Danzig is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Danzig, released in August 1988. The album was the first release on producer Rick Rubin's new label Def American Recordings. Def American's successor, American Recordings, reissued the album in the United States and United Kingdom in 1998. It remains the band's best-selling album having been certified gold in the U.S. in 1994, and has since been certified platinum. Danzig promoted the album with a successful world tour in 1988–1989.
Enter is the debut studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation, released by DSFA Records in 1997. After the band became more widely known in foreign markets, it was released by the independent label Season of Mist in North America in 2007, and re-printed by Nuclear Blast in 2014. It was produced by Lex Vogelaar, founder of the Dutch death metal band Orphanage, and had to recorded, completed and mixed within three weeks.
Sirens is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Savatage, released on April 11, 1983. The music on this album is heavier than in later Savatage albums, where the band developed their own style of progressive metal. It has also been cited as a key inspiration for the then-burgeoning thrash metal scene.
Gamma Ray is a German power metal band from Hamburg, founded and fronted by Kai Hansen after his departure from power metal band Helloween, in 1989. He is the band's lead vocalist, guitarist and chief songwriter. Between 1990 and 2014, Gamma Ray recorded eleven studio albums.
Holocaust are a Scottish heavy metal band founded in 1977 and based in Edinburgh.
"Overkill" is a song by English rock band Motörhead. It was released in 7" and 12" vinyl pressings in 1979. It is backed with B-side "Too Late Too Late" which appears on the CD re-issues of the Overkill album. Early copies came with an "Overkill" badge. The single reached number 39 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Iron Fist" is a song by the British heavy metal band Motörhead. It was released as a single in 1982, in 7" pressings in blue, black and translucent red vinyl.
Helloween is the debut EP by German power metal band Helloween. It was released on 29 April 1985 on Noise Records.
Walls of Jericho is the debut studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1985 on LP by Noise Records. It is the only album featuring Kai Hansen as lead vocalist until 2021's Helloween, although he would continue to act as guitarist on the two following albums.
Power Plant is the sixth full-length album from the German power metal band, Gamma Ray. The album was initially released in 1999, but was re-released along with most of the band's past catalogue in 2002 with bonus tracks and new covers. This album has a tight focus on the power metal genre.
Battles in the North is the third studio album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. It was released on May 15, 1995 through Osmose Productions. It picks up where its predecessor, Pure Holocaust, left off, featuring extreme tempos, low-fidelity production, and lyrics about coldness or wintery landscapes. This is the first album where the concept of Blashyrkh becomes a central focus. It is the last album to feature Abbath on drums.
Somewhere Out in Space is an album by German power metal band, Gamma Ray. It was released on 25 August 1997 and is the band's fifth studio album. Continuing in the tradition of the previous four albums, it contained yet another different lineup, but would also be the first album to feature the band's longest standing lineup. The album featured Dirk Schlächter on bass for the first time since his guest appearance on Heading for Tomorrow, Henjo Richter on guitar and Dan Zimmermann on drums.
Land of the Free is the fourth studio album by German power metal band Gamma Ray, released in 1995. It is considered a concept album, telling a story of rebellion of Good against Evil. Continuing a trend that would conclude with the band's fifth studio release, the lineup for the album was different from the previous one, as Land of the Free was the first Gamma Ray album to be released since the departure of Ralf Scheepers, leaving guitarist and founder Kai Hansen to take up lead vocals. While not his first stint as a vocalist, it would be the first time he had performed lead vocals exclusively in 8 years.
Heading for Tomorrow is the first studio album released by German metal band, Gamma Ray on 26 February 1990 by Noise Records. In 2002 it was re-released with a different cover as part of the Ultimate Collection box-set. This re-released version of the album has also been released separately from the box-set.
Insanity and Genius is the third studio album by Gamma Ray and final album with Ralf Scheepers on vocals.
Recovery: Live! is a live album released by the American hard rock band Great White originally in 1988. Several versions of the album were released, with variations in both covers and track listings. The US version features five cover songs recorded direct-to-2-track in 1986, as well as five live songs from 1983. The CD release added the songs from the EP On Your Knees as a bonus, though another version of the CD exists that lists the EP, but does not actually contain it. It only contains the ten songs found on the original vinyl LP, and has a different mastering than the 15-track disc. The ten track CD variation is the Columbia Record Club edition. The European release replaces tracks 6–10 with five songs from a 1987 Marquee show. The Japanese version is a strange hybrid and includes five tracks from the US version, two tracks from the Live at the Ritz promo CD, and five studio tracks from the Shot In The Dark and Once Bitten albums.
Restless Breed is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Riot, released on May 21, 1982. It was the band's first record with vocalist Rhett Forrester. "When I Was Young" is an Eric Burdon and the Animals' cover.
Toxic Holocaust is an American thrash metal band from Portland, Oregon.
Riot Live is the first official extended play live recording by New York City heavy metal band Riot. Released in 1982, it followed on the heels of Restless Breed, the group's first studio album with vocalist Rhett Forrester. It was issued with different cover artwork in Europe.
To the Metal! is the tenth full-length studio album by Gamma Ray. It was released on 29 January 2010. To promote the album, the band did a tour with Freedom Call and Secret Sphere. The album was recorded in Kai's own studio in Hamburg in autumn 2009. The band has recorded 12 songs. Ten of them were featured on the regular album release, while the other two were bonus tracks appearing on the different editions of the album. The band described some of the songs on the official website, revealing that there would be a full-throttle number called "Rise", a rhythmic and melodically diverse song called "Time To Live", and a multilayered anthem titled "All you need to know", featuring ex-Helloween frontman Michael Kiske. Other songs mentioned are "No Need to Cry", a song written by Dirk Schlächter about the death of his father, "To The Metal", a song they played on various festivals before the album release and the atmospheric and dense "Empathy". It is the last album featuring drummer Dan Zimmermann.
