760. Sweet Savage / Killing Time. 1996. 4/5

Back in the 1980's I had a man-crush on Vivian Campbell. I loved his guitaring and song writing in Dio, and was crushed when he left that group before I could see them live in 1986. I followed his other bands leading up to his incarceration with Def Leppard. I had also heard that he had been in a band called Sweet Savage before he joined Dio, and tried to find any material I could of theirs. I was basically unsuccessful, with the only song I could find being one called "Eye of the Storm" which was on the Lars Ulrich-inspired NWoBHM '79 Revisited release. It has only been in later years, with the appearance of the internet and better research abilities that I have tracked down the few early Sweet Savage recordings by their original line-up, including Campbell, leader and bass guitarist/vocalist Ray Haller, guitarist Trev Fleming and drummer David Bates. They are all brilliant, and despite Vivian's defection to Dio you can't help but wonder how Sweet Savage did not manage to break through into mainstream metal ranks as well.

Fast forward to 1996, and Metallica has brought Sweet Savage back into the public eye by recording a cover version of "Killing Time" for their The Unforgiven / Killing Time single. Suddenly there are others like me searching out material that, for the most part, does not exist. So they put the band back together again, with the exception of the Leppard-ed Vivian Campbell, who was replaced by Simon McBride, and recorded this album, which became their debut album some 17 years after they first started playing together.
The material for the album consisted of songs from the very beginning of the band, re-recorded with the current lineup, as well as songs from their time that were reworked or completed renovated in the recording process. And you can easily split it up into three divisions or categories, just on listening alone.

Firstly, there are the songs that have been written by the current lineup for this release. "Welcome to the Real World", "Thunder", "Parody of Wisdom" and "Why" are those four songs, and whether it is the fact that they were written at this time for this album, or they had been previous ideas that were redone for this album, there is a noticeable difference between these songs and the others on the album. The second grouping are songs that were originally written in the period following Campbell's departure from the band, and Ian Wilson's arrival as his replacement. "D.U.D." and "Reach Out" are those two songs, and both have a faster pace than those first four songs mentioned, with a catchy snatch of lyrics and a punchy riff. Thirdly, there are the songs that came from the original line-up, and were the ones that caught the imagination of punters when they first came on the scene. Those songs, "Killing Time", "Vengeance", "Eye of the Storm", "Prospector of Greed", "The Raid" and "Ground Zero", are the groundbreakers here, the eye catching, ear-pricking, fast paced, head banging, guitar driven songs that are the source of Sweet Savage's power. The difference between the songs in this section and the first section is like chalk and cheese. Those first songs are fine, but of a slower pace generally, written with another guitarist in a different era, and that is truly noticeable. The speed of the songs, and the flying fingers in the solos, are the dead giveaways in the songs from that final section. While the original versions with Vivian playing are superior simply because of his guitar playing (compare the original versions of "Eye of the Storm" and "Killing Time" with the two on this album, and you will know exactly what I mean), these versions still shine through in an era where song writing is still an art form many cannot reproduce.

What a shame this album didn't eventuate in 1982 instead of 1996. Who knows what could have happened if it had. Perhaps Sweet Savage would still have gone the way of other NWoBHM bands, getting that initial release out but still fading into obscurity. This album is still terrific despite the time that had disappeared in between their emergence and their reappearance, and finally allowed fans of several generations to appreciate the music that they would otherwise have never had the ability to do so.

Rating:  The sound of gunfire echoes through the night.  4/5

Full album on YouTube