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THE HEAVY METAL BOX invokes some of metal’’s biggest names with Alice Cooper’s “Billion Dollar Babies”; Black Sabbath’s “Neon Knights”; “Highway Star” by “the loudest group in the world,” Deep Purple; Iron Maiden’s “The Phantom Of The Opera” with singer Paul Di’Anno and “The Number Of The Beast” with singer Bruce Dickinson; Judas Priest’s “The Ripper” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin””; Metallica’s “Whiplash” and uber- doom-ballad “One”; Megadeth’s searing political statement “Peace Sells”; Slayer’s soul crushing “South of Heaven”; and Pantera’s marriage of metal and hardcore on “Cowboys From Hell.” The boxed set also includes songs by Ted Nugent, Kiss, W.A.S.P., Diamond Head, Venom, Living Colour, and a pair of tracks featuring leather-lunged Lemmy Kilmister who appears on Hawkwind’s “Lost Johnny” and Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades.”
Metal is an immense genre and this collection spotlights its many offshoots including progressive metal (Rush’s “Working Man,” Mercyful Fate’s “Black Funeral,” Queensryche’s “Queen Of The Reich,” and Prong’s “Beg To Differ”); black metal (Angel Witch’s “White Witch” and Venom’s “Witching Hour”); thrash/speed metal (Testament’s “Trial By Fire,” Raven’s “Star War,” Overkill’s “Wrecking Crew,” and Anthrax’s “Caught In A Mosh”); boogie metal (Rose Tattoo’s “Nice Boys”); Christian metal (Stryper’s “To Hell With The Devil”); party metal (Fastway’s “Say What You Will” and Krokus’ “Midnite Maniac”); and death metal (Sepultura’s “Dead Embryonic Cells”).
While America and Britain were metal’s primary foundries, they were certainly not the only ones. Australia birthed the fast ‘n’ nasty Rose Tattoo while Germany proffered newly minted, power-first outfits like the Michael Schenker Group and Accept. From the deceptively sleepy Switzerland came the manic Krokus while Sweden yielded a genuine guitar god in the Ritchie Blackmore-obsessed Yngwie J. Malmsteen. Even Japan came up with their own version of the phenomenon in the aptly-named Loudness.
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