Hidden Treasures - The Abyss

As promised, we are continuing to sprial down into the Abyss. So with Halloween looming, his week were looking at death. What else would be better?

There are 6 tracks posted this week (though only 5 mentioned below), the first track is mood setter so hit the play button and sit back, look behind you though, who knows what's listening with you!!

PLAYLIST --> http://www.podsnack.com/CA69EFD9E8C/a1mf6iim

	Grand Funk Railroad Born To Die 1976 1 - Born To Die The album's considered to be one of the group's more somber, straying away from the upbeat and cocky attitude that was so prevalent on previous albums and focusing on darker musical and lyrical content concerning death, politics, and personal relationships. The title track was written by Farner in memory of his cousin who had died in a motorcycle accident. Although not steeped in heavy metal riffs or gothic sound effects, this 1976 effort from Grand Funk Railroad creates a mood gloomy enough to rival the darkest moments of Black Sabbath.
	Thin Lizzy Renegade 1981 2 - Angel of Death It is widely agreed among Thin Lizzy fans (and by the band themselves) that their 1981 release, Renegade, was their worst. The raw, rocking Lizzy of the past (Jailbreak, Black Rose, etc.) is nowhere to be found here; in its place is a keyboard-heavy rock band with blatant pop leanings and a production too similar to British heavy metal bands of the early '80s. New guitarist Snowy White never truly fit into the band (both musically and visually), and it was never more apparent than on Renegade. As with its predecessor, Chinatown, heavy drug use plagued the sessions, again resulting in an uninspired, unfocused affair (especially evident in Phil Lynott's flat vocals). The six-minute opener, "Angel of Death," doesn't measure up to past Lizzy epics, while the title track fails at trying to pull on the heartstrings with a tale about a misunderstood youth.
	Judas Priest Stained Glass 1978 3 - Beyond the Realms of Death Easily one of the most important heavy metal albums ever released, Stained Class marks the peak of Judas Priest's influence, setting the sonic template for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal more than any other single recording. This is the point where Priest put it all together, embracing their identity as the heaviest band on the planet and taking the genre to new heights of power, speed, musicality, and malevolence. Not until Painkiller would the band again be this single-minded in its focus on pure heavy metal. Their blues-rock roots have been virtually obliterated; largely gone, too, are the softer textures and gothic ballads of albums past. The lone exception is the morbid masterpiece "Beyond the Realms of Death," on which the band finally finds a way to integrate the depressive balladry of songs like "Epitaph" and "Last Rose of Summer" into their metal side.
	Alice Cooper Goes To Hell 1976 4 - Go To Hell Following the success of his first solo album, Welcome to My Nightmare, Alice Cooper followed it up with another concept album, Goes to Hell, similar in style to its predecessor. Again, longtime Alice producer Bob Ezrin was on board, and while there are a few highlights, Goes to Hell signaled an Alice era where he pretty much forsook the raw garage rock of his early days (Killer, School's Out) in favor of polished studio glitz. That said, the title track is worthy of any headbanger's time (and remains one of Cooper's most overlooked rock tunes), while "I Never Cry" was another Alice ballad that found a place near the top of the charts. In 2005 the first track, “Go to Hell”, was featured as the theme song to the sixth episode of Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil titled "Human Sacrifice".
	Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast 1982 5 - The Number of the Beast In addition to the album's artwork and title, the song was a prominent target of religious groups in the United States who accused Iron Maiden of being a Satanic group. The controversy led to organised burnings of the group's albums as well as several protests during their 1982 tour, although this would only serve to give the band more publicity. Steve Harris has since commented that the accusations made against them were "mad. They completely got the wrong end of the stick. They obviously hadn't read the lyrics. They just wanted to believe all that rubbish about us being Satanists." On their following album, Piece of Mind, the band placed a backmasked message at the beginning of the song "Still Life," in which the band's drummer, Nicko McBrain, gives a drunken impression of Idi Amin. According to McBrain, the message, in which he says "Don't meddle wid t'ings yo don't understand", was directed at those who had labelled Iron Maiden as devil worshippers, commenting, "We thought, if people were going to be stupid about this sort of thing, we might as well give them something to be really stupid about, you know?"