shrieking tunelessly.  The rest, though, captures that platonic ideal of a chill groovy song that rocks when the right time comes.  It's rare that I can say that a ten-minute track that's mostly instrumental just flies by and doesn't feel its length, but "Child In Time" is like that.  I'm curious how it was received in 1970, but to someone to whom '60s and '70s music is all flattened together into "shit from before my time," it sounds like this neat product of an orgy between the Yardbirds, Gentle Giant, and the Doors, producing this blues-based proggy psychedelic number that makes me wonder if maybe somebody should pay attention to these Deep Purple kids; they could be going places.

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

Represented by:  "Black Dog," "Stairway To Heaven," "Going To California"  

ScreamingSteelUS highlights:  The introduction of fixating on myth and magic into proto-metal

My thoughts:

I suppose this is where I squander any good will I imagine I might have by stating that I do not like Led Zeppelin.  I never have.  I probably never will.  The single biggest barrier for me is Robert Plant's vocals, truly a voice that oozes pure doucheiness, the single voice in existence that I most wish I could punch in the fucking throat.  I could talk more vaguely about all these associations, fair or unfair, that I have just with knowing that they were plagarists and generally had a reputation for being huge assholes.  I could go on an extended rant about how by making dumb proto-metal songs about horniness and bro shit that LZ did irreparable damage to blues-rock/metal itself, taking it from the good-hearted nerds and delivering it into the hands of the worst people in existence, but at that point we're in the range of hyperbole that has more to do with my own issues than with the music itself.  So I came in determined to just listen to the music itself, and criticize only that.  

And yes, I'm the one who's "wrong" here, not the consensus, given that every musician that I've ever admired and his dog all cite Zep as a major influence.  Clearly the rock world in general understands music on a deeper level than I do and I'm the Philistine.  None of that makes me actually want to listen to Led Zeppelin.  But okay, let's do this.

I will say that this listen to these songs has been enlightening.  I used to find "Black Dog" relatively tolerable, as far as Zep songs go.  But after really focusing on hearing half an idea stretched out over six minutes I think I hate "Black Dog" as much as I hate, say, "Whole Lotta Love."  On the other hand, the other two songs highlight how much Led Zeppelin were willing to lean into their faux-pastoral side.  I finally kinda get "Stairway To Heaven," a song I'd always previously found deeply tedious***, for its atmosphere and build.  I do wish the lyrics actually came together as well as the music does, or maybe that Robert would shut his stupid mouth and let the rest of the band do their thing, but they do a solid job playing up the folky sounds and then building a big rock song around them, such that the climax sounds like a natural evolution of the early verses.  I do think my idea of who Zeppelin are maybe didn't properly take into account their ability to be quiet as often as they are loud.  (And "Going To California" sounds kinda nice, but I'm not very engaged and I don't like the vocal approach.)

So, not actually loathsome through and through, doesn't actually suck.  That's a win.  Relatively speaking.  I still look forward to many more happy years of not voluntarily listening to this band again.

Uriah Heap - Demons And Wizards (1972)

Represented by:  "The Wizard," "Easy Livin'," "Rainbow Demon" 

ScreamingSteelUS highlights:  Using bluesy psychadelia as a basis for a power-metal-esque record full of lofty vibes and fantasy imagery

My thoughts:

On the one hand, I want to say "hey, we're actually getting somewhere now."  The more fantasy oriented tracks take the pastoral vibes pioneered by Led Zeppelin to a place that's immersive (and not, you know, kinda annoying).  On the other, there's only one of these three songs that I can actually remember when it's over, and it's the irresistibly bass-driven big dumb rock single "Easy Livin'."  Now, I just wish the rest of what I'm hearing from Uriah Heap hit harder, because they seem to have talent and seem to be trying to make the sort of music I like... but they're way more engaging when they shamelessly try for radio play.  I dunno, on an intellectual level I appreciate how "Rainbow Demon" builds an ominous atmosphere whilst confining itself mostly to standard blues chords... and I don't think I'll ever come back to it.  It's not catchy to me the way, say, "Easy Livin'" is.

