Archive for the ‘heavy metal’ Category
Catching up with Metal Church’s Craig Wells
I love Metal Church. Well, I love the David Wayne/Mike Howe eras. Seeing them in 89 was an awesome experience. When Mike Howe left the band, only the return of David Wayne could have kept me interested in them. Well, he rejoined the band and they put out Masterpeace which
Craig Wells, some happy kid (me!) and Mike Howe 1989
unfortunately did not have Craig Wells on it. Fortunately though, Craig did play on David Wayne’s solo album which was called Metal Church. It was a good album overall!
Thanks to the internetz, I was able to catch up with Craig and he graciously agreed to answer some questions.
What/who was your main inspiration to pick up a guitar and what was your first guitar?
“When I was about ten my Father bought me a semi hollow body red Sears Silvertone guitar at a pawn shop in Seattle. I asked for it because I listened to records all the time, mostly Beatles songs..I just liked anything really, Smokey Robinson , Temptations, anything on the radio and available on vinyl…”
How did you end up in Metal Church? Did you know those guys beforehand and just decided to put a band together?
“Metal Church coming together is kind of complicated…We were school friends but I had moved away from the home town to Kent, which was not far from Seattle so to get together I had to drive 100 miles to rehearse. I knew everyone from school bands and after being a band then not being a band a few times, eventually it all came together. I saw Dave Wayne’s phone number on the wall in Guitar Center of Seattle, it was an ad he posted claiming he was the best singer in the North West! It said “I can sing Whole Lotta Love and hold the end note longer than any living being”.
Sounded good to me…. I called Dave and soon met up with him and we began writing some music in my families home. We wanted to get a band going but he was in work release from jail so every weekend he had to go back in or violate his parole so everything took a while to get going….soon Dave’s time was over and I convinced him to go with me to a rehearsal with the rest of the future MC members and it became MC soon after that. That was with David, Duke , Kirk , Kurdt and myself…David and I lived in the Kent area and the band was 100 miles away in Aberdeen so rehearsal was minimal in the beginning till the rest of the band came to the Kent area [or closer] and we then rehearsed in my Grandmothers garage, we rehearsed there for about five years, coming and going on tour …”
What are some of your favorite memories of those early days in the northwest metal scene?
“Many memories but we never had a whole lot of a club scene or metal scene, all of us in the band lived and worked far from the city in the early days, I drove delivery, Duke and Kirk worked in a shake mill, Dave was a nurse, and Kurdt still lived a hundred miles away in Aberdeen. We played our first Seattle gig at the Moore Theater it was the Headbangers Ball and not till after we had toured a couple years did anybody in Seattle even really know us…then we had many friends in our home base of Kent, they all lived close and they were the Kent Bangers, they were awesome friends, and of course we had a great time..We were outsiders all growing up in a logging town on the coast of Washington state called Aberdeen and Hoquiam.. so nobody in Seattle knew us.”
What Metal Church album are you most proud of?
“It is very hard to say I am most proud of one album over the other but I can say that the first album period was the most fun time in MC because we were making music as a band effort with us writing stuff that was inspiring to us and we worked together and everybody had input. I guess I pick the first MC album…It was recorded in only a couple weeks of overnight sessions.”
How did you end up on Sir Mix*A*Lot’s song Iron Man? (see video below)
“I ended up on playing Iron Man for Sir Mixalot solely because of Terry Date our joint producer…it was his idea and he asked me to track the guitar so I said sure, pay me with a bag of Dicks Cheese Burgers, and he said yes, so we did it! That`s all…nothing more to it than that, just a great time at the studio.”
What led to your departure from the band?
