Customer Reviews

Heavy Metal

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

So, I love almost every song on here (except Stevie Niks. I'm sorry, I don't like this song >.<). Other than the fact that the CD case was chipped, cracked and broken, the CD still worked like a charm. Thanks, Amazon, for giving me my 2nd cracked case btw -.- You guys REALLY seem to know how to make me feel scared when ordering stuff through you.

But, excluding that fact, the CD is awesome, the movie was even better; it's a must have for any Heavy Metal fan :D

After seeing the great "Major Boobage" episode in South Park's twelth season, with its cheesing and its very awesome music from the movie they parodied, Heavy Metal, I decided to purchase the soundtrack from which they used for their episode. Although it is not a heavy metal music, but more rock n' roll, it is still a great collection of songs that several groups have compiled into the movie. It can be listened either when you play as to pass time, or as you play the south park video game "Let's go Tower Defense". Not only that it has a great mix of various groups such as Don Fedler, who composed the classic "Hotel California" and plays the excellent "Takin' A ride". Apart from that, I adored "Reach Out" by Cheap Trick and "True Companion" by Donald Fagen, even though I loved the whole album.

A great buy for the movie fans, South Park, and also those who love listening to rock.

First of all, let me address a recurring theme I see in many reviews regarding the HEAVY METAL soundtrack : there's a lot of pissing and moaning of varying degrees, that there's virtually no music of the heavy metal genre on this album, but rather "only rock" of either classic or soft stylings with only 2 or 3 really hard rockers to be found, and therefore, either it should have had more metal music to live up to its title, or, be called something else to reflect the music contained within.

While I admit, the beautiful-but-a-tad-too-sappy-especially-for-this-album track, "OPEN ARMS" by Journey, does seem to sound a little out of place, and Stevie Nicks' "BLUE LAMP" is even moreso somehow - but so what?

Let's not forget, this is a SOUNDTRACK to a MOVIE that happens to be called HEAVY METAL, based on a MAGAZINE of that same name - and by that reason, it is as ridiculous to bitch about the soundtrack having "only mediocre rock" songs and hardly any "real" metal songs, as it would be to complain that the magazine isn't about real musical bands and instead "misleads" us by only offering stories of sex-&-violence-laden sci-fi & fantasy.

So the fact the SOUNDTRACK is called HEAVY METAL does not necessarily mean it is obligated to saturate it with the same kind of heavy tracks as the count-them-on-one-hand cuts that actually WERE featured, such as Sammy Hagar's "HEAVY METAL" and Black Sabbath's "THE MOB RULES".

The whole collection is merely a compilation of the rock songs that were featured in the movie (for whatever reason - even in the scenes they cropped up in, I cannot fathom why certain songs were selected? But whatever), so let it go already about "This is more of a classic rock album than metal" and blah blah blah like that.

So if you are looking for "real" heavy metal on this album just simply based on the name, you'll probably be disappointed.

But, if you are open to the concept of "what's in a name?", and if your musical tastes are not limited to any one style or genre, then you may really enjoy this album, even if you haven't seen the movie.

I personally liked this album, despite the same complaints described above, which I made myself (when I was TWELVE, so go figure!) regarding the "softer", less-edgy songs. But for me, it was an aural return trip to the events of the movie (back when it still was elusive and unavailable on quality home video).

For sure, you can bet I wore out the parts of my cassette copy of the soundtrack where Sammy Hagar's "HEAVY METAL" and Cheap Trick's "MUST BE DREAMING" were located (I totally loved the latter's amusement-park-ride style keyboard intro/outro, so much so I mixed my own "reprise" of the track with the middle part cut out so it's just that funky keyboard and guitar riffing through out for 3 mins), as they were the most stand-out songs that I could recall and playback in my head after having seen the movie only once, but not yet having obtained the soundtrack.

