12 Great Bands Plus 3 More

This is a list of 12 great bands. None of the 12 bands listed below are new to this blog - there was an existing label for each and every one of them so I have included an appropriate link in the list. I think it's interesting that Motley Crue and Guns-n-Roses have so many pages.

1. Quiet Riot (15)
2. Bon Jovi (9)
3. Motley Crue (62)
4. Cinderella (8)
5. Twisted Sister (11)
6. Poison (19)
7. Europe (4)
8. Guns-n-Roses (35)
9. Dokken (34)
10. Winger (4)
11. Ratt (18)
12. Warrant (9)

In contrast, when asked, I often will say that Metallica, Bayside, and Count the Stars are my 3 favorite bands. Here's how many labels for each of those bands exist on my blog:

• Metallica (1154)
• Bayside (241)
• Count the Stars (19)

 

Van Free Riot - "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Metal Health Now"

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkCJbfe2Pk

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Irony is Metal Sludge being able to identify a tribute as "Well-Written"...

Well-Written Tribute to Frankie Banali by Blackie Lawless

I Support this Decision

Quiet Riot To Continue Following Frankie Banalis Death

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RIP: Frankie Banalli

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Nope

Received the email below about a festival in Lenox, MA, in July 2020. There's zero chance of me attempting to work out going to MA to see this show. It's an interesting poster - Breaking Benjamin is a "bigger" band than Quiet Riot, but it's Quiet Riot's graphic that dominates. That said, if this was being held in Des Moines or Moline or even Waterloo, I would consider going to it.

Since I'm curious, I dug around a bit and found this site - Riot & Rebels with Quiet Riot, Molly Hatchet and BLACKFOOT - which does not list Breaking Benjamin as a band on the bill. Who is wrong?

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Sonic Octane - Live! Riot and Rebels Fest

Riot & Rebels Tour One Night Only Saturday, July 25th Sonic Octane will be performing with Quiet Riot, Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot Saving Abel, Breaking Benjamin Saliva, Tantric and more! Eastover Estate Lenox, Massachusetts

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Bang Thy Head!

Quiet Riot

The Rust Belt @ East Moline, IL

Sat, Mar 14, 2020

Kool and Quietly Rioting

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Crazzee! Mama We're All Now!

WOW! I remember when Frankie B. played a huge MASSIVE Pearl kit with double bass and at least 3 mounted toms and now, he's got a Tama single kick and one tom on a snare stand. Times sure change, but he and the rest of the band sound great! I saw them in 2007 with Dokken, Cinderella, & Poison at a festival in Des Moines, IA - won't ever forget seeing KDB in concert...

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The Grunge Gold Rush Followed the Hair Metal Gold Rush Part II

This post is a continuation of Part I.
The point is, that when the author of this article about the "Grunge Gold Rush" wrote "Mike Gitter, a punk-rock specialist who was starting out as an A&R man for major label Atlantic Records, home of hair-metal veterans White Lion, Ratt and Mr. Big", he is too dismissive of an entire movement. White Lion, Ratt, and Mr. Big came out in different parts of the 'hair-metal' movement. Ratt came first, then White Lion, then Mr. Big. In fact, with Mr. Big, I can't call that band "hair-metal" with a straight face. Read the WikiPedia article here.

Maybe I should have sat down and formulated an outline to my arguments in this post because I've rambled quite a bit, all because I read this article: The Grunge Gold Rush Is there a lesson here? January 12, 20186:38 AM ET Steve Knopper

Editor's Note: An article relevant to this post lists the Top 10 Metal Albums of 1988.

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10. Metallica, '...And Justice For All'
9. Napalm Death, 'From Enslavement to Obliteration'
8. Testament, 'The New Oder'
7. King Diamond, 'Them'
6. Danzig, 'Danzig'
5. Death, 'Leprosy'
4. Helloween, 'Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part II'
3. Iron Maiden, 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'
2. Slayer, 'South of Heaven'
1. Queensryche, 'Operation: Mindcrime'

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In general, #10, #2, and #1 belong on the list, but unable to make a credible judgement about the other 7. Unlike other Internet music writers, this blog's editor has self-control! Read the entire article here. Also worth noting is the fact that the following labels were created for this post:

• Napalm Death
• King Diamond
• Danzig
• Death

which means these 6 bands have been mentioned elsewhere on this blog:

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1. Metallica
2. Testament
3. Helloween
4. Iron Maiden
5. Slayer
6. Queensryche

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60% is a passing score!

Revolving Doors!

When you look at these 5 pages, you might be put off by how many times the band's lineup has changed. I don't really think that's appropriate. There are bands that are not as popular or as well-known as these 5 bands who change their lineup at least as frequently as these 5. The difference is that sites like blabbermouth.net, Loudwire.com, and other metal music websites are around to write about the changes and, sometimes unfortunately, provide fans with a place to voice their pleasure (or displeasure) with the change.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Black_Sabbath_band_members
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cradle_of_Filth_members
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Megadeth_band_members
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Quiet_Riot_members
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.A.S.P.#Members 

I could have easily listed Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Testament, Queensryche, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest instead of the above 5. What started me down this path was thinking about Cradle of Filth because I just found out I downloaded https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptoriana_%E2%80%93_The_Seductiveness_of_Decay from Youtube.com, including this (ahem) gem:

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Someone's Being a Jerk

Over the last year, maybe even back two years, I've wrote about how ex-bandmates need to shut up when asked about their ex-bandmates. Specifically, I remember how Dave Mustaine (ex-Metallica) is always asked what his opinion of Metallica is and Kirk Hammett was asked what his opinion of Megadeth is. Instead of saying, "they are a great band" and ending it, Hammett had some weird / odd opinion that ignited a conflict that was carried forward through the press. I remember writing that there needed to be a canned response so that all these things ex-bandmates say in interviews are not blown up. It's not just Metallica & Megadeth that have fallen into this trap. Off the top of my head, current & former members of Dream Theater, Slayer, Black Sabbath, and Sepultura have fallen into this rut.