“The main thing that lead to my departure from MC was a lack of vision and the desire to choose to solder on from everybody…my opinion was if we are going to agree to make a new album then we are going to do it and continue making albums and not stop, We agree to make the band again and it be our livelihood, I can not go back and forth…. no matter what happens we are not turning back and we will expect to tour and live it out. Nobody else wanted to see it that way…they wanted to make a test album and just throw something out and see if it gets some bites and maybe do something later…I realized that I was at a cross road it was either music and touring or stay with my family and the band members were not concrete in choosing the band, so I chose to go my own way…”
Did you join another band after?
“I have never been with any other band…why should I?… I did not need anything beyond that…because MC was my blessing, all we had to do was SHOW UP and we could make music and we rocked…who would want anything else?”
Do you miss touring?
“Sure, I miss touring, who wouldn’t? fortunately now I have a life with my family that I value very dearly so I can just look back and smile at the old days..It was great!”
Losing David Wayne was a pretty devastating blow to the fans and especially to his family and former bandmates. What impact did his sudden death have on you?
“Dave’s passing was very sudden as you said…we had some rocky times, we kicked him out of the band and then years later I became friends with him again and he was back with us all again so all I can say is that I am glad that we became friends again prior to him leaving but I am sad I did not get to say good bye.”
Are you still playing music? What’s going on with Craig Wells these days?
“Yes I still play music at home in my free time purely for enjoyment…I work as a broadcast engineer for FOX and that keeps me busy and my plate is full with my family. Maybe we will jam again sometime and if we don’t, I will always look back on the day with a smile!”
Thanks Craig for taking the time to do this. Metal Church helped provide the soundtrack to my life and I’ll always regard them as one of the best metal bands ever. I’ve asked Mike Howe and Kirk Arrington to do interviews, but to date they have not responded to my requests.
Metal Massacre VII
For many, Metal Massacre VII (MM VII) is considered the holy grail of the series put out by Metal Blade 
between 1982 and 2006. Did anyone really care about any of these after maybe Metal Massacre XI?
This one has some awesome tunes on it. Here’s the quick breakdown.
1. Heretic – Impulse: Pre-Mike Howe Heretic. This one has Mike Torres from the mighty Abattoir! Awesome song all the way around. Heretic was great from beginning to end. For as much as I liked the album with Mike Howe, I loved him in Metal Church.
2. Sentinel Beast – Sentinel Beast: Thrash! I’ve tried and tried to like this band and could never really get into them. The music is fine on this track but her vocals don’t do much for me at all.
3. Flotsam & Jetsam – I Live, You Die: Doomsday for the Deceiver, ’nuff said! This is really an awesome song. and you can actually hear Newstead playing, something that didn’t happen with Metallica. Love this song, love Doomsday. Saw them live a few times in the late 80s and early 90s and they always ruled.
4. Krank – Rented Heat: Wow. This was an awesome song. Absolutely love it. Krank’s debut album was called Hideous. Very fitting. This was the only listenable song on it. This one always reminded me of Accept to a degree. Rented Heat seems to be about a renta-cop. haha. Still awesome .
Krank. Hideous!
5. Mad Man – Backstabber: Mid-paced metal. Nothing really stands out for me on this at all.
6. Detente – Widow’s Walk: RIP Dawn Crosby. Great thrash from a highly underrated band. It’s pretty rare that I like female fronted metal bands, but this was one of them. Dawn was the real deal. Total hard luck woman who literally grew up on the streets and drank herself to death in the end. Detente re-released Recognize No Authority a few years back. Buy it.
7. Commander – High N Mighty: Another track that I love. I think the vocals are what hooked me on this one. The whole album is pretty good. I’ll upload it one of these days.
8. Juggernaut – In The Blood Of Virgins: I love Juggernaut but not this song so much. Features Bobby Jarzombek on drums.
9. Cryptic Slaughter – Reich of Torture: Blech. Awful. Some early forms of blast beats, sloppy as hell.
10. Have Mercy – The Omen: Great thrash! Great vocals! Great great!
11. Titanic – The Awakening: Not a bad song at all. The intro is way too long and the production was pretty crappy. But most songs sent to Metal Blade for this series were demos. I’d like to hear more by these guys. Some good progressive tendencies.