Once I did get the soundtrack, instant faves that followed Hagar and the Trick for me included both Riggs songs, "RADAR RIDER" and "HEARTBEAT", Blue Öyster Cult's "VETERAN OF THE PSYCHIC WARS", and the other Cheap Trick song, "REACH OUT". As I admitted earlier, I too was put off by songs like Journey's "OPEN ARMS" and Donald Fagen's "TRUE COMPANION", but that could be due to not so much their mellow nature, but perhaps their place in the track sequence - I always found it a little disruptive to the musical "flow" of ANY album - assorted artists or not - to squeeze a gentle ballad in between two hard-rockers, or vice versa. I mean, just when "RADAR RIDER" got my adrenaline up, it gets sucked back down with the soothing "OPEN ARMS", and then I'm getting stirred up again by Grand Funk Railroad's "QUEEN BEE" - argh! Stop the roller coaster, I wanna get off! All I can say is, thank god for the CD player and the "program" feature!

At any rate, the only song it took me almost forever to warm up to was Devo's "WORKING IN A COALMINE", but once I got over my musically-naive adolescent preoccupation with the as-I-perceived-it silliness, I accepted it as part of the whole that makes up the audio background to 1981's "HEAVY METAL : The Movie".

One final note, this album, in my opinion, is FAR SUPERIOR to the soundtrack for "HEAVY METAL 2000" (aka "F.A.K.K.") - sure, the music on the newer release may be heavier, full of tracks with power, aggression, and pumping out needle-burying decibels, but you cannot ignore the quality of good ole classic & hard rock music, from a time when it was about the music, and not shock value, like you will find in the original "HEAVY METAL".

I give this album 4 stars, and the only reason I did not give it a full 5, is cos as far as I know, it's incomplete - the second Devo song, "THROUGH BEING COOL" was never included on the soundtrack for some reason. maybe it is now in more recent releases, but I have neevr seen/heard it on there.

So if you find a copy that actually included the second Devo song, totalling 17 tracks, then I rank that a 5. Otherwise, the standard 16-track release only gets a 4 from me for its omission.

Other than that, it's a great addition to the music/CD collection of any rock music fan, or just a music fan in general.

WTW

Although the movie hasn't aged as well, this soundtrack is a 1980's essential. Very solid production and selection of songs and artists. In general, I found the tracks produced at Cherokee Studios in Miami to capture the mood of the movie well.
The movie versions of Sammy Hagar's 'Heavy Metal' and Black Sabbath's 'Mob Rules' are far superior and grittier than the versions on Standing Hampton and Mob Rules albums, respectively.
Riggs's two songs of 'Radar Rider' and 'Heartbeat' are definite standouts on the soundtrack. For those who are interested, Riggs released a 10 song album in 1982 with no dogs on it except the one on the cover. Jerry Riggs went on to join Pat Travers band. Too bad.
The two tracks by Cheap Trick are career highpoints. In particular, 'I Must Be Dreaming' had a 'thinking outside the box' introduction and reprise.
Don Felder's two tracks are the epitome of cool. 'Takin' a Ride on Heavy Metal' was a minor hit. Abraham Laboriel's bass line on 'All of You's verses makes the song.
Don Fagan puts a Steely Dan spin to the soundtrack with a slowly-building instrumental intro to a large-harmonied conclusion.
Grand Funk Railroad, Blue Oyster Cult, Nazareth provided solid tracks with 'Queen Bee', 'Veteran of the Psychic War' and 'Crazy'. Journey also supplied 'Open Arms' before its release on the 'Escape' album/cd.
My least favourite tracks, but still listenable, are Devo's 'Working in a Coal Mine', Trust's 'Prefabricated' and Stevie Nick's 'Blue Lamp'.

What a great movie to eat a bag of mushrooms and chill out to. The soundtrack has the same effect, but lacks the strenght of the movie's visuals. The Donald Fagan song was reported by Joe Walsh during an Eagles interview to be an idea they 'passed around' originally titled, "you're really high, aren't you?" The answer to that is a resounding YES! While watching the cartoon chic get naked during "Open Artms" on the DVD adds a new dimension to the Journey song, it still holds up as one of the best rock ballads of all-time, before they became a lame bunch of wussies. The BOC track kicks ass and so do the Nazareth, Sammy Hagar (also before he sucked) and even the Devo track. Even the Dio fronted Sabbath "Mob Rules" doesn't make me want to vommit as much as his usual dragon/wizard rantings do. I don't remember the rest of the tunes...it must be all of the space dust....but regardless, buy the DVD before you buy the sound track, but either way, visit your dealer first.

