ICONIC METAL MUSICIANS AND INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES INDUCTED INTO THE “HALL OF HEAVY METAL HISTORY” ON JANUARY 24TH, 2018
Black Sabbath Drummer Bill Ward, Dream Theater Keyboardist Jordan Rudess, Bass virtuoso Billy Sheehan. and other metal royalty will be featured in the Annual Hall of Heavy Metal History Induction Ceremony. The 2018 All-Star Induction Ceremony takes place Wednesday, January 24th, 2018 at the Anaheim Wyndham Garden Grove, Anaheim CA. Television and Radio Legend Eddie Trunk will host the event.
An All-Star Jam, and surprise artists will part of the ceremony. Budderside will perform as special guest. Proceeds to benefit the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund.
The 2018 Hall of Heavy Metal History Inductees Include:
Bill Ward (Black Sabbath, Ward One)
Lzzy Hale (Halestorm)
Billy Sheehan (David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, The Winery Dogs)
Carmine Appice (Ozzy, Michael Schenker, Paul Stanley), Special Induction by Vinny Appice
Anvil
Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater, Rudess/Morgenstein, Liquid Tension Experiment)
Riot
Munsey Ricci (President, Skateboard Marketing)
Exodus
Sammy Ash (COO Sam Ash Music)
Elliott Rubinson (Dean Guitars, with Evan Rubinson and family accepting the Induction)
Plus an All- Star Jam and Surprise Guests!!
Schedule of Events:
5:00PM – 6:00PM: Red Carpet
6:00PM – 6:30PM: Press Conference (Private)
6:00PM: General Admission
7:00PM – 7:45PM: Budderside
8:00PM – 9:30 PM: Induction Ceremony
9:00PM – 9:30 PM: Intermission / Budderside
9:30PM- Induction Ceremony
All Star Jam To Follow
Be a part of the most important night in Heavy Metal, for more information and to purchase tickets, please visit, thehallofheavymetalhistory.org. General Admission Seating, $34.99
Sponsors include: Pepsi, Zildjian Cymbals, TotalRock.com, Metaltalk.net, Modern Drummer, ProMark Drumsticks, Riola Design, Marshall Amps.
How does Lzzy Hale get voted in as a Heavy Metal History Inductee???? Her band is not metal, and she surely isn’t somebody heavy metal fans will mention as a historic figure associated with metal music. She’s talented, and I like her rock band, but I don’t think of her (or her band) as a Heavy Metal History candidate, regardless of the category…
And what categories are Anvil, Riot, and Exodus being recognized for? I enjoy all three of them (particularly Exodus), but I don’t think any of them rank of celebrated status in the history of heavy metal.
I have to agree, Rattlehead. Lizzy Hale is a great vocalist, and I enjoy Halestorm a great deal. But she is definitely, as of right now, NOT a historic figure of metal music. At least not yet. And why are Anvil, Riot, and Exodus to be considered historic metal bands? Just speaking for myself, Anvil’s music is pretty forgettable, and they have never seen much success commercially. Riot’s music I’ve enjoyed a lot, especially RESTLESS BREED. But, once again, they never achieved much commercially, so why are they historic? Exodus has the same issues, in my opinion.
Keith, if you haven’t heard them yet, you may want to give a listen to Anvil’s Metal on Metal or their Forged in Fire albums. I think both are great albums. I think the reason Anvil never had success was because of overly sexually suggestive nature of their lyrics and Lips’ S&M/bondage outfits. I’m sure both were a “turn off” to major labels….My favorite Riot album is Fire Down Under. And I often wonder if Exodus would have had more success if their 1985 debut album, Bonded by Blood (which is think is great), did not have almost a year’s delay in its release due to legal issues, particularly while the U.S. thrash movement was getting started.
Anvil most likely gets in because they are credited as influences to the thrash metal scene. Lars Ulrich and Anthrax are noted fans of theirs.
I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with Keith and Rattlehead here. I checked out the website of this group and I’d have to say they’ve done a pretty good job of making respectful choices.
Everyone agrees that the RRHOF and the Grammys are either totally clueless or downright offensive when it comes to giving metal any kind of recognition.
But even if things were to improve, the best we could hope for are Maiden and Priest and a few others getting in to the RRHOF, or an announcer remembering Metallica’s name. What about all the casualties of bad management and disastrous decisions? Pop music never does that; why can’t we?
