CBR Record Club #5 "Powerslave"

[twilight]

Welcome to the fifth in a series I like to call "The CBR Record Club".

The club works thusly:

-Have a record assigned.
-Track a copy down. (legally or illegally, I’m not going to judge you)
-Listen.
-Form an opinion.
-Report back over the course of a fortnight.
-Repeat.

Sound cool?

The fifth assignment is...Powerslave (1984) by Iron Maiden:

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/1/1c/Iron_Maiden_-_Powerslave.jpg

1. "Aces High" – 4:29
2. "2 Minutes to Midnight" – 5:59
3. "Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)" – 4:12
4. "Flash of the Blade" – 4:02
5. "The Duellists" – 6:06
6. "Back in the Village" – 5:02
7. "Powerslave" – 7:10
8. "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" – 13:34

So everyone go find it, either it already has a place in your music library, at your local record store or from your digital downloading program of choice.

Use this thread for your thoughts and feelings about the first assignment.

This assignment goes from October 26th until November 9th at which point a new album will be assigned.

Go!

-Twi

[leonaozaki]

Ah...Iron Maiden. I had kind of wondered what 1984 record you'd pick, but I wasn't expecting this!

This certainly isn't my favorite Iron Maiden record-- that would be Seventh Son of a Seventh Son-- but it's definitely up there. Of course, it is a "classic" Maiden album, and if you like what they do (and I really, really do) then this is a must-own.

That opening one-two punch of "Aces High" (one of my favs) and "2 Minutes to Midnight" is flat-out awesome, and the rest of side one, "Losfer Words" to "The Duellists" is none too shabby. I mean, who else besides Maiden could put two songs about fencing on one album, back to back, and not look like total chumps in the process?

Then we're on side two with a little filler -- "Back in the Village"-- but the last two tracks end the record on a very, very high note. The title track is excellent, and "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is really, along with "Aces High," worth the price of admission. I've listened to the last song many, many times, and I still get chills after the long slow passage and the guitars kick in again with Dickinson wailing "the curse it lives on in their eyeeeees...." Awesome.

So, um, yeah, I love this record and I love this band. Plus this record spawned Live After Death, one of my favorite live albums ever.

Up the Irons!

Great pick!

rob

[twilight]

Ah...Iron Maiden. I had kind of wondered what 1984 record you'd pick, but I wasn't expecting this!

It was hard to ignore stuff like Double Nickels On The Dime,Zen Arcade and Let It Be but this is about hearing new stuff so I went with Maiden.

(it was actually going to be Zen Arcade but I changed it the last minute after considering how hard my copy was to find and the fact that they aren't on iTunes)

-Twi

[howyadoin]

Having seen these guys put on an incredibly boring concert recently, I'll pass.

[leonaozaki]

It was hard to ignore stuff like Double Nickels On The Dime,Zen Arcade and Let It Be but this is about hearing new stuff so I went with Maiden.


-Twi

Aren't those great records? Who says the 80's was a crap time for music?

rob

[Deathstroke]

Wow, an album I actually could get in on this topic about.

[ZombieHavoc]

My favorite IM record is Killers, but my favorite Dickinson-era record is Powerslave, without question.

But it was also the first IM record I got, which probably adds to that. I got it on cassette at a yard sale for a quarter when I was 11 (along with Ozzy's Diary of a Madman).

The album also contains one of my absolute favorite Maiden songs: "Flash of the Blade".

[The Confessor]

I think I'll pass on this one.

I'm pretty familiar with the record anyway (i.e. more familiar than I'd like to be), due to the majority of my friends back in the 80's being into exactly this sort of Heavy Metal. There's no doubting that this album and Iron Maiden in general are important icons of British Heavy Metal but I've just never particularly enjoyed that type of music to be honest.

"Aces High" and "2 Minutes to Midnight" are both 24-carrot Heavy Metal anthems but frankly...

...life's much too short to go listening to this record again.

[howyadoin]

I think I'll pass on this one.

I'm pretty familiar with the record anyway (i.e. more familiar than I'd like to be), due to the majority of my friends back in the 80's being into exactly this sort of Heavy Metal. There's no doubting that this album and Iron Maiden in general are important icons of British Heavy Metal but I've just never particularly enjoyed that type of music to be honest.I like tons of heavy metal. I just don't think Iron Maiden is all that heavy.

