'80s Metal History (April 23rd)

April 23, 2011: Nearly a year after their first performance at the Sonisphere Festival in Warsaw, Poland, the Big 4 [Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer] played the first of two US shows in Indio, California (the second was September 14th in New York City).

April 23, 1986: Ozzy Osbourne with special guest Metallica played Providence, Rhode Island. One fan who was there said "I remember that show like it was yesterday. Metallica played like they wanted you to see that they are NO warm up band."

Remembering Def Leppard co-founder and guitarist Steve Clark, who would have celebrated a birthday today (April 23, 1960). Steve died in 1991. R.I.P.

Incredible timing with 1984 being the "Year of the Rat" and L.A.'s RATT out to conquer the earth with their debut album. First single "Round And Round" was a smash on American radio and the music video on MTV. The band toured all year which included a string of Canadian dates in late April.

April 23, 1992: KISS launched the "Revenge" Tour with 13 club shows in North America, starting with The Stone in San Francisco and ending at The Ritz in New York City and Brooklyn's L'Amour in early May. This was the first show with new drummer Eric Singer who had been shuffling between Alice Cooper's tour and KISS in the studio. The new album "Revenge" would be issued a month later.

April 1987: Part of the second wave of Bay area thrashers, Death Angel released their debut album "The Ultra-Violence" in North America (early May in the UK). A thrash classic, it was recorded when all band members were under age 20, with drummer Andy Galeon just 14 years old.

Death Angel "The Ultra-Violence" release information source: [US] The Hard Report radio trade publication "Concrete Best Sellers" chart debut - May 8, 1987; [UK] Kerrang! ad - May 14, 1987.

April 23, 1988: Iron Maiden’s "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" debuted at No. 1 on the UK album chart. The LP also went to No. 1 in Finland, Top 10 in seven other countries and No. 12 in both the US and Canada.

April 23, 2003 – Twisted Sister announced they were reforming and would hit the road for the first time in 16 years. The following month they kicked off the tour on USO military bases in South Korea.

April 23, 1976: AC/DC played live in the UK for the first time at London's Red Cow pub.

April 1981: Accept released the title track as a single from their third studio album "Breaker" in Japan only.

April 23, 1990: Yngwie Malmsteen was touring the UK and made a stop in Birmingham. That same day, "Making Love" was released as a single from his fifth studio album "Eclipse". Release information source: Kerrang! ad - April 28, 1990.

April 23, 1984: The first Japanese hard rock act to be signed by a major international record label (Atco/Atlantic), Loudness played a handful of shows in Europe including London's Marquee Club. "Thunder In The East" would hit record stores in early 1985.

April 1983: New Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee was on the cover of Kerrang! "Since Randy Rhoads got killed, I've had a lot of bad luck with players. Often they just want to stay with me to get a name before they launch their own careers. But I like to think the band now is as near as damn it permanent, though I sometimes wake up in the morning and wonder who's still here." -Ozzy