Masters of Metal – White Hot
Release Date: 1984
Label: K-Tel
Welcome to the first Masters of Metal Album review! Back in the day the “Masters of Metal” compilation was the shit. They were usually cheap as fuck (7.99 for album, 5.99 for cassette) and they were a great way for young, fledgling metal heads like me to discover some new and even at times obscure bands. This is just my way of paying tribute to those classic compilations.
Here’s how it’s going to go. The album art will get a rating from 1-5 and each song will get a 1-5 rating. The totally number of possible points this album can earn is 65. Let’s do this.
The Artwork:
3/5
Look at this artwork. I mean, this kind of artwork, even back when I was a kid drove me nuts. Look how fucking long that guitar neck is. There is no headstock or body to be seen on the damned thing. The gloved hand is pretty fucking cool and I love how it has this outer space motif going on in the back ground. Over all this isn’t the worst of the pack but it’s still pretty fucking lame. It’s almost like the people who designed the artwork for these albums didn’t know shit about metal in the first place.
SIDE I
Scorpions – Rock You Like a Hurricane
5/5
What’s there to not love about this fucking song? It’s just such a classic fucking song that every time I hear it I just love it as much as I did the first time I heard it. Back in 1984 I was already into the Scorpions so this song was just a given that it was going to be bad ass.
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Slade -Run Runaway
0/5
Yep. I hate Slade even more now than I did back in the day. Sorry all you Slade lovers out there but this band sucked. Their big claim to fame in the metal world was that Quiet Riot covered a few of their songs (one of which oddly appears on this very compilation). This band just never did it for me and this song is just ridiculously bad.
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Rush – Distant Early Warning
5/5
This is pretty much the song that sparked my fascination with Rush. This song is every bit as bad ass as it was back in the day and every time I hear it I think of that Friday night back in 1984 when I hear it for the first time. It’s still an amazing song to hear and really brings back some memories.
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Zebra – Tell Me What You Want
5/5
Imagine my surprise back in the day to learn that my hometown boys Zebra were on a compilation. At this point Zebra wasn’t even in New Orleans anymore and were pretty much a Long Island, NY band. Regardless, I always was impressed that a band from my hometown was big enough to be on an album with Dio and Krokus. This song kicks all kinds of ass and it still to this day one of my all time favorite Zebra songs.
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Triumph – Lay it On The Line
4/5
So as I got older, I heard these guys referred to as “Diet Rush” or “Rush Jr.” I don’t really know much more about Triumph other than this song and I always thought this song kicked ass. There’s definitely a Rush element to it but they’re both Canadian and both came out at the same time. That aside, I still really enjoy this song but it never really had me running out to go pick up a Triumph album and it still doesn’t to be honest.
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Dio – Holy Diver
5/5
Dio! Good fucking God this song still rules my face. At this point in the game Dio was already on my radar but I was just happy to have this song on a compilation of all these other tunes. It’s a true timeless piece of metal that will never get old to me.
SIDE II
Y&T – Don’t Stop Runnin’
2/5
I never got the love for this band. Yeah, Dave Meniketti can sing his ass off and he’s a great guitarist but I always felt that they had some shitty songs. This song doesn’t flat out suck but it’s one of those songs that you can hear and just play in the background and not really feel moved to love it or hate it.
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Judas Priest – You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
5/5
Much like the Scorpions and Dio songs, no matter how fucking played out this song is, it still kicks ass and it’s as good today as it was the first time I ever heard it. This compilation is responsible for me running out to by Screaming for Vengeance and pretty much set me up for being a Priest fan from then on. Hearing this compilation in full like this has been awesome as the memories just come flying back to me. Great, timeless song without a doubt.
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Krokus – Stayed Awake All Night
4/5
I fucking LOVE Krokus. This was the first time I had even heard of this fucking band and I loved what I heard. Hearing this song now I realize that it’s definitely nowhere near their strongest song. While I don’t love it, I totally still dig it. It’s a fun song but it’s no “Screaming in the Night.”
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Black Sabbath – Heaven and Hell
5/5
Imagine an 11 year old Don having his face completely melted off his fucking skull upon learning, thanks to this compilation, that Ronnie James Dio also sang in Black Sabbath. When I first heard this song, I just about lost my goddamn mind. What a riff, what a set of pipes on that lil man, and what a groove. Upon hearing it again, it’s no wonder that this song is the timeless masterpiece that it is. Still fucking rules.
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Twisted Sister – I Am (I’m Me)
5/5
Every time I hear this song it blows me away that this wasn’t a bigger hit for them. What an anthem and one that pre-dates “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock” by one album. This is a great song that has a very special place in my heart and never gets old. Hearing it takes me right back to my bedroom back in Metairie, LA where I air guitared to this one over and over again. Timeless to say the least.
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Quiet Riot – Cum On Feel the Noize
5/5
While this isn’t my favorite QR song, this is without a doubt another timeless classic. This is where I learned that this song was actually a cover song by none other than Slade who I absolutely hated. All that aside, it’s a great album and a great way for this kick ass compilation to go out.
Score: 53/65
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