[DrewTheXenocide]

I fucking love Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

I listened to this album a lot when I was going through my Iron Maiden phase. I remember singing in the shower trying to hit that one really high note in Aces High. Needless to say, I couldn't do it. When it came down to it, though, the Iron Maiden album I ended up purchasing was Number of the Beast. It was just better, all around.

[mattx110]

Finally some decent music for us devil-worshipping scifi fanatics.

[Deathstroke]

Finally some decent music for us devil-worshipping scifi fanatics.

There's been a lack of that?

[The Confessor]

I just don't think Iron Maiden is all that heavy.


Really? You see, I'd say that it was pretty heavy...not that I'm an expert on Heavy Metal music of course, so what do I know? It's certainly more than heavy enough for me, let's put it that way. :tongue:

I'm just trying to recall some of the other Heavy Metal bands that my friends liked around the same time...like Metallica and AC/DC for instance. Thinking about it, I suppose that Metallica are heavier than Iron Maiden. Maybe? :confused:

Mind you, I always thought that Iron Maiden sounded heavier than a lot of the Heavy Metal that was coming out of America at roughly the same time, like Mötley Crüe or Guns 'n' Roses for example.

[howyadoin]

Really? You see, I'd say that it was pretty heavy...not that I'm an expert on Heavy Metal music of course, so what do I know? It's certainly more than heavy enough for me, let's put it that way. :tongue:

I'm just trying to recall some of the other Heavy Metal bands that my friends liked around the same time...like Metallica and AC/DC for instance. Thinking about it, I suppose that Metallica are heavier than Iron Maiden. Maybe?Well, keep in mind that I've seen Motörhead 5 times. But Iron Maiden certainly wasn't heavy enough to live up to their image. Judas Priest in their current incarnation is infinitely heavier.

[leonaozaki]

Just listened to it again and it is still flat-out awesome. "Back in the Village" isn't filler at all.

rob

[twilight]

Bizarrely I can't find a copy of Powerslave anywhere in my town.

-Twi

[leonaozaki]

Mind you, I always thought that Iron Maiden sounded heavier than a lot of the Heavy Metal that was coming out of America at roughly the same time, like Mötley Crüe or Guns 'n' Roses for example.

Well, Motley Crue was either hair metal or just sleaze, depending on who you ask, and G n R, as much as I love them weren't really metal, more hard rock in the Led Zep/Aerosmith/Exile-era Stones vein.

rob

[40footwolf]

This is one of Maiden's weirder ones, I think. It's a massive step up from "Piece of Mind" but it falls pretty short of "Number of the Beast".

That said, there are riffs TO DIE FOR in this album and while it's not as intense as it should be in some parts, it still has some of their heaviest songs(Powerslave, Flash Of The Blade) and the proggish Rime of the Ancient Mariner. If you can find it for under ten bucks and you like Iron Maiden's early stuff then I would definitely pick it up. It's no "Number Of The Beast", but it's still very good.

If we were grading it with normal letters, I'd say it's a B+.

[twilight]

Sorry again for my lateness.

Not a popularly choice this time round I gather.

CBR Record Club #5 draws to a close.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

New assignment up shortly.

-Twi

[howyadoin]

Sorry again for my lateness.

Not a popularly choice this time round I gather.

CBR Record Club #5 draws to a close.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

New assignment up shortly.What happens once you've reached the present day in this sequence, twi?

[Jonathan Bogart]

Not a popularly choice this time round I gather.
I tried, man, I really did, but I don't think I'll ever be able to hear in metal what its fans do. I couldn't even finish the record.

My loss, obviously, and I wish I had a different response; I don't like being shut off from shared experience. Everyone's got their blind spots, I guess.

[DrewTheXenocide]

What happens once you've reached the present day in this sequence, twi?

Has there been a time pattern that I just haven't noticed?

[twilight]

What happens once you've reached the present day in this sequence, twi?

If my calculations are correct (and it's possible they aren't) if we keep moving forward five years every two weeks (with a break over Christmas) then we should arrive at 2009 in 2009.

Then I'll probably go back to the 50's or possibly further.

-Twi

[twilight]

Any have a suggestion for 1989 that isn't 3 ft High and Rising?

-Twi

[40footwolf]

What about "New York" by Lou Reed?

"Paul's Boutique" by The Beastie Boys

"The Real Thing" by Faith No More

"Bleach" by Nirvana

"Doolittle" by The Pixies

"Mystery Girl" by Roy Orbison

"Mother's Milk" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers

"Disintegration" by The Cure

Among quite a few others.

