New Wave of British Heavy Metal
 

The NWOBHM was without doubt one of the most important movements in the history of metal. It emerged in the late 1970`s as a reaction to the decline of traditional hard rock and metal bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, leaving music at the heavier end of the spectrum being represented mostly by bands such as AC/DC, Judas Priest and Scorpions etc. Judas Priest were essentially the flag bearers of British metal throughout the 1970`s and the NWOBHM owes so much to them.

The NWOBHM basically built from the Judas Priest sound and incorporated elements of punk and altogether gave metal a much tougher sound and image. Music wise most of the bands had great vocalists such as Paul D`Anno, Bruce Dic(K)inson and Bill Byford to name just a few, the guitar solos on most of these albums were the stuff of legend and the album covers a major image factor as well (Iron Maiden cracked that one early on) The bands image wise quickly became associated with the hard living life-style and plenty of denim, leathers and chains. This movement included bands like Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Saxon and DEF Leppard, but some of the best albums were put out by some of the lesser known bands such as Samson, Angel Witch and Diamond Head etc.

The impact of the NWOBHM was simply amazing and changed metal forever and imo the only other metal movement that has had the same impact was the San Francisco thrash movement several years later. The NWOBHM was a major influence on bands such as Metallica and Megadeth who constantly namecheck a whole host of bands from this era as influences. By the mid 1980`s the movement had seriously declined, as a most of the bigger bands had targeted a more radio friendly sound for the US market and other bands had simply failed to build upon their initial successes.

Over the next several days, I`ll put up 10 or so of the essential albums of this movement and a bit about them, but everybody feel free to post their best albums, songs and opinions etc.

actually, I'm more interested in bands that slipped under the radar like Warfare and Blitzkrieg rather than the big names (whose albums I already own nearly all of) and the seminal influential bands like Venom and Diamond Head

For that exact reason I started the thread, to talk about and review both the big bands and also THE LITTLE/FORGOTTEN ONES as well, so stop complaining;)

^^just stating my preference

What I`ll do is alternate the albums between 1 well known and 1 not very well known.

okies, you don't have to bow down to my demands

:beer:

The definitive years of the NWOBHM were 1979-1982 when nearly all the bands put out their best material, but it 1980 that was the killer year!!! The amount of great metal that came out that year is legendary. The first essential listen really needs to start with one of the best known albums and bands and that is the Iron Maiden debut and a great place to start.


The band needs no introduction but the Paul D`Anno era with the band was unforgettable, the band were raw and hungry and their later efforts never quite matched that hunger. Paul D`Anno unlike a lot of metal vocalists had a real guttural punk sound as opposed to the more soaring vocals of other metal vocalists. It was also on this album that bass player Steve Harris quickly started to emerge as the leading songwriter of the band. The album is littered with power chord tracks and sees the birth of the Iron Maiden stage favourites and epics such as Remember Tomorrow, Running Free, Phantom of the Opera and Charlotte the Harlot, but the whole track listing on the album is superb and a must hear. This ranks without a doubt as one of the bands best albums and will always be a my personal favourite from the band and no NWOBHM collection is complete without it.

White Spirit's one & only album better be on here then.

The second essential listen is this album by Samson.


Samson were headed up by guitarist Paul Samson and they released three studio albums between 1979-1982, but it is the second of those three albums Head On that was the pick of the bunch with its guitar solos and high octane feel as the band got it together over 10 songs. The biggest highlight of the album though, is Bruce Dic(k)inson on vocals in his pre-Iron Maiden days!!! He actually featured on two of these three Samson albums and Just a couple of years later he would be fronting Iron Maiden. At times this album can sound dated, but after each listen you know that you`ve listened to an essential album from the NWOBHM. Finally, the tacky and menacing album cover always reminds me of the Manhunt video-game (I`m sure video gamers will know what I talking about there;)

I was toying with the idea of putting that album on the list anyway, but now that you`ve mentioned it I may well include it. ;)