The Mosh Pit 4.11.08: 1983 - Metal Goes Commercial

Posted by Dan Haggerty on 04.11.2008

1983 was the year metal hit MTV and became a household name. From Mötley Crüe to Hanoi Rocks, and Def Leppard to Quiet Riot, join the Mosh Pit and find out what were the best releases in the year metal went commercial!






Welcome to the third installment of the Mosh Pit's look at pivotal years in the history of metal. This is also the overall fifth column that features a look at a year in the history of metal. So far we have gone through the following years: 1990, 1980, 1970, and 1976.

1970 was the last of the underappreciated years, and the first that was also featured as historical. This year gets the nod, of course, for being the year heavy metal proper was born. Black Sabbath's self-titled debut and Paranoid were released, as well as Deep Purple's In Rock, combining into a one-two kick to the ass that changed music forever and born onto us a new genre of music. Add to that the critically acclaimed debut from Uriah Heep plus other gems like Lucifer's Friend or Mountain and it is a damn fine year for old school hard rock and proto metal.

1976 was the next year. Before this year, bands didn't call themselves heavy metal – Critics and writers did. It was, like the 70's (and the beginning of the 80's actually) a healthy mix of metal, hard rock, and guitar rock. Outside of a few key albums, there was not a complete metal album proper as we would think of it today. Judas Priest changed that by releasing the immortal Sad Wings Of Destiny and loudly (and proudly) proclaiming themselves heavy metal. This would begin a four album run that would change and define heavy metal as a sound and force. More bands more becoming influenced by the new rockers, and NWOBHM was slowly beginning its run through the British underground, waiting to explode onto the scene in 1980 – But still, the beast is overall an interesting mix of hard rock and other concepts.

Actually, if I was to do important years in metal in order I would also include 1980 for the NWOBHM explosion, but we covered that a month ago. So I'll just refer you to that column and we'll move on to the next important year.

1983 and 1984 are interesting years for the student of hard rock and metal. This… This was the year that started the change to metal that put it onto the road to losing those rock edges. It would take a number of years for us long haired bangers to realize what happened, and the exclamation point came in the death of hair metal and the serge of grunge, but metal was about to ratchet up a notch across the board. Several years later and Darwin would insure only the toughest sounds survived.

Wow. I'm actually very proud of that analogy. I need to find a discrete way to put metal survives by natural selection on a shirt. That would rock.

Anyway, two things happened from 1983 to '84 that would cause this musical evolution:

1. Heavy metal as popularly defined (then) would have an incredible surge in popularity. And I mean HUGE. It went from being around 5% of album sales in a year to 20%! By 1984 one in every five albums sold in America was a "Heavy Metal" album. But remember that term also includes Van Halen, Motley Crue, Ratt, and their ilk. If these groups are truly metal is debatable today, but they we're linked then. Ahhh… The joys of innocence when on the edge of a new frontier. But this mixing of sounds was finally going to hit critical mass as…

2. The growth of actual metal started by Priest and preached by the NWOBHM gave rise to the underground metal scene. These guys were hungry, on the edge, and for the times extreme as they took that metal sound to the next level. Metallica and Megadeth might sound pretty traditional now, but they were the face of the underground and extreme music in the mid 80's.

Mix those two trends together, the commercialization of metal and the growth of the underground, and something was going to give.

And it did.

But let's start this multi-column odyssey at the beginning. I'm going to break 1983 into two columns. One for the rise of commercial metal and hard rock, while the second will highlight the underground; not that it matters beyond my idiosyncratic attention to detail, as either way we're ultimately going to talk about some great albums.

And at the end of the day, it's the music that is important.



1983 Part 1: The Growth OF Commercial Metal



OK. Despite my pounding on the distinction between metal genres, metal itself was still one big happy family at this point. Even through the growth in the next year it remained close, only finally hitting critical mass and splintering afterwards. The reason? Because now is when the LA bands and the sleaze rock sound was still in its pure street form. This is the form that would start the commercial success of the bands. From here, many of these bands would then drift into pop and hair metal land, the success also causing a wave of new bands riding the tails of these bands. And of course the labels pumping out clones to capture more dollars along the way; not that I have any problem with them trying to make money mind you, only that they were stupid enough to do it this badly by copying trends (something regular readers already know about me). But for now, we're going to discuss 1983 commercial metal and hard rock – The cusp of good music before things would run amok. And there is a lot of good music here, and looking at these albums you can certainly see why things took off like they did. So sit back and enjoy as we look at some of the best commercial albums/bands from 1983

As before, this column is not written in order of preference, beyond the fact I'm including it in the first place. For purely entertainment purposes the order is written from rare to most common, as defined by popularity of the band then and now. And of course, along the way you will certainly get my opinion on these classics.

