Dave's top 50 best NWoBHM songs... AND NUMBER ONE IS....

Diamond Head - It's Electric
"Lightning to the Nations" LP

Now THIS was a hard choice! Diamond Head's debut LP is pretty much flawless, but in the end it's the punchy It's Electric that I like the most. With that said, any song off of Lightning to the Nations could be in the list. The song is hardly progressive or complex, but man does it ROCK! There's not a whole lot to say here, only that early Diamond Head is amazing, and so is this song.

I discovered this band like I suspect alot of folks did, thru Metallica's cover versions, and I discovered later than most since I did not own any of Metallica's B Sides and the first time I heard any Diamond Head song was on my vinyl copy of ' Garage Days Re-Revisited', I have no idea how I missed them the first time around but grateful for Metallica for introducing them to me.

Dave the Boss wrote:

Since we're halfway, time for a short recap:

50. Shy - Tonight
49. Hollow Ground - Fight with the Devil
48. Jaguar - Backstreet Woman
47. Black Axe - Red Lights
46. Def Leppard - Wasted
45. Dark Star - Lady of Mars
44. Fist - Name, Rank & Serial Number
43. Marquis de Sade - Somewhere Up in the Mountains
42. Girl - My Number
41. Crucifixion - The Fox
40. Goldsmith - Life is Killing Me
39. Holocaust - Heavy Metal Mania
38. Raven - Don't Need Your Money
37. Demon - One Helluva Night
36. Gaskin - I'm No Fool
35. Samson - Riding with the Angels
34. Soldier - Sheralee
33. Ethel the Frog - Fight Back
32. Tokyo Blade - Night of the Blade
31. Sparta - Tonight
30. Blitzkrieg - Blitzkrieg
29. Quartz - Stand Up and Fight
28. Scarab - Poltergeist
27. Saxon - And the Bands played on
26. Tank - Heavy Artillery
25. A II Z - I'm the One Who Loves You

From that list I have albums by only 11 and they were hard to find even back then. I would really dig going on a vinyl run through Europe

excelent thread and I appreciate the youtube clips alot. Reading about new tunes is great in itself, but putting some ears to them is alot better.

Dave the Boss wrote:

38. Raven - Dont't Need Your Money
"Don't Need Your Money" 7" single, "Rock Until You Drop" LP

Unfortunately my knowledge of this classic band is fairly limited, as I'm only really familiar with their first LP, the classic Rock Until You Drop. This LP features one of the NWoBHM finest moment's if you ask me, as Don't Need Your Money is an amazing song in the vein of Motörhead (although the vocals aren't as raw as Lemmy's). There's not a whole lot to say here: this is just NWoBHM at its finest. Another toetapping heavy rock classic.

Raven rule! One of my favorite bands. Don't Need Your Money is a great choice off the underrated Rock Until You Drop. I can't believe you don't know some of their other great albums from this era. Wiped Out, All For One, Crash Band Wallop EP are all essential.

Diamond Head prove that you don't have to be super technical to write some great songs.

ultmetal wrote:

Dave the Boss wrote:

38. Raven - Dont't Need Your Money
"Don't Need Your Money" 7" single, "Rock Until You Drop" LP

Unfortunately my knowledge of this classic band is fairly limited, as I'm only really familiar with their first LP, the classic Rock Until You Drop. This LP features one of the NWoBHM finest moment's if you ask me, as Don't Need Your Money is an amazing song in the vein of Motörhead (although the vocals aren't as raw as Lemmy's). There's not a whole lot to say here: this is just NWoBHM at its finest. Another toetapping heavy rock classic.

Raven rule! One of my favorite bands. Don't Need Your Money is a great choice off the underrated Rock Until You Drop. I can't believe you don't know some of their other great albums from this era. Wiped Out, All For One, Crash Band Wallop EP are all essential.

I should pick up some more Raven stuff when I'm less strapped for cash. They're pretty much the only famous band to have come out of the NWoBHM that I'm not really familiar with.

23. Iron Maiden - Prowler
"Iron Maiden" LP

Remember I said that the Diamond Head choice was hard? Well, this was even harder. The first two Maiden albums are two of my favorite albums of all time, and I love the rest of their 80s output as well. So after much consideration I went with Prowler, the opening track on Maiden's debut album. This song is a monster, pure and simple! From the opening riff til the end, it's just awesome all the way through.



From now on it'll mostly be obscure or stuff. I think I'll have another song up later tonight.

Dave the Boss you need to check it out Raven, 'All for One' 'Live in the Inferno' and 'Wiped Out' are all essential Raven platters, also in a few days Freddy is going to begin his Raven Discography thread.

manny wrote:

Dave the Boss you need to check it out Raven, 'All for One' 'Live in the Inferno' and 'Wiped Out' are all essential Raven platters, also in a few days Freddy is going to begin his Raven Discography thread.

