Generally Unknown Bands of the 1980's That Played METAL

That was the one I had. Gonna have to search around for a cheap cd copy. I'm thinking about 1989 right?

 

Are you guys talking about the Riverdogs as in Rob Lamothe on vocals & songwriter, with Vivian Campbell on guitar (on their first album)?

If so - one of my favorite bands ever! Rob is an incredible singer, what a voice, and he writes unbelievably great, melodic, soulful songs, and when his songs get translated to hard rock (my passion) it's nirvana for me. Vivian Campbell's guitar is all over that first album, growling like crazy, but it is Rob's songs and voice that makes it. The next Riverdogs albums (without Viv) have some tremendous songs too. All of that is about as far from hairband fare as you can get. I wouldn't call it "metal" though. Hard rock yes, but not metal per se. But that is in the ear of the beholder I guess.

 

Yes that is the band. Hard to categorize. And I did comment that it was NOT the typical hairband fare of that era.

 

I waxed poetic about that album in the thread below last year btw. People curious about Riverdogs should read this (has links to songs included) as I think I wrote a review that pretty much nails it (but then I would say that).

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...-hard-rock-thread.365301/page-4#post-10727324

One of my all time favorite records (and bands). In there I also reviewed their sans-Vivian followup, the "Absolutely Live" album (with a bunch of new songs).

To quote my own fan-mania opening:
"Continuing my quest to spread the word about great heavy/hard rock with melodic underbellies...time to turn back the clock to 1990. Perhaps the greatest, most melodic, hard rock album recorded in the entire history of melodic hard rock albums (yes that is total hype but it's the way I feel, and if you dig hard rock with great songs, smoking guitar, one of the best vocalists ever, you need to hear this). ..."

 

yeah i think its 1991. the next album, self titled, is great too but has robert mason on vocals instead of oni logan. smoke and mirrors and sun red sun are good too. those are the bands 2 newest full length albums with oni logan back on vocals.

 

'90.
http://www.discogs.com/sell/item/70055607
$6.25 with shipping cheap enough for you?
Though I'm sure you could find it in the bins somewhere for less than that. Not a popular release. I much prefer his work with Dokken. I may be one of the hundred in the world that actually like "Breaking the Chains". I have the original Carrere LP with the original mixes and different songs. Interesting listen, Lynch claims he really likes the guitar sound on it.

 

They just re-released Slave Raider, no better time to get into them. The second album isn't compressed, an odd thing for a re-master, but the first album..... find it on vinyl. The second album is better, but the first one hits home with me more. The original CD's go for a a**load of money. The first one about $100 or more and the second one is only about $40 and up in decent condition.

http://tribunalrecords.bigcartel.com/product/slave-raider-what-do-you-know-about-rock-n-roll

 

I'd be one of those hundred, too. I have the original Carrere LP also. I was first turned onto Dokken from a Carrere sampler that had them, Saxon (who I had heard of), Demon, and Rage. I'm too lazy to look it up, but was this Demon the same band that did The Plague ?

 

Man, their first three albums are AWESOME!

 

Sal Italiano?

 

There are 65 million people in the UK and they sold millions of records. Hardly "generally unknown".

 

Aye. That be him.

 

Cool!

 

Yes. He's an amazing singer/songwriter. Did some solo stuff, too. Answers his own email, too, if you ever feel the urge to reach out. Very nice guy.

 

But mostly unknown here in the states - as I said - "They were at the forefront of the NWOBHM and fairly successful in the UK (I think) but remain(ed) largely unknown here in the USA."

 

Yeah, I agree. I have had some cool contacts with him.

 

I love Sun Red Sun - that album got me back into them! I had written Lynch mob off after the execrable Smoke This (1999) which was nu metal/rap garbage to my ears.

The "Deluxe Edition" of Sun Red Sun (2014) includes the 4 track Sound Mountain Sessions EP which is also great. Something to keep in mind if searching it out though is that there is also a metal band with that name that has a self-titled album out from '95, which is not the same thing. Lynch Mob's wikipedia page even incorrectly links to the band Sun Red Sun if you click on the 2014 album title.

Wicked Sensations (Lynch Mob's first and probably my favorite) came out in 1990 btw.

 

So I'm guessing you weren't a metal fan at the time, or not a serious fan? While most of these bands weren't big, they weren't exactly unknown. Aside from Slave Raider and Zodiac Mindwarp (who, as noted, weren't really metal) I can't imagine anyone who was serious about metal not having at least heard of all these bands. And even those whose fandom didn't go beyond reading Circus and MTV would've heard of Keel and Loudness, who got a fair bit of press at the time.

 

Dwarr — one man outfit put out one doom metal album — Animals

 

Leather

 

Not true. Maybe you weren't around then, but Saxon were played all the time on MTV when the channel started. (It's how I discovered them).

They also opened for Iron Maiden when they first broke big. I'm pretty sure the Power And The Glory album went gold. They've been touring the clubs in the States for over 30 years now, selling out all the time. (A little band called Metallica opened for them when they sold out the Whiskey)

 

In my experience they remain an huge unknown to people over here. Out of all the hardrock/metal fans I know - around 50 to 100 - only even ONE of them knows anything about Saxon. I've even tried to turn people onto them, to no avail ("Saxon? Who? Never heard of 'em, they must suck" kind of responses).

And to the general populace - well practically nobody over here knows them at all. Oddly enough I just mentioned them at work to someone yesterday, who is about 60 years old but still goes to shows, and knows the "popular" heavy bands like AC/DC, Van Halen, Iron Maiden, etc, and he never heard of Saxon!

I only got turned onto them myself because I saw them open for Rush in the '80's. If I was not at that show, maybe I might have got turned onto them now thanks to places like this forum, but in general, Saxon have been a big unknown over here in my experience. As far as them touring, headline USA tours have been rare afaik, or at least spotty (missing markets like Philadelphia), and only at the small club level, apart from them opening for some bands in the '80s. They just recently played here, and the closest they even played to Philadelphia was a dive bar in the Reading area. That they played the Whiskey back in the day is cool, but that hardly makes them a big name. That's great if your experience differs from mine, maybe I'm wrong, I think they deserve a lot more success than I've seen them get in these parts. I would love to see them headline somewhere but they don't seem to get any gigs around here. Thus to me, they are, and were, a generally unknown metal band.

I was around back then, but never saw them on MTV, or if I did, I must've changed the channel! Bad on me...