THE GREEK PRESSINGS VOL. II
THE GREEK PRESSINGS VOL. II
As the years went on, heavy metal in Greece grew enormously, and Greek pressings of SAMSON, TYGERS OF PAN TANG, MORE, legendary PICTURE with ''Heavy Metal Ears'' (their albums had different covers in various countries, very interesting!), DEMON, PLASMATICS, VANADIUM, and of course the big bands were released. By 1984, with four releases, the cult-meter went red! These four releases were:
1. NIGHTMARE (France) – ''Waiting For The Twilight'' (Ebony Records)
2. BLADE RUNNER (UK) – ''Hunted'' (also Ebony Records)
3. FAITHFUL BREATH (Germany) – ''Gold'n'Glory'' (legendary Belgian Mausoleum Records)
4. UNDERDOG (Germany) – ''Rabies In Town'' (also Mausoleum Records)
How awesome is the cover of ''Rabies In Town''? Epic!! Unfortunately, UNDERDOG remained unknown to the metal community (unfairly to me), leaving behind three great albums and a single from 1982 to 1988. Many don’t know that the guitarist on UNDERDOG’s first album was Richard Reinhold, aka Ritch “Bitch” Reinhold, who had the cult band LOOSE CONNECTION in 1977 and released the very rare single ''Time to Fight / Midnight Passage'' (1979) independently. A very cult release, found on many collectors’ want lists worldwide. Another fun fact: the song ''Midnight Passage'' was re-recorded by UNDERDOG on their first album.
Also, in 1985, we have three more very strong releases in heavy metal, outside the mainstream metal scene. From Belgium, ladies and gentlemen, OSTROGOTH with ''Ecstasy And Danger'', the truly unknown British band SCORCHED EARTH with the 12” ''Tomorrow Never Comes''.
For the end of 1985, I think I have a big surprise for you!! Seriously, who was the person that said, “Let’s press this 7” with these two songs for the Greek metal audience”? Who was that?? GOW, ladies and gentlemen, from Italy, with the 7” ''The Heavy Stars''. It was released ONLY in Greece by the disco-pop label Industry Records. This 7” kills, especially the track ''Head Bangers'' - a true metal anthem!!
I’d really love to see the reaction of any metalhead in 1985 hearing ''Head Bangers'' for the first time. Another cult release for Greece!
1987 and the cult-meter hits hard! We have the Italians VANADIUM with ''Corruption Of Innocence'', also the debut album of the Americans SANCTUARY, ''Refuge Denied'', and four more very special releases: the Swiss KILLER with ''Young Blood'', the Swiss SERGEANT with ''Streetwise'', the Japanese VOW WOW with their album ''V'', and the Germans VETO with their debut album ''Veto''. To finish, I left a very interesting release from IRON MAIDEN: the box set ''Maiden Mania 80-87'', which includes the singles ''Women In Uniform'', ''Maiden Japan'', ''Aces High'', ''Run To The Hills (Live)'', and ''Wasted Years''. Very hard to find nowadays and very expensive!
I don’t know exactly what the record companies in Greece were thinking back then, but some records (and cassettes) were released with the song titles written in Greek characters. Not translated into Greek like in Spanish or Latin American releases, but written in Greek letters spelling out the English words as they sound… hahaha! I think this might be a world first in originality. I’m attaching some releases with Greek characters below.
In 1988, many excellent metal releases bombarded us, and of course, for our feature on Greek pressings, we have:
The Irish WINTER’S REIGN with ''The Beginning'', the Swedish SILVER MOUNTAIN with ''Roses & Champagne'' (well, honestly, it wasn’t a great album!), the Norwegian ARTCH with the amazing ''Another Return'', the American RIOT with ''Thundersteel'', the American SLAVE RAIDER with ''Take The World By Storm'' (were there really people listening to SLAVE RAIDER back then???), MANOWAR with ''Kings Of Metal'', with the funny typo on the labels that says ''The Metal Kings''!! And to finish off 1988, a very nice release of ''No Sleep At All'' by the gods MOTORHEAD, with a free 7” single containing two live songs from their first appearance in Greece, at Sporting in Athens. A three-day hell of a show (with FLAMES supporting!).
1989 finds us again drowning in releases from mainstream bands - one exception for me is the Germans ANGEL DUST with their second album ''To Dust You Will Decay'', which was also released on cassette!
I think I have covered the most unique Greek pressings from the 80s decade. If I forgot something, please write it in the comments below. Until next time, my friends - keep listening to lots of music!
By Steve the Filthy Dog.