Girlschool: Hit and Run (1981)

I am not really sure why it is that Girlschool has never really broken through to the mainstream.  It seems to me that an all-female metal band would have made some big waves.  I suppose it is quite likely that the band was viewed as some sort of gimmick, even though Girlschool had the chops to show that they were absolutely for real.  Maybe they formed too early.  Metal unfortunately has a bit of a history of not being the most open-minded and inclusive of genres, though it has come a very long way now.  It certainly did not start that way and Girlschool formed during the height of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, certainly early on in the genre's history.  So I guess maybe the metal world was not quite ready for Girlschool.  But they were undeniably important in the history of women in metal. 

This is Girlschool's second full-length release, and my first real exposure to the band.  The sound is certainly interesting.  Given that it came out in 1981 it is not shocking that this is not the heaviest of metal bands.  They do sound a great deal like Motörhead, with the same kind of dirty, booze-fueled, rollicking riff style.  They have a bit more of a punk energy though and the vocals are clearly more punk-derived than metal, particularly with the shouted choruses and occasional gang vocals.  The riffs are often rooted in blues, which is not unusual given the time period.  It is very clear that the band was having a damn good time recording the album and this is the kind of thing that would be fun to hear in a dive bar.  It just sort of fits.

Any complaints that I have are kind of nitpicky.  The production is not great, but it does give the band an unrefined feel to the music which does fit well.  Otherwise, there is one point in the song "Yeah Right" where there is a brief sort of skit where the band members are defying rules and talking back to some authority figure or other.  I fucking hate those skits in songs.  Glam bands did it a lot, particularly Van Halen and Slaughter.  It really fucking annoys me.  This one is not as bad, because at least it's short.

Girlschool probably should have been huge.  I guess one of the big problems was that the band was blossoming when the NWOBHM was sort of on its way out and they tried to adapt to the glam sound, which they sort of failed at.  What is impressive though is that the band is still around, becoming the longest active all-female band in rock, not just metal.  That is certainly impressive.

Iron Maiden: No Prayer for the Dying (1990)

I remember being disappointed when I heard Iron Maiden's Fear of the Dark.  Not because I had been a long-time fan and their sound on that album was a departure from what I was used to.  No, Fear of the Dark was actually the first Iron Maiden album I ever heard.  I was familiar with the name, but not the band.  It was considerably lighter than I thought it would be.  Keep in mind that my first exposure to metal was with thrash metal bands like Metallica and Megadeth.  So Iron Maiden's much more melodic take on metal caught me by surprise.  I eventually grew to love the album, songs like "Be Quick or Be Dead", "Judas Be My Guide", and of course the title track are all terrific.  And eventually I started checking out the band's earlier material.  Of course as I did that, my feelings for the first Iron Maiden album I ever heard lessened significantly. 

It took a long time for me to get around to the album immediately preceding Fear of the Dark because it is a generally poorly-received album and because of its proximity to Fear of the Dark.  The other reason is that the big hit from the album is "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter", which has never been a particular favorite of mine.  In fact, I really do not care for the song much at all.  It is a little too mainstream pop-metal for me.  So it was with trepidation that I finally took the plunge on the album.  I was more concerned with filling holes than really getting into the release.

The album really is not that bad.  I do not think it is as good as Fear of the Dark, and of course it does not even come close to the album that preceded it, the masterpiece Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, arguably Iron Maiden's finest album.  This is quite the letdown from that album.  This album is very much a safe album.  It does not really push anything, the songs are all fine, with the exception of the aforementioned "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" and "Hooks in You", which are both pretty terrible.  The problem is that there really is no standout.  As I said, there is just nothing really here that comes close to any of the band's prior legacy.  It is almost like an Iron Maiden tribute band.

The other issue is the lackluster performances by the band members.  Bruce Dickinson, he of the air-raid siren, operatic vocals in the past, just sounds tired and bored.  He is trying some edgier vocals this time around, but there is not a lot of feeling behind them.  Steve Harris, whose bass rhythms have been the primary driving force behind the band, just is not doing anything terribly interesting, and his songwriting suffers as a result.  The guitar solos do not grab the attention of the listener as they have in the past.  The result is an album that sounds sort of rushed and more of a cash-in than a heartfelt, creative Iron Maiden release.

Honestly this is not a bad album, but it absolutely pales in comparison to the band's prior releases and comes up incredibly short next to the album that came just before it.  It is a disappointment.  But damn if it does not have a cool album cover.

Tank: Tank (1987)

If you pay close attention while watching the latest season of Netflix's Stranger Things, during a scene in Billy's room, a poster for Tank can be seen on the wall.  This is a little unusual due to the fact that Tank never really garnered much of a following in the United States.  The NWOBHM band released some great albums in the early part of the 1980's and eventually disbanded for the first time in the late 1980's.  The band eventually split into two bands, both calling themselves Tank and claiming to be the rightful band. 

This self-titled release was the last full-length album by Tank before calling it quits the first time and finds the band softening their previously raw, Motörhead-influenced sound.  What results is a much more mainstream-sounding Tank.  With the increased melodic tendencies, Tank sounds more like mid-1980's Judas Priest or Accept with songs that would not sound out of place on hard rock radio of the time period.