[howyadoin]

What about "New York" by Lou Reed?

"Paul's Boutique" by The Beastie Boys

"The Real Thing" by Faith No More

"Bleach" by Nirvana

"Doolittle" by The Pixies

"Mystery Girl" by Roy Orbison

"Mother's Milk" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers

"Disintegration" by The Cure

Among quite a few others.I could get behind any of these.

[The Confessor]

Any have a suggestion for 1989 that isn't 3 ft High and Rising?

-Twi


"The Stone Roses" by The Stone Roses perhaps?

[The Confessor]

Well, Motley Crue was either hair metal or just sleaze, depending on who you ask, and G n R, as much as I love them weren't really metal, more hard rock in the Led Zep/Aerosmith/Exile-era Stones vein.


Well, I'd call them both "Hair Metal" bands, which definitely comes under the umbrella of "Heavy Metal" in my book...although it's obviously the more pop orientated and glammed up side of Heavy Metal. I also think that both bands are a lot more "Metal" in their outlook, image and songwriting than Led Zep, Aerosmith or the Stones...none of which I would class as Heavy Metal.

[twilight]

"The Stone Roses" by The Stone Roses perhaps?

I knew there was something else I was thinking of doing!

Cheers Con.

-Twi

[Deathstroke]

Sorry again for my lateness.

Not a popularly choice this time round I gather.

CBR Record Club #5 draws to a close.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

New assignment up shortly.

-Twi

Not that it wasn't a popular choice, but some people like me just didn't have time to squeeze in listening to the disc.

The topic remains open, so I'll try to get to it as soon as I can.

[Karl H]

A little bit late to the party but, as Maiden albums go, it was a classic. In fact, I've dug up my old tape copy...

I haven't actually listened to any Maiden in a lot of years but, if were to have to dig up one album and put onto an ipod it would definitely either be this one or seventh son. What a shame their sound hasn't changed in the slightest since then!

[leonaozaki]

Well, I'd call them both "Hair Metal" bands, which definitely comes under the umbrella of "Heavy Metal" in my book...although it's obviously the more pop orientated and glammed up side of Heavy Metal. I also think that both bands are a lot more "Metal" in their outlook, image and songwriting than Led Zep, Aerosmith or the Stones...none of which I would class as Heavy Metal.

Crue was/is metal, just hair metal. GnR was never hair metal, more hard rock, and was clearly (at least on Appetite) using Led Zep, Aerosmith, and the Stones (plus the New York Dolls) as their models.

rob

[The Confessor]

GnR was never hair metal, more hard rock, and was clearly (at least on Appetite) using Led Zep, Aerosmith, and the Stones (plus the New York Dolls) as their models.


Well, I guess it all depends on how exactly you define Hair Metal. Your right that GnR were influenced by bands like Led Zep, Aerosmith and the New York Dolls but then again, so were an awful lot of Hair Metal bands I should think, so that doesn't really stand up as an argument by itself.


Personally, I would term GnR Hair Metal because of their use of Heavy Metal imagery such as skulls and crosses, plus the fact that they had the teased out hair and skin tight leathers that characterised a lot of Hair Metal bands.

I don't know, it's a tricky one because I’ll admit that GnR are sort of borderline. I mean, they're not like Faster Pussycat, Def Leppard or Poison...all of who I would call Hair Metal without any shadow of a doubt.

I don't know, I just tend to think that one instinctively knows Hair Metal when one sees/hears it. :biggrin:

Myself, I think that GnR (at least during the Appetite/Use Your Illusion era) just sort of tip over into that category.

[The Confessor]

I knew there was something else I was thinking of doing!

Cheers Con.



No problem. If you do decide to use this album for the next CBR Record Club, just be aware that the U.S. version of this album has a slightly different track listing to the UK (and rest of the world) version. The U.S. version has the non-album singles Elephant Stone and Fool's Gold added to the running order.

If I were you, I'd go for the original UK version. But then again, I'm a purist. :cool:



Edit: Ah, I see you've already put it up...and you chose the right version. :wink:

[leonaozaki]

Personally, I would term GnR Hair Metal because of their use of Heavy Metal imagery such as skulls and crosses, plus the fact that they had the teased out hair and skin tight leathers that characterised a lot of Hair Metal bands.



