Welcome to One Hour of Metal! This used to be “One Hour of Music” but now it’s just strictly metal people! I said PEOPLE! Can you handle it? Anyways, this was fun to do and luckily nothing sucked that came on this hour. We’ll see what happens in future installments but so far, this one was a bunch of win!
Saxon – Play It Loud
I’ve had this conversation with my buddies numerous times. These old school NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) bands were necessarily known for their earth shattering lyrics. Aside from Iron Maiden, most classic metal were just anthems that were meant to appeal to the youth and make them feel like they were understood. “Play It Loud! In Your Neighborhood!” How much more awesome can you get hearing that as a kid in the 80’s? I fucking LOVE Saxon and this shit always makes me smile when I hear it. Great fucking song!
Dokken – Just Got Lucky
Dokken is one of those bands that as I get older I actually like more. Back in the day I remember feeling like they were a bit weak for me but now I feel like they were one of the better bands. They were so fucking melodic and Don Dokken could sing his ass off. Jeff Pillson (bassist) did some awesome harmonies with Don and made for a really awesome listening experience. Again, nothing earth shattering lyrically but actually a few steps above most of their peers. This song is from the “Beast From The East” live album and shows that these dudes could really fucking kick ass live. Great song and great band.
Dio – Eat Your Heart Out
This is a good example of how even the greatest can do songs that make you scratch your head. As much as I love “Last In Line,” this song always got skipped. Can’t blame Dio for trying but this song just didn’t do it for me and it still doesn’t.
Kiss – Sure Know Something
KISSCO! That’s right! Kiss went disco at one point and they managed to put out a few songs that were totally Saturday Night Fevah people! Here’s the funny thing though. I LOVE this fucking song. It’s so fucking catchy and well produced. This is the song that back in the day (along with I Was Made For Loving You) my friends and I would hate on but then I’d go home and listen to it and totally dig it. It’s fucking KISS people. Paul’s vocals on this song are awesome and what the hell. It’s a great song and I’m not sorry for like it so fuck you!
Metallica – Am I Evil (Live)
How the mighty have fallen indeed. Hearing this version of the Diamondhead classic from a 1986 live show makes the Metallica of today look like a bunch of fucking douchebags. These guys were young, hungry and wanted to own the fucking world. The trouble is that when they did get the world, they didn’t know what to do with it so instead of crushing it and killing our faces, they made it all slick and pretty and hung it in an art gallery. Whenever I want to remember how great a band Metallica was, and how terrible a guitar player Kirk Hammett is, I listen to the old stuff and remember just what I loved about Metallica. They just didn’t give a fuck about anything and Cliff Burton was the major rager on the four string motherfucker!
Exodus – Tempo of the Damned
How these guys never got as big as the Big Four (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax) is beyond me. These guys are just fucking brutally amazing. Gary Holt can write a fucking song and this is a great example of just how fucking amazing Exodus is. Just listening to these guys makes my joints and muscles hurt. This album is a great album but in all honesty, I’m not a huge fan of Steve Souza. I much prefer hearing their current singer Rob Dukes who seems to have more low end to his voice. Even with that said, it still does NOT suck. This is a great song from one of my favorite bands.
KISS – Black Diamond (Live)
Black Diamond from Alive I is one of KISS’ greatest moments. I still remember hearing this as a kid and being so stoked that you could hear the explosions of the pyrotechnics at the end of the song. Peter Criss just fucking owns this song and to this day it’s the song I look forward to hearing live the most. They still do it great and listening to Alive never gets old. A timeless classic.
Ozzy Osbourne – Flying High Again (live)
This is from an undoctored show in 1981 that ended up being the “Tribute” album. I love this fucking song and this show, warts and all. Ozzy’s voice is raw as fuck and he really kicked ass back then. I actually really dig hearing his “untouched” voice as it really had a lot of power and just flat out kicked ass. There’s a few Randy mistakes in here, a few missed drum fills, but it’s so fucking kick ass. It sounds like a real fucking band doing nothign but melting a bunch of fucking faces.
Megadeth – Back In The Day
What a great fucking song from “The System Has Failed.” What I love about this song is that lyrically it sounds like it could be a Saxon song! Megadave managed to write a song that really showed how huge of an influence the early NWOBHM bands are on his band. Great performance and yeah… it’s fucking Megadeth FTW! This song just rips face.
Gwar – War Toy
How can you not love a song that opens with the line “Come in my anal cave?” GWAR’s first album “Hell-O” is such a metal classic and this song just fucking kills me every time. Over the years, GWAR would actually grow to be a band that much like Alice Cooper found a way to saterize much of what was going on in the world and turn it into GWAR awesomeness. This song isn’t that deep. Well, they are singing about an anal cave so maybe it’s deeper than we think!
Tangier – Four Winds
Wow, talk about a change in mood. These guys were fucking great for ONE album. A bunch of Philly boys that were picked up by Tom Keifer of Cinderella and taken on the road. Much like Cinderella, they are blues based, roots oriented hard rock. Their singer Bill Mattson could sing his ass off and this song is bluesy and full of emotion. I never get tired of this song or this album.
Queensryche – The Killing Words (Live from Unplugged)
As a kid, I thought Queensryche was pretty ridiculous until I got in to High School. “Rage For Order” may be one of their weirdest albums but it produced two of my all time favorite Queensryche songs. This one, and “Walk In The Shadows.” This song just kicks so much ass and when Geoff Tate sings “It’s oooooooooooovah!” at the end of the song, it makes the hairs on my arm stand up. His vocal delivery on this song is fucking facemelting. This band was like the metal Pink Floyd. They had a way of making some beautifully melodic music and this Unplugged performance showed them in top form. Nothing but acoustics and a 4 piece drum kit. Absolutely fucking beautiful!
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