Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. Guitarist Dave Mustaine, who formed Megadeth after being fired from Metallica, and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted are former members of the band.
Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wrixon left after a few months. Bell left at the end of 1973 and was briefly replaced by Gary Moore, who himself was replaced in mid-1974 by twin lead guitarists: Scott Gorham, who remained with the band until their break-up in 1983, and Brian Robertson, who remained with the band until 1978 when Moore re-joined. Moore left a second time and was replaced by Snowy White in 1980, who was himself replaced by John Sykes in 1982. The line-up was augmented by keyboardist Darren Wharton in 1980.
Kill 'Em All is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 25, 1983, through the independent label Megaforce Records. After forming in 1981, Metallica began by playing shows in local clubs in Los Angeles. They recorded several demos to gain attention from club owners and eventually relocated to San Francisco to secure the services of bassist Cliff Burton. The group's No Life 'til Leather demo tape (1982) was noticed by Megaforce label head Jon Zazula, who signed them and provided a budget of $15,000 for recording. The album was recorded in May with producer Paul Curcio at the Music America Studios in Rochester, New York. It was originally intended to be titled Metal Up Your Ass, with cover art featuring a hand clutching a dagger emerging from a toilet bowl. Zazula convinced the band to change the name because distributors feared that releasing an album with such an offensive title and artwork would diminish its chances of commercial success.
Kai Michael Hansen is a German musician who is the founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray. He is also one of the co-founders of another power metal band Helloween, which he was a part of from 1983 to 1989 and rejoined in 2016. He is a prominent figure in power metal and has sold millions of albums worldwide. He is regarded as "the godfather of power metal", having founded two seminal bands in the genre. In 2011, he joined the band Unisonic featuring former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske. Hansen and Kiske reunited with Helloween in 2017 for a world tour with all current members, celebrating the 30-year anniversary of release of the albums Keeper of the Seven Keys Parts I and II.
X is the eighth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 30 July 2002 by Island Records in the US and sister label Mercury worldwide. Much like 1996's Slang, it featured another departure from their signature sound by moving into the pop genre. The album charted at No. 11 on The Billboard 200 and No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart. Most of the album was produced by Pete Woodroffe and the band, with remaining tracks produced by either Marti Frederiksen or Per Aldeheim and Andreas Carlsson.
Holy Diver is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Dio, released in 1983. The album was acclaimed by the music press and is the band's most successful album.
Vivian Patrick Campbell is a Northern Irish musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the guitarist of Dio. He has also been the guitarist of Def Leppard since 1992. Campbell has also worked with Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Sweet Savage, Trinity, Riverdogs and Shadow King.
"The Unforgiven" is a power ballad by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the second single from their eponymous fifth album Metallica. The song deals with the theme of the struggle of the individual against the efforts of those who would subjugate him.
Mortal Sin were an Australian thrash metal band that formed in 1985 and existed over three distinct periods until 2012. The band released five albums and were the first Australian thrash metal band to tour internationally. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, they were one of "two leading lights... [of] a small, but fervent underground thrash/speed metal scene."
Marco Mendoza is an American bass guitarist who has worked in diverse genres. He became a professional rock musician in 1989 and debuted on Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward's solo album Along the Way. He has performed on a number of notable releases throughout his career, including Live... in the Still of the Night by Whitesnake, One Night Only by Thin Lizzy and Live in Concert at Lollapalooza by Journey.
The discography of Motörhead, an English rock band, consists of 23 studio albums, 16 live albums, 16 compilation albums, five extended plays (EPs), three box sets, 29 singles, 10 video albums and 34 music videos. Motörhead were originally formed in 1975 in London by bassist and vocalist Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, after his departure from Hawkwind, who drafted in guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox to complete the band's initial lineup. The trio recorded their debut album for release on United Artists, although it was not released until 1979 as On Parole. "Fast" Eddie Clarke joined the band as a second guitarist soon after this recording was completed, but as it was shelved by United Artists and even though On Parole is chronologically the band's first album, Clarke would instead replace Wallis who left soon after Clarke joined for unspecified reasons. It is this trio who would go on to record the band's first released album, the self-titled Motörhead, as a three-piece. Thus, beginning the band's classic line-up and initially issued by Chiswick Records in 1977, reaching number 43 on the UK Albums Chart.
"Breadfan" is a song by Welsh Blues Rock heavy metal power trio Budgie, appearing on their 1973 album Never Turn Your Back on a Friend. The title of the song refers to a person's relationship to money, with "bread" being a slang term for money. The lyrics further highlight the moral dilemmas on what to do with money; keep it, give it away, spend it and to be ultimately free of it and not to let it rule a life. The song is featured in the video game Brütal Legend and its introduction used in Brazilian television sports news programme Globo Esporte.
Savage Messiah are an English thrash metal/heavy metal band formed in May 2007 in London. The band was formed by guitarist and lead vocalist Dave Silver and also consists of guitarist Joff Bailey, bassist Míra Sláma, keyboardist Carlos Alcalde De Lema and drummer Charly Carretón.
Long Distance Calling is a post-rock band from Münster, Germany, formed in 2006. The majority of their tracks are extended instrumentals.
Dezperadoz is a German "Western metal" band and is the side project of Onkel Tom guitarist Alex Kraft. Formed in 2000, the band plays heavy metal music that is heavily influenced by the soundtracks of the 1960s and 1970s Spaghetti Western movies. Dezperadoz has released four albums, two on the German heavy metal label AFM. They have also had guest appearances by many notable heavy metal musicians including Michael Weikath, Tobias Sammet, Joacim Cans, and Doro Pesch.
Simon McBride is a Northern Irish singer and guitarist, who has played with other artists, including Deep Purple and Snakecharmer, as well as recording and touring his own band, and teaching at BIMM in Dublin.
Last in Line is a British rock band formed in 2012 by former members of Dio's original lineup. Their name comes from the 1984 Dio album, The Last in Line. Following the death of frontman Ronnie James Dio in 2010, drummer Vinny Appice, bassist Jimmy Bain, guitarist Vivian Campbell and keyboardist Claude Schnell reunited and added vocalist Andrew Freeman to perform the Dio songs they originally recorded. They released three studio albums of original material without Schnell between February 2016 and March 2023.
Infanteria is a South African progressive thrash metal band from Cape Town formed in 2005.
And There Will Be a Next Time... Live from Detroit is the third live album and fourth live release from the band Def Leppard. Released in 2017, it was recorded at the DTE Music Theatre in Clarkston, MI on 15 July 2016.
