1277. Various Artists / We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year. 2008. 4/5

I’m sure that you, like me, have been bombarded each and every December with the same old Xmas carols that have been around for time immemorial. Sadly, in fact, due to the onset of social media and weird people’s obsessions, we now have their occurring in November as well! The decorating of the outside of the house and yard with Xmas lights and displays, the Xmas tree being put up in early November rather than a couple of weeks before Xmas Day, and the endless parade of Xmas carol CDs being played at home, at the workplace, and at shopping centres around the world. Honestly, even for a Grinch like me, it borders on what Australian cricketers used to call mental disintegration.
Now, I can’t stop the onward progression of Xmas light displays and my lovely wife wanting to put up decorations and the tree in September, but at least one part of this horrific confluence can be offset just a little, with the discovery some years ago now of a Xmas album that is designed especially for people like me. An album full of Xmas carols as performed and metallised by heavy metals finest artists.
In the years before this, the two Xmas CDs we had would come out every year in the mid-2000's, and our kids who were all under the age of 10 before I found this album, would sing along and know all the words. And then they would participate at the local Carols by Candlelight every year at Albion Park High School, with glow sticks and Santa hats and ‘come all ye faithfulling’. It was great to see all three having such a wonderful time. But it was a punish.
And then, this album came into my life. And it really was ‘joy to the world’ because now I could put on a CD of Xmas songs, and sing along with each and every one of them, and show the kids that GOOD versions of these songs DID exist!

The great thing about this album is that it contains versions of traditional Xmas carols, the ones everyone sings at Carols by Candlelight and other such events, as well as more current Xmas themed songs written and performed by other well known artists. The album was produced by Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen, who had been involved in several tribute albums over the past decade, putting together artists to cover other artists best songs. So once again here, they have done a terrific job in bringing together the great musicians of the genre to contribute to this album.
A very rocking version of “We Wish You a Merry Xmas” opens up the album, the spine of the track provided by brothers Bob and Bruce Kulick, along with Chris Wyse on bass and Ray Luzier on drums. The vocals are provided by the always excellent Jeff Scott Soto who gives the song the energy it needs. The Chuck Berry song “Run Rudolph Run” follows with the excellent triumvirate of Lemmy on bass and voclas, Billy Gibbons on guitar and Dave Grohl on drums. Lemmy is in a very Xmas spirit throughout, and it is an enjoyable version, surely better than Chuck Berry’s! Alice Cooper then lends his perfectly sinister vocals to a great rearrangement (slightly) of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, with Claus spelt CLAWS. John 5, Billy Sheehan and Vinny Appice offers their excellent contributions to this track as well.
Then, welcome to this well known doom metal Xmas favourite. The foursome of Simon Wright, Rudy Sarzo, Ronnie James Dio and Tony Iommi serve up the perfect doom anthem with their take on “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”, and it is as surprising as it is fantastic. Who doesn’t want a bit of doom at Christmas time?! Haha. The tempo heats up again with “Silver Bells”, a great rocking version from Carlos Cavazo on guitar, James Lomenzo on bass and Ray Luzier again on drums, and Geoff Tate on vocals looking to reach for the ceiling. Carlos is the star of the track, with shredding rarely heard on any previous version of this song, certainly not the Burl Ives version. This is the longest song on the album, stretched to infinity by Geoff’s crooning and Carlos's riffing. Then comes “The Little Drummer Boy”, with the drumming handled by Simon Phillips, thoughit isn’t as inventive as it probably could have been made given the title of the song. Doug Pinnick’s vocals probably don’t inspire a great deal of entertainment either, Billy Sheehan is almost non-existent, and it isn’t until the 2.5-minute mark that George Lynch gets to unleash and mark his mark on the song. Oh well, I’ve never liked the song anyway so I guess that could also have some bearing on my feelings of this version. It just seemed like a missed opportunity to allow the drummer to really cut loose.
Given the biggest selling Xmas album of all time is “Elvis’s Christmas Album” then it seems a given a song would be chosen off it, and it is, with the opening track from that album “Santa Claus is Back in Town” given the true metal makeover with Steve Morse on guitar and Tim “Ripper” Owens on vocals, pulling out all the stops. Morse’s guitar work in particular is terrific here and makes the track, while Ripper always makes his songs interesting to hear where he is going to take you. And now that we’ve had doom metal, it's time for death metal with “Silent Night”, given the complete overhaul by Chuck Billy’s fully developed growling vocal, supported by Scott Ian and Jon Donais jumping around and having the time of their lives on guitars. Traditionalists will NOT enjoy this version of the Xmas classic, but it's a great version to put on when you are sitting around with the in-laws to scare the bejeezus out of them. “Deck the Halls” is a very 80’s metal involvement with Oni Logan on vocals and his Dio Disciples bandmate Craig Goldy on guitar with Tony Frankling and John Tempesta also adding their weight to the 80’s styled version.
The novelty Christmas track “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” doesn’t quite make the grade, which is a surprise given the freedom these artists surely had in recording these tracks. To be fair, it is probably a song that requires either a Tenacious D or a Stormtroopers of Death vibe about the artist to get the most out of it. I don’t know the original very well, but it seems as though, done well, it could have been a highlight of this album. Joe Lynn Turner then joins the backbone of the Kulick brothers, Rudy Sarzo and Simon Wright to offer a reasonable version of “Rockin’ Around the Xmas Tree”, though it did not seem as joyous as when you hear it in the iconic scene in the movie Home Alone. And covering any Beatles or Beatles-individual song is always a tough gig, and trying to do justice to John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” here seems a thankless task. It’s fine, Tommy Shaw, Steve Lukather and Kenny Aronoff offer the 70’s 80’s vibe it probably requires, but without the impact it needs to lift it above the pack.
There are four bonus tracks for those of you out there that are looking for even more Xmas for your buck, but the extra four songs are not a necessity. “O Christmas Tree” extends beyond its normal length, and while Doro does a great job on vocals, and Michael Schenker offers us a slight shred, it is a par for the course rendition. So too Girlschool’s shot at “Auld Lang Syne”. And the final two songs - “Frosty the Snowman” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” are also less exciting songs, though laughing at Lips from Anvil doing “Frosty the Snowman” is perhaps worth your while checking out.

