779. Ratt / Reach for the Sky. 1988. 3/5

On the back of two stellar albums to start their recording career, both based in the growing glam/hair metal market that was coming out of the west coast of the USA, Ratt had captured the imagination of the music listening public, through great albums, catchy singles and watchable music videos that gained traction on MTV and other music programs. Following on from this had come the band’s third album, 1986’s “Dancing Undercover”, an album that had produced a heavier sound overall and an almost complete lack of the ballad-type songs that many bands of their era formulated in order to gain commercial success. It was an unexpected move but one that was met by a solid reaction from the fans. On the other hand, the critics were less enamoured and felt that Ratt had moved away from the sound that had made them such a terrific band. Thus, moving into the preparation phase for their fourth studio album, this is something that could well have proven a catalyst for what was to come on “Reach for the Sky”. It's a long way to fall when you start off your music career with a bang, and release not just an album that makes people stand up and notice, but follow it up with another one. The challenge is always to maintain that level of excellence, and continue to find a way to keep the fans interest in wat you are producing, while also retaining your own ideas of what that creative output should sound like. Not an easy thing to do. In fact, sometimes what you come up with sounds just a little bit routine, lacking in the hooks or inspiration that have come before, and leaves the fans feeling a little bit blasé about it all. And with the increasing interest in bands of this genre in the back half of the 1980’s decade, pulling the right rein would also have been a difficult task. In many people’s ears, this is the challenge that “Reach for the Sky” faced, and its success in this regard has a mixed opinion.

This is Ratt's fourth album, and while the band was one of the frontrunners of the glam metal explosion during the early to mid-1980's, much of this feels tired and lacking in what made their early releases so great. Where has the energy and motivation gone? There's a real sameness about the material here, and not in a good way. On previous albums the songs may well have retained a similar tempo all the way through, but there was still a furiousness about them, fired by the guitars and their solos or the harder hitting drums or simply the vocals taking centre stage and finding that intensity that made you listen and love them. Here on “Reach for the Sky” a lot of that seems to have washed away, leaving just that interior core of the same drum beat through each song, the guitar riffs that can seem to just drift from song to song, and Pearcy's vocals that try to exude some toughness but eventually move very little from the same register throughout most of the album.
Take the two singles that came from this album. "Way Cool Jr." was the first released, and garnered heavy airplay (in the places that played this kind of music) and was well received generally. For me though it was always just irritating, one of the songs that seems formula written for the commercial market, and given its head to do just that. It was an obvious single I guess, and for me at the time I was rebelling against that kind of track from any artist. But even now it just doesn’t grab me. The second single was "I Want a Woman", which apart from a heavier feel and some good guitars from both Warren de Martini and Robbin Crosby, again seems purpose written for a single release. It feels as though they just put a few clichés together in both lyrics and music and thought 'number one single!' Which wasn’t quite the outcome, but it still did reasonably well in the US.
Beyond these two songs though there is a bit more attitude and desire to create a heavier song selection. The opening track “City to City” is a solid hard rock song, “Chain Reaction” comes out of the blocks hard and fast and brings a great attitude to the second half of the album, while “No Surprise” and “Bite the Hand That Feeds” both have great vocals from Stephen Pearcy as well as excellent guitar lead breaks pieced into the song. “Bottom Line” draws from that early Ratt era in style and substance, and this bleeds into both “What’s it Gonna Be” and “What I’m After”, making the second half of the album a better balanced series of tracks than perhaps the first half offers.
The mix of styles – between a commercial bent of the two singles and then the rest of the album – is perhaps what does pull the album between a fan’s love and a critical assessment of its qualities. This album doesn't work at all in that kind of way that perhaps some wanted it to. It feels more like that it is caught in a trap, a conveyor belt of songs where the similarities far outweigh any individuality in the music. In many ways there is an unfair comparison of this album to others of the era. Bon Jovi's “New Jersey”, L.A. Guns' eponymously titled debut album, Poison's “Open Up and Say... Ahh!”. All of them saw terrific commercial success, where this didn’t gain that same attention.
This ignores the great aspects of the band and its individuals on this album. Stephen Pearcy on vocals is still terrific, Bobby Blotzer on drums and Juan Croucier on bass continue to provide a wonderful rhythm section throughout, and Robbin Crosby and especially Warren de Martini on guitars are still the highlights. The quality of the musicians is not in question here, just perhaps the writing.