Some of the best songs on the album are "With Your Life", with its infectious sing-along chorus and the doom-laden "It Fell from the Sky".  Many of the lyrics, particularly on the latter song and on "(The Hell They Must) Suffer", are heavy, dealing with the horrors of war.  Others, like "The Enemy Below" are more tongue-in-cheek, likely dealing with sexual conquest.

The only real negative thing I have to say about this is the inclusion of one of my pet peeves on "March On, Sons of Nippon".  That is one of those ridiculous spoken-word "skits" in the middle of the song.  These were particularly prevalent in the 1980's and they drive me fucking nuts.  I hate them.

Other than that one issue, this is a damn good release by Tank.  The band was never one of the top NWOBHM bands, but they did churn out some damn good music.  This is not one of their better releases, but it is still quite good.

Iron Maiden: Live After Death (1985)

One of my wife's favorite movies is Rock of Ages, which is a musical with an ensemble cast and featuring all rock songs from the 1980's.  As a result, I have seen it a number of times.  In one part, the female lead and the male lead are discussing rock albums and the female lead says that her all-time favorite album is a live album by this fictional band.  That has always struck me as kind of odd.  I have personally never cared all that much for live albums, but maybe I have been listening to the wrong ones.  There are a few live albums that are considered absolute metal classics.  Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East is one and this is another.

There is a reason that Iron Maiden continues to sell out large arenas despite the fact that they receive very little radio or television play.  They are without a doubt, a terrific live act.  I saw them finally a couple of years ago when they made their way into Nebraska.  Their explosive live performance shines through extremely well on this album.  The songs are all performed with a lot of energy and sound great live.  There are some minor issues with some instruments being a little too loud in the mix compared to others, but that is not that big of a deal.

This is a somewhat early release, so the songs are limited to those on the band's first five albums.  There are some questionable choices here.  It is not terribly likely that Iron Maiden will be breaking out the 13-minute long epic "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" too often nowadays.  It is a good song, just not terribly conducive to a concert.  And then there is the closing track "Phantom of the Opera", which is not a song I would have thought would have been a closer in a concert.  There is obviously some editing going on on the release and different versions have songs in different orders so maybe it was not the closing song.

The only complaint that I have is that Bruce Dickinson was having a little bit of a bad night.  He is not quite able to hit some of the incredible high notes that he did on the album versions.  This is particularly obvious in songs like "Aces High" and "Powerslave".  He avoids this issue by doing a little bit more of a hoarse yell that actually fits in well with the music.

There is a reason this is one of the consensus greatest live albums of all time.  Iron Maiden does a fantastic live performance and it comes through quite well here.  I still would not consider this a favorite Iron Maiden album, but it is damn good.  Maybe I will check out that Judas Priest album next.

Diamond Head: Borrowed Time (1982)

The great Diamond Head was one of the primary influences on Metallica in the early days.  We know this because Metallica's covers album Garage Inc. featured FOUR Diamond Head cover songs.  All of those songs appeared on Diamond Head's classic album Lightning to the Nations (though one is also on this album).  I have that album and was recently curious to check out some of the band's lesser-known material.  Which brings me to this, the NWOBHM band's second album.

This album finds Diamond Head going in more of a hard rock direction on a number of the songs.  There are still definitely some head-bangers on this release, including the re-recording of "Am I Evil?", which is the aforementioned song covered by Metallica that appears on both Diamond Head albums.  There is also "In the Heat of the Night" and "To Heaven from Hell".  But many of the other songs are a little softer and not as riff-driven.  That by no means suggests that they are bad or that the band was going in a direction similar to another NWOBHM band whose sound softened in an effort to appeal to the masses (ahem, Def Leppard).  "Call Me" is the most straightforward rock song here and it really showcases Sean Harris's impressive pipes, which have improved quite a bit since the last album.

"Am I Evil?" is not the only song to appear on both of these Diamond Head albums.  "Lightning to the Nations" is another song that is repeated here.  I do not really know why these songs appear on both albums.  Perhaps the band was not happy with the way they sounded on the previous album.  Maybe this album was not meant to be a full-length and the band had to pad it.  Whatever the reason, two songs appear on both albums.  That makes "Am I Evil?" the best song to appear on two different Diamond Head albums. 

On the other side, "Don't You Ever Leave Me" seems to go on forever and turns into more of a blues/rock tune that has been done pretty much to death.  It reminds me very much of that Jon Bon Jovi Christmas song that had Cindy Crawford in the video.  It just gets kind of irritating the longer it goes on.  Thankfully, it leads into "Am I Evil?".

I like this album a fair bit, but not really anywhere close to as much as I enjoy Lightning to the Nations.  That album is a landmark in the NWOBHM scene.  This one, for all of its good qualities, is more of an afterthought.  And I can't really say that there is anything wrong with that.  The best songs on the album were on the previous album and most of the rest of the songs sound like filler more than anything. 

Poll: Favorite NWOBHM Album

I am experimenting here with a poll along the right side of the blog. Please vote for your favorite NWOBHM album. I have listed the six that I like the most, if you choose "Other" please comment in this post what it is.

I have been getting into more and more NWOBHM music. I do have my own opinion but I will not vote.