You just described every metal band on the planet in the 80's.

Plus, show me one video besides "Welcome to the Jungle" where anybody in GnR had the kind of hair that Crue or Poison were sporting back in the day.

More importantly, there's a world of difference between the sound of Poison/Ratt/Crue and GnR. Most hair metal bands had a very thin, almost anemic sound to the guitars and big booming drums (this was the 80's, after all), while GnR (on Appetite, at least) packed a bigger rock punch and were much more musically interesting than your average hair metal band.

That's the difference for me. This is the first time I've ever heard GnR described as hair metal. The difference was pretty clear in the late 80's, I can tell you.

rob

[howyadoin]

You just described every metal band on the planet in the 80's.

Plus, show me one video besides "Welcome to the Jungle" where anybody in GnR had the kind of hair that Crue or Poison were sporting back in the day. Axl was the only one who ever did, and it didn't last too long. Once he discovered the bandana, there was no lookin' back.

[leonaozaki]

Axl was the only one who ever did, and it didn't last too long. Once he discovered the bandana, there was no lookin' back.

That's what I mean. Does bad hair in one video make your band hair metal?

rob

[ZombieHavoc]

Even though I use it, I hate the term "hair metal". It describes nothing really.

It's all rock n' roll. I would throw Kiss, Aerosmith, Bowie, Zep, Stones, GNR, Faster Pussycat, Hanoi Rocks, Sweet Cheater, Roxx Gang, Jetboy, EZO, Loudness, Twisted Sister, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Europe, Starz, Moxy, Electric Angels, and Motley Crue all into this rock n' roll genre, nuanced genre that it is.

But, to be fair, I can see the differences between GNR and Faster Pussycat. GNR rose out of the whole Hollywood sleaze scene, the same one that spawned FP and many other bands like them, but they transcended are really on a different level.

And if we're gonna get nitpicky, Def Leppard, pre-Hysteria, was really part of the NWOBHM movement, which the majority of that stuff (especially the early NWOBHM) just sounds like gritty rock n' roll (thinking of Savage, Satan, Demon, etc.)

[The Confessor]

You just described every metal band on the planet in the 80's.


Well, that was kinda my point. The use of that kind of imagery is applicable to most "Metal" bands and that's one of the reasons why I feel that GnR just creep into the Hair Metal camp.



Plus, show me one video besides "Welcome to the Jungle" where anybody in GnR had the kind of hair that Crue or Poison were sporting back in the day.

More importantly, there's a world of difference between the sound of Poison/Ratt/Crue and GnR. Most hair metal bands had a very thin, almost anemic sound to the guitars and big booming drums (this was the 80's, after all), while GnR (on Appetite, at least) packed a bigger rock punch and were much more musically interesting than your average hair metal band.


I agree that GnR were more interesting than most Hair Metal bands...and let's be clear, I'm not saying that they were definitely Hair Metal in the same way that Poison or Motley Crue were. I agree that GnR were much more of a traditional hard rock band, but they were definitely marketing themselves for the Hair Metal audience and aligning themselves with the Hair Metal scene both musically and image-wise.


This is the first time I've ever heard GnR described as hair metal. The difference was pretty clear in the late 80's, I can tell you.


Well, I was around and listening to their music in the late 80's myself, thanks very much...and all the people I knew that were really into GnR were also into a whole host of Heavy Metal bands. There's little doubt in my mind that the core of their fan base back then was definitely comprised of "Metalers". Something that is also borne out by the heavy rotation of their videos on Heavy Metal themed programs like "Headbanger's Ball" or their inclusion on the Hard ‘n’ Heavy video compilations.


I mean, come on, you’ve got to admit that if you compare the pictures of Guns ‘n Roses and Poison below, that both bands have a pretty similar image…


http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/2416/poisondd1.jpg

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3695/gunsnrosesad7.jpg


Surely, there can be little doubt that Guns ‘n’ Roses were styling themselves so as to appeal to a Heavy Metal audience. I mean, come on, Slash is even wearing a Metallica T-Shirt in that shot.


As for never having heard of GnR being described as Hair Metal, well I've seen and heard them mentioned numerous times in connection with Hair Metal. In fact, as an experiment, I've just done a Google search for Guns 'n Roses and Hair Metal and there appears to be an awful lot of talk about them in connection with Hair Metal. Not that this proves anything necessarily but it at least suggests that they are a band that many other people bring to mind when talking about the "Hair Metal" scene.