When I first got around to reviewing this album for my blog – which still exists for anyone who is interested in reading it – I gave this album a fair panning. I was quite critical of its content, something that offended one of my oldest friends who felt that my criticism was unfair, though considering he loved the album that was probably always going to be the case. That reaction was actually uppermost in my mind when it came to this album’s anniversary popping up again, and requiring me to revisit this album, probably for the first time since I had written that scathing review a decade or so ago.
On this occasion, I made sure that I gave this album a thorough chance to prove itself, and allow it the chance to find its redemption. That previous review had been some time after I had first gotten this album, around about the time of its release. And it is fair to say that the differentiation between this album and those first two brilliant albums should have AGREED with me rather than pushed me away, as this is realistically a heavier album than those first two albums and should have gelled with what I was listening to at the time.
In retrospect, and having listened to this album a lot over the last few weeks again, my belief is that I was always listening to “Reach for the Sky” and wanting it to be a copy of both “Out of the Cellar” and “Invasion of your Privacy”, and that was what was stopping me from getting the most from this album. I never considered it to be a terrible album, but I also gave it short shrift most of the time. The past couple of weeks have had me enjoying the album for what it is, which to me is a reasonable collection of songs that makes a reasonable album. It is interesting that this ended up being a speed hump for the band, with the tour to promote the album stalling after a short period. It was perhaps a wake up call to the band that they couldn't release an album such as this and just expect their fans to embrace it without question. And as a fan I was as guilty of that as anyone else. To me, it still stands in limbo from a true glam metal album to a real modern metal album, much like they did with the quite amazing “Infestation” album a lot further down the track. But that is certainly a story for another day.

778. W.A.S.P. / W.A.S.P. 1984. 5/5

The story of the formation of W.A.S.P. is a long and winding one that mirrors many bands of the era. The four members who came to form the first recording formation of the band and this debut eponymous album had weaved around in different bands for years before finally coming together to create this original foursome that recorded the album. Drummer Tony Richards had played in various bands through the 1970’s, and eventually found his way onto the drumstool of a band called Dante Fox. For two years alongside bass guitarist Don Costa, Mark Kendall and Jack Russell, Dante Fox played all of the big clubs in the Hollywood and LA scene. In 1982, Richards left the band, and along with Costa joined another fledgling band being put together called W.A.S.P., while Dante Fox with Kendall and Russell would eventually morph into the more widely known Great White.
Guitarist Chris Holmes had played with Los Angeles bands Buster Savage, LAX, and Slave, and even had a short stint in a band called Sister. It was his connection with this band that eventually saw him come to hear about a new band called W.A.S.P. and be invited to join. Randy Piper was also a guitarist, and he also played for a time in the band Sister, where he became one of the revolving in and out players of the band. A couple of years later, he got a call from former Sister bandmate, Blackie Lawless, who said he was putting together a new band called Circus Circus, and asked him to join him on guitar. It proved to be another short lived project, leaving Piper out in the cold once again. But he too then came to hear about a band called W.A.S.P. which would be a turning point once again.
And so we come to Steven Duren, better known to all as Blackie Lawless. He too played in a dozen bands through the 1970’s and into the new decade. Black Rabbit. Orfax Rainbow. New York Dolls. Killer Kane. Just some of those short term gigs he took on. Then came the band Sister, that not had Nikki Sixx in its ranks but Randy Piper, and a connection was made. Then a guitarist named Chris Holmes appeared for a short time before leaving due to differences in opinion. Sister didn't last, and Blackie formed a new band called Circus Circus, and called upon Randy Piper again to be a part of the group. Again, as with most of the bands mentioned so far in this episode, the band fell apart. Blackie then was a part of the band London, formed by Nikki Sixx after the demise of Sister, but who had now moved on to form Motley Crue. Blackie played bass in London, but soon moved on once again.
Now – FINALLY some of you may be thinking – came the formation of the band that was to be called W.A.S.P. Blackie had himself and his frequent bandmate Randy Piper as guitarists. He then recruited Tony Richards on drums and Rik Fox on bass. Fix however didn’t last too long, and so Richards suggested his former bandmate in Dante Fox, Don Costa for the role. Costa joined but was soon also out the door. It was then than Blackie remembered another former bandmate and made a phone call to Chris Holmes. In interviews since, Holmes has said that he refused at first, because he didn’t want to be in a glam rock band like they had played together in with Sister. Blackie assured him it would not be that kind of band, and that he would be able to dress and play exactly how he wanted. Holmes eventually agreed to join, and to accommodate him, Blackie again went back to play bass guitar as well as sing lead vocals. Thus was created the first true line up of the band W.A.S.P., and it was time for the legend to be born with the self-titled eponymous debut album, “W.A.S.P.”

