Its about time this forum had a dedicated power metal thread. There are enough people on here with a interest in power metal to contribute. So basically this is a place to put album and band suggestions. I`ve selected around 30 power metal albums released between the mid 1980s to the late 1990s (I do stuff in stages like a geek) to start off the thread and keep it ticking over. The albums I`ve selected are either stuff I know really well, forgotten stuff so listening again or just stuff I`ve never heard of full stop. This isn`t an album review thread as such, but just a place to chat about power metal. Most people on here are familiar with power metal and especially its cheesy aspects and either really like it or dislike it, but for those that don`t, the following below may help.
Power metal is essentially based on the fantasy themes showcased by bands such as Dio-era Rainbow and especially Iron Maiden, but also takes a lot from other NWOBHM bands as well, along with early 1980s North American a metal bands such as Anvil and Riot etc who were also influential. Probably 90% of all power metal bands have a strong Iron Maiden influence who are the most important band on the genre as a whole. Music wise the genre incorporates a huge amount of melody, along with a heavy dosage of speed metal, which gives out a powerful melodic and fast sound, full of guitar solos, great riffs and dynamic singing with fantasy style interludes, and the musicians that make-up most bands usually have the ability to pull the whole thing off. The vocals are also powerful and clean, and in the mold of metal legends such as Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford and Dio.
What makes the genre interesting, is that the North American power metal bands are somewhat distinct to the European bands (who were originally mostly from Germany) The North American version tends to be harder-edged and more riff driven than its European counterpart and usually serves as straight-up head banging material. The European version is even more melodic and usually employs keyboards to offer more diversity in its sound. Furthermore, a lot of power metal bands also employ progressive, thrash and other metal sub-genres making classification of the band more difficult (Metal Church and Nevermore etc fall into this category)
When people talk about traditional heavy metal in the mold of the 1970s and pre-1980s thrash era metal bands, Power metal is probably the sub-genre that best carries that tradition on.