The Benja-man Is Verbose

I was aware coming in that Riot were literally a different band before Thundersteel , with only one member in common with the act that bore that name prior to going on a five-year hiatus.  Actually hearing it play out is still something, though.  By stream numbers and sales, their most successful record seems to have been their 1981 release, the embarassingly titled Fire Down Under .  I dabbled with that one as much as I could stomach, and went back and forth on whether it should be considered metal at all.  I don't necessarily object to lumping it in with metal, but the overall sound is way more reminiscent of the rock of the '70s to me: pulsating guitar riffs, warm production filling all channels with the same note, and the very simple choruses.  The stuff that was still part of the Riot's sound come  Thundersteel that I compared to Thin Lizzy in the last post?  Definitely a major emphasis in the early stuff.  A slower blues-based number li...

Note about the different post formats:  The records from the "main" Metalstorm list I'll have already heard at least the songs on my sampler, and may well already know the whole thing, so those get a track-by-track dissection.  Whereas the records that come from the "also recommended" area of the list are more likely to be totally new to me, so those albums get the "early reaction"/"upon further review" two-post format.  Clear?  Well, just trust me, it makes sense if you happen to be me.     First impression of  Thundersteel , the record, is "Thundersteel," the song.  First of all, it definitely rocks. Second is how much I still think the vocals shape the feel of a song.  The riff is pretty straight ahead thrash stuff, even more so than with a band like Jag Panzer.  Then Tony Moore starts singing, and at first it's the kind of rasp-singing that fits the fiery verse riff, but then there's the chorus - not just the way he sing...

Just because I pretend to be on a first name basis with band members, the people I'm discussing here and their nicknames that they used in the '80s are William Tsamis [Destroyer] on guitar, Mark Zonder [Thunderchild] on drums, Dave Waltry [Archangel] on bass, Diane Kornarens [Sentinel] on keys, and Rick Cunningham [Damien King II] on vocals.  Spoiler alert: Every member is on fire, captivating in isolation but masterful together.  I think Bill basically wrote everything and that he and maybe Mark kinda stood over everyone's shoulders telling them exactly what to play, but however it came together, ridiculous amount of skill on this record. Track One:  "Beginning / Lucifer's Hammer" I'm glad that, unlike the original release, my streaming service actually separates the interstitials like "Beginning" into their own tracks.  Because I for one do not want to have to get through this ponderous spoken word bullshit thing every time I want to listen to ...

(Slightly edited project premise copied from the '70s post .) 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...

In my runthrough screening of '70s records that influenced power metal, I ended up picking Fröm The Fjörds (hereafter  Fjords  so I don't have to do those damn ironic umlauts), the sole release from the American band Legend, for further study.  I loved the frenetic energy of the bass in the songs I sampled, the whimsical sense of storytelling, and the way the record so interestingly anticipated at least certain strains of power metal, especially the early form of so called "epic metal" embodied by Manilla Road's "Manilla Four" group of mid-'80s releases (of which I've personally only really sat down with two... so far).  I've decided that my picks from the speed dating pool merit a really deep dive.  Like, track by track.   Fjords  seems to generally be viewed as one of those interesting little curios that delights the relative few who get delighted in the sense of having discovered an obscure gem, whilst also having a vocal minorit...

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"...