Where does "Hard Rock" leave off to become "Heavy Metal"...etc.

Heheh. I had actually written about 3 paragraphs about Fender, Marshall and Mesa but then decided my post was already too fucken long.

Though I agree about Mesa "inventing" or at least ushering in the hugely compressed multiple gainstage distortion, you could even make it a little simpler and say that the addition of the master volume to many amps around that time (and the rise of preamp distortion in general) was the beginning of the "modern" thing.

Dammit now I'm pissed I'm at work and not at home playing guitar.

Yeah, agreed. My old amps surely weren't built to deliver the exciting metal sound on demand. The British had the Dallas Rangemaster. I had an Electro-Harmonix LPB-1.

We're heavy metal, OK? Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal, Heavy bloody Metal.

Just like your fuckin' head.

Same here, good stuff!

Yeah, the Lizards. "Cold Hearted Kings." Last album, "Rule," featured John Garner, dug up from Sir Lord Baltimore, to sing. New album sacked him and it didn't hurt, as far as I can tell.

The Navajo Code Talkers, who I've mentioned briefly elsewhere. Quebecois biker rock led by girls. The guitarists have a Link Wray thing going on, which is greaser right from the original source. This year's/last year's "Vanilla Fudge" records. The Zolar-X archival release.

Most metros in the US have at least half a dozen such bands, most of whom have done or do their own releases in this vein. Poobah comes to mind, too.

!!!!!

Why was I not informed?! Greatest drummer-who-sings EVAH!

From the description for this Iron Magazine record. Applies as well to the frankly superb Aktor - Paranoia album also from Jussi Lehtisalo and Tomi Leppänen (with Chris Black of Dawnbringer in this case.)

https://ironmagazine.bandcamp.com/album/queen-of-hell

Can you cite examples of this nexus / original stuff that sounds like this, well known or obscure?

^^^

"...lazer-buzzing, intergalactic HARD ROCKIN' at that nexus of 1980 where greasy 'n' galloping heavy metal, Sunset-strippin' hard rock, and space-cased AOR all crossed DNA for one brief moment."

Tried to start a thread but it wasn't having it. The AOR element is also important.

the frankly superb Aktor - Paranoia album

sidestepping your question, but i LOVE that aktor album.

can't search for anything atm, but i started a thread some years back about aor dino rockers making "new wave" styled pop albums c. 1981 (e.g., blue oyster cult's cultosaurus erectus). iirc, some of the suggestions made would fit in pretty well here.

So you did, it was even bumped recently. I'll have a look through that, thanks.

1981 = year of 70s dino rockers w modren/wavo comeback LPs

the quote from the queen of hell bandcamp page makes me think of stuff like nazareth's no mean city and priest's british steel

I'll use this to post about High Spirits again, love this band and fits this:

https://highspiritsmetal.bandcamp.com/album/motivator

otm (for contemporary echoes of these psychic wars, anyway). was gonna say i think of aktor's paranoia as a chris black joint more than a circle peeps poject.

hawkwind - levitation

are we sure this Iron Magazine isn't a Ween side project? talk about self-aware

i guess if it were ween the tunes would be better tho

Mastodon have been retreating backward from heavy metal to hard rock in recent years. There's a song on the new album that's basically .38 Special.

xp danko jones always bring that vibe. have some friends who like them. i don't.