As I may have mentioned earlier, I came across this album a few years ago, when it became obvious I couldn’t survive another Xmas listening to the same old Xmas songs CDs that we had, and have to put up with those old traditional songs, and listening to Burl Ives and Gene Autry and others of that vintage, along with the modern day must-listens such as “Last Christmas” by Wham and “Do They Know it's Christmas” by Band Aid... it's a tough ride. So I had to find something else, and I rather quickly came across this album which then came on to regular rotation during December at the dinner table. And it worked well, because my kids were old enough to know what kind of music I liked and so recognised it for what it was, and even my lovely wife felt some of the versions were good modern versions and updates.
I’ve listened to the album a couple of times today, a little ahead of schedule but in order to do this review, and I still find the first third of the album is really good. Jeff Scott Soto’s “We Wish You a Merry Xmas”, Lemmy’s “Run Rudolph Run”, Alice Cooper’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, Dio and Iommi’s “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and Geoff Tate’s “Silver Bells”. Add to those Ripper’s “Santa Claus is Back in Town” and Chuck Billy on “Silent Night” and you have a diverse and interesting Xmas addition to your collection.
Will you play it at any other time of the year? No. I doubt it. I don’t. Will you play it every December? My word you will. Will it make an appearance on Xmas Day as you have brunch or open presents? Wel, it damned well SHOULD!!!

1015. Edguy / Monuments. 2017. 4/5

Given the enormous amount of jumping between his two major projects that goes on, one wonders when Tobi Sammet has time to sit back and take a collective look at life itself. To be honest, does he start to spread himself a little thin? My argument for some time is that it is almost impossible to push yourself so hard between your day band – Edguy – and your guilty pleasure – Avantasia – and not spread yourself or your material a little thin. Thus, and I may be alone in this thinking, I believe that the past couple of Edguy albums have suffered from the fact that the best of Tobi’s creative juices have been flowing into Avantasia material rather than Edguy songs. Whether or not that is the case, when it came time to put together this album together to celebrate 25 years of Edguy’s existence, I think maybe it could be held as a reminder as to the power of some the earlier material of the band compared to the latter day songs.

So here is Monuments, the five disc and 160 page book collated from their entire career, consisting of two CDs which constitutes a greatest hits package, a DVD of a live performance from the Hellfire Club tour as well as other video clips, and two CDs of that live performance. It is a ripping collection, one that all fans of the band will love. As a true standing of ‘greatest hits’… well, everyone will have a different opinion on what that consists of.
The five new songs start off the collection, and I think they are great. In fact, comparing those five songs - “Ravenback”, “Wrestle the Devil”, “Open Sesame”, “Landmarks” and “The Mountaineer” – to the next three songs on the album, “9-2-9” from Tinnitus Sanctus, “Defenders of the Crown” from Space Police: Defenders of the Crown and “Save Me” from Rocket Ride, and I think you have a fair comparison to what I was saying earlier about the Edguy/Avantasia conundrum. The new songs have that sparkle back, whereas the three songs from those three albums (albums which I wholly admit didn’t tickle my fancy) seems to be missing vital elements. Good news for the new songs, and perhaps some justification for my feelings otherwise.
The other choices for the remainder of the first CD though are top shelf. Anything from Hellfire Club gets top votes from me, and the addition of “Ministry of Saints” and the masterful “Tears of a Mandrake” makes for fantastic listening. The second CD opens with the wonderful “Mysteria” and “Vain Glory Opera”, and then mixes in some older stuff, some less well known stuff and a bit more of the latter day material as well. That they managed to find a place for one song off Age of the Joker, the average “Rock of Cashel”, was surely more for appearances than for being a truly ‘great’ hit. Honestly, how a song like “We Don’t Need a Hero” doesn’t make the collection in front of at least half of these tracks is beyond me. But that comes back again to an individual’s taste.

Fans like me already have all of the albums, so buying this comes down to the five new unreleased songs (worth it), and the live CDs and DVD (worth it). 25 years is a fair journey for this band to have gone on. It has been a fun journey at that. The good news is that I don’t think the journey is over yet.

Rating:  "Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the freak show!"  4/5

817. Various Artists / Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden. 2008. 2.5/5

A tribute album, especially to a band that is so highly respected and loved through out the world, is a very touchy/feely subject to go into. It's a great thing that so many bands have been influenced over the years by another band. Especially bands from so wide a sphere of music. But when you have a band that is as huge as Iron Maiden is, and a band whose musicians are all thought of as some of the best in the world in what they do, can you honestly do a tribute album that will actually be worthy of the material that band has produced? And, to be honest, if you can't why would you do it?! OK sure, this was done by Kerrang! magazine, and they wanted to sell magazines, but there are at least a number of bands here who should have thought twice before accepting the invitation to contribute to this album.

Black Tide's cover of "Prowler", which starts the album, is fine. A good copy. Almost a perfect copy. Which somewhat defeats the purpose of doing it in the first place. But that would be unfair, given some of what follows. It may not be spectacular, but it doesn't do any damage to the legacy of the original. Metallica's cover of "Remember Tomorrow" is mixed with reverence to the original while still putting enough of Metallica into it to cast it away from the Maiden version. James sings this really well too, whilst the musicianship is top class. Quite probably the best version on this album. Avenged Sevenfold's version of "Flash of the Blade" is much like Black Tide's cover song. Musically it follows the original song almost perfectly. But in doing so, it doesn't have any individuality attached to it, and vocally it does come across a little flat. It's not a tragedy, but it is rather dull. Glamour of the Kill do their version of "2 Minutes to Midnight", which gives us a different mix with a psuedo-electronica undertone and singing in a different register as well. Kudos for changing up the song to make it a little individualistic, but again it comes across as a little dull. Coheed & Cambria took on the tough task to cover "The Trooper", and again, it follows the basic path of the original song, but just can't match it for intensity and excitement and drive.
DevilDriver's cover of "Wasted Years" is a travesty. Seriously, as much as everything is important in a song, "Wasted Years" is pretty much carried by Bruce Dickinson's vocals, and if you can't generate those kind of vocals, you shouldn't be attempting this song. Sorry to DevilDriver fans, but this doesn't work at all well. The version of "Run to the Hills" by Sign most certainly changes up the original, almost becoming a pop song than the charging metal leader it has always been. Again, personal taste will decide how much you enjoy it. Dream Theater's choice of covering the legendary "To Tame a Land" is to be applauded, but the fact that the keyboards replace one of the guitars throughout the song means that some of the power of the song is lost through the declining grunt the dual guitars give the song. The piano driven, softer and slower treatment of "Caught Somewhere in Time" by Medina Lake isn't really in my style of things, but I enjoyed the fact that they at least made an effort to impose their own imprint on the song. Gallows make a decent effort of turning "Wrathchild" into a punk song, which by definition isn't such a long bow to draw. Fightstar then drag out a fairly standard version of "Fear of the Dark" that fails to excite on any level (but that may also be because of my boredom with the song itself).
Machine Head take on the legendary "Hallowed Be Thy Name", and do not disappoint, and while they do not stray too far from the template they still bring the energy that the song emits and carry it throughout. Terrific. Trivium take on "Iron Maiden" with gusto. Year Long Disaster do a note-for-note translation of "Running Free" before Ghostlines do an interesting version of "Brave New World" to finish off the album.

