*Hey, it’s Reo, your local MMA. No, not MMA as in a cage-fighter (although I do like to wrestle), MMA as in your ‘Magic Metal Ambassador’. We’ve been doing Metal Monday on the air on Magic for a while now, and it’s been a blast. But one song every week, wasn’t cutting it for a metalhead of my ilk. So, we’ve changed things up. Here now, Reo’s Metal Four-Count. A group of four songs tied together by a common theme.*
(Sometimes, as we all know, songs and other artistry are not as clean/edited as some would prefer. Clicking away from my blog may cause you to hear some naughty language or themes. You have been so warned.)
As I said above, we’re doing a new thing for Metal Monday. The Four-Count is going to be cool. It already is to me, hopefully it will be to you. For the next month, we’ll be taking you from Metal’s humble beginnings in England, all the way through the big stadium show kings of present day, and Metal’s future. Here now, the Four-Count of Metal from the British Gods!
Black Sabbath – Paranoid (1970)
Every awesome thing has to have a starting place. Whether you hate them or love them, or like me, are ambivalent, Black Sabbath is the ‘Big Bang’ of Metal. Their first charted song is also one of their best with front man Ozzy Osbourne. Paranoid, both the album and the song, changed the game of what rock music was. The song, quickly tossed together as a throwaway (complete with sight-read lyrics to tape from Ozzy) because the tent-pole for Metal.
Judas Priest – The Ripper (1976)
Getting started a few years after Sabbath, Judas Priest brought a different sound to the game. Rather than the plodding and brooding nature of some of Sabbath’s most popular work, Priest brought speed, and soaring vocals to the table. Even now, as they celebrate close to 50 years as a band, they still bring it, as evidenced on 2018’s Firepower. Again, it’s the second album being the ground-breaker for these Brits. The Ripper, a song about Jack the Ripper, stands as Priest’s entrance to the Metal fray.
While Judas Priest added the speed element to Metal, it wasn’t until Motorhead came along, that fast and loud were cranked to eleven, so-to-speak. Once Lemmy added Phil Taylor (The Animal) and “Fast” Eddie Clarke to the fold, Motorhead rocketed to legendary Metal status. Overkill was their first big smash (from their second album, naturally). Metallica covered it for their Garage, Inc. effort, and Jersey band Overkill took their name from the Motorhead album that the song is on.
Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast (1982)
Iron Maiden is the only British God on this list to have their ascent really start in the 80s. After installing Bruce Dickinson as their front man, the five-piece went to work on their third studio album (not second!?). The A Side of the album is, to me, fairly unremarkable. The B Side, however, has probably three of the ten most popular and beloved Maiden songs ever: The Number of the Beast, Run to the Hills, and Hallowed Be Thy Name. Beast starts the B Side, and is famous for the passage from Revelation at the front, and Bruce’s wail before the first verse, which was out of pure frustration at having to do the opening bit a few times over.