Rhino's four-CD Heavy Metal box tries to throw a little bit of everything in there, from hard rock to NWOBHM to thrash to hair metal, and Earache's Metal: A Headbanger's Companion includes six CDs labeled 'Death Metal,' 'Grindcore,' 'Metal/Rock,' 'Industrial,' 'Punk/Hardcore,' and 'Leftfield.' Neither of these boxes contain any of the same bands, and their attempts to be all-encompassing are thwarted by the diversity of headbanging music. Hell, the past few years' box set anthologies of Black Sabbath, Slayer, Motörhead, and Megadeth can't encapsulate what's great about any of those individual bands. How could any box set summarize metal history, particularly when the word 'metal' is defined in the loosest sense?
With that thought out of the way, take a look at Rhino's box set. Already I can hear the complaints that there's no Ozzy (with or without Sabbath), Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses, or AC/DC, but anyone who remotely cares about loud music will already own everything that they need from those guys. Other metalheads will complain that embarrassments like Yngwie Malmsteen, Cinderella and Faster Pussycat get as much disc time as Slayer or Alice Cooper, but it'd be best to remember that great metal music never candy-coats anything, let alone its own history. In a genre where the most significant artists bluntly address the dark side of many issues, confront serious political dilemmas, or make their most gut-wrenching moments available in a movie about their therapy sessions, it'd be foolish to expect a documentation of metal history not to include 'Talk Dirty to Me.' While the box contains several cringe-worthy moments, they're all metal moments, and thankfully you won't find any thinly-disguised pop, such as any of Def Leppard's top ten hits or anything credited to Desmond Child.
Starting things off with all three minutes that you need from Iron Butterfly (out of their 17:10 of fame), disc 1 captures some of the greatest hard rock and proto-metal moments in history. A pre-Neil Peart Rush contributes 'Working Man,' Donovan's (?!) greatest achievement is recognized on his backup vocals for Alice Cooper's 'Billion Dollar Babies,' and Hawkind's remaining members are probably fuming that one of their only songs to feature Lemmy on vocals ('Lost Johnny') is the one picked for box set canonization. Girlschool prove that their greatness went beyond their well-known Motörhead collaboration on the positively smokin' 'Demolition Boys,' and probably the single-best songs by Ted Nugent, KISS, and Blue Öyster Cult get proper representation. It's also a blast to find out that 'Kickstart My Heart' was ripped off from Montrose's 'Bad Motor Scooter,' as it is to discover that bands like Uriah Heep and UFO really were good. Of course, the sound of budding icons like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Ronnie James Dio finding their respective metal voices is as exciting as watching a trailer for the new Batman movie.
Disc 2 kicks off on the incredibly high note of Motörhead's 'Ace of Spades,' and the CD holds up pretty well by following with Diamond Head's 'Am I Evil,' which is not quite as good as the Metallica cover that made it famous, and Rose Tattoo's 'Nice Boys,' which is, very shockingly, better than Guns N' Roses cover that made it famous. There are definitely a few missteps (Y & T, seriously?), and W.A.S.P. aren't nearly as exciting as the PMRC would have you believe. But some of metal's best goofy moments are captured, such as Saxon's spectacularly over the top 'Denim and Leather' (sample lyric: "Denim...and leather--brought us all together! It was you that set the spirit free!") or Mercyful Fate's 'Black Funeral.' Iron Maiden and Judas Priest are represented at their creative peaks, and 'Witching Hour' by Venom still packs a stronger punch than almost all the black metal imitators that it spawned. It's enough to make any metalhead giddy, and a truly inspired choice comes in ending the disc with Metallica's 'Whiplash,' a headbanging tribute from the band's underground era. Predating Metallica's more challenging material, 'Whiplash' lyrically recalls older metal ("We'll never stop, we'll never quit, 'cuz we're Metallica!") but musically rocks with a speed and intensity that was previously unheard of in rock music. It's so great that you'll be reaching for disc 3 if you haven't already pushed the start button on your CD player again.
However, the 3rd disc is where it all goes to hell. The disastrous state of popular modern rock is almost enough to make one nostalgic for hair metal, but awful tracks by Hanoi Rocks and Accept will crush any cravings that you had for that era. Of course it's not all bad; Twisted Sister's 'I Wanna Rock' rules even without the video with Neidermeyer from Animal House, and 'Rock You Like a Hurricane' is still the only good song that the Scorpions ever recorded. Coinciding with Kevin DuBrow's obituaries (R.I.P.) is Quiet Riot's Who-aping 'Metal Health,' a surprisingly good anthem that's far more enjoyable than 'Cum on Feel the Noize.' Also, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't catch myself enjoying 'Round and Round' by Ratt or Krokus' 'Midnight Maniac.' Spinal Tap's 'Big Bottom' is much classier and wittier than most of these songs, if not as catchy, and Nigel Tufnel is also given tribute on the box set's packaging. Designed to look like a Marshall amp, the box comes with a movable volume knob. Guess how high it goes...
Thrash metal is so prevalent today that it's easy to forget just how shocking and inventive it was upon it's inception. But at the end of the box set's prominent hair metal disc, Anthrax's 'Caught in a Mosh' and Megadeth's 'Peace Sells' sound like they've landed from another planet. Music critics tend to give grunge all the credit for bringing rawness and reality back into mainstream rock, but the bands showcased on on the box set had as much to do with the alternative nation, and look no further than Overkill, Testament, and the big four of thrash for proof. Disc 4 contains the last gasps of hair metal, including a pair of overlong tracks from Whitesnake and Great White, and Lita Ford's 'Kiss Me Deadly,' which is never as good as I hope it will be.
After 'Kiss Me Deadly,' the fourth disc really brings it home. King Diamond and Manowar show that metal didn't lose it's campiness with the arrival of thrash, and the one/two of Slayer's 'South of Heaven' and Metallica's 'One' captures two of the greatest rock bands ever changing the course of American music. The set abruptly ends in the early'90s, before the prevalence of stoner rock, math metal, black metal, death metal, alternative metal, doom metal, power metal, or nü metal, but the potency of songs like Pantera's 'Cowboys from Hell' and Prong's 'Beg to Differ' suggest that metal is in great hands, still evolving, and as powerful and as relevant as ever by the time that the box is over. Sepultura's fantastic 'Dead Embryonic Cells,' which closes the set, resembles little that precedes it and still doesn't grasp the heights that Sepultura went on to reach. Metal has grinded the ax for a long for a long time, withstanding all sorts of fads and turmoil, and proof that metal will continue to thrive is found on the Heavy Metal box.
To the uninitiated, there are many great metal records that are perfect starting places for exploring the genre. But this is a box for dedicated metal fans, like the ones described in those songs by Manowar. It's bitchin' to finally hear those obscure artists that Scott Ian swore by, and hearing these songs in their historical context is a revelation. There's no metalhead who won't learn anything from this box, and no music lover who won't find something to rock out to.
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