So where does the real problem lie? Well, how do you improve on perfection? In most cases, if you can't make your guitars grunt and squeal, and you can't sing to a certain level, then you will never make these songs sound anywhere near as good as Maiden does. That's why "Remember Tomorrow" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name" are the best songs here, and the others are either just reasonable covers, or less than average covers. As with all covers/tribute albums, you will be able to get a few listens out of this albums, and some reasonable moments. In the long run though, all it will do is reinforce the fact that Iron Maiden can't be fought, and Iron Maiden can't be sought.

Rating:  Unchain the colours before my eyes.  2.5/5

771. Various Artists / Shocker - The Music. 1989. 4/5

Movie soundtracks can be amazingly hit and miss, and this is often more the case for fans of heavy metal and hard rock. For a start it is often hard to find movies that utilise ’that kind of music’, and then it is difficult to find movies where the music is something that you want to listen to after the event. However, in the late 1980's and early 1990's there was stream of movies that, as a young male is his teenage years and early 20's, were so bad they were good, and also had good artists doing the music, which in turn encouraged you to go out and buy the soundtrack, as well as the film on VHS.
“Shocker” was one of those movies and soundtracks. The concept and story of the film is fairly typical of the B-grade horror films that were coming out around this era. Released in 1989, the story centres on serial killer Horace Pinker, played by future X-Files alumni Mitch Pileggi who would play Assistant Director Walter Skinner. In this film, Pinker has killed over thirty people, including most of the foster family and the girlfriend of the main protagonist Johnathan Parker, who we eventually learn in Pinker’s biological son. Parker has formed a psychic connection with Pinker, and he is able to help his police detective father in capturing Pinker who is sentenced to death. Pinker has however made a deal with the devil, which allows to him be converted to pure energy on his execution, and thus be able to possess other people to escape where he is and also continue his murder spree. And now not only do the good guys have to work out that Pinker can do this, but how to stop him.
Back in the day I saw this at the cinemas when it was released, travelling to Sydney with my usual circle of friends to laugh and make inappropriate comments through the film, and enjoying the songs that were a part of the movie. The main one that had been released as a single prior to the movie's opening was the cover of Alice Cooper’s “No More Mr Nice Guy” performed by Megadeth, which was one of the reasons we decided to go forth and watch it. And then when the movie was released on VHS, I hired it and made my own copy for further viewings over the years. And I won’t lie to you, I loved it. It was so corny, so laughable, that it was fun.
Watch the movie now, and you would wonder what we saw in it. Even as a cult film now, whenever I watch it now (yep, I still do) I have to cringe through some parts of it.
Of course, the soundtrack came out at the same time, and I did eventually get around to buying it, although it was a couple of years later, most probably when I had copied the movie to watch again. And if you want 80's hard rock, which is heavily influenced by one Desmond Child, who was the hit-maker at the time, helping to make Bon Jovi stars, and revitalising Alice Cooper, Aerosmith and Kiss for the 'modern' age, then you get that in spades here.

The album opens with the song that comes over the credits and is the movie’s title track, “Shocker”. It is performed by the 'superstar band' who came together for this project called The Dudes of Wrath, comprising Paul Stanley and Desmond Child on duelling vocals, Vivian Campbell and Guy Mann-Dude on guitars, Rudy Sarzo on bass guitar, and Tommy Lee on drums, with backing vocals by Michael Anthony and Kane Roberts. "Shocker" is the high energy anthemic theme to proclaim the heroes at the end of the film once they have vanquished the villain. I love this song despite its cheesiness, you can barely stop yourself from singing along in the car. And it is truly stuck in that era and drips with Desmond Child’s influence. This is followed by Iggy Pop (with some help from Alice Cooper) singing "Love Transfusion", another with obvious influence from Desmond Child and co-written by him and Alice. It has the same melodies and chorus lines as the opening track in some ways, and fits in nicely as a result. I’ve always enjoyed this song, and Iggy isn’t quite as hectic as he often is. Terrific. Tagging along after this is Megadeth's cover of Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy", a great rocking version of the song. This was such a great version of the original, it actually inspired the band I was in at the time with my mates to play it live. And the first time we did our vocalist had run out of puff so I did double duty on drums and vocals. Anyway. Mustaine does a great job in this song. I actually bought the cassingle to this when it was released, which also had two songs on the B-side that I eventually found were also on this soundtrack album. That cassingle got a hammering in the car at the time.
"Sword and Stone" is the next song performed by the band Bonfire, and as soon as you hear it you will believe you are listening to a Kiss song. And you wouldn’t be wrong, as the track is actually written by Stanley and Child, along with Bruce Kulick who was Kiss’s guitarist at the time and was demoed for their “Crazy Nights” album. Instead, it was offered to Bonfire who recorded it for their own album “Point Blank” and also for this compilation. It’s a fun song. Eventually though we had to come to the power ballad, the song utilised in the movie to signify lost love through the murderous rampage of a serial killer. And that song is “Timeless Love”, the Desmond Child penned abomination performed by Saraya. Child uses all of the power ballad tricks in this song to draw out the emotion he is looking for. For me however, that emotion is severe nausea. It’s a tragic song, but not in the way the writer and performer were looking for.
The Dudes of Wrath return to clean up the mess with "Shockdance", co-written by Child, Guy Mann Dude, Vivian Campbell and Kane Roberts, and this time featuring Alice Cooper on vocals, rapping along with Horace Pinker himself, Mitch Pileggi. It is so 80’s that it is somewhat painful, but in the long run it is fun, and Alice Cooper is always great to listen to. His back and forth with Pileggi’s character is overcomes and perceived weaknesses. This is followed by "Demon Bell (The Ballad of Horace Pinker)" which is performed by Dangerous Toys with some writing input from Child. This is also a beauty, and was one of the B-side tracks on the “No More Mr Nice Guy” single. It has a great upvibe tempo and fits in with the mood of the album nicely. "The Awakening" by Voodoo X starts a little slowly but builds to a satisfying conclusion. They released this song on their only album “Vol 1: The Awakening”, and the song is actually quite good, channelling several bands of the era in the hard rock scene. It’s interesting that they didn’t amount to more. One song that really caught my attention initially was "Different Breed" by Dead On, perhaps because it was the other B side track to the "No More Mr. Nice Guy" single I bought before I bought this soundtrack. I don't know what happened to them, but they sound like an early version of Scatterbrain, who I loved when they arrived around this time. I've always loved this song, and was disappointed I could never find any more of their music. The album then concludes with a reprise of "Shocker", fading out leaving you feeling like the hero.
THE awakening