Alright cool, I'll check out the discography thread then. If the other albums are like the first LP I'm sure it'll be right up my alley.

Wiped Out for sure is in the same vein as Rock Til You Drop, as is the Crash Band Wallop EP. I think the band was a bit more refined for All For One, but the style really didn't change. Perhaps the recording technique was the big difference. Those first two albums were basically recorded live on a shoestring budget, but All for One was recorded with the mighty Udo Dirkschneider at the helm.

Live At the Inferno is just an intense live album. One of the best to come from any NWOBHM band, including Iron Maiden.

22. Desolation Angels - Fury
"Fury" demo, "Feels Like Thunder" box set

Ah yes, the mighty Desolation Angels. Although these guys formed in 1980, they didn't get round to releasing a 7" single in 1984, which was followed by the amazing selftitled debut album in 1986. In the late 80s they moved to LA to make it big, which failed unfortunately.

Although the debut album is a classic, their finest song is on their 1987 five track demo tape Fury: the song Fury. This song just epitomizes METAL. Every single part of the song is simply skullcrushing, from the opening riff to sir Dave Wall's commanding Vocals to the blasting rhythm section. I still can't believe these guys never really got anywhere.

Last year a four disc box set was released, with studio demos, an unreleased LP, rehearsal tracks and live stuff. If you can still find a copy: DO IT. You absolutely won't regret it. The Feels Like Thunder box set features a whopping 54 tracks of pure heavy metal, and everything sounds just great. There's no crappy hissy recordings to be found here. Recommended listening for everyone that loves their metal loud and damn heavy!

The song isn't on youtube, but it is on Desolation Angels' myspace page:

http://www.myspace.com/desolationangeluk

NO!! KILLERS! THE SONG!

I just don't like Paul's voice that much. Some decent songs but i'm a Bruce fan.

Jesusandmetal23 wrote:

NO!! KILLERS! THE SONG!

Yeah, I was thinking of Killers... and Phantom of the Opera... and Burning Ambition... and Charlotte the Harlot... and Hallowed be thy Name... and Murders in the Rue Morgue... and etc. etc. etc.

No comments on the Desolation Angels song? Next one will be up soonish.

21. Persian Risk – Ridin’ High
“Ridin’ High” 7” single

Up next is Persian Risk, who featured Motörhead’s current guitarist Phil Campbell back in the early 80s. Their sound is nothing like Motörhead’s though, as they have more in common with NWoBHM contemporaries than with Motörhead. That said, they were a pretty good band, and released more stuff (including a full length album, which unfortunately I’ve never heard) than a lot of other bands that will be featured later on. So, what is so good about this particular song? Well… everything! The song is very much an uptempo track (not quite speed metal though), features awesome vocals and some pretty nifty guitar work. The galloping riffs are catchy as hell, and the chorus is actually pretty pop-sounding. If you like hook laden heavy metal, played the old fashioned way, I can’t imagine you won’t like Persian Risk.

Et voila, here's another one:

20. Race Against Time – Harbinger of Death“Demo 1981”

NOW we’re talking obscure! Race Against Time were a three piece outfit from the Midlands, and never got round to releasing more than a three song demo, but what a demo it is! This three song scorcher features unique vocals, a weird rhythm section and some pretty unusual riffs (just check out the song Bedtime if you can find a rip of the demo… it doesn’t get much weirder and sleazier than that!). However, the best song on the demo is definitely Harbinger of Death. This song would probably be the result if both Rush and Black Sabbath would be committed to a mental institution and were forced to cooperate on a record. Sounds weird? Well… yeah! I could talk about this song for a while… but what the hell, just listen to it yourself. Unfortunately, the only rip I found on Youtube was a pretty crappy version of this song. The rip that I have of the full demo sounds a LOT better than this one, so if you’re interested, just send me a PM.
A member of Race Against Time would later on play in one of the finest NWoBHM bands… but we’ll come to that later.

Never head Persian Risk before, good song.

19. Witchfinder General – Friends of Hell
"Friends of Hell” LP

Again, here it was a pretty hard to choose which song to feature. Witchfinder General released two amazing full length albums, a fantastic EP and a killer single in the early 80s. Overall I prefer their first LP, the mighty Death Penalty, but their best song is by far the mighty Friends of Hell. My God, does this song rule! It starts off all slow and creepy, before turning into an uptempo Sabbathical rocker. Then it slows down again. This is by far the best part of the song. When Zeeb Parkes sings the “They sold their souls to Satan…” part and Phil Cope plays that lead guitar part… pure heaven! Then out of the blue he plays one of their finest riffs ever. This song just devastates, pure and simple. Hail the Witchfinder!

