Metal
Here you'll find album histories, birthdays, and anniversaries connected to the artists who built metal and its branches, along with vinyl reissue news as titles reappear. Metal has a particularly active underground pressing culture: independent labels regularly issue small runs in colored or splatter vinyl, and older catalog titles get reworked into box sets and remasters aimed at longtime fans rather than casual listeners. The stories here follow how specific records came together — band lineups, studio choices, the scenes around them — and note when a reissue gives an older album a reason to be discussed again.
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Why Did Black Label Society's Debut Almost Derail?
Black Label Society's Sonic Brew was held back in the US over a poor original mix, forcing Zakk Wylde back into the studio and into a heavier sound.
· 4 min read
How Kiss Met the Phantom of the Park
Four men in face paint and leather stood in a California amusement park, acting out a battle with an unseen enemy. This was Kiss, the New York rock band who had…
· 4 min read
What Did Rammstein Do With Six Songs Left Over?
In October 2005, Rammstein turned six finished tracks left over from the Reise, Reise sessions into a full album. Rosenrot became their fifth studio album.
· 4 min read
How Queen's News of the World Survived the Punk Storm
Queen released News of the World on 28 October 1977, stripping back their layered sound to answer punk with riffs and big choruses.
· 4 min read
Why Did Deftones Hate Their Own Around the Fur Cover?
Deftones recorded Around the Fur at Stone Gossard's Studio Litho and released it on Maverick Records in October 1997. The cover photo came from a party nobody had cleared.
· 4 min read
Why Did Motörhead's Bomber Almost Never Get Made?
Motörhead's third album Bomber arrived on Bronze Records in 1979. Sessions with producer Jimmy Miller were disrupted by his deepening heroin addiction.
· 4 min read
Why Did a Guns N' Roses VHS Go Double Platinum?
Welcome to the Eden — Guns N' Roses' 1998 Geffen collection of MTV-era clips — went double platinum on VHS despite one glaring omission.
· 3 min read
Why Did AC/DC Live Ship with a Fake Banknote?
Epic Records released AC/DC Live on October 27, 1992, in a single-disc edition and a double album. The double album's book-like case held a novelty bill called Angus Bucks.
· 4 min read
How Dream Theater Turned an Inside Joke into a Murder Mystery
Dream Theater released Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory on October 26, 1999, turning a joke title into the band's first concept album and a murder mystery.
· 4 min read
Why Did Sepultura Return to Ross Robinson?
Sepultura reunited with producer Ross Robinson for The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart. The album was recorded in his Venice, California home studio in mid-2013.
· 3 min read
Why Did Dio's Strange Highways Sound So Dangerous?
Ronnie James Dio released Strange Highways in Europe on October 25, 1993, after quitting Black Sabbath a second time. The album arrived with a new guitarist and a last-minute bassist.
· 3 min read
Marilyn Manson's Accidental Platinum EP
Marilyn Manson's Smells Like Children began as a remix single for 'Dope Hat.' It became a platinum EP after a Eurythmics cover and a pressing error sent the uncut version to radio.
· 4 min read
How Linkin Park Made Rejection Into Hybrid Theory
After 42 showcases and rejections from most major labels, Linkin Park released Hybrid Theory on October 24, 2000. The debut album went on to sell 32 million copies worldwide.
· 3 min read
How Savatage Turned a War Album Into a Christmas Hit
Savatage released Dead Winter Dead on October 24, 1995, a Bosnian War concept album. Its buried track 'Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)' became a lasting radio hit.
· 4 min read
Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzmosis: The Album That Had to Be Rebuilt
Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzmosis was rebuilt after Epic Records replaced producer Michael Wagener with Michael Beinhorn, and the album arrived on October 23, 1995.
· 4 min read
Coheed and Cambria Close the Saga with No World for Tomorrow
Coheed and Cambria released No World for Tomorrow on October 23, 2007. The album closed the Amory Wars saga with Taylor Hawkins on drums and a title most listeners never saw.
· 4 min read
How Incubus Left Nü-Metal Behind on Morning View
Incubus recorded Morning View in a Malibu house in spring 2001, deliberately leaving nü-metal behind for alternative rock. The album came out on October 23, 2001, on Epic and Immortal Records.
· 4 min read
How Slayer Lost Their Album Title and Captured a Decade
Slayer's first official live album, Decade of Aggression, arrived on Def American Records on October 22, 1991. The band had wanted a different title, but Mötley Crüe had already claimed it.
· 3 min read
How Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell Survived Every Rejection
Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman were rejected by label after label before Bat Out of Hell arrived on October 21, 1977. It came out on Cleveland International Records and Epic Records.
· 4 min read
Why Did Converge Finally Open the Door on Axe to Fall?
Converge turned their seventh album, Axe to Fall, into a collective effort with guests from Cave In, Genghis Tron and Neurosis. Epitaph released it in October 2009.
· 4 min read
Why Did Europe Leave The Final Countdown Behind?
Europe recorded Walk the Earth at Abbey Road in about two weeks with producer Dave Cobb, arriving with ten songs and no finished album. The record came out on 20 October 2017.
· 4 min read
Why Did Primus Almost End With Antipop?
Primus released Antipop on October 19, 1999, with six producers including Tom Waits and Fred Durst, then went silent for three years.
· 3 min read
Why Did Twisted Sister Re-record Stay Hungry as Still Hungry?
Twisted Sister released Still Hungry on October 19, 2004. It was a track-by-track re-recording of their 1984 breakthrough Stay Hungry, which the band felt was too polished.
· 4 min read
Queensrÿche's Promised Land: The Album That Broke Their Mold
Queensrÿche released Promised Land on October 18, 1994, after more than two years of work. It became their highest-charting album, reaching number 3 on the Billboard 200.
· 4 min read