The forgotten albums - thread

[DrillSergeant]

I'm always in search for the rarer diamonds which were strangely somehow forgotten. The problem is that (too) many people mistake rarity with quality. A rare item is very often hard to find because it simply didn't meet the expectations of the fans. And I don't want to bother myself with such nuisances. On the other hand I'm always interested in quality stuff, of course. So I thought I should start a thread where we can post our experiences. What would you recommend and almost more important, which albums should better remain unknown?
Some of the real goodies (in my humble opinion) are e.g. both Exhorder-albums, the first two Demolition Hammer records and Fear Of God's Within The Veil-CD. Someone told me to check out German thrashers Assassin. Does anyone know whether they're worth a try?
Definitely an album you should stay away from is this Voodoocult-crap! The line-up (Dave Lombardo, Chuck Schuldiner, Mille Petrozza...) sounded so good at first but it turned out to be one of the worst listening experiences I've ever had!

 

[Psychonaut]

Fear of God's Within The Veil took me quite a few years to track down. I had it on cassette a long time ago and it got wet. Since then I've managed to track the CD down at a reasonable price. Definately a gem!

 

[Silverhaze]

DrillSergeant - The first thing that came to mind when I started reading your post was a great cd from the band "Fall From Grace". And then I got to the part where you mentioned Exhorder - who's guitarist, Jay Ceravolo, is in Fall From Grace! Weird. Anyway, it's a great cd and the only one they put out. I should probably add that it's not like Exhorder though - It's alot more laid back - just in case you're only into the brutal stuff.

 

[tedvanfrehley]

Yeah, if you only like the brutal stuff skip this one but if you like "hard rock" try LITA FORD's OUT FOR BLOOD. This one is a lot better than her later more "pop" work. The cover rules, too! I finally got a copy off ebay for less than a small fortune from a seller in AMERICA...i love it.

 

[DrillSergeant]

First off I'd like to thank everybody who contributed so far. And no, I'm not just into the brutal stuff. My collection ranges from Bands like Dissection down to groups such as Bon Jovi and Kiss. With everything else thrown in between! My list only happened by accident to be so one-dimensional. Well, not quite. It's just that at this time I prefer the more brutal stuff as I'm going through a rough time. But that's a different story... In order to return to the topic (and to distract you from my personal shit ) here are a few of the not-so-well-known "softer" bands in my collection:
- House Of Lords: haven't heard their third effort yet, but first two CDs simply rule
- Shocker Soundtrack: two words - fuckin' brilliant
- Gorky Park: Anybody who remembers the Moscow Music Peace Festival?

 

[MRNot]

..And no, I'm not just into the brutal stuff.

In that case, I'd recommend several classics from Shrapnel Records (US) & Ebony Records (UK) (among others) that *still* hook me more than most current metal does (though sometimes the technical skill of the solo guitarist may not hold up to today's more capable players):

(Flight of the?) Griffin - FLIGHT OF THE GRIFFIN, 1984 (frequently Maiden-esque)
Hexx - NO ESCAPE, 1985
Chastain - MYSTERY OF ILLUSION, 1985 (still the overall best of his, IMO)
Chateaux - FIRE POWER, 1984
Blade Runner - RUN FROM THE NIGHT, 1984

Shok Paris - STEEL AND STARLIGHT, 1987?
Leatherwolf - LEATHERWOLF (Endangered Species, sometimes), 1984
Blind Fury - OUT OF REACH, 1985 (members of Skyclad/Pariah/Satan)

..Shit! I could go on all day...

..here are a few of the not-so-well-known "softer" bands in my collection:
- House Of Lords: haven't heard their third effort yet, but first two CDs simply rule

I'd say overall SAHARA is their best, with DEMONS DOWN coming second. I can't even remember the first one at all it's been so long.

Shocker soundtrack

It may be worth your while to track down both of the Saraya albums if you like their track from this disc. Saraya was a badass female-fronted rockband whose second album was produced by Peter Collins (Queensryche, etc.)

 

[Psychonaut]

I have the last two House Of Lords CDs as well. Demons Down is quite excellent but I think Sahara barely edges it out.

The Shocker soundtrack is in my collection as well. That one took me a while to find too. My fav song on there is Sword & The Stone (or something like that). I'll have to bust it out tonight now...

 

[Greeno]

How about:

Apocrypha - The Forgotten Scroll
A great Shrapnel album from 1987 produced by Marty Friedman.


Tyran Pace - Watching You (1986)
Great German metal. The singer went on to be in Gamma Ray.


Detente - Recognize No Authority (1986)
I like the Detente stuff a little better than Fear Of God. Dawn Crosby's voice just kills on this album!

 

[sixxswine]

Here's a few good 'ums-

As mentioned

House of Lords-Demons Down & Sahara

Impellitteri-Stand in Line

Exodus-Force of Habit

Judas Priest-Ram it Down

that's all for now, there's a ton more...

 

[Psychonaut]

Holy hell. I used to have the Impellitteri album on tape. Man this place brings back memories...

Tony MacAlpine had a good one back then called Maximum Security. One of the coolest piano pieces I have ever heard was on that album.

 

[JonnyD]

I had to think about this one a bit But I thought of one

Desultory - Into Eternity A totally awsome album by a totally awsome Band that has been mostly forgotten This album contains some of the best Death Metal I ever heard its right up there with DM classics like Obituary Cause of death and SFU Haunted Good stuff I HIGHLY recomend it

 

[MRNot]

Tyran Pace - Watching You (1986)
Great German metal. The singer went on to be in Gamma Ray.