Again, just to be clear about it, I'm not saying that GnR were truly Hair Metal or anything...or even that they should be categorised as such, just that their image during the Appitite/Use Your Illusion era kind of tends to make me lump them into that genre. I mean, I would agree that they were actually something a bit different but still, to my mind they’re borderline Hair Metal.




Even though I use it, I hate the term "hair metal". It describes nothing really.


Well, I know what you mean. It's true that a lot of those sort of Rock 'n' Roll genre names aren't terribly accurate really but they're used because they do tend to serve the purpose of broadly describing a scene or a group of bands.

As Billy Joel rightly noted though, "It's all Rock 'n' Roll to me".

[howyadoin]

It's all rock n' roll. I would throw Kiss, Aerosmith, Bowie, Zep, Stones, GNR, Faster Pussycat, Hanoi Rocks, Sweet Cheater, Roxx Gang, Jetboy, EZO, Loudness, Twisted Sister, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Europe, Starz, Moxy, Electric Angels, and Motley Crue all into this rock n' roll genre, nuanced genre that it is.A definition I heard last night was "anything that's not classical, rap, R&B or country."

[leonaozaki]

Just to be clear: sure, GnR marketed themselves as metal, but I don't care about that. I care what the music sounds like, and in the late 80's, Metallica, Maiden, Megadeth, et al all sounded more metal than GnR (and I say this as someone who loves all four bands).

I think Axl Rose would have punched anybody who accused him of making music in the same genre as, say, Poison.

I mean, as long as we're comparing images:

Poison's first record:

http://www.geocities.com/record74/imagenes/albums_officials/01_lwtcdi.jpg

GnR's first record (the sanitized one):

http://www.htportal.org/mkportal/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/10004/normal_Guns_N_Roses_-_Appetite_For_Destruction-front.jpg

rob

[Jonathan Bogart]

A definition I heard last night was "anything that's not classical, rap, R&B or country."
When you have to define something negatively, that's a sure sign of complete exhaustion.

[howyadoin]

When you have to define something negatively, that's a sure sign of complete exhaustion.Exhaustion of genre, or exhaustion of definition?

[Jonathan Bogart]

Exhaustion of genre, or exhaustion of definition?
I was thinking the first, but the second's probably truer.

[Adam C]

Even though I use it, I hate the term "hair metal". It describes nothing really.


I don't know. To me it makes sense as a descriptor for a definable style of "pop-metal" (or slick, poppy hard rock) that was commercially predominant throughout much of the 1980s. Def Leppard may've been a part of the NWOBHM, but stylistically they had much more in common with Poison or Bon Jovi than Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, or Judas Priest. (Even if their singles from the beginning of their fame are noticeably punchier than most hair bands.)

[The Confessor]

Just to be clear: sure, GnR marketed themselves as metal, but I don't care about that. I care what the music sounds like, and in the late 80's, Metallica, Maiden, Megadeth, et al all sounded more metal than GnR.

Yeah, agreed...those bands were much more "Metal" sounding than GnR.




I mean, as long as we're comparing images:

Poison's first record:

http://www.geocities.com/record74/imagenes/albums_officials/01_lwtcdi.jpg

GnR's first record (the sanitized one):

http://www.htportal.org/mkportal/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/10004/normal_Guns_N_Roses_-_Appetite_For_Destruction-front.jpg


Yes, obviously quite different but once again, as I mentioned earlier, notice the use of Heavy Metal imagry like skulls and crosses on that GnR album cover.

[howyadoin]

Yes, obviously quite different but once again, as I mentioned earlier, notice the use of Heavy Metal imagry like skulls and crosses on that GnR album cover.But those images aren't only associated with heavy metal. Keith Richards and Iggy Pop have been wearing skull rings for years, and neither of them is heavy metal.

[Adam C]

Quick question did "hair metal" bands actually use skulls and crosses much in their imagery, if at all? Because that seems distinctly at odds with what I know about the visual aesthetic of hair metal.

[howyadoin]

Quick question did "hair metal" bands actually use skulls and crosses much in their imagery, if at all? Because that seems distinctly at odds with what I know about the visual aesthetic of hair metal.Off the top of my head, Warrant, Cinderella, Poison, Britny Fox, and Bon Jovi didn't.

[The Confessor]

But those images aren't only associated with heavy metal. Keith Richards and Iggy Pop have been wearing skull rings for years, and neither of them is heavy metal.


