Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard rock music was produced by the Kinks, the Who, the Rolling Stones, Cream, Vanilla Fudge, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In the late 1960s, bands such as Blue Cheer, the Jeff Beck Group, Iron Butterfly, Led Zeppelin, Golden Earring, Steppenwolf, Grand Funk, Free, and Deep Purple also produced hard rock.
Bathory was a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Vällingby in March 1983. Named after Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory, they are considered pioneers of black metal and Viking metal. The book Lords of Chaos described Bathory's first four albums as "the blueprint for Scandinavian black metal."
Cleansing is the fourth album by the American heavy metal band Prong, released on January 25, 1994, by Epic Records. It was produced by Terry Date, whereas Prong's previous two albums had been produced by Mark Dodson. The album features ex-Killing Joke members Paul Raven on bass guitar and John Bechdel on keyboards and programming. Featuring an industrial-influenced sound, the record received moderate commercial success.
Venom are an English heavy metal band formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1978. Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal, Venom's first two albums, Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982), are considered major influences on black metal, thrash metal and extreme metal in general. Their second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of the black metal genre; as a result, Venom were part of the early wave of the genre, along with Mercyful Fate and Bathory.
Skyclad is a British heavy metal band heavily influenced by folk. They are considered pioneers of folk metal. The term "skyclad" originates from a pagan/wiccan concept referring to ritual nudity, where rituals are performed with participants metaphorically clothed only by the sky, symbolising equality. The name reflects both the band's religious inclinations and their social beliefs, as expressed in the song "Skyclad" on their debut album.
Images and Words is the second studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released on July 7, 1992, through Atco Records. It is the first Dream Theater release to feature James LaBrie on vocals. Since its release, the album has maintained its position as the band's most commercially successful studio album, and the song "Pull Me Under" has the distinction of being the only Top 10 hit the band has had to date. This particular song has also had more recent success as it has appeared in the 2008 video game Guitar Hero World Tour.
Mr. Big is the debut album by the American rock band Mr. Big. Produced by Kevin Elson, the album proved a partial commercial success, reaching the 46th slot on the Billboard 200 chart. Lead-off single "Addicted to that Rush", featuring the band's aggressive guitar and bass playing, also brought the group some mainstream attention, reaching the No. 39 slot on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. 300,000 copies were sold, according to a Musician magazine interview with Mr. Big in 1990.
Bathory is the debut studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Bathory. It was released in October 1984, through Tyfon Grammofon. It is considered by fans and critics to be one of the contenders for the first black metal record.
Innocence Is No Excuse is the seventh studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon, released in September 1985. It was the band's first album for EMI after a falling-out with their previous label, Carrere Records, and their last with original bassist Steve Dawson.
Endless Pain is the debut studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, released in October 1985 by Noise Records.
At War with Satan is the third album by the British heavy metal band Venom, released in April 1984. It is a concept album that tells the story of a war between Heaven and Hell which the latter side wins. It was touted as Venom's crossover into mainstream music, but failed to do so. Shortly after it went on sale, the HMV record chain withdrew the album from its shelves because of its anti-Christian content.
The Last Command is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band W.A.S.P., released on October 25, 1985. The album was produced by Spencer Proffer, who was perhaps best known for producing the six-time Platinum selling album Metal Health by Quiet Riot in 1983.
Contraband was a short-lived supergroup/side project that included members of several famous rock bands from the 1980s, such as Shark Island, McAuley Schenker Group, Ratt, L.A. Guns, and Vixen.
Possessed is the fourth studio album by English heavy metal band Venom, released on 8 April 1985. It is the band's last studio album to feature guitarist Jeffrey Dunn before his first departure from the band in 1986. At the time of its release, it received mixed reviews, even from critics who had liked Venom's earlier albums; Possessed was thought to be in another league as compared to the band's earlier works, even though much of the material on Possessed was written before the release of its predecessor, At War with Satan. It was the first Venom album recorded outside of Impulse Studios. The song "Possessed" is ranked No. 14 on the Parents Music Resource Center's "Filthy Fifteen", a list of the 15 songs the group found to be most objectionable.
Tank is an English heavy metal band formed in 1980 by Algy Ward, a former member of The Damned. The original band is known as part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. Tank was often compared to Motörhead as both bands were trios fronted by singing bassists, and played a loose, almost punk-styled metal music with often colourful lyrics.
Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn is a British guitarist and one of the founding members of the heavy metal band Venom, with which he played as a guitarist from 1979 to 1985 and 1989 to 2002. From 2015 to 2024, he played in Venom Inc. alongside fellow former Venom member bassist/vocalist Tony Dolan, who he had previously played with in MPire of Evil from 2012.
Calm Before the Storm is the fifth studio album by British heavy metal band Venom. The original title of the album would have been Deadline, but the title was changed when guitarist Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn left the band and was replaced by Jimi Clare and Mike Hickey. Both were to follow bassist Conrad "Cronos" Lant in his later solo career and the latter would also return on the 2006 album Metal Black.
Prime Evil is the sixth studio album by British heavy metal band Venom. It was released in 1989 and is the first in a series of three albums with Atomkraft bassist and vocalist Tony Dolan, replacing Conrad "Cronos" Lant, as a band member and composer.
The Waste Lands is the eighth studio album by British heavy metal band Venom. It is the last with bassist/singer Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan and also the last before the reunion of the classic Venom line-up from their first four albums, Welcome to Hell, Black Metal, At War with Satan and Possessed. Like the previous album, Temples of Ice, the album was originally supposed to be produced by ex-Child's Play producer Howard Benson, however he was once again unavailable so the band decided to stay with Kevin Ridley. The working title for this album was Kissing the Beast, but the band changed it when they got the album cover from Tari József.
Screamin' 'n' Bleedin' is the second album by British heavy metal band Angel Witch. The album was released in 1985 through Killerwatt Records. Even though this is the second release of the band, it is the first release with the new line-up of 1984, after the split-up in 1981.
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