And please remember, this is about bands and styles that would become commercial. Don't complain because Metallica didn't make the list, as it doesn't qualify as commercial metal at this point. We'll be covering that next week in part two of 1983: Rise of the Underground.


Albums that Didn't Make The List and Why
The following albums were released this year, but didn't make the list for various reasons whether not heavy enough or just frankly not good enough. The line has to be drawn somewhere after all.


Alice Cooper - DaDa

Ah… NoNo. Cooper with pop metal leanings in the 80's just doesn't work. And even if it does work for you, this one still isn't making the list. More like Dodo to be honest. Sad really, as the man has done some outright classics (and is a hell of nice guy to boot!)


Pantera - Metal Magic

Don't let the name fool you, Pantera was a different creature in the 80's. I know a number of people who like the bands hairy 80's output, and that's cool, but it sure doesn't rate this list under either view.

Ratt - Ratt (EP)

I bet a lot of you didn't know Ratt put out an EP before their popular debut Out Of The Cellar. I have a lot of respect for this little EP, as the band is at their heaviest on it. Even the few songs that would make it to the debut are reworked for primetime. But I don't think its good enough to make the list. Just too rough and not solid enough, even if there are hints of the solid debut to come. Then again I would have loved the debut to sound as tough as this one as well – Go figure.

KISS - Lick It Up

I know a lot of people who like this album, and I'll admit some admiration for the band for taking the face paint off and take writing a little more serious… But it just isn't working for me; as far as I'm concerned, you can pass by and grab instead Creatures of the night for 80's output. Not that this is a bad album, for it's not. It's just not their best and in my opinion doesn't make the list. Many a fine metal punter I know would beg to differ on this one, so I'll let you be the judge.




The Best Commercial Metal From 1983







Fastway - Fastway





Named for "Fast" Eddie Clarke and (ex-Motorhead) and Pete Way (ex-UFO), but Way never made it in as he ditched this outfit for a gig with Ozzy (and got fired after one tour – Smooth), add in Jerry Shirley (Humble Pie) and you got the basses for one of those classic sounding 70's supergroups. Don't let those European influences trick you however, as this is a very American sound rumble and tumble of 80's guitar synergy with a dash of the blues. In a way you can draw a comparison to Def Leppard in how a NWOBHM band broke into the American sound of hard rock and metal riffs. But Def Leppard went to dumber latitudes (and made an embarrassing mint off of the cheese) while Fastway stayed focus on the hard edge but just couldn't pull it together on later releases like they did here. By rights this should have been bigger than their one minor hit, and while not commercial it was certainly part of that sound. Solid guitar wattage dipped in the old and the new. Good times.





Hanoi Rocks - Back to Mystery City





Sweden's answer to Kiss, Sweet, and that side of the ponds answer to the New York Dolls, all run through the sleazy side of bar life. Truth be told, these guys are the most unknown band who had a huge impact on the metal everyone would play on the radio in the 80's – Even if they never really got the accolades (and accompanying sales) for the privilege. Pick up Self Destruction Blues for their ultimate statement, but this is a fine statement to. Did I mention the Dolls? Yea, this reeks of New York in the pre-punk night scene, and even 60's and 50's pop elements riddled judiciously through the buzz of alcohol filled glasses. A mood album for me really, but quite the statement at the time with and to the past and an eye on the future.





Europe - Europe





Forget the hair cheesiness of The Final Countdown, Europe was a tough no nonsense act on their debut. Man this is a great rocker, cranking dual leads as if they were born from German masters, drums crashing like the cold war turn hot, pure heavy metal so then and there yet etched in steel to the defining sound of the genre. The NWOBHM patented guitar gallop gets Herculean overhauls and runs wild on your ears, medieval riffs that would make Dio proud, and not a shred of glam in site. What in the hell happened to this bad? I mean… Really, why in the hell did these guys take this sound and cash it in for the runt of the metal litter – Hair?