Unfortunately the only version I could find on Youtube is the live version off of the Live '83 LP. It's kinda rough, but it's still pretty damn heavy.

18. Virtue – We Stand to Fight
“We Stand To Fight” 7”

Virtue were another pretty obscure NWoBHM band, as their only releases are a 7” single (the We Stand To Fight single) and a three song demo tape. But again, both of their releases are absolutely perfect. In the end I decided to go with the A-side off of their single. They definitely have a Maiden thing going on, but Virtue were far from a simple clone. The twin guitar are there, the vocals are commanding as all hell, the rhythm section blasts its way through the song… and man, is it catchy! It’s got hooks the size of a whale, but it still manages to be very heavy. It could best be described as a kinda proto-power metal sound now that I think about it. Virtue rules!

17. Bashful Alley – Running Blind
“Running Blind” 7” single

Yes, more obscure stuff this time. Bashful Alley weren’t exactly one of the most prolific bands of the NWoBHM movement, but they certainly were one of the better ones. If I recall correctly, they only released this 7” single and a demo tape (although a compilation disc was released a couple of years back, but since this wasn’t released during their original run, I’m not going to count that). The A-side on their first and only single Running Blind is one of those definitive NWoBHM hymns that you just have to have had heard. It starts off all mellow and soft, before turning into a classic up tempo heavy rock song, bearing that all too familiar sound a lot of NWoBHM bands had. So what makes this song so special? The hooks! Simply put, they’re huge, and I dare you to keep still during this song. It’s just too damn infectious. Classic NWoBHM all the way.

I will have to check out Bashful Alley and Virtue when I get home but enjoyed the Witchfinder General.

Dave the Boss wrote:

manny wrote:

Dave the Boss you need to check it out Raven, 'All for One' 'Live in the Inferno' and 'Wiped Out' are all essential Raven platters, also in a few days Freddy is going to begin his Raven Discography thread.

Alright cool, I'll check out the discography thread then. If the other albums are like the first LP I'm sure it'll be right up my alley.

D-T-Boss, my Raven discography thread is up and running and includes a multitude of YouTubes for each album thus far (I'm up to ALL FOR ONE as of this morning)... so stop on by!

Fat Freddy wrote:

Dave the Boss wrote:

manny wrote:

Dave the Boss you need to check it out Raven, 'All for One' 'Live in the Inferno' and 'Wiped Out' are all essential Raven platters, also in a few days Freddy is going to begin his Raven Discography thread.

Alright cool, I'll check out the discography thread then. If the other albums are like the first LP I'm sure it'll be right up my alley.

D-T-Boss, my Raven discography thread is up and running and includes a multitude of YouTubes for each album thus far (I'm up to ALL FOR ONE as of this morning)... so stop on by!

Cool. I'll check 'em out in a second.

@ manny: glad to hear you enjoyed the Witchfinder General song. The next reviews will be up pretty soonish.

And look what we've got here:

16. Blind Fury – Do it Loud
“Out of Reach” LP

Blind Fury was the result of ex-Angel Witch and ex-Satan members forming a new band. However, Angel Witch mainman Kevin Heybourne quit the band before a full album could be released, and the line up that recorded this LP was basically Satan with a different singer. Vocalist Lou Taylor’s voice is amazing, and he delivers some damn commanding vocals on the entire LP. The style of metal Blind Fury played is kind of hard to describe: it’s rooted in the Maiden tradition, but it’s more technical and sounds more American so to say. The riffs are just amazing, and are amazingly technical. It was really hard to choose a song from Out of Reach, Blind Fury’s first and only full length recording, as every single song is a classic (just check out Dance of the Crimson Lady… wow), but I went with Do it Loud and then just because of the impression it leaves. Just listen to that classic drumroll in the beginning. It still amazes me why these guys didn’t get any bigger. Proto power metal at its finest.

15. Elixir – Children of Tomorrow
“The Son of Odin” LP

Elixir is one of those more old NWoBHM bands that aren’t exactly huge or anything, but are kind of well known in the underground. After The Son of Odin, their 1986 debut album, they kept on releasing full lengths, but unfortunately none could match the sheer awesomeness of this monster album. Again, every single song is a classic. From the melodic speed metal of Treachery to the stomping, almost doom, heaviness of the title track. However, Children of Tomorrow is in my opinion their most memorable track. Just listen to that opening riff! And what about that majestic chorus? And those solos… damn! I can’t imagine anyone that loves their heavy metal heavy and melodic not digging this album… let alone Children of Tomorrow! With The Son of Odin, Elixir were at the top of their game, and released an album for the ages.

Awesome to hear all these NWOBHM tunes and see some old footage too! Some classics for sure and theres some bands I didn't know. Great top 50 so far.