Classic Rock Bottom

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?"

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You know what the GFR song reminds me of?

If "Renegade" is their worst album and it's a damn fine album, that makes all the rest better than best. Don't understand the supposed dislike for this album. One version on Amazon has 45 reviews with 29 of those 5 stars and the remaining 16 split evenly between 3 and 4 stars. That's ok, the remaster sounds splendid.

So, JP set the template for NWOBHM? That means they weren't part of NWOBHM? That's interesting. I didn't know that.

That AC album cover looks really cheap. It looks like a K Tel release of a greatest hits album.  

IM is evil. This album is evil. This song is evil. I have the intro mesmerized. I played it over and over and over again. And still do.

I would give this post a high rating, but you did not include the following song so I'll just have to give this a thumbs down.

Never heard the GFR or Lizzy before, but liked them both. The lead on the Lizzy track was really good. The Priest track has been one of my favorites from JP for many, many years. It's "up there" with tracks like "Victim Of Changes", and "Freewheel Burning" as some of the best Priest.

Somehow, I had never heard the "Coop" track until I saw him do it in concert this August, opening up for Motley Crue on their final tour. I probably did not post anything about that show, but Cooper's vocals sounded excellent that night. His voice was not "showing it's age". I enjoyed the Alice set immensely.

The Maiden is classic, pure and simple. Good post!

I posted some SHT lists of GFR a while back, got some good reviews (except for Jon who hates Detroit music) - May be worth your time to go back and listen!  Solid band IMO!

http://classic-rock-bottom.ning.com/forum/topics/hidden-treasures-m...

I cannot imagine what the GFR track reminds you of, but I do know you don't care for them as a band.  Maybe because they are from Detroit?

I have always thought Renegade was a sold album too, no idea what the issue is with critics, but the day I start regarding what they say/write is the day I will have to stop listening.  Not gonna happen!

JP IS NWOBHM!!!  This has been discussed and put to rest on here.  They are NWOBHM...

You don't own the AC album?  Its pretty good actually!

And I don't think IM is as evil as their image suggest, but if you think so, OK....  You are the diet coke of evil on here anyway (just one calorie, not evil enough!!)

You've just doubled my Oingo Boingo knowledge. 

More like Tab.

Tab is DEEEEEELICIOUS!

That GFR song reminds me of a Rush song. I think it was "Twilight Zone".

Porcupossum Tree - Interesting intro.  

Grand Funky - I like some Grand Funk stuff.  Not familiar with a lot of it.  I do like the red album.  I've always wanted to do some diggin'.  I like it despite the lyrical formula it uses.  It's like the lyric writer just wrote a letter detailing what happened to someone.  He didn't make any adjustments for words to fit a certain way.  I noticed a few songs on the new Stevie Nicks album that use this formula, and I'm just not a fan of it on those songs.  But like I said, it works okay here.  Nice little bit of guitar.  This makes me wanna do that diggin'.

Thin Lizzard - Really cool start to the song.  Yet another band I'd like to invest some money  and time in.  You guys know their stuff so much better than me, and you have yet to post anything that I really didn't like.  Can't say I see what the problem would be for this album based on this song.  The solo is cool.  Then a little keyboard breakdown.  I totally dig it. Seriously, what's not to like?

Judy Priest - I do have this album now (you know, since I got the entire CD collection for 12 bucks).  But I haven't listened to this yet.  JP has never appealed to me.  That being said, a good deal of the stuff that's been posted here is quite good.  Including this.  It's very atmospheric, which I like.  You are on a roll Scott, very nice picks so far.

Ally Scooper - I have definitely added to my sparse AC collection over the last couple of years. This is one of the albums I've added.  Can't remember if I've taken the time to listen yet, but I have heard this song.  It's good.  No complaints.

Iron Aiden - My son's name is Aiden, and I call him Iron Aiden all the time.  Broken record, but I was never an IM fan.  Again, I've added quite a few Maiden albums to my collection over the last couple of years.  This is one of those.  When I was younger, I had no interest in stuff that I thought might be sacrilegious.  That's probably why this never interested me, regardless of whether or not it actually was sacrilegious.  Anyway, IM is cool with me now.

Nice playlist Scott.  My song rankings would be:

1. Thin Lizzard

2. Judy Priest

3. Iron Aiden

4. Grand Funky

5. Ally Scooper

I have a couple of bands that Ive "overbought" for as well.  On my cathup list is...

  • Marshall Tucker
  • Yes
  • Ayreon (probably the one that's been sitting the longest)
  • Megadeth (A couple early releases)

You bought all the Ayreon albums?

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