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They hit on something no one else did afaik. I enjoy their recent slew of TV performances of Raining Blood of all things!
Heavy Metal Santa.


I just stumbled across Motorhead covering Enter Sandman, nice little Youtube find!
It's almost carbon but Lemmy is Lemmy, man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF9Gr5waAJg

I like their cover of "Whiplash" - I swap it into Kiss of Death for the sendoff, booting out that "Going Down" beige. ("Phil's son helped write it!" yeah I can tell!) Sounds like it could've come straight off the superbly aerodynamic head-lopping punk of We Are Motorhead (an LP itself let down only by a dull Pistols cover, which you should chop - fucking hell, this post is gaining some kinda inertial grip, can't get away from the bastard - here's a bomb)

Ultimately though, the best thing about that cover is they got a Grammy for it. Lemmy was said to have always harboured a longing to go really mainstream and he wasn't amused.

Actually, IIRC, certain editions of the record have it onboard anyway. Bit patchy, KOD. Was blasting SUCKER the other day, now that's a decent opener at least.

Into the gravy or into the ground, we just don't want you around ♫

Currently listening to Helloween, whom I'm not too familiar with. This is very impressive stuff, I think for 1987(Keepers Of The Seven Keys part 1) this sounds quite modern.

I'm a bit torn on power metal because on one hand the positive/childish vibes I have a hard time to get pumped for that sometimes, but on the other hand I feel like that genre is the true continuation of classic melodic Heavy Metal.

I saw a saying from an old metal head and I tend to agree with that : that the band at that time must have felt like a sort of new, younger, hungry Iron Maiden, but the next generation in that sound. everything is more XTREEM. It's more epic, more melodic, it's heavier, it's faster. all at once. it feels like a definite more modern step ''up''.

I hear a ton of Yngwie in there obviously. I feel like Yngwie's ''Marching Out'' is 75% of the way there. But Ingo's speed metal drumming held for lonnnng stretches is frankly mountain flattening. Holy fuck. The vocals do the job but it's a bit harsh sometimes, I think Yngwie had better singers.

Overall really impressed!

Helloween were my entry ticket into metal. A classmate gave me a tape of Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II and I was hooked.

The Keeper albums are as genre defining as it gets. Their early stuff is good, too, even though the sound production is quite horrible. Pink Bubbles go Ape has a bad reputation, but sound problems aside, I think it's a very solid release, and Someone's Crying is one of my favourite Helloween songs full stop. Chameleon is a confusing album from an obviously confused band, but it has some interesting experiments, and the cringe-worthy moments aren't actually as numerous as many fans claim.

The albums after Kiske's departure are a bit hit and miss. The best one is probably Better than Raw. I'm not really a huge fan of Deris' influence on the sound of the band. He is a solid singer, but his songwriting brought a little cheesiness into the band, and it never really felt like Helloween since.

In addition to Ingo's exceptional drumming, I'd like to emphasize Markus Großkopf's bass playing. He's often overlooked, but I genuinely think he's one of the best of his trade.

Btw, if you enjoy the Keeper albums, be sure to check out Land of the Free by Gamma Ray. It's like the sequel Helloween themselves have never been able to make.

Awesome thanks for the recco. I was thinking of going Gamma Ray but didn't know which album to pick. will cue that next.

currently listening to Stratovarius ''Black Diamond''. It's very good, but I don't get as big sense of progression from Yngwie (or even Tony Martin-era Sabbath for that matter) as I did with Helloween. but a bit more crystalised nonetheless, and very solid.

Hell yeah. That was the album that got me into them as well. So good. Eaaaaagle fly freeeeeeeee