Melodic Hard Rock

This is why I dislike labels

some stuff folks may clasify it as hard rock, while others call it metal. I just call it something I really dig alot.


Today while driving my 18 wheeler at work in the S.F Bay Area, I listened to my Ipod with the following albums ....


1) Guardian-First Watch
2)Icon-Night Of The Crime
3)Mass-Voices In The Night
4)Ratt-Invasion Of Your Privacy
5)Scorpions-Blackout
6)Tesla-Psychotic Supper
7)Triumph-Allied Forces

and a few songs from Y and T-Mean Streak

what are some of your other fqavorite melodic hard rock / metal lps ?

Meanstreak is most definiately a metal album [at least it was when released. I hate labels, too. Because I suck at trying to figure out what to call bands!]

When I think of the bands you listed, I would put most in the Melodic Metal vein. To me, melodic hard rock were/are bands like Night Ranger, Survivor, Valentine, Show-Ya, most Sabo and Soto fronted bands, and anything on the Frontiers label. But the next poster will have an opposite ear.

Anything by Pink Cream 69, Gotthard, Shakra.

Also:

David Readman
Eclipse
Covered Call
Revolution Renaissance

I guess I think of as various "Schools", more or less.

The Foriegner/Journey School (old school)
The Pearl Jam school (Nu school)

maybe:

The Uriah Heep/Kansas school (pompy or proggy)
The Cheap Trick/(Ramones?) school- (power poppy)

there are as many takes on this as there are bands I guess. For me the core of it was the 70's Pomp bands of which I guess Styx was the biggest player. Prism, Loverboy, all that. Keyboards galore.

I just listened to two great melodic hard rock albums this weekend, seperated by miles of time, space, and style. Gypsy-s/t (1969), and Lynam-Tragic City Symphony (2008). I'd call them both melodic hard rock even though they aren't the same thing at all.

You have Lynam's TCS disc SAHB???

Great album IMO. I didn't know you were into them.

tohostudios wrote:

You have Lynam's TCS disc SAHB???

Great album IMO. I didn't know you were into them.

I have four albums by Jacob. Slave To The Machine and two Mars Electric CD's. It's "modern melodic hard rock" I guess. It's great stuff but nothing like the pomp/aor of the old skool.

There's a connection between Lynam and Mars Electric?

That's news to me. I love Lynam (I have both Slave and TCS) and I have one Mars Electric disc and it so bored me I don't even remember the name of it.

Interesting...

I'd throw .38 Special into that category, they are about as southern as buying Texas barbecue in Vermont. (not putting them down, just an observation)

The first band that popped into my mind was REO Speedwagon...and anything by Billy Squier.

I'm loving the Gotthard stuff. Also:

Warrior-Code Of Life
The Codex-S/T
Allen/Lande-Both of them

detuned wrote:

I'd throw .38 Special into that category, they are about as southern as buying Texas barbecue in Vermont. (not putting them down, just an observation)

Yeah, I'd put them in that catagory as well but they are little more southern than that. Donnie Van Zant is as southern as they come and a few songs (mostly ones sung by Donnie himself) definatly fit into the southern catagory as well as their most recent albums (Resolution on up-though more of a mix of southern and blues).

Have to add Silent Force and Firewind.

NumbskullakaNazgul wrote:

Have to add Silent Force and Firewind.

Really? I see them as melodic metal but not quite Hard Rock (although it seems like the line between the two is blurred).

As usualy we are speaking several different languages here. But in any event I couldn't recommend the "Rock The Bones" comp series from Frontiers records enough. A very nice overview of recent melodic hard rock with some metal too. These comps are listenable in their own right, and the older ones have become collectors items already. I have versions 1,3,4,&5.