I’ve pretty much covered my history with both this film and its soundtrack. The producers of the film were cluey in having Desmond Child oversee the songs for the soundtrack and how they fit into the film, because he has done a great job here, not only with the composition of his supergroup and their input, but the other bands and musicians attached. Because I really believe there is only one weak song on this album, the afore mentioned atrocity that is “Timeless Love”. Everything else here is very enjoyable, even if you have to imagine you are back in 1989 to get the most from it. Because there is little doubt most of the songs here have dated, which is what made them so good at the time because that was what the era of music was throwing at us.
On many soundtrack albums, there will be bands that no one knows, who have songs that are mildly forgettable. I don’t think that is the case here. Bonfire, Dangerous Toys, Voodoo X and Dead On all give us some above average songs to enjoy after the big hitters have lit up the front end of the album. And while the hard rock anthems provided here by Desmond Child and his collaborators might still be very cheesy today, as a reminder of that time, they are excellent value.
That said, there would be a narrow field of people who will love this album and/or the film, and I don't pretend it to be otherwise. Kids watching to and listening to this today would for the most part likely be horrified not at the violence on the screen but the style of music the soundtrack contains. Having seen the film on the big screen all those years ago, and having owned a VHS copy since it was released (now sadly gone through the deterioration of the tape), and having both the Megadeth single and the album soundtrack more or less since their release, my opinion is certainly be biased towards the positive for nostalgic reasons as well as perceived quality.
I have listened to this soundtrack album a dozen times over the past couple of weeks, and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. It is one of the best soundtrack albums I own, and I have more than gotten my money’s worth for it. Some of you out there, of course, may well believe that that is a Shocker!

748. Various Artists / The Metallic-Era. 1996. 4/5

Back in the late 1970's and early 1980s, a whole stream of bands appeared which became loosely tied up in what was eventually titled the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Some may have only been on the fringes of this movement, but all of them were around, playing gigs, trying to land record deals, and putting out singles in order to garner attention. All these bands were, in their own way, influencing the next generation of musicians, and some of those went on to bigger and better things than the bands that they admired were able to achieve. Those bands in turn never forgot their roots, and would eventually play cover versions of those songs that influenced them, passing them on to yet another generation of music lovers.
The band that has had the most influence for these initial bands has been Metallica. Throughout their career, Metallica has always paid homage to their influences, with some songs having remained in their own set lists for decades now. They have also been active in re-recording these songs that they loved, and putting them on the B side of singles, on EP's, and even special albums dedicated entirely to cover songs of the artists they loved. In many ways, their own huge popularity has helped those early bands regain or improve their own status.

And so we come to this album. The Metallic-Era contains 12 songs that Metallica has either performed or published cover versions of - or both - over their career. Gathered here though are the original versions of the songs as performed by the original bands. For those that have not heard them before, or do not own the albums they came off, it is a great collection in order to hear what these songs sounded like before Metallica came along and made them, for the most part, their own. Some of the originals still hold up in a modern setting, and can sit beside the Metallica versions on an even pedestal. Some perhaps do not contain or hold the power that Metallica has added to them in their own way.
When listening to and judging the original versions of these songs against the Metallica versions of the songs, perhaps the toughest part is accepting that on the whole Metallica improves each and every one of them. The majority of people who first hear this album will never have heard the original versions before, and will only know the Metallica versions. That can make it very difficult to appreciate the originals given that it is not the versions of the songs that you know. To really fully appreciate these songs, you need to put out of your mind what you know to be the cover version, and remember the time and place and the lack of technology these songs were recorded under. That perspective can help to hear what Lars and James in particular heard with their ears all those years ago.

The Diamond Head tracks in particular all hold up from the original recordings. "Am I Evil", "The Prince" and "Helpless" still sound great today from that amazing demo debut Lightning to the Nations. I am probably not one to judge "Sucking My Love", as I have never really enjoyed the song at all, and it has too much of a free-form-jazz attitude to it for me to like. Sweet Savage's "Killing Time" and Blitzkrieg's "Blitzkrieg" are also great songs. I probably enjoy these band's original versions more than I do Metallica's cover versions, as good as they are as well. Holocaust's "The Small Hours" is also brilliant. It must have been something to witness it in a live setting. I do enjoy the two Budgie songs, "Crash Course in Brain Surgery" and "Breadfan", but I think the extra metal and James' vocals tip the Metallica versions in front of these versions. Killing Joke's "The Wait" is just a great song, and I love both versions for what they are. Savage's "Let it Loose" and Anti-Nowhere League's "So What" are two very good examples of songs that Metallica has lifted and improved dramatically by their cover versions.

As an historical artifact this is a terrific album and a great listen. It's nice to hear what influenced one of the biggest bands of recent times, and also to know how they chose to use this material and transform it to their own. It also highlights the very good material that was being produced in those days, much of which lays in the mists of time and would be difficult to come across without the help of releases like this.