The key word here is *history* – not *fame*. Anvil (yes, I know they’re back to pre-documentary days, but they’re still the best club performance I’ve ever seen) really was ahead of the Big 4 in terms of playing style, and Exodus were also major contributors to the thrash scene back in the day.
When it comes to giving historical treatment, you aren’t necessarily recognizing a band the way the Grammys and RRHOF do in their better moments. You aren’t necessarily saying a band was great throughout its career. Sam Dunn’s documentaries on the history of metal have bands like Steppenwolf, Blue Cheer, and my namesake, whose total output wasn’t great, but still played an important role in a certain period.
In my view, Hale gets kudos for giving the nod to 80s metal – performing with Bach and with Keiffer onstage. Very few of the newer performers are giving those guys the recognition they deserve.
Having a series of awards with accolades to all the usual heroes – Sabbath, Maiden, Metallica, etc., wouldn’t be inaccurate, but wouldn’t it be more fun and respectful to uncover what would otherwise be forgotten?
Tyger,
I completely agree with you that the Grammy’s and RRHOF will never give hard rock/ metal music the respect it deserves. I would fully support an organization that gives this style of music its own Hall of Fame. But for me, the people making the selections need to make clear what the criteria are. Let’s take Lizzy Hale, for example. As I said previously, she is an awesome vocalist and performer. And I love the fact that she gives a shout out to the 80’s music. But does that make her a historical figure in heavy metal? Based upon the other postings on this thread, you can probably make a case for Anvil being inducted. I think the case for Exodus is weaker, and I haven’t seen anyone giving any reasons for Riot being inducted. My point is that, if we are going to have a Hall of Fame for Heavy Metal History, it should mean something. The criteria for selection needs to be made clear to everyone. The people making the selections should be folks that have the respect of the hard rock/ metal community. I personally feel that commercial success should be a part of, but not the only, criteria for selection. But unless there are standards for what it takes to get inducted, than what you have is something similar to the WWE Hall of Fame, in which pretty much every wrestler who had a modicum of success will eventually get in. I have too much respect and admiration for this style of music to let that happen without at least giving my opinion on it.
Tyger, you bring up some great points about “history” rather than “fame, and I like your comments about it being more fun to uncover what would otherwise be forgotten. That’s one of the reasons I dove deep into the NWOBHM period….lots of great unknown bands that released great music, including your namesake. And its cool to look back at some of the unknown NWOBHM bands and note some former band members who went on to achieve fame….for example, Janick Gers from White Spirit, Phil Campbell from Persian Risk, Bruce Bruce (Dickinson) from Samson, John Sykes from Tygers, Adrian Smith from Urchin, and Vivian Campbell form Sweet Savage.
Rattlehead,
I agree that it is fun to delve into the history of this genre of music. I personally enjoy some of the 70’s bands like Foghat, Pat Travers, and Mountain (and of course Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple). There are many ties from those bands to NWOBHM era bands that are really interesting. And I also agree that commercial success should never be the only, or even the most important, criteria to selecting inductees to a hard rock/ heavy metal Hall of Fame. But, for me, a Hall of Fame should be the reserved for the “best of the best”. So, whatever criteria that we decide to use, it should lead to only inducting the “best of the best” into the hall. The criteria should be decided on by people who have the respect of the hard rock/ metal community and truly love this type of music, and should be made public. Once the inductees are announced, I want to be able to look at the criteria and be able to go, “I see why this band was inducted.”, or “I see why that singer was inducted.” I don’t have to agree that they are more deserving than someone else who wasn’t inducted, but I should be able to understand why they meet the criteria.
You could make a case for all of them, though personally I can’t stand Anvil’s music, nor Lips’ act…if he wants to know why he didn’t make it….never mind. But, they were right there at the beginning with a more intense brand of metal. Then you have Riot, who were so underrated; where Maiden pretty much pilfered Fire Down Under for much of their Powerslave record. Riot unfortunately started to break when Quiet Riot exploded, that sure didn’t help, nor did consciously trying to write commercial. Exodus; they deserve to be in there for sure. Those riffs have been recycled by Stone Sour, Pantera, Metallica was able to continue with their lead guitarist, Damage Inc. is a homage to Exodus….Lizzy Hale, I’ve never heard of.
Fair points, all.
I do think the Hall should be more explicit with their criteria, maybe the speeches at the event will take care of that. I’m sure they’re much more open to constructive criticism from metal fans than the mainstream functions are.
I say metal fans should get behind this, especially if these functions get on the road and are held in places other than southern California. The tickets are bargain if you live in the area!