Debut albums can sometimes be difficult, especially when it comes to ‘discussions’ between the band and the record company. Initially the band wanted to have the album named “Winged Assassins”, something that some fans still refer to it as today and was printed on the spine of original release vinyl albums in Europe. Beyond this, the real controversy prior to the album coming out was the song “Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)”. This song was due to appear on the album as the lead off track, and as the first single from the album. However, there were a lot of problems getting that off the ground. Under enormous pressure from groups such as the infamous PMRC, and the threat that the album would not be made available for sale in the big US department store, which was a huge thing in those days, Capitol Records withdrew the song from the album and refused to release it as a single. It did get a release in the UK through Music for Nations, and, surprisingly enough, was hugely sought after as an import in the US. Eventually in 1998 when the back catalogue was remastered, “Animal” was returned to the album as the opening track. However, for us traditionalists, in our minds it does not appear on the debut album.
Instead, the album opens with the excellent “I Wanna Be Somebody”, crashing out of the speakers with drums and guitar and Blackie’s vocals in your face from the start. It is a terrifically raucous opening song, no preamble, just straight into the album and showcasing the great elements of the band from the outset. This is followed by the song that surely gained further popularity through its music video when it was released, “L.O.V.E Machine”. What immediately sets it and this album apart is Blackie sticking with his hard-core vocals, but wonderful swatches of him singing over just the bass and drums which creates a different atmosphere from the swashbuckling opening song. On top of that is Chris Holmes terrific guitar solo, but the singalong lyrics also make this song a beauty.
Into the hum of the album, and the next three songs lay the solid foundations that the rest of the album can build on. "The Flame" speaks of living life to the full, "B.A.D." Deals with Blackie’s parent issues and "School Daze" reveals the teen’s torture of those days in the concrete jungle of youth. Musically they are all enjoyable, they all still enjoy the same flow on from the opening tracks while creating the musical structure and melding into the style that the album is generating.
The next trio of songs, right in the heart of the album, are the ones that hold the key to the success of the album and confirm the successful elements of why this band found the success that came beyond this, and the multitude of bands these four had been in prior to this did not.
"Hellion" is just a sensational song, so full of energy and passion, it explodes through any lag time you may have begun to feel, and sweeps you back into the energy and passion of the album. Again it is the drums and guitar intro that drags you in, Blackie’s vocal scream, and bang, straight into the song once again. Awesome singalong lyrics again, anthemic in style, and an absolute classic. Will never have to die.
This is followed by the biggest surprise on the album, the still magnificent "Sleeping (in the Fire)". Here is a song that shouldn't work. It's basically a power ballad, moving somewhat slightly left of centre of the rest of the album... and yet... it just works brilliantly. It soars along with Blackie's great emoting vocals and Chris's electrifying guitar solo. If it hadn't been done well it could have been a laughing stock, something that sucked away the excellence of the album to this point. But as it turns out, it only enhances it, and not only showcases the ability of this band to diversify but to stay true to their core music direction at the same time. One of the great W.A.S.P. songs. Then comes the fired up "On Your Knees", another of those great high energy songs that blazes through the speakers, enticing you to sing along as it drives along. Repetitive? Perhaps. But the music overturns that.
"Tormentor" and "The Torture Never Stops" are both solid tracks that tend to express Blackie’s frustrations lyrically with parts of his life, and are good songs without reaching the quality of those that have preceded them, and close out the album in style.

