Railway

Originating from Munich, Germany, Railway secured only limited recognition in the mid-'80s, when fellow countrymen the Scorpions and, to a smaller extent, Accept elevated Teutonic heavy metal within the wider genre. Formed as early as 1977, the group remained largely unknown for years before issuing their first domestic single in 1981 and then their self-titled debut album on Roadrunner Records in 1984. Railway II appeared the following year and, together with both the preceding record and the next, 1987's Climax, presented vocalist Walter Wicha alongside guitarists Robert Haslinger and Hermann Janowitz, bassist Werner Thaller, and drummer Hasi Haslinger executing capable yet unremarkable heavy rock that echoed other German acts such as Warlock, Grave Digger, or Sinner. Railway never attracted substantial notice beyond continental Europe, yet they persisted with occasional tours and releases into the 1990s, among them the 1990 EP Backstage All Areas, the 1991 LP To Be Continued, 1993's Welcome Tonight, and 1995's Persecution Mania, even as their profile had largely receded.