12. Lost Horizon – Troubled Ways: Great NWOBHM influenced song. Reminds me a bit of Tokyo Blade. Another band I’d like to hear a full album from.
More bloggen on Dokken!
On my way back from Louisiana this past weekend I was flipping through my iPod to find some stuff to listen to. I had recently added a ton of 
albums to it and had gone though most of the new additions on my way there (7.5 hours). As I was scrolling through I saw the Dokken. Woot! Haven’t listened to them in a while.
I first spun Under Lock and Key then Back for the Attack.
If you’ve been paying attention, you know how much I love Tooth and Nail. The album is perfect in my eyes/ears. But I was truly blown away by these 2 albums. Even though the songs got a little more radio friendly, Lynch’s playing on them was over the top in the best of ways. George had a reputation in L.A. long before Dokken became a household name. In talking to people from that early 80s Hollywood scene, they’ve all said the same thing…George was better than everyone around there.
Listening to his solos on these 2 albums I really can hear it. It’s not too often that I get over excited about music these days, but hearing this stuff, remembering the hits (some of which we attempted to play in bands back then) and listening to the deeper cuts that I had long forgotten, I really felt that Dokken probably should have been a lot bigger, if anything based on George’s guitar work alone. He did get a lot of press in the metal and guitar mags back then and deservedly so.
It was too bad they broke up in 1988. I think they could have squeezed out one more decent album. By the time Dysfunctional came out in 1995, who cared? I certainly didn’t. What I remember hearing from it sounded very “90s”. Pass. 
I got to see George a few months ago in Austin with his solo band. Dude can still hang.
If you’ve ever liked Dokken and haven’t listened to them in a while, I highly recommend popping in these 2 albums again. You won’t be disappointed.
Meeting Queensryche 1989
So there we were, some former friends from high school I heading to Tracks at Ward’s Corner in Norfolk, VA to do the free meet and greet with Queensryche. It was a nice warm afternoon in March. Kirshon brought something to get signed but I don’t remember what exactly. One of my friends brought his copy of their first EP and I had nothing. I couldn’t find my Warning cassette so when we were getting out of Kirshon’s truck, I just grabbed a piece of notebook paper.
It was a remarkably small crowd if memory serves me correctly and the line moved quickly. I snapped a few photos and had them sign my sheet of paper, of which each one of them joked on. When they got to my friend’s EP, Tate said, “Where have you been keeping this, in your back pocket?” He laughed and replied with, “Pretty much.” They were all really nice guys and some of the nicest I’ve met in situations like this. They were having fun with the people there and were constantly talking trash to each other.
Queensryche was touring with Metallica on their …And Justice For All/Operation Mindcrime tours, respectively. By this time I was already done with Metallica. I thought AJFA was a shitty album (still do!) and didn’t even really care for Mindcrime (still don’t!), but I figured I’d get to hear enough stuff from the previous 2 albums and the EP to satisfy me. They did several from Mindcrime but it was fine. They kicked ass and made Metallica look like amateurs. Even Metallica’s older songs sounded like they came from AJFA. Blech!
My girlfriend’s little brother Ryan came with us to the show and I think he may have been 14 at the time. He loved Queensryche so we took him. We were all 4 on the barricade for Queensryche but during Metallica we moved back towards the sound board area and a big mosh pit broke out in front of us. Ryan got sucked in and I could see the look of fear in his eyes so I ran into the pit and extracted him as quickly as I could. To this day he still says, “thanks for saving my life that night!” hahaha
Enjoy the photos.