Queen - Queen II (1974)

Represented by:  "Some Day One Day,"  "Ogre Battle," "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke"  

ScreamingSteelUS highlights:  The pomp and circumstance of both Freddie Mercury's vocals and Brian May's guitar work.  ["combine this album with Demons And Wizards and you’re on your way to any Blind Guardian album of the ‘90s."]   

My thoughts:

This is a side of Queen that I, as a greatest-hits sort of poseur, hadn't been familiar with.  I know Queen being full on metal even if nobody was calling it metal during the Sheer Heart Attack era, and I know Queen as arena rockers beyond compare.  I'm not sure I ever realized that they were fantasy nerds.  It's interesting to hear Freddie channeling his storytelling talents to these weird flights of fancy about ogres and the fairy song.****  "Ogre Battle" is my favorite here, with the urgent guitar riff ensuring that even when it's flighty, it rocks.  I can't help but hear these songs as primordial, though, focusing on the roots of things that the band would ride to greater things outside of fantasy themes or power metal associations.

Rainbow - Rising (1976)

Represented by:  "Tarot Woman," "Starstruck," "Stargazer"  

ScreamingSteelUS highlights:  Token nods to the Ritchie and Cozy's contributions to the full-band attack... but he mostly focuses on Dio and his contribution to the metal aesthetic through everything he did.  And "Stargazer" as a predecessor to epic metal.

My thoughts:

It's hard to argue with fixating on Dio.  The moment the part of "Tarot Woman" with vocals hits on my playlist, I think "okay, now we've definitely arrived."  Whereas the preceding bands on the list may have been metal-adjacent, Rainbow are indeed unmistakably metal as fuck.  And yeah, Ritchie and the others certainly are part of that; I hate to be reductive.  But so much of it comes down to one Mr. Ronnie James Dio.  He's in such total command of the mic.  He's got an incredible vocal range such that his high notes aren't falsetto or shrieks, they're just part of what he does, full of soul and somehow never harsh or unpleasant no matter how much grit his voice may have.  Dio is just on another level from everyone else.  When given lackluster material ("Starstruck"), he at least makes it work.  When given potentially good stuff ("Tarot Woman,") he just owns it until it turns into an earworm; this is like the next evolution of "Easy Livin', right down to featuring a rather similar chorus melody, but better mostly because it's Dio.  When given something like "Stargazer" to work with, well, the combination is next level.  This is the difference between using a repetitive keyboard or orchestral figure over and over and over (lookin' at you, "Kashmir" by LZ) and using a keyboard part to give everything an ominous overtone as the foundation to let Dio's conviction-filled voice rise and fall to tell the listener a story.

I'm a bit of a Dio poseur too, mostly knowing one particular record he did with Black Sabbath, two particular records with his eponymous band, and a handful of other hits.  I don't know if I'd ever actually heard a Rainbow song before that wasn't "Man On The Silver Mountain" or Dream Theater's cover of "Stargazer."  I'm glad that's changed even in this limited capacity, because this is some incredible stuff.  Why've you been keeping this from me, world?*****

Legend - Fröm The Fjörds (1979)

Represented by:  "Destroyer," "The Wizard's Vengeance," "The Golden Bell"

ScreamingSteelUS highlights:  Technical virtuosity in an understated way.  And basically how incredibly forward-thinking this relatively obscure record is, how much it presaged power metal even if not actually directly "influential."

My thoughts:

When I first background-listened to the obscure choice with the painfully bad title, I liked it but wasn't quite sure the connection to power metal.  In a way Fjords (I refuse to do the umlauts every time I mention the record.  I'll make the effort for names with real umlauts, but I draw the line at ironic ones) sounds like the culmination of all the '70s rock we've listened to so far.  All bass riffs and drum fills with its most overtly fantasy focused stories.  No soaring high-pitched vocals and big pop tunes, all kinda mid-tempo.  I think it depends on whether one thinks power metal started with the epic-adjacent side of USPM or if one isn't really willing to accept anything that doesn't sound like or derived from Keeper-era Helloween.  Now, ScreamingSteelUS thinks of the power metal scene as basically starting with Manowar, and if you accept them as PM - and even more so if you accept Manilla Road in particular as PM - then Fjords makes sense as a visionary record.  I can think of how the Shark would have approached the songs slightly differently - a Road record would probably be more relentless with the drums, etc, and would have less blues influence in the riffs and less sharp divisions between parts of the song.  But in the big picture sense, it certainly seems that Legend's one and only record was making epic power-ish metal-ish rock in the vein of what the rest of the metal world would start making five years later.  

