'80s Metal History (November 29th)

November 29, 1982: Metallica headlined their first gig in San Francisco at The Old Waldorf. The lineup was James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Dave Mustaine and Ron McGovney. Openers were Vicious Rumors and Kirk Hammett's band Exodus. A recording of Metallica's performance became the "Metal Up Your Ass" demo.

November 29, 1988: Guns N' Roses released their second studio album "G N' R Lies" in North America (December 5th in the UK). The first four tracks are from the previously released EP "Live ?!*@ Like A Suicide" and the last four are all acoustic, including "Patience".

"G N' R Lies" release date source: [US] Billboard Magazine - November 5, 1988 (Notes Nov. 30th, but this was a Wednesday and most labels were starting to issue albums on Tuesdays, which would become the uniform release day of the week in the US five months later); [UK] Kerrang! - October 29, 1988.

November 29, 1986: Motörhead's seventh studio album "Orgasmatron" debuted on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums chart (August 9th in the UK), their first to feature two guitarists Phil "Wizzö" Campbell and Michael "Würzel" Burston.

November 1985: Queensrÿche's Geoff Tate and Chris DeGarmo, along with KISS' Gene Simmons, were seated on a panel of invited guests at a seminar in New York to discuss the burgeoning college radio scene in the US. -Kerrang!

Dokken were featured in Kerrang! two months after filming a "lavish, big budget" music video in London for "Into The Fire", the first single from the "Tooth And Nail" album.

Happy Birthday to King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque (November 29, 1962).

Happy Birthday to Loudness bassist Masayoshi Yamashita (November 29, 1961).

Happy Birthday to original Pantera singer and second guitarist [1981-86] Terry Glaze (November 29, 1964). After leaving Pantera, Terry joined Lord Tracy.

Remembering Montrose and Gamma founder and guitarist Ronnie Montrose, who would have celebrated a birthday today (November 29, 1947). Ronnie died in 2012. R.I.P.

November 29, 1987: Boston's Best Live Rock! The Channel Club hosted an afternoon show featuring Lizzy Borden and special guest Shok Paris.

November 1984: Carrere Records issued a Saxon retrospective with compilation "Strong Arm Metal", which received a scathing review in Kerrang!... "Do not buy this album, 'cos it offers you a big fat ZERO in terms of value for money... There's not even any liner notes or insert to make the thing even vaguely worthy as a collector's item." Ouch.

Marking the band's 10 year anniversary, Canadian thrashers Exciter released their only official full-length live album "Better Live Than Dead" in 1993. The original was a rare find until the Megaforce reissue in 2005.

November 1984: Iron Maiden's fifth studio album "Powerslave" was issued on Picture Disc and CD in the UK. Release information source: Kerrang! ad - November 29, 1984.