There are only four good songs on this album:

Heavy Metal by Sammy Hagar
Heavy Metal by Don Felder
Radar Rider by Riggs

Okay, three songs. I was going to add Blue Oyster Cult's 'Veteran of the Psychic Wars' or Black Sabbath's 'The Mob Rules,' but they just aren't in the same class as the three listed above.

And the rest of it? Well, Cheap Trick is always entertaining but never amazing. The songs by lesser-known bands are okay. Journey's 'Open Arms' is completely out of place. So is Stevie Nicks.

You have to admire the wide range of songs here, but the top three outshine the rest. (And there's something funny about the fact that the two best songs on the Heavy Metal soundtrack are BOTH called Heavy Metal. Maybe the producers should have given each band or musician that requirement: "The song has to be called Heavy Metal.")

This is a superb compilation full of realitively overlooked 80's gems (with the exception of Journey's "Open Arms"). If it weren't for this popular movie, these songs and maybe even their artists wouldv'e been forgotten. I am 18 and have missed the theatrical boat for "Heavy Metal" but home video took care of that. One of this first things I did after seeing the movie was going out and buying this excellent CD. It was an unforgettbale time when music was unique in their lyrics and sound. If there were ever to be a justice anthology for the 80's, this CD is a perfect start. Imagine, this was only by 1981. The decade just begun and already, the 80's music treasure trove was wrought with riches. Go out and buy this. You won't be disappointed as a film fan or a classic rock fan!

Overall, this CD would've better if it had groups like Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Saxon, Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and maybe Krokus but instead they have the classic rock groups like Nazareth, Stevie Nicks, Sammy Hagar, Journey and more but at least we have the metal tunes like Black Sabbath, Riggs and Trust (wonder what happened to those other two bands) and Cheap Trick has an awesome intro and outro from I Must Be Dreamin' and I also really liked Nazareth's Crazy (Suitable Case For Treatment) and of course the best song on this CD is the title track from Sammy Hagar and Don Felder.

Yes I liked this soundtrack, but I did not like the movie. I know most people would probably disagree with me about the movie, but I thought it was really boring.

Before metal in the eighties was all about hairspray, there was a generation of hard rock that really rocked. The Heavy Metal soundtrack accompanies the animated film of the same name, and many have said that the songs here are better than the movie. Truth be told, by today's standards, many of these songs don't qualify as "heavy metal." I mean, Cheap Trick, Journey and Don Felder? But, most of these songs work in the context in which they are presented.

Sammy Hagar's version of "Heavy Metal" has far more energy than the one on his solo LP. The guitar part is just more crunchy and aggressive and the bassline has more punch.

Riggs has two numbers on this disk, "Heartbeat" and "Radar Rider" and I've never heard of these guys since. "Radar Rider" has some cool distorted guitar licks and pounding drums and worked great with the corvette descending to earth.

Devo, now there's a heavy metal act, presents "Working in the Coal Mine" in typical quirky fashion with train and hammer effects. The lyrics are comic chain gang. This is a fun tune, helped me survive hell week in college, and only later did I learn it was a cover of a song from the sixties, I think by Leo Dorsey. I wish they would have also included "Through With Being Cool" from the movie "cantina scene" but both can be found on a Devo disk.

BOC's contribution was co-written with SF/Fantasy writer Michael Moorcock and is full of synths and tribal drums and space-age lyrics. "Wounds are all I'm made of..."

Cheap Trick also has two numbers, the synth-driven "Reach Out" and "I Must Be Dreamin'" with Bun E. Carlos really driving on the drums.

Don Felder steps out of the shadows of the Eagles with "Heavy Metal - Takin' a Ride" a slow burner with excellent lead guitar work. Even better is "All of You," a laid-back cruising tune for all those plutonium nyborg fans.

"True Companion" comes to us from Donald Fagen of Steely Dan fame. This tune has a long instrumental with cool guitar licks that I'm guessing were by Jeff Baxter. Nice vocal harmonies.

Who would have thought of Elvis Costello being included here, but "Prefabricated" by Trust is a rocker! One of the most rocking on the disk.

Black Sabbath's Dio-era "Mob Rules" is one of the few truly heavy metal tunes, with it's machine gun guitar, thundering bass, and throbbing drums. This fit perfectly with the invasion/sacking scene in the movie.

Songs by Nazareth, Journey, Grand Funk Railroad and Stevie Nicks round out the set.