"Children of this Time", "Seven Doors Hotel", and "Paradise Bay" all rip menacingly, layered with power and depth to make you stand up and yell. This is what should have filled areas, not what was to come.


*Sigh*

Doesn't matter really in the long run, only this album does. This album is an essential part of 80's metal that will rock you're face off. Pick it up and air guitar endlessly.




Twisted Sister - You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll






This was one tough little rock band before they went straight to glam hell. Here we find Dee and the guys cooking plates of New York bar rock, fresh with a chaser of whiskey. Fun hooks, cool anthems still tied to rhythms and riffs, and just a lot of guts. The definition of sincere, you won't find anything fancy, just good honest tunes that you could hear any Friday night at the pub. Be it the slow rumbling and pumping "The Kids Are Back", The galloping bike ride of "Ride to Live, Live to Ride", and the ripping power of "We're Gonna Make It" this thing just reeks of gasoline soaked catchy rhythms that run on the best king of horse power - metal riffs.

Another act that would shoot themselves in the foot, but the good news is that there is still more good stuff to come. Well that and Dee admits where the bands and the label went wrong, being a hilarious if spot on commentator of the industry. Plus he back-handedly accused Al Gore and wife of looking for S&M, so rock on Dee – You'll always have a place in this Mosh Pit's Hall of Fame.





Mötley Crüe - Shout at the Devil





Sixx borrows Blackie Lawless's pentagram (who claims it was too much of a pain in the ass to drag it around!) and remakes the Crüe with their sophomore release, capturing the gutter sleaze of the LA hard rock scene and the party imagination of a generation. Add equal amounts of attitude, alcohol, and axe work and you get the greased up and hung over Motley Crue. Effectively a collaboration between Led Zeppelin's swagger, Sweet's hooks, and Kiss' looks rammed through a bar fight. And I mean all of that in a good way!

Man, two albums in and the Crüe are making the ultimate statement on the L.A. scene, firing clouds of greasy smoke. You get fist pumping anthems like the title track, or the street vibe of "To Young To Fall In Love", or just the chaotic binge and purging of cover tune "Helter Skelter".

The party ends here however, and the all night drinking catches up with the phoned-in hangover of their next two albums. Truly a case of a band capturing fist-fulls of magic and blowing it on the view from a hill; but at least we got To Fast For Love and this seminal classic during the binge, the purge to come and a subject for another column. If you're not familiar with the Crüe, or just have a passing opinion from a few songs, these first two albums are worth a full listen, as the deep cuts themselves keep it real and deliver; solid classics all around.





AC/DC - Flick of the Switch





Back to basics, AC/DC doing what AC/DC did, and always has done best – Make straight down boogie hard rock heavy on the groove and fun. Underground and cutting edge in the 70's, larger than life after 1980's Bach in Black, I put them here because they were part of the commercial scene. But lets be honest, AC/DC might have sold well, but their brand of hard rock and drinking man's metal is beyond the historical discussion of commercial splits and underground growth, no longer involved in the evolution of the scene, more a national treasure of their own brand of music that just remains eternally theirs. Are they commercial? Hard Rock? Metal? Yes and no… They are AC/DC. Pour another drink and enjoy.





Def Leppard - Pyromania





"Mutt Lange" and his much ballyhooed production magic *choke* arrive on the scene to turn this grand NWOBHM institution into the poster children of pop metal success via the new medium of MTV. Man this album was huge at the time; you couldn't turn a music video on without running into a song from this thing. This was the album that turned Def Leppard into the sensation they would be known for, and in the process helped write the book for commercial success. Quiet Riot wrote the hook of the trend, and gave it the made for TV attitude, but Def Leppard wrote the blue print on production and writing that would define the movement. Well, part of it… This album contains enough nods to their previous outputs and a few straight up rockers to make it a crossover album; part past and part future. A mix of the rocking axe work and snarl of their first two propped up with high production and strategic marketing, a lethal mix that did wonders to catapult the band into the forefront of the music world. Too bad they thought the later half was the only reason for their success, and removed the former for the musical abomination that was to come next (But that in another story).