Rating:   Motives changing, day to day...  4/5

740. Various Artists / Metal For Muthas. 1980. 3.5/5

What constitutes what became known as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, or NWoBHM as the acronym and shortening of the long and clunky description has become, could well be laid at the feet of a man called Neal Kay. In the period between 1975 and 1980, Kay managed a rock club called The Bandwagon Heavy Metal Soundhouse, which was a back-room venue of the Prince of Wales public house in Kingsbury, North London. Kay built this venue up from humble beginnings, promoting bands and utilising playing songs in a music venue dedicated to the more traditionally raucous sound of hard rock and heavy metal, at a time when punk music was in its prime. Offsetting this, Kay was able to get promotion of his club in the major music publications of the time in th UK, “Sounds” and “Melody Maker”, and with their help in promoting the acts and the venue, Kay was able to establish The Bandwagon as the place for new upcoming bands and like-minded fans of the heavy metal genre. Following a two page centre spread in Sounds written by music journalist Geoff Barton, demo tapes started to arrive in their hundreds at his door, looking to play at his venue. This then led to Kay beginning to help arranging and producing demos of new bands, recorded at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge. Amongst these bands were, Saxon, Praying Mantis and Iron Maiden, at the time new unsigned up and coming bands which would become key players of the NWOBHM, a phrase first coined by the then editor of Sounds.
On May 9, 1979 at the Music Machine, a venue that would later metamorphose into the Camden Palace, a gig took place with three bands on the bill. The opening act was a band named Samson, and he headline act was a band named Angel Witch. Sandwiched in the middle was a local up and coming band by the name of Iron Maiden. This was when, by popular belief, the NWOBHM was born.
Kay championed these and other acts and even went on to tour with those bands on full UK tours. The resulting popularity of Iron Maiden's recording, eventually self released as “The Soundhouse Tapes” led to a record contract for them with EMI. Several other NWOBHM bands also gained contracts due to their Soundhouse demos. And t was through all of this that Neal Kay worked with EMI Records compiling many of these demos onto an album that would showcase this new uprising, this new movement. And that compilation album was called “Metal for Muthas”.

Any notable article or long form document looking back at the start of the so called New Wave of British Heavy Metal will often refer to this release, if for no other reason than it was a part of the history of one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time, Iron Maiden. Given that they were afforded two song positions on this ten track release, it really does state just how far advanced they were as a band compared to most of their fellow bands of the era by this period of time. Just as viable a question is, given the success Iron Maiden attracted following “The Soundhouse Tapes” and then this initial release, what happened to the other bands featured here? Is there any particular reason why they did not go on to huge international careers such that Iron Maiden did. In fact, where did they go from here? It remains an interesting conversation piece when you compare the success of Maiden, and the relative obscurity of every other artist on this album, and indeed of the NWOBHM movement.
You can accept the fact that the two Maiden tracks here are excellent, but it is interesting to hear the earlier versions of "Sanctuary" and "Wrathchild". “Sanctuary” of course was eventually re-recorded and released as the second single by the band, a non-album single (although it did appear on some US versions of the debut album... I’m not counting that...) and “Wrathchild”, although it missed the cut from the debut album did appear on the follow up “Killers”. These earlier versions of these two songs, like the ones that appeared on “The Soundhouse Tapes”, are an interesting historical counterpoint to the versions everyone knows so well.
The self-titled track by Sledgehammer immediately comes across as impressive and fits in well with the album's direction. The band had initially released this as their first single in 1979. The band went on to record their one and only album “Blood on Their Hands” in 1983. This is followed by another faster track, "Fighting for Rock and Roll" by E F Band, an interesting development because the band was actually from Sweden, and had only relocated to England weeks prior to the release of this compilation album. The "E.F." portion of the band's name was derived from the first letter of Par Ericsson and Bengt Fischer's last names. This is another song that you can see why it was put on this compilation at the time, as its basic structure and sound all have the elements necessary to be popular with the era.
But then... let’s talk about a song that really has no place being anywhere near this compilation album. The band is Toad the Wet Sprocket, named after the skit by Monty Python's Flying Circus, and the song is "Blues in A". And it is exactly that, a blues track, and does NOT fit in at all with the album's direction. How in the hell does this artist and track get on an album that publicises itself as promoting heavy metal? That would be the first point, that this is not a metal song. Secondly, it is a very weak and ordinarily average song, and it has no place in this collection when you place it alongside the other songs on the album. They must have slipped Neal Kay a fiver to get amongst this collection. The first side of the album concludes with Praying Mantis, who was seen as a band from this compilation that would be the one to "make it" and were heavily promoted by Kay in this direction. "Captured City" is the song they have here, which is okay, but the vocals are just a bit weedy. However, you can sense greater things in the music than the vocals allow to improve it. They released their debut album “Time Tells No Lies” the following year but found management and record company problems too big a burden to overcome.
Ethel the Frog, another band named after a Monty Python's Flying Circus skit, are showcased here by their song "Fight Back", and possesses what I would call the atypical NWoBHM sound based on fastish guitars and drums, but suffers from not having a hook that would really drag you in and have you searching out the band to hear of the music from the band. Perhaps it also suffers from the following three songs, as Angel Witch's "Baphomet" is probably my favourite from the remainder of the album, and my favourite band here apart from the obvious top dog. Angel Witch suffered a similar fate to most of the bands here, which seems unfortunate when you listen to this song, and then check out their self-titled debut album that landed later that year. This is followed by Iron Maiden’s “Wrathchild”, and then the Samson track, "Tomorrow or Yesterday" is an early taster of their material, a song that had come from their debut album “Survivors” released the previous year. It is fair to say that while it is fine for the environment their music improved dramatically over the next two years with the recruitment of a different lead vocalist who went by the name of Bruce Bruce, a third Monty Python reference on this album. The closing track on the album, "Bootliggers" from a band called Nutz is another unusual one. The band had formed in 1973 and had already released three albums by 1979. The addition of their song here gave them a boost, with which they changed their name to Rage and released three further albums before disbanding for good in 1984, but it again makes you wonder whether a fiver had changed hands to make this song appear on this album.

45 years on, and this is still an interesting look back at what was happening in the metal scene in the UK at the time, in what was perhaps a breeding ground for the genre. The cross section offered here shows almost precisely how the whole NWOBHM movement exploded and then faded with such a bright burning intensity. It offers bands that in 1979 looked on the cusp of great careers, with music from demos that were proving to be extremely popular in one of the biggest metal venues of the UK. And then from those bands, we see the different levels of success each eventually came to achieve. And that covers the gamut of success, from ‘none at all’ to ‘superstardom’. From Iron Maiden at the top, to Praying Mantis and Angel Witch and Samson in the middle, to the remainder in the lower regions.
I chased this album down in the early 2000’s mainly to satisfy an itch I had developed in trying to find music from all of the UK bands of that era, to listen to their best material and research for myself why some bands made it out of that era, and most seemed to struggle onwards for a short while before disbanding and going out to find real jobs. I found this album in the middle of all of that, and discovered that some of the bands were familiar and that others were not. And it also was obvious after just a couple of listens as to whom the star of the pack was, and why they rose so quickly to such popularity. But it the long run there are only two songs here I just didn’t enjoy at all, and that was “Blues in A” and “Bootliggers”. The rest were interesting enough for the way the project was put together, and of course led to many of them getting a record contract and being able to pursue their dream of releasing an album.
Funnily enough, it turns out that more bands made it to the big time after this period, having been inspired by what these bands were producing, than the bands who produced the material in the first place. Sometimes you just can’t pick what the future holds.