*DOH!* How could I forget about Tyran' Pace - LONG LIVE METAL (1984)?? One of my secret treasures. I have the original vinyl w/ the full-size poster in near mint, someday soon to go up on eBay (because I have the CD as well). I definitely like LONG LIVE METAL a great deal more than WATCHING YOU. There just weren't any catchy songs on the latter (to me.. your mileage may vary). Also, Ralf went on not only to Gamma Ray but Primal Fear as well, where he's still giving Halford a run for his money..

 

[MRNot]

Holy hell. I used to have the Impellitteri album on tape. Man this place brings back memories...

Me too (now I have also the Century Media reissue on CD). I also still have the preceeding EP, which I need to digitize someday. Great stuff, if you can get past that stupid quote from an obviously less mature Chris on the back of STAND IN LINE saying, and I paraphrase, "I promise my solos will only get faster.." Thank goodness he actually went on to learn that speed ain't nothing without controlled phrasing & a sense of melody.

Tony MacAlpine had a good one back then called Maximum Security. One of the coolest piano pieces I have ever heard was on that album.

MAXIMUM SECURITY (featuring guest appearances from George Lynch [Dokken] & Jeff Watson [Night Ranger]) is my favorite of his, and still is probably my favorite guitar-hero instrumental CD overall. His debut, EDGE OF SANITY (1986) is almost as good. I also consider Vinnie Moore's MIND'S EYE (1986) to be one of the overall most memorable instrumental guitar discs (and my favorite of his).

 

[Burkhard]

Some of the real goodies (in my humble opinion) are e.g. ...and Fear Of God's Within The Veil-CD. Someone told me to check out German thrashers Assassin. Does anyone know whether they're worth a try?

Fear Of God´s "Within The Veil" is definitely my favourite metal album of all times! Since I bought it in 1991 I´ve listened to it more than 1,150 times and I still haven´t become bored of it!:Spin:
As for Assassin, I have got their second album "Interstellar Experience", but I haven´t listened to it very often. I wouldn´t say it´s bad, but it never appealed to me as much as many other albums did. Maybe you´d like it - try and find out for yourself!

Some albums I´d like to recommend and which might be hard to find:

Chastain - "The 7th Of Never" (1987)
Sacred Blade - "Of The Sun & Moon" (1986) - I think Jeff Ulmer is still working on the second album!
Hexenhaus - "A Tribute To Insanity" (1988) - thrash (?) with some (IMO) very original guitar-playing, my favourite song is the 10min-piece "As Darkness Falls..."
Anacrusis - "Suffering Hour" (1988), "Reason" (1990)
Znowhite - "Act Of God" (1988) - I don´t know why this album never got much attention, because I think that "To The Last Breath", "Rest In Peace" or "A Soldier´s Creed" are some of the best thrash metal songs ever written (by a true "black" metal guitarist!) and the other stuff on this album isn´t bad either; maybe people didn´t like the voice of Nicole Lee, but I can´t see why; Nicole reminds me of Dawn Crosby (R.I.P.) on Détente´s "Recognize No Authority", though Dawn´s vocals sound rougher
Toxik - "World Circus" (1988), "Think This" (1990) - technically complex music (especially on "Think This") with very good (melodic and fast) guitar work (No, they don´t sound like Helloween!), but some people might be offended by the often very high male vocals (I´d say the vocalist on "Think This" sounds a bit more moderate.)

 

[Thrash Metal Tormentor]

Someone told me to check out German thrashers Assassin. Does anyone know whether they're worth a try?

If you like somewhat sloppy & chaotic German Thrash (I know I do )
then you should check them out. I like the debut "The Upcoming Terror" better but "Interstellar Experience" is almost as good.

 

[Psychonaut]

There was a band back then called Stormwitch and they had an album called Walpurgis Night. I thought it was a damn fine slab of metal. I had it taped and have never seen it since then.

 

[sixxswine]

Here's another Racer-X's Second Heat.

 

[MRNot]

...So I thought I should start a thread where we can post our experiences. What would you recommend and almost more important, which albums should better remain unknown?

Something more:

Sacred Rite - SACRED RITE, 1984, RITUAL, 1986 & IS NOTHING SACRED, 1988? (all now available on two CDs from Sentinel Steel Records
Brainfever - CAPTURE THE NIGHT, 1984
Crimson GLory - CRIMSON GLORY, 1986 (OK, so this one shouldn't have been forgotten in the first place, but in case someone was unaware..)
Picture - DIAMOND DREAMER/NIGHTHUNTER, 1982? & HEAVY METAL EARS, 1980
Riggs - RIGGS, 1982
Who could forget pre-Anselmo Pantera - PROJECTS IN THE JUNGLE, 1984 & I AM THE NIGHT, 1985 (1983's METAL MAGIC is interesting from a historical point of view, but it's not all that "good")
Savage - LOOSE & LETHAL, 1983
Tokyo Blade - TOKYO BLADE, 1983
Angel Dust - INTO THE DARK PAST, 1984
Cities - ANNIHILATION ABSOLUTE, 1985 - 1986 (EP & full length album of same title)

Time to quit for a while...

 

[Silverhaze]

Although it's not very old, the S/T from The Quill is a true gem. If you're a fan of Led Zeppelin, early Fastway, Badlands and even Witchfinder General it's a must have (along with the rest of The Quill library).

 

[MEGADETH502]

don't know if this was mentioned, but

armored saint- March of the Saint

awsome stuff.