That's true enough but my point is that an awful lot of Heavy Metal bands do use those things in their imagery. It's not really anything to build a case out of on its own, but it's just an example of a similarity that GnRs have with some Metal bands.

[The Confessor]

Quick question did "hair metal" bands actually use skulls and crosses much in their imagery, if at all? Because that seems distinctly at odds with what I know about the visual aesthetic of hair metal.


No, actually it was usually the heavier Metal bands that leant towrads using that kind of imagery but I'm sure that some hair Metal bands did. I think Motley Crue may've used crosses and pentagrams in their imagery for example (if memory serves me right).

[howyadoin]

I think Motley Crue may've used crosses and pentagrams in their imagery for example (if memory serves me right).They definitely used pentagrams. As wussy as their music was, they wanted the heavy metal image, at least.

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/7295.jpg

(At least until Vince started wearing the pink garter belt and lipstick, anyway.)

[ZombieHavoc]

Def Leppard may've been a part of the NWOBHM, but stylistically they had much more in common with Poison or Bon Jovi than Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, or Judas Priest. (Even if their singles from the beginning of their fame are noticeably punchier than most hair bands.)

It's all semantics really, but Iron Maiden and 80's Judas Priest are really not the majority for NWOBHM...they took the sound to a much faster, what-we-think-of-as-metal sound. Earlier stuff was less galloping, less severe solo-ing, etc.

Before them, it was just grittier rock n' roll. Diamond Head is still a good example, but I think pre-Hystetria Def Lep fits better with them than with Poison, so.

For a better sampling of what *most* NWOBHM sounded like (if you are at all interested), check out Savage, Demon, Satan, Witchfynde, Angel Witch, Tytan, Quartz, early Saxon (later Saxon is power-ish), Cirith Ungol, Witchfinder General (though they are more Sabbath-y than anything else).

So, anyway...I'm just saying that the bulk of Def Lep's notable output has been unfairly lumped in with late 80's "hair metal" (much like GNR were lumped in with them as well).

I make no excuses for Hysteria though.

[ZombieHavoc]

It may also be worth noting that I was 9 when Appetite came out, and 10 when I got a copy. And if someone asked me what type of music I listened to, I would reply "metal". Then, when asked what bands I liked, I would've said "GNR, Poison, Cinderella, Bon Jovi, Ratt, Great White, White Lion, Kiss, Aerosmith, Motley Crue."

It wouldn't be until I was 12 that I would really discover Anthrax, Metallica, and Slayer.

[The Confessor]

Then, when asked what bands I liked, I would've said... "White Lion."


Heeeeeey now, White Lion...that name rings a bell. What were some of their most famous songs ZombieHavoc?

As I maybe said earlier, I wasn't into Heavy Metal in any way when all those bands were around but loads of my friends were. Consiquently, I'm a lot more familiar with Metal bands from the mid to late 80s than I'd really like to be.

I think I recall an album by White Lion with...(you guessed it)...a white lion on the cover. I think this lion was in amongst some tall, golden grass or something if memory serves me correctly and I'm guessing that it would've been released around 1988 or so.

[ZombieHavoc]

Heeeeeey now, White Lion...that name rings a bell. What were some of their most famous songs ZombieHavoc?

As I maybe said earlier, I wasn't into Heavy Metal in any way when all those bands were around but loads of my friends were. Consiquently, I'm a lot more familiar with Metal bands from the mid to late 80s than I'd really like to be.

I think I recall an album by White Lion with...(you guessed it)...a white lion on the cover. I think this lion was in amongst some tall, golden grass or something if memory serves me correctly and I'm guessing that it would've been released around 1988 or so.

The biggest songs were:
"Wait"
"When the Children Cry"
"Little Fighter"
"Radar Love" cover

The album you speak of is their second, called Big Game.

[leonaozaki]

The biggest songs were:
"Wait"
"When the Children Cry"
"Little Fighter"
"Radar Love" cover

The album you speak of is their second, called Big Game.

It burns, it burns!

rob

[Phrozen]

As far as the metal/hard rock divide, I see it as having to do somewhat with lyrical content. Some hard rock and metal bands tip toed back and forth between the line often. Early Van Halen and AC/DC on the hard rock side and Judas Priest on the metal side are prime examples.

In fact I would classify the metal genre as a sub-category of hard rock.

That is just one fans opinion though.