Rhino to Release Metal Box Set, Refuses to Acknowledge That Nü-Metal Ever Existed

The title of this post may not be entirely true; Rhino Records is in fact releasing a four disc box set topically set on metal, however it will only cover the years 1968-1991. Yes, that means no KoRn, no Limp Bizkit, no Orgy, Rammstein or even P.O.D. Billboard reports, “Arranged chronologically from 1968 to 1991, the compilation also boasts hits from bands like Deep Purple, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Iron Butterfly, Pantera, Alice Cooper, Venom, Testament, Rush and Megadeth; the project will be packaged in a box resembling a Marshall guitar amp.”

In 2004 Rhino released No Thanks!: The 70s Punk Rebellion, purposefully focusing on a time period and musical trend. With this release however, under the broad label Heavy Metal Box, it seems somewhat limiting to neglect music from the past 17 some odd years; much of which strikes me as some of the best heavy metal ever recorded. Excluding Deftones, In Flames, Type O Negative, Cradle of Filth, System of a Down or any other modern metal acts (the list would be far too long to mention here) seems somewhat limiting, but them’s the rules. Here’s the track list for Heavy Metal Box:

Disc 1:
01. IRON BUTTERFLY – In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
02. BLUE CHEER – Summertime Blues
03. URIAH HEEP – Easy Livin
04. DEEP PURPLE – Highway Star
05. ALICE COOPER – Billion Dollar Babies
06. HAWKWIND – Lost Johnny
07. MONTROSE – Bad Motor Scooter
08. RUSH – Working Man
09. RITCHIE BLACKMORE’S RAINBOW – Man on the Silver Mountain
10. KISS – Detroit Rock City
11. JUDAS PRIEST – The Ripper
12. TED NUGENT – Cat Scratch Fever
13. UFO – Lights Out
14. BLUE ÖYSTER CULT – Godzilla
15. GIRLSCHOOL – Demolition Boys
16. ANGEL WITCH – White Witch
17. IRON MAIDEN – The Phantom of the Opera
18. BLACK SABBATH – Neon Knights

Disc 2:
01. MOTORHEAD – Ace of Spades
02. DIAMOND HEAD – Am I Evil?
03. ROSE TATTOO – Nice Boys
04. MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP – Attack of the Mad Axeman
05. SAXON – Denim and Leather
06. BLITZKRIEG – Blitzkrieg
07. TYGERS OF PAN TANG – Gangland
08. VENOM – Witching Hour
09. JUDAS PRIEST – You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
10. IRON MAIDEN – The Number of the Beast
11. RAVEN – Star War
12. FASTWAY – Say What You Will
13. MERCYFUL FATE – Black Funeral
14. W.A.S.P. – Animal (F**k Like A Beast)
15. Y&T – Mean Streak
16. DIO – Holy Diver
17. QUEENSRYCHE – Queen of the Reich
18. METALLICA – Whiplash

Disc 3:
01. SCORPIONS – Rock You Like a Hurricane
02. QUIET RIOT – Metal Health
03. DOKKEN – Into the Fire
04. ACCEPT – Balls to the Wall
05. RATT – Round and Round
06. TWISTED SISTER – I Wanna Rock
07. HANOI ROCKS – The Boulevard of Broken Dreams
08. SPINAL TAP – Big Bottom
09. KROKUS – Midnite Maniac
10. YNGWIE J. MALMSTEEN’S RISING FORCE – I’ll See the Light Tonight
11. LOUDNESS – Crazy Nights
12. CINDERELLA – Shake Me
13. METAL CHURCH – Watch the Children Pray
14. STRYPER – To Hell with The Devil
15. HELLOWEEN – A Little Time
16. OVERKILL – Wrecking Crew
17. ANTHRAX – Caught in a Mosh
18. MEGADETH – Peace Sells

Disc 4:
01. WHITESNAKE – Still of the Night
02. GREAT WHITE – Rock Me
03. POISON – Talk Dirty to Me
04. FASTER PUSSYCAT – Bathroom Wall
05. SAVATAGE – Hall of the Mountain King
06. LITA FORD – Kiss Me Deadly
07. MANOWAR – Hail and Kill
08. TESTAMENT – Trial by Fire
09. KING DIAMOND – Welcome Home
10. SLAYER – South of Heaven
11. METALLICA – One
12. LIVING COLOUR – Cult of Personality
13. SKID ROW – Youth Gone Wild
14. PANTERA – Cowboys from Hell
15. PRONG – Beg to Differ
16. SEPULTURA – Dead Embryonic Cells

Whole Lotta Exclusion: The first thing that might stand out, given the guidelines, is where’s Led Zeppelin? VH1,essentially televisions equivalent to Rhino Records (what does that mean?), placed Led Zeppelin first on the list of The 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. While not metal, Led Zeppelin laid the standard for what was to come much like Black Sabbath did; and in all fairness if Iron Butterfly is going to be included but not Led Zeppelin, Lucy! – you gotta whole lotta splain’ to do!

This List Could Use Some “Changes”: Number two on VH1′s list was in fact Black Sabbath, who are barely acknowledged with the inclusion of “Neon Knights.” Furthermore this secondary version of Sabbath included in the box set is the version including Ronnie James Dio rather than the classic first line-up with Ozzy Osbourne. Fair enough, but Dio’s “Holy Diver” is also included in the set while Ozzy Osbourne’s solo material is no where to be found.

The argument for/against British New Wave: Tygers of Pan Tang. The inclusion of a relatively obscure group was more than enough fitted by Girlschool, a group who released albums consistently throughout the 1980s and most recently suffered a loss with the death of lead guitarist Kelly Johnson. For that matter, and despite my enduring resentment towards the band, why not include Def Leppard? Much apart of the British New Wave scene the group also influenced the next wave of hair bands that would follow – hard to really say the band doesn’t belong.

Don’t Fear The Reaper: Budgie and Grim Reaper. Metal Roots explains, “Often thought of as a cross between Black Sabbath (due to their plodding, molten-heavy riffs) and Rush (due to their singer’s high-pitch, Geddy Lee-esque wail), the somewhat obscure British metal outfit Budgie has influenced countless outfits, despite enduring countless lineup shifts throughout their history.” I hadn’t heard anything remotely having to do with Budgie until Metallica covered “Breadfan” and “Crash Course in Brain Surgery” on the band’s Garage Inc. covers album. After pursuing the band’s 1971 eponymous debut I can easily agree with BNR Metal Pages’ conclusion, “Budgie was an outstanding band, well ahead of its time.” Why include Grim Reaper, you may ask?

Exhibit A:

Speaking of Hell…

Heaven & Hell: Like much of the box set Rhino’s brief inclusion of two interesting sub-genre’s lacks some of the deepest breadth that could be included; those genres being Christian and Black Metal. As mentioned the likely candidates are included, Stryper and Venom, but even given the restraints Rhino could have included one or two representative bands. Two such bands: Mayhem and Believer. While Mayhem’s bloody history is widely known, the band encapsulating the term black metal in every sense of the term, Believer may be a little under the radar. In all fairness the band never laid claim any sizable part in metal’s history but…the sheer fact that it was/is one of the only Christian Thrash bands on the earth of any caliber should be recognized. That and Believer is simply a better band than Stryper.

With many important acts no where to be found and those such as Cinderella and Skid Row given representation this limited collection might better be suited to the title (Rhino is) Too Cheap to Pay For A Real Heavy Metal Box.