Category: Heavy Metal
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The Judas Priest Controversy: Backwards Messages and A Tragic Death
Judas Priest have had an interesting and turbulent history – including going on trial in the USA having being accused of causing the suicide of a boy through inserting backward / subliminal messages into their songs. Perhaps Judas Priest have the craziest history of any metal band. Including Manowar. Or even Metallica. One that makes Spinal Tap…
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Judas Priest – Live at Hammersmith
When I think of all the heavy metal bands the UK has produced, my absolute favourite is Judas Priest. And Judas Priest are very metal. They sing about metal. Metal Meltdown. Metal Gods. The former is about a metal meltdown. The latter is about, well, metal gods. You can even hear the metal gods’ footsteps…
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In the beginning…before Later with Jools Holland…there was The Tube…
There was a time before Later…with Jools Holland. This was a time of The Tube… In 1986 it was still challenging to hear heavy metal on mainstream media. It would have been easier for Ghengis Khan to pass a CRB police check to help out at his local school than for the UK public to…
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First Gig – Dio and Denzil the Dragon at The Hammersmith Odeon: May 1986
I’m sure we all have memories of our first time…the butterflies in your stomach, the nervous feeling as you wondered what it would be like, would it go well, would it be fun? Would you be “safe”… First gigs are A Big Thing in your life after all. My first gig was to see Dio…
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Shades Records – The Greatest Record Store There Ever Was: A Tribute for Record Store Day
As record store day approaches, I would like to pay tribute to just one record store that is sadly no longer with us. The Greatest Record Store There Ever Was… In the years before Napster, Songkick, Spotify and other Internet stuff spoon-fed the heavy metal-loving youth of Britain, there were just two ways to find…
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And Iron Maiden’s Best Live album is…..
Which is Iron Maiden’s best live album? (After all – with the release of En Vivo – they have released no less than ten…!) Back in December 1985 Kerrang! had given me two new ways to discover new music: their end of year critics poll (best album: Bryan Adams’ Reckless) and a 20 track K!…
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Kerrang! Magazine – Heavy Metal Bible
Kerrang! Magazine is what distunguishes a heavy metal fan from the casual observer. Investing the not insignificant sum of 85p on Kerrang! was the moment I turned to the dark side- and entered the world of being a “proper” heavy metal fan. It wasn’t that I suddenly started wearing a cowboy boots, a denim jacket…
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The Top Ten Worst Dressed Rock Bands of All Time
Which is the worst dressed Rock Band? After my post querying whether Rush’s Kimonos were a nadir in the relationship between Rock and Fashion, I thought about a few other bands that I knew who perhaps ran Rush pretty close. I read every copy of Kerrang! for several years: so here is my cut-out-and-keep guide of…
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Things you don’t see any more #1: Headbangers
Kids who liked heavy metal music in the 70s and 80s were known as “Headbangers” and were distinguishable from the rest of society by a uniform of double-denim (flared jeans, denim jacket ) and long hair (Shoulder length, always mousey brown, tangled). Their critics also pointed out they were also distinguishable from the rest of…
Every record tells a story 