The best of the 70s B-Team?

[Charger]

I think we can all agree that the top of the heap as far as heavy music goes in the 70s was

Black Sabbath
Rainbow
Deep Purple

They were all clearly the A-Team of what everything that was going on back then.

But then I started pondering who were the next best things?

Twisted Sister? Uriah Heep? Alice Cooper? Judas Priest? Thin Lizzy? Scorpions? AC/DC? Kiss? Rush? Blue Öyster Cult?

Motörhead is bit on the brink there as they really started getting momentum only at the end of the decade.

Something completely different?

I'd lift Judas Priest and Alice Cooper on top myself. Eventhough Priest did their best work in the 80s and early 90s, they still had some strong stuff in the 70s too...Alice Cooper on the otherhand has been rocking out insanely awesome stuff since the early 70s and has had some great albums on every decade since.


What are your thought on the B-Team of the 70s metal?

[AnnoMundi]

Charger you can’t leave out Led Zeppelin as part of the A team, they were probably the A+ of the A Team.

[Charger]

Charger you can’t leave out Led Zeppelin as part of the A team, they were probably the A+ of the A Team.

Oh I can...and easily. We were talking about heavy music here not radio pop!

[Zzzptm]

If we rank in terms of overall popularity along with heaviness, Zeppelin would be in the A-team. Yeah, they had some pop, but they were definitely heavy dudes.

One guy that got called up to the majors but turned them down was Rory Gallagher. After Blackmore left, he was one of the guitarists approached to replace him in Deep Purple. There's a legend (as in not proven, could be just made up, but, then again, maybe it happened) that a reporter once asked Jimi Hendrix how it felt to be the best guitarist in the world. Hendrix replied, "I don't know. You should ask Rory Gallagher."

Gallagher wasn't always heavy, but he had plenty heavy stuff in his repertoire. And, to Charger's point, he was *never* a pop act. NEVER. He's absolutely one of the best of the best.

[Zzzptm]

Next act I want to tout would be, hmmm... it's got to be some band as good as DP/BS/Rainbow, where it's awful hard for me to find a bad track on any album.

I can pick and choose in and out of BOC, Uriah Heep, Priest, Grand Funk, guys like that. I like them a lot, but not the way I like the top three (and Rory Gallagher). So who else do I find little to no fault with?

Here's one - Captain Beyond. Great second album, but a MONSTER first album. I can play it over and over and over again. Rod Evans was made for Captain Beyond, not Deep Purple.

Another one I'll put forward is Journey. Well, I'll caveat that by saying pre-Steve Perry Journey. The albums from Schon / Rolie / Valory / Dunbar - Journey, Look Into the Future, and Next - are some good heavy rock, albeit with jazz fusion here and there, but the jazz fusion works somehow and I got three solid albums with loads of heavy jamming going on.

[Zzzptm]

And let's hear it for MOUNTAIN, yeah! That band is more influential than meets the eye. Great albums, loads of monster tracks.

[AnnoMundi]

If we rank in terms of overall popularity along with heaviness, Zeppelin would be in the A-team. Yeah, they had some pop, but they were definitely heavy dudes.

One guy that got called up to the majors but turned them down was Rory Gallagher. After Blackmore left, he was one of the guitarists approached to replace him in Deep Purple. There's a legend (as in not proven, could be just made up, but, then again, maybe it happened) that a reporter once asked Jimi Hendrix how it felt to be the best guitarist in the world. Hendrix replied, "I don't know. You should ask Rory Gallagher."

Gallagher wasn't always heavy, but he had plenty heavy stuff in his repertoire. And, to Charger's point, he was *never* a pop act. NEVER. He's absolutely one of the best of the best.

Thanks Z, I would have to nominate KISS.

[Charger]

I didn't even remember Rory Gallagher...don't know enough about him so say anything really...

[Jack the Stripper]

I'd like to throw UFO's hat into the ring.

And yep, Zeppelin is undoubtedly in the A-Team of the heavy hitters.

[Tyr66]

I'd like to throw UFO's hat into the ring.

And yep, Zeppelin is undoubtedly in the A-Team of the heavy hitters.

^^ this !!   

[Zzzptm]

I didn't even remember Rory Gallagher...don't know enough about him so say anything really...

You owe it to yourself to check him out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hU6TCq1mY8

[Charger]

^^
I shall...after workout.

If we rank in terms of overall popularity along with heaviness, Zeppelin would be in the A-team. Yeah, they had some pop, but they were definitely heavy dudes.

True popularity wise ofcourse Zeppelin would be on top...they were/are way more popular than Sabbath, Purple or Rainbow...but as we have so often seen popularity has nothing to do with quality...

Leppelin for me is one of the most overrated bands in history so I cannot put them in the a-list or b-list or even w-list.

Ah yes... UFO...forgot about them. Yes that's a good addition to the list.

[AnnoMundi]

Budgie, Thin Lizzy.

[Thelemech]

Atomic Rooster   

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I'm not particularly familiar with them but how about Nazareth?