Helloween never broke into the States market the way they did around the rest of the world, but they are still considered one of the innovators of the modern Power Metal movement.
Kiss's second album without their makeup put them back in spotlight and they were accepted by the younger fans who were into the new generation of Glam rockers.
Udo Dirkschneider is one of German's greatest musical treasures. He fronted "Accept" for years, and his band "U.D.O" just keeps cranking out a new release almost every year.
For anyone who's ever said "girls can't play Metal" they need their head examined. They obviously have never heard "The Iron Maidens", the world's only all-female Iron Maiden tribute band.
"Man On The Silver Mountain" was the first song on first release from Rainbow, formed by Ritchie Blackmore in 1975 after leaving Deep Purple.
Nuclear Assault is based out of New York City and was formed after Danny Lilker was fired from Anthrax. He hooked up with John Connelly to form a more aggressive band.
Sabaton has been tearing up the Metal charts in Europe for almost a decade now. The Swedish band mostly writes about the history of war, a subject matter perfect for Heavy Metal.
Masterplan started as a side-project for Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow and drummer Uli Kusch, but unfortunately it may have gotten them fired from the band.
I found this very interesting, according to shock rocker Lizzy Borden, Superman director Zack Snyder directed the video for his "Love Is A Crime" song back in 1989.