483. Various Artists / Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth [Original Soundtrack]. 1992. 1.5/5

Soundtrack albums are always on a hiding to nothing. It’s very difficult to find the right balance of songs to please everyone in order to get the public to buy the album. As it is, I doubt I would have purchased this if I hadn’t received it as a birthday gift all those years ago.

Quite simply, this is full of average songs from unknown bands – apart from the two star attractions. Motorhead’s version of “Hellraiser” is here (as written with Ozzy Osbourne), along with Bruce Dickinson’s version of Alice Cooper’s “Elected”. Both songs are brilliant. The rest is just not inspiring at all, even when heard in the background throughout the movie.

Rating: Take out the two songs mentioned, and it would rate a 1. But you can’t live off two songs. 1.5/5.

476. Hear 'n Aid / Stars [Single]. 1986. 5/5

One of the greatest events during the 1980's for heavy metal fans like myself was the Hear 'n Aid project which produced this single. Bringing together the cream of the industry at the height of its collective powers, this single, and the accompanying video, was a beacon for me. Not only could you see and hear your own favourites perform, but I even picked up on some new bands and individuals in which to test out.

OK, it might be cheesy, and it might be overblown, but where else can you have this many great metal stars all together - lots of great vocalists get a line or two, many great guitarists get to shred for a few seconds or so, and all in all it is just a fun collection of great people.

I still think this is great after all these years. The video of course is more enlightening, but for 80's metal sing-a-longs, this is a necessity.

Rating: Laugh and sing. 5/5

127. Various Artists / Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey : Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. 1991. 3.5/5.

When it comes to putting together a soundtrack of original songs for a film, it must be a difficult task to get the artists together, have them understand what the movie is about, and have them produce something that can not only be used in the movie, but will be used to sell the soundtrack of the movie.

This is one of the better movie soundtrack albums. Almost all of the songs are original, and can only be found on this album, which must help with the sales no end. The bands are not nobodies either, which is why I eventually bought this.
I loved the movie (still do!), and there were a number of songs that grabbed my attention – Winger's 'Battle Stations', Steve Vai's 'The Reaper', Faith No More's 'The Perfect Crime' and Megadeth's sensational 'Go To Hell'. These songs, woven into the movie, made me want to go out and buy the soundtrack. On this level, they have succeeded.

Memories : First going to see the film when it was released at Wollongong with Kearo, Bono and Joel. Just a great day.

Rating : Very high for a film soundtrack. You can't do much better than this, than perhaps a slightly better mix of good bands. 3.5/5

45. Various Artists / Airheads : Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. 1994. 2.5/5.

One of the things that I loved as a teenager and then into my 20’s was going to the cinema with my mates, and watching either a hysterically gory horror film, or a hilariously funny comedy film. On many occasions of course what you ended up experiencing was a B-grade horror that was more a comedy because of the story and lack of great special effects, or a film that was funny only because of the comments made between your friend group watching than the actual movie and dialogue up on the screen.
Even better for most of us was when we got the opportunity to see a film that combined one of those two genres with music, especially heavy music. And over the years leading up to 1994 we had seen a good selection of them. “This is Spinal Tap” was one of the first of course, but then we had films such as “Trick or Treat”, “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and then “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey”, and of course “Wayne’s World”. Some were better than others, and some have definitely not aged well over the years, but at the time they were fun.
In 1994 came the film “Airheads”, starring Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler, along with other terrific actors and some musical cameos as well. It tells the tale of a band who are trying to get signed for a record contract but can’t seem to crack the system, and so in trying to get their latest single some airplay they accidently find they have taken over the radio station hostage, and as they say in the classics, ‘hilarity ensues’. I still love the film, I still laugh in all the right places, and the fact that the lead actor is now an Academy Award winner is even more fitting.
With movies like this, the soundtrack is important in setting the scene and the mood throughout, and having watched the film and enjoyed the music, I decided to go out and buy the soundtrack to the album, based mainly on the song that plays over the opening titles, and the song that acts as the single that the band in question are trying to get airplay for in the movie. And as with all soundtracks to movies like this, you should expect to get some cream and some crud.

As with most soundtrack albums, what you get here on the “Airheads” soundtrack is a mix of bands that almost everyone will know, along with a side order of bands you have never heard of, or are likely to hear of again. And often that doesn’t matter of course, as long as you enjoy the song they do.
Also according to most soundtracks, all of the songs you hear snatches of in the movie won’t necessarily appear on the soundtrack, due to artist or record company contractual obligations. So buying a soundtrack can sometimes be a tricky thing. Mostly, in my own experience, buying a soundtrack comes down to it having songs that appear nowhere else, not on an artist's own album or as a single. At least, back in the days prior to streaming and downloading.
White Zombie’s song here, for instance, was written for the movie. “Feed the Gods” is played in the movie in the bar scene where Chris Farley’s character is trying to track down the girlfriend of Brendan Fraser’s character. Indeed, the band in the bar playing the song IS White Zombie, and it sounds great in the movie. Also written for this album was “Bastardizing Jellikit” by Primus, so already you are in front if you buy the album. Then you have songs by two veterans of their craft, “Inheritance” by Prong which is very enjoyable, and “We Want the Airwaves” by Ramones, which is still a great song as well.
Other artists, mostly not well known, have tracks on this album, such as “No Way Out” by DGeneration, “Can’t Give In” by Candlebox, “Curious George Blues” by Dig, “I’ll Talk My Way Out of It” by Stuttering John, and “Fuel” by Stick.
There are two cover songs also on this album, and one that is a sort-of cover song. 4 Non-Blondes do a cracking cover of the Van Halen song “I’m the One” which plays during one of the important scenes in the movie. One can only assume that Van Halen weren’t going to allow their actual version to be used, which seems a shame. On top of this, Anthrax do a crushing cover of The Smiths song “London” which does defeat the original easily. And finally we have the opening track to the album, and the film as it turns out, the Motorhead track “Born to Raise Hell”, here re-recorded and including both Ice-T and Whitfield Crane from Ugly Kid Joe as guest vocalists. Is it something that they needed to have? A re-recorded version that would earn more money with these two artists attached? I don’t know, and while I enjoy this version, the original Motorhead version is still by far the better one.

