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ShareWhat’s that? You say you regularly sing Satan’s praises while thrashing yourself silly to the sounds of Killswitch Engage and Cradle of Filth but you have no deeper understanding of the history of metal?
Never fear, Rhino Records is here to put you straight—with “The Heavy Metal Box,” a four-disc overview of the much-maligned (and equally exalted, by others) genre that began as the `60s gave way to the `70s. The set, due Oct. 2, spans that “golden age,” from pioneers like Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper and Uriah Heep—and who could forget Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” honey?—to the English demons of the late `70s and `80s (Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon, even Motorhead) and on into the dichotomy that the late `80s brought, comprising both hair-metal (Poison, Ratt, Cinderella) and the decade’s rawer return to pure metal (Metallica, Pantera, Sepultura).
And it comes looking like the top of an old-school Marshall tube amplifier. Clever, like Rhino typically is. Click the read-more at the bottom for a full track listing.
Naturally, the one key name missing from the haul is Led Zeppelin, which remains very particular about what projects it will lend songs or images to. (Recall how none of the band’s Live Aid performance was included on that event’s recent DVD release.) As compensation, however, Led Zep has its own new treasure trove in the works—a catalog-spanning two-CD overview (“Mothership,” due Nov. 13) and a remastered-for-5.1 and expanded DVD version of the band’s 1976 midnight-movie staple “The Song Remains the Same” (due Nov. 20).
With six songs added to the original 14 the film offered—including “Black Dog,” “Over the Hills and Far Away,” “Misty Mountain Hop,” “Since I’ve Been Loving You,” “The Ocean” and “Heartbreaker”—Zep has been able to re-create the full Madison Square Garden show that was truncated for the original film. The DVD, featuring liner notes by Cameron Crowe (David Fricke handles “Mothership”), will also come in a limited-editon set that includes a vintage T-shirt, the soundtrack CD, lobby cards, reproductions of original premiere invitations, a tour schedule and more.
Doesn’t change the fact that the flick itself is burdened with all those misty “Lord of the Rings”-ish asides. But I can’t be the only one who always skipped past those.
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THE HEAVY METAL BOX
Disc 1
1. “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” Iron Butterfly
2. “Summertime Blues,” Blue Cheer
3. “Easy Livin’,” Uriah Heep
4. “Highway Star,” Deep Purple
5. “Billion Dollar Babies,” Alice Cooper
6. “Lost Johnny” Hawkwind
7. “Bad Motor Scooter,” Montrose
8. “Working Man,” Rush
9. “Man on the Silver Mountain,” Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow
10. “Detroit Rock City,” Kiss
11. “The Ripper,” Judas Priest
12. “Cat Scratch Fever,” Ted Nugent
13. “Lights Out,” UFO
14. “Godzilla,” Blue Oyster Cult
15. “Demolition Boys,” Girlschool
16. “White Witch,” Angel Witch
17. “The Phantom of the Opera,” Iron Maiden
18. “Neon Knights,” Black Sabbath
Disc 2
1. “Ace Of Spades,” Motorhead
2. “Am I Evil?” Diamond Head
3. “Nice Boys,” Rose Tattoo
4. “Attack of the Mad Axeman,” Michael Schenker Group
5. “Denim and Leather,” Saxon
6. “Blitzkrieg,” Blitzkrieg
7. “Gangland,” Tygers of Pan Tang
8. “Witching Hour,” Venom
9. “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’,” Judas Priest
10. “The Number of the Beast,” Iron Maiden
11. “Star War,” Raven
12. “Say What You Will,” Fastway
13. “Black Funeral,” Mercyful Fate
14. “Animal (F(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)k Like a Beast),” W.A.S.P.
15. “Mean Streak,” Y&T
16. “Holy Diver,” Dio
17. “Queen of the Reich,” Queensryche
18. “Whiplash,” Metallica
Disc 3
1. “Rock You Like a Hurricane,” Scorpions
2. “Metal Health,” Quiet Riot
3. “Into the Fire,” Dokken
4. “Balls to the Wall,” Accept
5. “Round and Round,” Ratt
6. “I Wanna Rock,” Twisted Sister
7. “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” Hanoi Rocks
8. “Big Bottom,” Spinal Tap
9. “Midnite Maniac,” Krokus
10. “I’ll See the Light, Tonight,” Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force
11. “Crazy Nights,” Loudness
12. “Shake Me,” Cinderella
13. “Watch the Children Pray,” Metal Church
14. “To Hell With the Devil,” Stryper
15. “A Little Time,” Helloween
16. “Wrecking Crew,” Overkill
17. “Caught in a Mosh,” Anthrax
18. “Peace Sells,” Megadeth
Disc 4
1. “Still of the Night,” Whitesnake
2. “Rock Me,” Great White
3. “Talk Dirty to Me,” Poison
4. “Bathroom Wall,” Faster Pussycat
5. “Hall of the Mountain King,” Savatage
6. “Kiss Me Deadly,” Lita Ford
7. “Hail and Kill,” Manowar
8. “Trial by Fire,” Testament
9. “Welcome Home,” King Diamond
10. “South of Heaven,” Slayer
11. “One,” Metallica
12. “Cult of Personality,” Living Colour
13. “Youth Gone Wild,” Skid Row
14. “Cowboys From Hell,” Pantera
15. “Beg to Differ,” Prong
16. “Dead Embryonic Cells,” Sepultura