I don't know… I know many people that like this thing. The wife loves the bands of this year precisely for their combination of hook, attitude, rawness, but brushes with pop leads and rhythm. But this has always been an average album to me, a sort of guilty pleasure that I don't put on the player but don't care if someone else does. When the album rocks, it rocks well, but the calculated hits just got crammed down our throats and I could live happily never hearing them again. This makes me inclined to not include it on a "Best" list, but this feature is also about the landmark albums/moments and there is no denying the history tied to this one. This became one of the commercial templates for pop metal in the 80's, so here it is.

Maybe I'm just too bitter at what the boys along with Lange did to this fine institution.






Quiet Riot - Metal Health






Oh boy did this make a lot of noise (pun intended). Quite Riot turning a cover (something they didn't even want to do originally!) into mega success. "Come On Feel The Noise" turning the band into superstars, turning metal mainstream, and single handedly reinvented the paradigm of label marketing departments. When I talk about the explosion of metal in 83 to 84, and the whole 20% of sales spiel, you can directly thank Quiet Riot for a good chunk of that. Def Leppard comes in at a respectful second and the Crue third. It might seem surprising now, history and culture judging the later two bands in a better light, but at the time this thing put pop metal on the map and created the MTV image. The secret was in that it did the one thing no other supposed hard act had done until then – It made a friendly and fun version that everyone could enjoy. When I was a kid, parents disliked hard rock as noise and nonsense. But hell, everyone could get into Quiet Riot. I'd show up at my cousin's house and they would be watching MTV with my aunt and the video for "Feel The Noise". She liked it! It was just goofy toe-taping guitar hooks and the guys acting a bit crazy but harmless.

Suddenly, hard rock and metal wasn't some new forbidden territory where devils tread, but just our generations fun rebels. Our parents had their rocker rebels and we had ours. Of course, we started to turn the ante up on the skull frying music o' meter – But we'll get to that next week. This week is about all of those hard rock influences and them slowly separating from metal in the 80's. Well here you go. Hard rock and pop metal just got its legs from bands like Quiet Riot, and in the expanding world of metal it was going to expand and grow into its own creature. Quiet Riot, along with some of the others discussed, gave birth to pop and hair metal and the critical excess of the 80's. There was some real good stuff that worked the edge of that frontier, music that came from these bands now, before the stamp of dumb down lyrics and lazy leads enslaved to the radio friendly rhythm only your kid sister could love. But now the bands were fresh, hungry, out of the clubs and putting some greasy sweat into the posturing. Good times, and a shame that the gold rush occurred around focusing on all the wrong things people mistakenly thought was good about these albums. There was a balance to this style people!

Sadly, Quiet Riot was the first victim of the gold rush they helped create, following up their gigantic success with an album devoid of the meat and edge of hard rock, substituting easier cover tunes and dumber thinking to get the kiddies to buy the wrong image from the band. Really, when you think about it, the guys ushered in the age of pop metal with this album, and one album later created the formula of its demise.

Forget the hits; check out the mother of all metal anthems on the title track and "Love's A Bitch" for what this band could really do when trying. Yea – It's part guilty pleasure again, and also I could live the rest of my life without hearing a lot of these songs also. But it definitely goes here, for the history and memories alone. But the deep cuts are enough to get in the list as well. Quarter century later and metal health is still driving me mad.






Encore

All right, that's Part Uno. Check back in next a week when we bring a huge column on all of those underground classics that gave rise to the underground. Some you'll recognize, but I'm sure there will be a few new things in there for even the serious student of metal. It's a virtual marathon of forgotten classic!



Intermission




Quiet Riot - Metal Health (live)







Def Leppard - Rock of Ages
I'm a good sport… Enjoy. (Love the hair on the chick, so 80's)





Fastway - We Become One

The Mosh Pit's 2008 Rankings

Rank	Score	Group and Album
1	8.5	Gamma Ray - Land of the Free II
2	8	Brainstorm - Downburst
3	7.5	Island - Orakel
4	6	Bullet for my Valentine - Scream Aim Fire

2008 Rankings
The metal albums released for 2008.

Added the atmospheric death metal band Island to the chart.
Never fear though, lots of new albums are in the player for the future!







Final Thoughts

Keep it real and pay the music you love - Even if it is commercial, cheesy at times, and even a little dated. It's for you and no one else baby! And if someone complains, turn it up to 10 and tell them I said "Hi".