DeGarmo and Rockenfield (click to enlarge)
Queensryche (click to enlarge)
Queensryche autographs...on notebook paper! (click to enlarge)
Headbangers – The Worldwide MegaBook of Heavy Metal Bands
Back in 1995/1996 I was still married to my now ex-wife. She was a voracious reader and during our brief marriage it inspired me to do some reading. Most of the time it was band/musician biographies. Sometimes it was just catching up on John Saul books (all of which suck anymore). One day I went to the library and was just thumbing through the reference books and came across “Headbangers – The Worldwide MegaBook of Heavy Metal Bands” by Mark Hale. I cracked it open and just started freaking out. This book had just about everyone in it that was a metal band. It spans from the late 60s to about 1990 and does a wonderful job of cross-referencing bands, listing albums and catalog numbers. There’s an index in the back of musicians, band names, countries of origin and record labels with catalog 
numbers. It’s a pretty extensive hardcover book.
Hale gives descriptions of the bands and does his best not to inject bias. It’s 540+ pages of heavy metal goodness.
My ex and I split up in late 1996 and by early 1997 I had started my own CD sales business. I was mostly doing it by word of mouth between friends, eBay and had started an online music store, Acacia Music (defunct). I checked the book out from the library several times and finally called the publisher to see if they still had any copies. Luckily they did. Having a business license and tax ID number, they sold me a copy for $75. One of the best investments that I have ever made.
The book has 2 editions. The first edition had a run of 750 copies and the second run had 250 copies. That’s it!
Somewhere along the line I decided to get it signed by bands that were in it. If I remember correctly the first signatures were by Warrell Dane/Jim Shepherd (Sanctuary) and Jon Schaffer (Purgatory 60 aka Iced Earth) when Nevermore and Iced Earth were touring together in 1999.
Over the years I’ve met a lot of bands who are in it and some of the encounters were pretty random. On my Facebook page, I’ve written about how I obtained each of the sigs. Many of them had some good stories attached to them. Typically I get the same reaction, “What the hell is this and where the hell did you get it?”
If you’re a fan of metal, especially the pre-1990 stuff, this book is a must have. They typically don’t come cheaply but you can generally find some on Amazon.com. Most of the copies I’ve found are ex-library copies.
Here’s the current list of signatures (updated 7/30/2025):
| AC/DC | – | Simon Wright |
| Accept | – | Udo, Peter Baltes, Wolf Hoffman, Herman Frank |
| Ace Frehley | – | Anton Fig |
| Aerosmith | – | Joey Kramer, Brad Whitford |
| Aftermath | – | Charlie Tsisolis, Steve Sacco, John Lovette, Ray Schmidt, Eric ? (not in the book) |
| Agony Column | – | Stuart Laurence, Richie Turner |
| Alcatrazz | – | Graham Bonnet, Gary Shea, Jimmy Waldo |
| Alice Cooper | – | Alice Cooper |
| Amulance | – | Rick Baez, Bob Luman, Chuck Hamilton (not in the book) |