The success of this album is driven by many factors. The brilliant sing-along choruses for a start, they are terrifically written in order to bring the fans into the songs. The excellent driving drumwork from Tony Richards, which I think is completely underrated - it doesn't just complement the songs here, it actually enhances them and helps to bring them to life. The magnificent twin guitar attack of Chris Holmes and Randy Piper, playing off each other and creating a ripping guitar album. And of course Blackie Lawless, whose crazy energetic vocal performance tops off all of these factors to bring home a scintillating first release.
W.A.S.P. was a band I quickly became infatuated with when I first discovered them, and this album had a lot to do with that. I was a bit of a late comer to the band given my delayed entry into the world of heavy metal music. In mid-1986, that wonderful weekend of the Channel 10 late night music video show called... “Music Video” where they dedicated the weekend to just metal videos - an unheard of event - saw me watch and record the majority of those two nights, I came to discover a lot of bands that it may have taken me years to find out about. On those nights I got my first look and listen to songs such as "I Wanna Be Somebody" and "L.O.V.E. Machine", and something clicked in me, and I knew I needed to seek out this band and their music. The big hair, the razorblades, all four just looking like they were having the time of their lives. I loved both of those songs and the videos.
I still remember the day I first got this on vinyl, at one of my favourite second hand record haunts, the oft-named Illawarra Books and Records in Wollongong. In fact, on that day I picked up all of the band’s first three albums along with the “Live... In the Raw” album. It was an exciting day. I remember getting home and putting it on my parents' stereo for the first time, the crackling of needle on vinyl, before those drums came hammering out of the speakers at 200 decibels, launching into "I Wanna Be Somebody" for the first time. Time to get that Blackie Lawless head wobble on while playing air-bass! Then it faded in to more drums starting us off into "L.O.V.E. Machine", along with another great chorus to sing along to. Two terrific songs to start the album off on the right note. I was hooked. To all four albums. My W.A.S.P. obsession began for real on that day, one that remains to this day.
For this podcast, I have had this album in my rotation for a month. Over and over. Not so loud at work, very loud at home. I have table drummed, air guitared, and sung all of this album all the way through. It still sounds amazing after all these years. Fine, some of the lyrics are questionable, but the passion and attitude of the music in particular cannot be questioned. It transcended the era it was made, because while the band was more or less cast in with the glam metal genre, mostly because of where they had come from, W.A.S.P. is a true heavy metal band, and proved why as many other bands fell by the wayside over the years as they continue to fight their way through the obstacles.
For their first five albums, up until the first 'break-up" of the band, W.A.S.P. was one of my all time favourite bands. Their sound and songs dominated the end of my teenage years and into my twenties, and this album still resonates with me 40 years after its release.

777. Slayer / Reign in Blood. 1986. 5/5

Given the prestige in which this album is held, it becomes a difficult thing to write a review that can live up to that reputation. A review that can adequately convey just how amazing this album is, and how defining it was, and how inspiring it was to so many fans and bands. To be honest there is no way I could do it justice, and so you will have to take my words on face value or simply just listen to the album yourself and come to your own conclusions.

The first thing that is noticeable is the production of Reign in Blood. Both of Slayer's first two albums, Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits are terrific albums, but both suffer on the side of production, and sometimes the guitars can feel as though they blend or blur into each other. Here though, every note played is crisp and clear, and can be determined apart from every other note. As well as showcasing each brilliant song, it also shows just how precise and magnificent both Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King are in their guitar playing, especially in those scintillating solos, because you can hear each note played, and can only listen in awe at how perfect their playing is, at that incredible speed. Then you only have to try and keep up with Dave Lombardo's drumming, which is just ludicrous. He is quite magnificent here, his timing is immaculate and every snare, tom, kick, cymbal and hi-hat motion is caught perfectly here. Tom Araya's vocals are clear, concise and above all understandable, even at the speed he has to sing at to keep up with his bandmates. This is magnificently put together.

I love the way that the album is constructed, book-ended by two of their all-time classic songs, and with barely a pause for breath throughout the whole album.
"Piece By Piece" is two minutes of mayhem, that has a half-second pause of silence before motoring straight into "Necrophobic", which careers along at a barely believable speed for half the song, before a five second respite at normal double time before we're back off at lightning speed for the rest of the song, a whole minute and 38 seconds in total. Pause for a (short) breath, and off we go again with "Altar of Sacrifice". There is no time for rest, no time to catch your breath. Sure, "Altar of Sacrifice" does actually slow down as we approach the end of the song, as it flows almost undetected into the awesome heavy riff of "Jesus Saves", which for the first sixty seconds allows you to resume normal headbanging duties, before the accelerator is pushed to the floor again. Awesome stuff.
"Criminally Insane" is the slowest start to a song on the album, but soon builds back to that double time drumming and riffing that binds this album together. "Reborn" may well be the simplest song here, but again at that devastating speed, which is followed by "Epidemic" which is highlighted by magnificent drum work from Dave, whose ability to throw in little rolls and fills between the frightful speed of his normal drumming is remarkable. "Postmortem" concludes things here at an amazingly sublime pace considering everything that has gone on before it.
Bookending all of this are the timeless "Angel of Death" and "Raining Blood". "Angel of Death" starts the album, at a breakneck speed. It is a sensational way to start this album, with fire and fury. "Raining Blood" is perhaps still my favourite Slayer song. I love the first 60 seconds of the song too, that rarely gets a mention in the live set - not that that concerns me. When you get to the break with the rain and thunder, that is where anticipation is in its element, before we break back into the song and the elemental riff and the drums, and Tom's vocals, before the two solo breaks... oooohhhh it is just awesome. In almost thirty years I have never gotten sick of hearing this song. Genius. Immortality. Brilliance.

