By the early 80s, a sea change began unfolding in mainstream music, with the radio-friendly New Wave acts finding themselves in competition for airplay with the emergent siege of metal bands from both sides of the Atlantic.
By 1983, the metal revolution was well underway and, powered by heatseeking new releases from the likes of Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Dio and Ozzy Osbourne, it showed little sign of abating. The deciding battle, both literal and figurative, would occur at the 1983 US festival.