| Anthrax | – | Dan Spitz, Scott Ian, Joey Belladonna, Charlie Benante, Frank Bello |
| Armored Saint | – | Joey Vera, John Bush, Phil Sondoval, Gonzo Sandoval |
| Assalant | – | Mike Botello |
| At War | – | Paul Arnold, Shawn Helsel |
| Attacker | – | Mike Sabatini, Pat Marinello |
| Autograph | – | Steve Lynch, Randy Rand |
| Banshee | – | Terry Dunn |
| Baron Steele | – | Joe Szabo, Al Ortiz |
| Battlezone | – | Paul Di’Anno |
| Bitch | – | Betsy |
| Black N Blue | – | Pete Holmes, Jaime St James, Patrick Young |
| Black Roses | – | Chuck Wright |
| Black Sabbath | – | Glenn Hughes |
| Bloodcum | – | John Araya |
| Bloodlust | – | Sandy K |
| Britny Fox | – | Johnny Dee |
| Bullet | – | Fitty |
| Bullet Boys | – | Marq Torien, Jimmy D’Anda, Mick Sweda |
| Celtic Frost | – | Tom G Warrior |
| Chastain | – | Leather Leone, David T. Chastain, Mike Skimmerhorn, Ken Mary, David Harbour |
| Cheap Trick | – | Tom Petersson, Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen |
| Cinderella | – | Tom Keifer |
| Cirith Ungol | – | Tim Baker, Robert Garven, Mike Flint, Greg Lindstrom, Jim Barraza (not in the book but verified inclusion based on other resources) |
| CJSS | – | Les Sharpe, Russell Jenkins |
| Damien Thorne | – | Ken Starr, Rick Browz (not in book but played on original demos) |
| Dangerous Toys | – | Scott Dalhover, Meark Geary, Mike Watson |
| Dark Angel | – | Gene Hoglan |
| Death Tripper | – | Jerry Blanco |
| Deceased | – | King Fowley |
| Deliverance | – | Glenn Rogers |
| Destruction | – | Schmier, Mike |
| Détente | – | Steve Hochheiser |
| Devastation | – | Rodney Dunsmore, Alex Dominguez, Louie Carrisalez |
| Diamond Head | – | Brian Tatler |
| Diamond Rexx | – | S.St. Lust, Andre |
| The Dictators | – | Handsome Dick Manitoba |
| DIO | – | Rowan Robertson, Craig Goldy, Vinny Appice |
| Dirty Looks | – | Paul Lidel |
| Dokken | – | Jeff Pilson, George Lynch |
| DRI | – | Felix Griffin, Josh Pappe (RIP) |
| English Dogs | – | Graham Butt (one of the funniest inscriptions ever…you had to be there)(signed while playing with Sabbat) |
| Enuff Z’Nuff | – | Chip Znuff, 3 non-original members; none of them in the book; signed in the back |
| Escape (Stratus) | – | Bernie Shaw |
| Exciter | – | Dan Beehler, Allan Johnson |
| Exodus | – | Gary Holt, Tom Hunting |
| Faster Pussycat | – | Taime Down, Brent Muscat, 2 non-original members |
| Fates Warning | – | Frank Aresti, John Arch, Jim Matheos, Victor Arduini, Steve Zimmerman, Joe DiBiase |
| Ferrari | – | Oni Logan |
| Flotsam and Jetsam | – | Eric AK, Kelly David Smith, Ed Carlson, Michael Gilbert |
| Forbidden | – | Tim Calvert, Paul Bostaph |
| Forte’ | – | Rev Jones (band not in the book) |
| Gammacide | – | Scott Shelby |
| Girlschool | – | Kim McAuliffe |
| Glacier | – | Mike Podrybau |
| Great White | – | Jack Russell |
| Grim Reaper | – | Steve Grimmett |
| Joe Hasselvander | – | Joe Hasselvander |
| Hawkwind | – | Nik Turner |
| Hellion | – | Ann Boleyn |
| Helstar | – | James Rivera, Larry Barragan |
| Hirax | – | Katon W. DePena |
| Hurricane | – | Kelley Hansen |
