Top 20 Los Angeles Metal albums (from the LA Weekly)

ultmetal wrote:

Quiet Riot should be on a list like this as well, being one of the band's that broke heavy metal into the mainstream.

yeah & mainstream acceptance is what metal is all about, i'm sure.

ultmetal wrote:

Some good stuff on that list, but I'd probably switch out a few for Hirax, Deliverance, Stryper, Vengeance Rising, Savage Grace, Steeler and a couple others. I'd also put Van Halen's earth-shattering debut on any list of Top LA metal bands. Quiet Riot should be on a list like this as well, being one of the band's that broke heavy metal into the mainstream.

System of a Down, Tool, Avenged Sevenfold wouldn't make any list I was putting together unless it was a list of band's I don't care for.

This sounds like what I should of typed

mc666 wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

Quiet Riot should be on a list like this as well, being one of the band's that broke heavy metal into the mainstream.

yeah & mainstream acceptance is what metal is all about, i'm sure.

Alot of good and bad things happened because of "Metal Health" hitting number one in the U.S in 1983.

Dark Horseman wrote:

I just really like Countdown. RIP is the ultimate 'deth but Countdown is second in my book.

You're not alone, I really like Countdown. I also like Youthanasia which is another oft ripped 'deth album.

ultmetal wrote:

System of a Down, Tool, Avenged Sevenfold wouldn't make any list I was putting together unless it was a list of band's I don't care for.

Shawn, good call on Kyuss. Welcome to Sky Valley would have been a worthy inclusion.

Quote :

Maybe the writer wanted to point out the *other* stuff coming out of L.A. that doesn't get discussed nearly enough because people are way too hung up on glam bands.

I found the list more interesting than most because some of the lesser known stuff made it.

Which is why I would like to see the writer's list (although from this list one can probably guess he's not a fan) of what he considered the top glam/hair acts from LA. Anybody who puts Join The Army in any top list is alright by me.

Quote :

..but despite multiple attempts most of my friends just scratched their heads in confusion when I played those bands for them.

This was even stranger for me when alternative radio picked up on Tool and later QOTSA then suddenly these same people couldn't get enough of them. Or at least they didn't act like "turn that sh*t off" any longer. I have a buddy who literally will not listen to anything unless it gets played on the radio.

S.D. wrote:

In the early 90s two of my favorite bands were Tool and Kyuss. They were completely different from one another, but what they did have in common (aside from both being L.A. bands) was that most of my "metal-only" friends couldn't stand either group. I remember being really surprised by that...especially with Kyuss because they were HEAVY...but despite multiple attempts most of my friends just scratched their heads in confusion when I played those bands for them.

I fixed the problem by moving across the country to attend college and getting new friends.

I like Kyuss. I've tried to get into Tool, but something about them doesn't trip my trigger.

mc666 wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

Quiet Riot should be on a list like
this as well, being one of the band's that broke heavy metal into the
mainstream.

yeah & mainstream acceptance is what metal is all about, i'm sure.

Never said heavy metal was all about mainstream acceptance. However, in my opinion "Metal Health" was an important album in the history of heavy metal. Like them or not, the album was a huge influence on the genre at the time. Also a ton of great albums saw release on major labels once the big labels saw that heavy metal was marketable.

Frankly, I just think it's a kick-ass album.

i think its kinda silly to deny the hair metal history that LA has. While the list may or may not intentionally being trying to do that is up for conjecture, the impact hair metal had on LA is not.

ultmetal wrote:

mc666 wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

Quiet Riot should be on a list like
this as well, being one of the band's that broke heavy metal into the
mainstream.

yeah & mainstream acceptance is what metal is all about, i'm sure.

Never
said heavy metal was all about mainstream acceptance. However, in my
opinion "Metal Health" was an important album in the history of heavy
metal. Like them or not, the album was a huge
influence on the genre at the time. Also a ton of great albums saw release on
major labels once the big labels saw that heavy metal was marketable.

i like that album myself. i guess i just misunderstood your statement.

