Alongside Switzerland's Celtic Frost and Sweden's Bathory, Germany's Helloween were possibly the most influential heavy metal band to come out of Europe during the 1980s. By taking the hard riffing and minor key melodies handed down from metal masters like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, then infusing them with the speed and energy introduced by... [+] Read More

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Manowar was formed by ex-Dictators and Shakin Street guitarist Ross the Boss. Its original lineup included vocalist Eric Adams, bassist Joey DeMaio, and drummer Donnie Hamzik. The group's kitschy approach was designed to be the raw, primal, macho antithesis of classic rock. Their music was based on raw, aggressive riffs, and their lyrics were... [+] Read More

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Powersurge was a heavy metal band based in Tampa, Florida, whose rather unimaginative and overly ponderous brand of American power metal resembled a poor man's version of contemporaries like Queensryche, Crimson Glory and Fifth Angel -- hardly the makings of a successful career. Indeed, after being founded in 1984, the quintet featuring vocalist... [+] Read More

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The brainchild of former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, Rainbow quickly developed into one of the '70s most successful heavy metal bands behind charismatic front man Ronnie James Dio. Together, the duo would produce a string of acclaimed albums which are still considered classics of the genre. But the group would change their musical... [+] Read More

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The long-lived New York-based heavy metal band Riot was formed in 1976 by guitarist/songwriter Mark Reale, who in time recruited vocalist Guy Speranza, guitarist L.A. Kouvaris, bassist Jimmy Iommi and drummer Peter Bitelli. After debuting in 1977 with Rock City, Kouvaris was replaced by guitarist Rick Ventura, and the group returned in 1979 with... [+] Read More

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Savatage formed in Florida in 1978 as Avatar, led by brothers Jon (vocals) and Criss (guitar) Oliva. They changed their name to Savatage in 1983, pursuing a strongly Judas Priest- and Iron Maiden-influenced style of metal. Their other members included Steve "Doc" Wacholz (drums) and Keith Collins (bass), who was later replaced by Johnny Lee... [+] Read More

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Of all the glam/pop-metal bands that crawled out of hair salons coast to coast during the mid- to late '80s, one of the more talented acts was New York's White Lion, led by singer Mike Tramp (originally from Denmark) and guitarist Vito Bratta. The group originally formed in 1983 and despite several bassists and drummers coming and going... [+] Read More

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Zebra galloped out of New Orleans in the mid-'70s. The trio concocted their moniker from a Vogue magazine cover and soon won over the East Coast with expert Zep-like pomp-metal. Zebra's confident self-titled debut went gold, thanks to the air play of excellent singles "Tell Me What You Want" and "Who's Behind the Door." Vet producer Jack Douglas... [+] Read More

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