| Impaler | – | Bill Lindsey, Commander Court |
| Iron Maiden | – | Nicko McBrain |
| Jag Panzer | – | Chris Cronk (also listed with Fates Warning), Harry Conklin, Joey Tafolla, Rikard Stjernquist, Mark Briody, John Tetley |
| Jaguar | – | Garry Peppard |
| Jet Red | – | Brad Rang |
| Juggernaut | – | Harlan Glenn, Eddie Katilus, Scott Womack |
| Keel | – | Scott Warren |
| Killer Dwarfs | – | Russ Dwarf, Bryce Dwarf |
| King Diamond | – | Mikkey Dee, Pete Blakk |
| Kingdom Come | – | James Kottak |
| Kreator | – | Ventor |
| Krokus | – | Marc Storace, Chris Von Rohr, Mandy Meier |
| LA Guns | – | Philip Lewis, Tracii Guns, Steve Riley |
| Lethal | – | Tom Mallicoat, Glen Cook, Dell Hull, Jerry Hartman (not in book but played on Programmed) |
| Liege Lord | – | Joe Comeau, Tony Truglio, Matt Vinci |
| Lillian Axe | – | Steve Blaze |
| Lion | – | Doug Aldrich |
| Lizzy Borden | – | Alex Nelson (RIP), Lizzy Borden, Joey Scott Harges |
| Loudness | – | Minoru Niihara, Akira Takasaki, Masayoshi Yamashita, Masayuki Suzuki (not in the book) |
| Lydia Von Huston | – | Jennifer Batten |
| Manowar | – | Ross the Boss |
| Manilla Road | – | Mark Shelton |
| Medieval Steel | – | John Roth, Bobby Franklin, Jeff Boydston |
| Megadeth | – | Dave Mustaine, David Ellefson |
| Metal Blade Records | – | Brian Slagel |
| Metal Church | – | Craig Wels |
| Mindless Sinner | – | Christer Göransson, Magnus Danneblad, Jerker Edman, Christer Carlson, Tommy Viktorsson (Formerly Johansson) |
| Militia | – | Mike Soliz, Rob Willingham, Phil Achee, Tony Smith, Jesse Villegas, Phil Patterson |
| Vinnie Moore | – | Vinnie Moore |
| Motorhead | – | Lemmy Kilmister (RIP) |
| MSG | – | Michael Schenker |
| Mythra | – | Vince High, John Roach, Alex Perry |
| Mystic Force | – | Keith Menser |
| Necrophagia | – | Killjoy (RIP) |
| Nuclear Assault | – | Dan Lilker, John Connelly, Glenn Evans |
| Obituary | – | James Murphy |
| The Obsessed | – | Wino |
| Odin | – | Shawn, Jeff and Matt Duncan, Randy O., Aaron Samson |
| Omen | – | Kenny Powell, Steve Wittig |
| Ostrogoth | – | Mario “Grizzly” Pauvels |
| Overkill | – | Bobby Ellsworth, D.D. Verni |
| Ozzy | – | Tommy Aldridge |
| Pentagram | – | Bobby Liebling, Victor Griffin |
| Picture | – | Laurens Bakker, Rinus Vreugdenhil |
| Plasmatics | – | TC Tolliver |
| Pretty Boy Floyd | – | Steve Summers, 2 non-original members |
| Purgatory 60 (Iced Earth) | – | John Schafer |
| Q5 | – | Evan Sheeley, Rick Pierce, Jonathan Kay |
| Queensyche | – | Geoff Tate |
| Quiet Riot | – | Rudy Sarzo, Sean McNabb, Frankie Banali (RIP) |
| Racer X | – | Juan Alderete (as “Jeff” in the book) |
| Rage | – | Peavey Wagner, Manni Schmidt, Chris Efthimiadis |
| Rainbow | – | Joe Lynn Turner |
| Randy California | – | Mark Andes (while playing with Firefall) |
| Rapid Tears | – | Brian Frank |
| Ratt | – | Stephen Pearcy |
| Raven | – | John Gallagher, Mark Gallagher |
| Rigor Mortis | – | Bruce Corbtt (RIP), Casey Orr, Harden Harrison |
| Riot | – | Don Van Stavern, Bobby Jarzombek, Rick Ventura |
| Rising Force | – | Yngwie Malmsteen, Anders Johansson, Jeff Scott Soto |