Add White Lion to the list as Blabbermouth posted this article just under a week ago - 9/20/17 - about how the former lead singer would not play with the band's guitarist for anything in the world. Vocalist Mike Tramp comes across as a guy who desperately WANTS to play with Vito Bratta, despite his words. Why would I say that? It seems as though he's trying to distance himself from the material he created with Bratta in White Lion as a means to heal himself. I think the best way to heal himself would be to play with Vito Bratta.

As I wrote about the other aforementioned bands, Mike Tramp needs to be quiet and say that he hasn't spoken to Vito Bratta in a long time and doesn't know where his head is at as far as playing together, which would be a much nicer way of respecting the past. Read the article here: Ex-WHITE LION Singer MIKE TRAMP: 'I Would Not Wanna Play With VITO BRATTA For Anything In The World'.

While I'm on this subject of bands that flirt with the idea of reuniting, I have this to say. There will come a day when a band's "classic" lineup cannot reunite. I'm thinking about

1. Slayer, due to Jeff Hanneman's death
2. Pantera, due to Dimebag's death
3. Audioslave / Soundgarden, due to Chris Cornell's death*
4. Alice in Chains, due to Layne Staley's death
5. Linkin Park, due to Chester Bennington's death
6. Quiet Riot, due to Kevin DuBrow's death
7. Stone Temple Pilots, due to Scott Weiland's death
8. Led Zeppelin, due to John Bonham's death
9. The Who, due to Keith Moon's death
10. Ratt, due to Robin Crosby's death

Right there are 10 bands that I like who cannot reunite, due to death. Then I think about these 10 bands:

1. Black Sabbath
2. Sepultura
3. White Lion
4. Dream Theater
5. Queensryche

who COULD reunite, but have not or will not, for various reasons which all can be boiled down to being human. The members are alive, today, unlike the first list of 10 bands. What I wish would happen is for the members of the second list of bands to realize that they are unlike the first 10 and that someday, they will join that list. Thus, wouldn't it be great to reconcile whatever issues separate them now, before they have to do it at a grave?

* After publishing this post, came across this article: http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/tom-morello-reveals-abandoned-audioslave-reunion-plans/

1986: The Year Thrash Metal Exploded, Thanks to Three Now-Classic Albums

For the record, I didn't like Metallica or Megadeth or Slayer. In fact, when I first heard them, I thought they were too fast and too far removed from Ratt, Poison, and Quiet Riot. Now, looking back through this article - 1986: The Year Thrash Metal Exploded, Thanks to Three Now-Classic Albums - I realize I was behind the times, behind the curve. All three of these bands are alive and releasing new material whereas Ratt, Poison, and Quiet Riot are shambles of what they once were.

Not really worth 4.5 hours in the car... right?

As a continuation of the lack of quality events (concerts, pro wrestling) in my area, I noticed that http://www.tnawrestling.com/content/view/596/40/ announces TNA is coming to Spencer, Iowa! Hey, at least it's in the state - I guess that's some sort of progress - and since I live in North Liberty, IA, I plugged my address and the address of the venue into mapquest.com and... dang geography. It's 4.5 hours away, my favorite TNA wrestler (Sting) isn't even mentioned as being on the card and, well, if the show starts @ 7:30, I'd have to leave work no later than 2:30 and have excellent driving weather. Then, after ~3 hours (at least), it'd be 10:30 (see, us English majors can do math) and then I'd have another 4.5 hour drive, getting me home @ 3 AM! Hypothetically, I could stop-over in Cedar Falls - possibly - to stay @ my brother-in-law's house overnight and then finish the drive in the AM. Tickets for that show start out @ $18 and the 'best available' per Ticketmaster.com were not great - not even with the ring straight ahead of me. I don't understand TNA - they could have booked the US Cellular Center - I know there's probably no concert scheduled there! - and had a good crowd. Instead, they book Spencer, IA. What the heck is in Spencer? The venu only has the TNA show and a Frank Sinatra tribute booked. Doesn't make sense.

In other news, way back in 2006, I went to the Waterstock concert in Des Moines, IA. Poison, Cinderella, Quiet Riot, Dokken, and a slew of other bands played - you can read the review - and it was a really great time. I got in for free through Poison's publicist, made some friends for a day and had a blast. According to this site, there isn't any indication that the event will happen this year.

So since that show doesn't seem feasible, I looked at the Picador to see what they have coming up. They have an excellent - on paper - all ages show on Friday, April 18. I have a CD from Destrophy, but I haven't heard any of the other bands on the bill which include

Freaklabel - from Cedar Rapids
Marcato - from Cedar Falls
Far From Falling - from Twin Cities - WOW! I like this!
doors at 5pm

That's silly. I don't get out of work until 5 and it's a 1/2 drive to my house, plus ... well, the earliest I could be @ the venue would be 6. Maybe that'd be when Far From Falling would kick off - if they are indeed first and Destrophy is headlining.