'80s Metal History (December 4th)

December 4, 1982: Iron Maiden concluded the "Beast On The Road" Tour in Tokyo. One of the band's longest tours to date, it was only surpassed in length by the '84-85 "World Slavery" Tour... 188 dates in 18 countries over ten months.

December 4, 1981: Black Sabbath brought the "Mob Rules" Tour to Philadelphia. "The album is more rockier than we've done before and the show is far more uptempo than it has been before – and a lot more involved." -Tony Iommi

Skid Row released "Oh Say Can You Scream" on home video in 1990 featuring live performances, behind the scenes footage and uncensored videos of "18 And Life", "Youth Gone Wild", "I Remember You", and "Piece Of Me".

Scorpions released their fifth studio album "Taken By Force" in Germany in 1977 (1978 in North America) featuring tracks "He's A Woman - She's A Man" and "The Sails Of Charon" and another controversial cover that was replaced in most countries.

Leaving behind the progressive rock influences of their first two records and fully embracing heavy metal, Manilla Road released their third studio album "Crystal Logic" in 1983.

December 1984: Tank released their fourth studio album "Honour & Blood" in the UK with the band's last remaining original member, Algy Ward. All tracks are primarily about war except for a cover of Aretha Franklin's 1967 hit "Chain Of Fools" 🙃 Release information source: Kerrang! review - January 24, 1985.

Cleveland power metal band Shok Paris released their debut album "Go For The Throat" in 1984 featuring the title track and "Battle Cry".

December 4, 1987: Along with King Diamond and local thrash favorites Destruction, Motörhead brought the "Rock 'N' Roll" Tour to Gartenschau Halle in Schwaebischall, Germany. "Motorhead in Schwaebisch Hall??!! I was in the Army, stationed there at Dolan Barracks. Me and a buddy went. I had been a big Motorhead fan since high school in 1981 when my friend turned me onto No Sleep Till Hammersmith album. We were front row and it was LOUD!!! the LOUDEST show ever, in my life, till this day. My ears rang for about 2 days. I thought i had permanent hearing loss! WAS great. Loud and sweaty. King Diamond on tour for ABIGAIL album. Deutschland knows how to HEADBANG!" -Fan review posted online in 2024.

December 4, 1986: "Reign In Pain" arrived in the nation's capital as Slayer laid a whippin' on the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC with a ferocious set. The capacity crowd had no idea that the band's third studio LP "Reign In Blood" would change the trajectory of modern thrash metal as we know it.

December 4, 1980: With special guests Whitesnake, the "Back In Black" World Tour, AC/DC's first with new singer Brian Johnson, was in Essen, Germany. The band transported their own one-ton "Hells Bell" on the road, which was lowered to the stage each night as the tolls of "Hells Bells" were heard. With hammer in hand, Johnson would finish it off with several hard hits.

This happened in 1988 and again in December 2014, it was falsely reported that Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose had been found dead. The singer later quipped, "If I'm dead, do I have to pay taxes?"

Frank Zappa influenced many guitarists and songwriters (including these two). Note that Steve Harris' shirt features a lyrical reference to one of Zappa's lesser known tracks. Frank Zappa died on December 4, 1993. R.I.P.