| Rods | – | Carl Canedy, David Feinstein, Gary Bordonaro |
| Ulrich Roth | – | Uli Jon Roth |
| Rotting Corpse | – | John Perez, Mando Tovar, Steve Murphy |
| Rough Cutt | – | Matt Thorne, Chris Hager |
| Running Wild | – | Stefan Schwartzmann |
| Ruthless | – | Sami DeJohn |
| S.A. Slayer | – | Bob Catlin, Art Villareal |
| Sabbat | – | Martin Walkyier, Andy Sneap, Simon Negus, Simon Jones |
| Sacred Rite | – | Peter Crane, Jimmy Caterine, Mark Kaleiwahea |
| Sadus | – | Steve DiGiorgio |
| Saint Vitus | – | Mark Adams, David Chandler, Scott Reagers |
| Salty Dog | – | Michael Hannon |
| Sanctuary | – | Warrel Dane (RIP), Jim Sheppard |
| Satan | – | Brian Ross, Russ Tippins, Graeme English, Steve Ramsey, Sean Taylor |
| Satan’s Host | – | Patrick Evil (not in book but confirmed original) |
| Saxon | – | Biff Byford, Nibbs Carter, Nigel Glockler |
| Scorpions | – | Francis Buchholz, Herman Rarebell |
| Screamer | – | Jim Dofka |
| Sentinel Beast | – | Michael Spencer |
| Sepultura | – | Paolo, Jr, Andreas Kisser |
| Skid Row | – | Sebastian Bach |
| Slauter Xstroyes | – | Paul Krathy |
| Slayer | – | Dave Lombardo |
| SOD | – | Billy Milano |
| Steel Prophet | – | Steve Kachinsky |
| Stryper | – | Michael Sweet, Robert Sweet, Oz Fox, Tim Gaines |
| Syrus | – | Al Berlanga, Michael Vasquez, John Castilleja, Julio Paz |
| Takashi | – | Danny Stanton |
| Ted Nugent | – | Derek St. Holmes |
| Tesla | – | Troy Lucketta, Tommy Skeoch, Brian Wheat, Frank Hannon, Jeff Keith |
| Testament | – | Chuck Billy, Alex Skolnick, Greg Christian, Eric Peterson |
| The Rods | – | Carl Canedy, David Feinstein, Garry Bordonaro |
| Thin Lizzy | – | John Sykes, Scott Gorham |
| Thrust | – | Ron Cooke |
| Triumph | – | Rik Emmett |
| Trouble | – | Ron Holtzman, Eric Wagner, Jeff “Oly” Olson |
| T.T. Quick | – | Mark Tornillo |
| Turbin | – | Doug Morrison, Neil Turbin |
| Twisted Sister | – | AJ Pero (RIP) |
| Tygers of Pan Tang | – | Robb Weir |
| Tyrant | – | Greg May |
| Tyrant’s Reign | – | Phil Fouch, Ken Miller |
| Uriah Heep | – | Mick Box |
| UFO | – | Paul Chapman (RIP), Phil Mogg, Paul Raymond (RIP), Andy Parker |
| Vatican | – | Vince Vatican, Vic Grabouski, Brian McNasty |
| Venom | – | Mantas, Abaddon, Demolition Man |
| Vendetta (Chicago) | – | Klyph Black |
| Vinnie Moore | – | Vinnie Moore |
| Voi Vod | – | Away, Snake, Blacky |
| War Cry | – | Rich Rozek, Phil Fouch, Karl Miller (neither in the book) |
| Warlock (Ger) | – | Doro Pesch |
| Warlock (TX) | – | Rick Perry |
| Watchtower | – | Jason McMaster, Ron Jarzombek, Billy White, Rick Colaluca, Doug Keyser |
| Wendy O. Williams | – | Greg Smith |
| Whitesnake | – | David Coverdale |
| White Lion | – | Greg D’Angelo |
| Wicked Angel | – | Joseph Valdez (book only lists the singer, validated here) |
| Winger | – | Kip Winger, Reb Beach, Rod Morgenstein |
| Wishbone Ash | – | Andy Powell |
| Wolfsbane | – | Blaze Bayley |
| Wyzard | – | John Alvarado, Buster Grant (as Gilbert Grant Guzman in the book) |
| Y&T | – | Dave Meniketti |
The Metal Files 
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