I saw this movie in Sydney with my wife and her brother, as we were living there at the time, in mid-1994. I thought it was great, and laughed all the way through it, as did Peter. Helen... weeeelll she was a little less enthused about it all. Sometimes there is no accounting for taste. One of my man memories of watching the movie that first time was when the brothers took Chazz back to their flat, and the walls being adorned by posters of lots of bands that I knew and liked listening to – and there was one of a band I didn’t know, a band called Therapy? For their first album “Nurse” And at the time I thought ‘wow, Therapy?, I should probably check them out!’ And that set me down the road to seeing them live about nine months later, and buying their album “Troublegum”, and an obsession was born.
While watching the movie for the first time, there were a few songs through the movie that attracted me. The song over the opening titles that was obviously Motorhead. The song the band was playing in the bar. The song that I guessed from the closing titles was by Anthrax (not that I was aware that it was a cover song at the time), and the song that acted as The Lone Rangers (yes that was the name of the band in the movie) single release. And so I thought I should go out and get this soundtrack, and see if these songs are on it, and hopefully the rest of the album will be just as good! And so I did, heading down to the Virgin Megastore in Pitt Street and buying the soundtrack. And guess what?! These were the best four songs on the album! AND!!!... the rest was pretty average. Well, I tell a lie I guess. The Prong and Primus songs are good, as well as the Ramones song, and the cover of the Van Halen song is adequate if not as good as the original. So that covers about two-thirds of the album.
I have rarely pulled this album out since those days, generally only if I have watched the movie again, or want to hear The Lone Rangers playing “Degenerated” once again. And I have had it out again this week, and found that after one listen I didn’t really need to hear anymore. But that’s not how I operate, and after another five listens I decided I had enough to compose this review. And that is this – you don’t really need this, you don’t really need to buy it. The movie on the other hand, I still think is a classic, one I can rewatch any time. That would be a much better way to spend 90 minutes than listening to this soundtrack album again.

33. Various Artists / A Tribute To The Scorpions. 2000. 4.5/5

Some of the best tribute albums were released at around this point of music history, the turn of the century when a whole new slew of bands were breaking through into the market, all of whom had some of the great bands of the past as influences on their music and burgeoning careers. So it was a perfect opportunity to create these tribute albums which worked twofold. Firstly, as a tribute to the original band, in this case the Scorpions, it gives that band a renewed exposure to the music world when their songs are lovingly covered and sometimes reimagined for a new audience. Secondly, it gives newer bands a chance to show their love for that band, but also gives them exposure to that original band’s loyal audience, and perhaps have them believeing that they should check out these newer bands on the basis of the cover versions of those songs they have performed.
In this instance, this album introduced me to a number of bands that I may never have listened to, purely on the basis of having heard them on this album playing awesome Scorpions songs. So for me, the lure and hook worked. And I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. What works best here in my opinion is that the songs chosen cover almost the whole career of Scorpions to the time it was recorded. They haven’t concentrated on just the 1980’s big hit albums, those from the 1970’s and 1990’s have also been given their chance to shine. In doing so, it also acts as a conduit for fans to perhaps discover the different eras of Scorpions and push them to look further than their comfort zone as fans. Once again, it is fair to say that this album did that exact same thing for me as well.

The album kicks off with Helloween’s brilliant version of “She’s a Woman, He’s a Man” that had appeared on their previous year’s release “Metal Jukebox”, itself a complete album of cover versions of songs from bands that they loved. This is a terrific version of this great song, crafted and performed with the love and care that you would expect of a band of Helloween’s standing. It gives the album the perfect start as well as a heavy hitter opening proceedings. Following this is Sinergy and their version of Scorpions best known song “Rock You Like a Hurricane”, a choice that was always going to be under heavy scrutiny form the fans who would have been looking for something special. Sinergy do the right thing, not doing too much different form the original, keeping the bones of the track intact and giving it a different skin, allowing the band’s style to flavour the track. It’s a very well-done cover of a song where the pressure would have been on to perform. Paradox and their version of “Dynamite” does the same thing, it doesn’t stary from the original too much, but the band add their own take on the track with a good pace and their great guitars matching the original versions for excitement and energy.
One of the tracks that stands out on this album is Sonata Arctica’s version of “Still Loving You”. The still-then fledgling band took one of Scorpions most recognisable and beloved power ballads, and turn it into an amazing fast paced heavy metal song that for all intents and purposes is AT LEAST as good as the original. It tears the house down in terms of energy and power, and for me ranks as one of the best cover versions of any song of all time. Surely, high praise indeed!
The heavyweight power metal band Stratovarius lend their credentials to their version of “Blackout” which again retains the structure and bones of the track and give their best performance of the track. Then comes Children of Bodom, a band that perhaps would not be thought of in a style that would complement a Scorpions song, but they come out and provide a stirring rendition of “Don’t Stop at the Top” from the “Savage Amusement” album. Musically it is flawless, and Alexi Laiho’s vocals and lead guitar are really quite terrific here. A great tribute from the masters of Finnish melodic death metal. Agent Steel’s take on “Dark Lady” from the “In Trance” album is excellent, with the vocals here arguably better here on the original which were provided by Uli Jon Roth. They also faithfully reproduce Uli’s unique guitaring style, completing an excellent cover of this song. This is followed by another truly awesome version of “Top of the Bill” from the same album by Steel Prophet, an American power metal band, who put this version of the song right alongside the original. Excellent, powerful guitars, and vocalist Rick Mythiasin top it all off. Just awesome. Prolopower then offer their version of “Steamrock Fever”, titled here and sung in the chorus as “Dampflockfuhrer”, utilising subtle changes in the lyrics but providing a unique version of the track as a result.
The second half of the album perhaps doesn’t live up to the first half, but of course that would be up to personal opinion. Tankard’s version of “Coming Home” does bring their own style into the song but loses the energy and passion of the original in the process. Disbelief offers a slower, perhaps darker version of the wonderful instrumental “Coast to Coast”, one that to me misinterprets the terrific vibes and energy of the original, though I may be biased as the band I was in during my 20’s played our own cover of this song, one which I think is far better than the one here. To/Die/For’s take on “Passion Rules the Game” comes across as a dreary mournful experience that’s sets itself apart from the original that has high energy and a positive vibe about the track. Breaker’s version of “Pictured Life” is a serviceable rendition of a track that is almost impossible to better. On the other hand, the version by Therion of “Crying Days” from Virgin Killer is a more interesting interpretation of the song, integrating the band’s style into their version of the track. Rough Silk present a varied and upbeat version of “Is There Anybody There” from “Lovedrive”, one that removes the reggae flavour the original track has and promotes it as a power metal version which suits the track well. Metalium and their take on the heavier equation of “Another Piece of Meat” is a solid version of a track that is almost impossible to either better or equal. Seven Witches journey of “Alien Nation” is a great version of the original from the “Face the Heat” album, played and sung with a passion the song needs to make it worthwhile. Then we have the joyous and brilliantly equalised version of “Send Me an Angel” by Custard. This is a song that appears to be incredibly difficult to reproduce to be anywhere near the Scorpions version, especially vocally. And yet, the band here excels. This is indeed a worthy tribute to a great band and song, and Custard probably lived off this for years. The album then concludes with the moving tribute of Stormtroopers of Death’s version of “Rock You Like a Hurricane”...... I am, of course, being slightly silly. Much like SOD themselves.