Good list but Hell Awaits, Suicidal Tendencies ST debut and Killing is my Business were better than some of those bands later releases. I would also include Kill Em All as those songs were written while Metallica were still an L.A band

Boris2008 wrote:

Good list but Hell Awaits, Suicidal Tendencies ST debut and Killing is my Business were better than some of those bands later releases. I would also include Kill Em All as those songs were written while Metallica were still an L.A band

What Newbie said^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^!!!!!!

I saw Metallica in El Lay about a dozen times before they migrated north. If I remember correcty, they played pretty much all the songs that were on the original release of "Kill 'em All" Slayer wore make up back then, so they were kinda/sorta an image band as much as Crue was. Just sayin

James B. wrote:

Just sayin

No Slayer fan here, as previously stated about 1700 posts and growing.... But, WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? MC666 is gping to tear you a new one verbally about that statement!!!! Be afraid. Be Very Af....ahhhhhh

Wurthless wrote:

I'm pleasantly surprised Cirith Ungol made the list.

Beowulf too.

S.D. wrote:

In the early 90s two of my favorite bands were Tool and Kyuss. They were completely different from one another, but what they did have in common (aside from both being L.A. bands) was that most of my "metal-only" friends couldn't stand either group. I remember being really surprised by that...especially with Kyuss because they were HEAVY...but despite multiple attempts most of my friends just scratched their heads in confusion when I played those bands for them.

I fixed the problem by moving across the country to attend college and getting new friends.

Never be surprised when traditional metal people dont like bands like TOOL or KYUSS, its just not our style.

S.D. wrote:

In the early 90s two of my favorite bands were Tool and Kyuss. They were completely different from one another, but what they did have in common (aside from both being L.A. bands) was that most of my "metal-only" friends couldn't stand either group. I remember being really surprised by that...especially with Kyuss because they were HEAVY...but despite multiple attempts most of my friends just scratched their heads in confusion when I played those bands for them.

I fixed the problem by moving across the country to attend college and getting new friends.

BAH! You fixed nothing. Tool still sucks!

I haven't listened to Tool since probably 1996, I enjoyed them "at the time" but their music does absolutely nothing for me now.

I still love listening to Kyuss occasionally though.

The years I actually listened to "traditional metal" were essentially 1982 to 1987 or so, by the end of the 80s I was either concentrating on more extreme underground stuff or starting to explore other genres of music because I was completely burnt out on trad metal.

S.D. wrote:

I haven't listened to Tool since probably 1996, I enjoyed them "at the time" but their music does absolutely nothing for me now.

I still love listening to Kyuss occasionally though.

The years I actually listened to "traditional metal" were essentially 1982 to 1987 or so, by the end of the 80s I was either concentrating on more extreme underground stuff or starting to explore other genres of music because I was completely burnt out on trad metal.

I understand your point. I started listening to heavy metal back in 1990 and never stopped but i also always liked death/black metal (without modern influences or melodic female vocals in the mix), thrash metal, hard rock, glam/sleazy metal or white metal thats why i never burn out because in my collection i have a lot of types of metal and hard rock. Take care.

Playing guitar changed my listening habits alot as well (got my first guitar in 1986). I knew too many friends that couldn't play anything if you took their distortion pedals away...I'd say "play something clean" and the blank stare would follow...or they'd play the intro to Fade To Black.

I made a conscious effort to listen to guitarists from as many different styles as I could and try to emulate that, because I didn't want to be a "metal guitarist" I wanted to be a "Guitarist". The music I explored because of that really affected how my listening habits would evolve over the next 20 years.

S.D. wrote:

Playing guitar changed my listening habits alot as well (got my first guitar in 1986). I knew too many friends that couldn't play anything if you took their distortion pedals away...I'd say "play something clean" and the blank stare would follow...or they'd play the intro to Fade To Black.

I made a conscious effort to listen to guitarists from as many different styles as I could and try to emulate that, because I didn't want to be a "metal guitarist" I wanted to be a "Guitarist". The music I explored because of that really affected how my listening habits would evolve over the next 20 years.

Okay, thats explains a lot. I never played guitar and i just only listen to metal and hard rock since i was 14. Thats what i like and thats whats make me happy, thats why i never explore diferent type of music.