It's pretty fucking great, too.  "The Wizard's Vengeance" is a stellar example of how to tell a story in a song using these sorts of tools.  No big chorus, just a rollicking riff in which Kevin Nugent articulately reels off eventful sentences.  And that riff that the bridges are built around is killer and lets the bass do its thing.  You gotta love a rock record in which the bass is so constantly demanding the listener's attention.  "The Golden Bell" took a little longer to grow on me, but it seems to be on the same level as the epics from the more famous bands on the list above.

ABBA - Arrival (1976)

Represented by:  "Dancing Queen," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," "Money, Money, Money"

ScreamingSteelUS highlights:  The presence of purest European pop that underlies the majority of power metal

My thoughts:

ScreamingSteelUS's list actually includes "ABBA - literally any album" and he describes "[insert any ABBA album]" as a monumental piece of pop history.  Even though it messes up my chronological order, I just went with Arrival because it had the most streamed biggest songs.  Maybe I shoulda just done the top three ABBA songs regardless of album, I dunno.  Anyway, I don't know that I know enough about pop music to have much here.  I guess I'd say - and this is not a deep thought here, just stating the obvious - something only needs one hook to be a hit and an earworm, even a pop culture phenomenon, but that if it can introduce other elements that reward relistening without diluting that hook, it's more likely to stand the test of time.  That's gotta be the difference between being a forgotten two-hit wonder and getting your own (small) museum in downtown Stockholm, right?  ABBA's songs have hooks and they have other stuff going on too.  "Money, Money, Money" is easily my favorite of the three here, because it has the hook, but it also has the intricate piano part that's both interesting and perfectly sets the mood to make it instantly clear to even the casual radio listener that the narrator's bouncy pontifications do not mean that she's at all happy to be living "in the rich man's world."  A bite-sized sugar-coated character sketch and bit of social commentary that the kids can sing along to, all in just a few minutes.  That's what pop music is "supposed" to be.  

I am not, however, at all convinced that ABBA has all that much to do with the origins of power metal.

Overall

- If there's anything like an "objective" standard, the Rainbow record is clearly the "best" one here based on its representative songs.  Or at least the best metal/pre-metal record for people who enjoy listening to metal.  As good as I think "Stargazer" is, though, I'm more excited to have discovered Legend.  So, the winner of my little experiment is Legend - From The Fjords.  Assuming I'm allowed to spell things normally when I write about it.

- This was fun!  I like sampling lots of music, even if I can't go deep into it.  Still managed a lot of words, as is my wont.

- Hadn't realized ironic umlauts were so played out so early.

- I have spent decades hearing that Pearl Jam's 1998 minor hit "Given To Fly" was a ripoff of "Going To California" so blatant that it would have been shameless if it'd been intentional.  Most of these comments come from members of Pearl Jam, so I assumed they were legit.  Having actually sat down and spent time with GTC, I gotta say, I don't see it.  

My totally subjective and arbitrary ranking of how much I enjoyed sampling these records:

1)  Fröm The Fjörds

2)  Rising

3)  Queen II

4)  In Rock

5)  Demons And Wizards

6)  Arrival

7)  Led Zeppelin IV

Coming up:  Probably more writing about From The Fjords if I have anything else to say.  And at some point some slow speed dating of the ten (actually eleven) representative power metal records from the '80s from ScreamingSteelUS's "Getting Into" list.  All if and whenever I get around to it!

*Since "Child In Time" is 10:19, they don't get a third.  Those are the rules!**

**That I made up

 

***I'd heard stunningly few of the songs highlighted here before, but I had of course heard "Black Dog" and "Stairway To Heaven," because, well, how can you not?

****There are so many lines in the song that sound like they should be sexual double entendres but apparently aren't?  And apparently everything mentioned is in a painting of the same name with which Freddie was obsessed?   I can tell you I would never have put that together on my own. 

*****"Because you didn't ask."