I have a saying about cover albums. Most of you will know it. And that saying is that no matter how good a cover album is, eventually you will put it back on the shelves, and head back to the original band and listen to those original songs, because in 99% of cases they will always be the best versions of those songs. Covers are fine, but it is the originals by the original band that are the real gems.
One of the things that had to be remembered coming into this album is that there is very little you could do to improve a Scorpions song. They are, for the most part, already perfect in style and substance and guitars and vocals, so to dive in and try and reinvent a classic was not something that could easily be achieved. In the most cases here, these bands didn’t try to do that, they just tried to deliver the track in the best way they could, while infusing a little of their selves into it. And that really wors well.
I had not heard of Sonata Arctica before I got this album, but I can tell you it didn’t take me long to get out there and search for them after I heard their version of “Still Loving You” on this album. It was exactly what I wanted to hear in a cover version. They took a wonderful track and made it their own. It led to me finding a band for whom I now own most of their albums and still listen to, all because of the way they performed this song.
I first got this album in 2001, on what had become my first real searching of the internet for bands and albums that I would have had very little chance of discovering without its rise to prominence. Throw in a search string, such as SCORPIONS and see what comes up. And then when an album turns up that says, “A Tribute to the Scorpions”, it's hard not to hit download and see what it sounds like. Which, is what I did.
On listening to this album again today, several times over, I was reminded of just how much I had loved this album when I first discovered it. It really is hard not to, with so many great Scorpions songs on it. And the bands it helped me to discover, important bands of the last 25 years of my music listening life. The already afore-mentioned Sonata Arctica, but also Stratovarius, Children of Bodom and Steel Prophet. I would probably have discovered most or all of them eventually but hearing them play their excellent versions of Scorpions songs that I already loved on this album brought that to the fore far quicker than it would have occurred. And – it was also a good reminder to me that this album is there, and that perhaps I should have listened to it more often in the years since it fell out of my heavy rotation. It’s great when an album does that.
On a previous episode for the Ozzy Osbourne tribute album, I suggested that I should have a ranking for these tribute and cover albums, much as I am introducing for all the band albums now. And, as yet, I have not done that. Suffice to say, if I did, this album would definitely make the top ten, and almost certainly top five. I really should get around to doing that...
Scorpions are a great band, still touring as I record this episode. As a tribute to their best material, by bands who have an obviously love for them that I do, this is well worth tracking down and listening to in full. I think you will be surprised just how good it is.

32. Various Artists / A Tribute To The Beast. 2002. 2/5.

Can someone explain to me what people are thinking, if they believe they can cover an Iron Maiden song, and scream or growl the lyrics to it?
OK, very few people can sing like Bruce Dickinson, but surely you have to give it a go?
I know I am not an afficiendo of the 'growler' lyrical style. And to me, the songs on which bands with growlers have covered on this album bring the rest of the effort down to mediocre.

And there are some good versions on here. Steel Prophet opening up with The Ides Of March and Purgatory, Sonata Arctica with Die With Your Boots On, Therion's Children Of The Damned, and Tierra Santa's Flight Of Icarus are worth the listen.

But those that are bad are horrid.

Rating : There is more to turn me off this album than to make me listen to it, which is a shame. 2/5

31. Catch The Rainbow / A Tribute To Rainbow. 1999. 5/5.

It's hard to believe, though easy to comprehend, that a musician could be so dedicated to one of his favourite bands, that he would put together a project for the sole purpose of recording a tribute album dedicated to that band. But that is exactly what Uli Kusch, former Helloween and Gamma Ray drummer, and current Masterplan drummer, did way back in 1999.
Along with some mates, and some special guests, here is a tribute album that is truly worth listening to and owning.

It covers all three eras of Rainbow (before the shortlived comeback in 1995), of Ronnie James Dio, Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner. It has a selection of their greatest tracks, and each one of them is superbly done. Sure - I may have done some different songs, but I can't complain about the ones they chose, and they way they covered them. You can feel the love and respect in each track.
My faves are Kill The King (with Ralf Scheepers), Stargazer, Spotlight Kid and Eyes Of The World (which Uli himself sings).

Memories : “Rainbow are the only original band. Everyone since has just copied them”. Peter Orgill, 1986.

Rating : This is yet another example of how to do a Tribute album RIGHT! 5/5.

20. Various Artists / A Call To Irons : A Tribute To Iron Maiden. 1998. 1/5.

When I originally saw this in Utopia, I was very excited. It was the first tribute album I had seen for Iron Maiden. I knew only a couple of the bands on it, and not very well, so I was looking forward to it.
Major disappointment.
This album really makes you appreciate how good the original band is, and how special Bruce Dickinson's vocals are. I realise this is a death/doom/gloom metal tribute, and I don't listen to much of these type of bands, but this was still desperately disappointing.
There are a couple of decent versions on the album. But mostly it is awful. $32 I will never get back.

Rating : Well, it was truly fortunate to get this much. 1/5