Need new tunes to listen to... older style heavy metal

[Freakazoid]

I am a 37 year old lead guitarist and I'm hungry for new (or old) stuff I've

never heard of yet.

I'm getting desperate to hear some good stuff that has originality and class in

the heavy metal/hard rock type music.

I really don't mean to be fussy, but please only suggest stuff that would apply

to my taste.

Here's what I like...

Older heavy metal/heavy rock/blues like Black Sabbath (Ozzy and Dio), Led

Zeppelin, Deap Purple, Rush (Neil's is the best drummer), Rainbow, Alice Cooper,

Eric Clapton, Montrose (with Sammy Hagar), Triumph, Van Halen, AC/DC (simple yet

moving), Styx, Pat Travers, Gary Moore...

I also like Fusion like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Steve Morse, Dream Theater,

Jennifer Batton (bet you don't know her), some band called "Z"...

Then there's other bands like Santana (one of my favorite guitarists), Pink

FLoyd, Supertramp, Heart, The Who, Saga...

OK, I may be off on my categories a bit but who cares, the point is, I got

thirsty ears. Being a guitarist (also play drums and keyboard) makes me a little

picky. Sorta like I like Jimmy Hendrix (to some extent) but I don't like the quality of the sound, too much bass, not very clear.

Now I know there's a lot of high quality and original underground or little known stuff out there, I just don't know where to find it.

If you can suggest anything that you think I could quench my ears on, please do so, prefferably Kazaa friendly.

Greatly appreciated!

[JRootabega]

How do you feel about Faith No More?

[martin_ibn_martin]

Try Evanescence. The musical style is modern and I don't recall any guitar solos, but Amy Lee' vocals remind me of Heart and other female metal acts. Very pure and clean against a harsh background. Most "Classic" Metal I hear is Death Metal and the ilk. Even that gets seriously electronic.

Martin

[Lockfist]

Well, of course, Dio is still around, his latest album Killing the Dragon isn't shabby. Here (http://www.spitfirerecords.com/mp3/Dio-Push.mp3) is a authorized MP3 of his latest single, Push.

Also, I enjoy listening to The Hellacopters (http://www.hellacopters.com/sounds/index.html), who have a groovy old-school rock-n-roll sound. Plenty of sound clips on the official webpage I've provided. Suggested albums include Grande Rock and High Visibility.

[Dragon Phoenix]

I'd give Uriah Heep a try (choose one of their albums from the 71/75 time frame, such as Look at yourself).

[Junior Spaceman]

To go a step beyond Rush and Dream Theater, you could give the two early era records by Fates Warning - The Spectre Within and Awaken The Guardian a go - great, progressive heavy metal with high pitched vocals and mystical themes ... how can ya go wrong ;) ? Fates have done a bunch of albums with another singer, but none of them interest me (other folk swear by 'em).

If those sounds impress you, then there are lots of lesser (but still good) records from the eighties and early nineties by bands like Sanctuary (The Mirror Black, or something to that effect), Crimson Glory (Transcendence), Psychotic Waltz (A Social Grace) and Death Angel (Act III). Not to mention the mighty Savatage, who, after a few more standard metal albums, went total class with their Gutter Ballet album (1989), and followed with great works like Streets - A Rock Opera.

Good luck with your searching :)

[tisiphone]

You might want to check out Yngwie Malmsteen, he does some pretty amazing things with a guitar. Polyphonic harmonies...mmmmmmmmmm.

[DMark]

Invest in digital cable.
They have a heavy metal station that plays tunes all day (without commentary or commercials), with the name of the artists, the labels and the writers. Hear something you like, check out the rest of what they have.

[Cubsfan]

I think you may be mis-classifying the music you want/like as "metal". Everything on your list is just straight rock and roll, not even hard rock really.

[An Arky]

Here's some somewhat obscure '70s "metal" bands

Starz
Rose Tattoo
Saxon
Tygers of Pantang
Early Judas Priest
Angel City


just off the top of my head...