Virgin Steele - any fans?

I have known about Virgin Steele for years, but I never bothered to buy anything by them. They appeared to be a poor man's Manowar to me so I never investigated further. Well late last year I got their second album Guardians of the Flame and enjoyed it and decided to pick up some other albums.

Yestereday the SPV reissues of Noble Savage and Age of Consent arrived in the mail and I have been spinning those. My question is what was this band trying to accomplish? They have completely Epic tracks like We Rule The Night, Noble Savage and The Burning of Rome, but they also have complete glam-fests like Seventeen, Rock Me and The Evil In Her Eyes. What the heck???

Now, I think they are pretty good at both styles but the albums are kind of jarring with abrupt stylistic shifts from song to song. They also layer on cheesey keyboards and some absurdly histrionic vocals at times. Also, I think David DeFies is completely nuts with all his rambling about Barbaric Romantic in the liner notes. He also doesn't follow any kind of rules for capitalization that you and I are familiar with. Bizarre.

So, any other fans of this zany band?

My first Virgin Steele was House Of Atreus Part I. An epic, ambitious concept album. Image my surprise when I got Age Of Consent. I like all the styles they throw out there. They're certainly never boring. I have the Anniversary reissues of Noble Savage and Life Among The Ruins. Those are some nice sets. Wish they would do their whole discography.

jstate wrote:

My first Virgin Steele was House Of Atreus Part I.  An epic, ambitious concept album.  Image my surprise when I got Age Of Consent.  I like all the styles they throw out there.  They're certainly never boring.  I have the Anniversary reissues of Noble Savage and Life Among The Ruins.  Those are some nice sets.  Wish they would do their whole discography.

I still need to get Life Among The Ruins - which I hear sounds like Whitesnake?!

A lot of their lighter songs sound like they could be played over the end credits of an 80s action movie. I am thinking something like Iron Eagle.

I actually have not heard their earlier albums so I can't comment, but a lot of fans seem to think their '80s albums were inconsistent and that they improved by leaps and bounds in the '90s once they found their niche. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, House of Atreus and Invictus are their most celebrated albums, so maybe check those out if you want to hear their "golden era." Very epic power-metal, like a slightly less silly Manowar.

They're a little too bombastic for my tastes. I like a few songs well enough though.

arachnoplasma wrote:

I actually have not heard their earlier albums so I can't comment, but a lot of fans seem to think their '80s albums were inconsistent and that they improved by leaps and bounds in the '90s once they found their niche. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, House of Atreus and Invictus are their most celebrated albums, so maybe check those out if you want to hear their "golden era." Very epic power-metal, like a slightly less silly Manowar.

They're a little too bombastic for my tastes. I like a few songs well enough though.

Cool. I'll check out a couple of their newer albums too.

I have Age of Consent, and it's unfocused as you describe. However Marriage of Heaven and Hell (part one anyway) and Invictus might be what you are looking for. They are pretty much stay in the epic mode (as in Burning of Rome/Cry for Pompey). Think a somewhat flowery version of late 90's Jag Panzer IMO. I got bored with them for some reason, but I remember those discs as being pretty solid. I'll have to dig them out for a listen, been awhile.

The later stuff is more consistent but I like the mish-mash of the earlier stuff. It has that "throw everything out there and hope something hits" type vibe. Invictus is a big want of mine. Kept hoping that would get a deluxe reissue too.

Love theur early output. Age of Consent is a desert island disc. Perfect blend of romantic, to quote DeFeis, mellow feeling and epicness in tracks like Burning of Rome, Lion in Winter, Noble Savage and others. They lost that touch later on and became to pompous\bombastic for my liking. Seventeen maybe dumb as hell, but still remains a catchy tune. I also love ballads, so the albums appeal even more to me. But it was already mentioned that usually Marriage of Heaven and Hell and Invictus trinity are considered their best, so you might check them out.

I almost picked up Age of Consent yesterday before reading this.

corplhicks wrote:

I almost picked up Age of Consent yesterday before reading this.

Don't get me wrong, I think the album is very enjoyable. VS does both the AOR/Glam stuff very well and their heavier material is good too.

Also, the SPV reissues are stuffed to the brim with bonus material. Essentially, you are getting 3 albums worth of material with covers, newly recorded material, unreleased tracks, demos, etc...

Witchfinder wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

I almost picked up Age of Consent yesterday before reading this.

Don't get me wrong, I think the album is very enjoyable.  VS does both the AOR/Glam stuff very well and their heavier material is  good too.  

Also, the SPV reissues are stuffed to the brim with bonus material.  Essentially, you are getting 3 albums worth of material with covers, newly recorded material, unreleased tracks, demos, etc...

That's what caught my eye, it looked pretty dense, and it was on sale (used) for 10 bucks. I had heard the name before but never heard the music. I'm a little tempted to go back and pick it up.

I love Virgin Steele. Easily one of my all time favorites.

What I would like to see most is a collaboration between David Defeis and Eric Adams. Two great voices of metal coming together for a barbarian metal opera project!