At a tick under 29 minutes in length, this is a half hour that never gets boring, never gets stale, and ticks every box in heavy metal greatness. All four members of the band are on song, it sounds brilliant, and it is just fast and freaking heavy. It is at the top of the tree for thrash albums, and whether it is universally loved or not, it cannot be denied that its influence goes beyond the heavy metal community. This is a beacon.

Rating:  Raining blood, from a lacerated sky, bleeding its horror, creating my structure, now I shall reign in blood!  5/5

Listen to full album here

776. Metallica / 11-6-2003 3rd Show Le Trabendo [Bootleg]. 4/5

A week after the worldwide release of their album St Anger, Metallica embarked on an inventive promotion ploy, playing three gigs on the same day in three separate locations in Paris, France at well known venues. Each gig lasted an hour before packing up and heading for the next gig.
This bootleg is from the third and final gig, played at Le Trabendo. Again, as with the La Boule Noire gig, the recording is good and surprisingly clear for an audience recording, though the tape and microphone do seem to pick up a bit of squelching or feedback, which would bring it back to be a B recording.

The set list again incorporates a mix of songs, which perhaps harps closer to the popular 'modern' era than the previous two gigs. Having started off with "Blackened" they crash into "Fuel" for the first time on the day, which is also probably their hardest song in recent aeons. This is then followed by two further songs from ...And Justice for All, being the brilliant "Harvester of Sorrow" and then "One". Was it a deliberate ploy to have three of the first four songs from that album?
The chosen piece from St. Anger for this gig is the title track, which again shows it's positives and negatives. The song still starts off terrifically, led by James' trademark intro of "Riff!" But once you get to the clear guitar, the high vocals overlaying that, and the weak-arse backing vocals of Rob and Kirk, the song is destroyed. Yikes.
So how do you recover from that? Well, you bring out the big guns, with "Enter Sandman" for the first time on the day, and that old staple of brilliance, "Master of Puppets". After a short drink, the band returns to complete their day with thrash, that being "Creeping Death" and "Hit the Lights".

This is another good bootleg, and together with the first two boots, it covers an interesting day in the history of Metallica. They are all worth a listen, if only to hear where the band was at the beginning of the Rob Trujillo era, and how they have progressed or fallen in your own eyes since.

Rating:  With all our screaming, we are gonna rip right through your brain  4/5

775. Metallica / 11-6-2003 2nd Show Bataclan [Bootleg]. 4/5

A week after the worldwide release of their album St. Anger, Metallica embarked on an inventive promotion ploy, playing three gigs on the same day in three separate locations in Paris, France at well known venues. Each gig lasted an hour before packing up and heading for the next gig.
This bootleg is from the second gig, played at Paris Bataclan. However, the audience bootleg sound is not as good as on the first gig, certainly it is a bit muddier and could probably be best rated as B- in this regard.

This second gig has a brilliant set list, and the high energy set is appreciated by the crowd in attendance. Once again, it is great to hear a bootleg that not only has a good recording of the band and each instrument, but also takes in the crowd's involvement, making you feel as though you are a part of it. Having started off with "The Four Horsemen", there is a brilliant performance of "Leper Messiah", driven along by the crowd's raucous singing. "Leper Messiah" is one of my favourite Metallica songs, and this version here is a cracker. This is followed by another of the band's thrash level songs, "No Remorse", with more brilliant crowd involvement, and the band appears to be enjoying it too. Too fast for you? Well, next comes "Fade to Black", which doesn't allow the crowd to let up for much more than a few seconds.

James then asks the crowd if they have St. Anger. General agreement ensues. Then he asks "who likes it?", and the crowd gets even louder. I wonder how many of those in that crowd that day would still say the same about that album now? Anyway, here they play the title track from the album, which much like most of the songs they played live from that album never really seem to come across as easily and enjoyable as the other songs in the set list. Only early days for those songs being played live I guess, and no doubt they improved a great deal, but "St. Anger" feels forced here. James introduces the band following this, with a huge reaction from the crowd on Rob Trujillo's introduction, as these were some of his first gigs having joined the band. They then charge back up again with a rollicking version of "Ride the Lightning", followed by a fingers-flying "Blackened", before an 'encore' of old favourite "Seek & Destroy" and "Damage Inc."

Once again, this is a brilliant bootleg, with a brilliant set list and a great balance between the band and the crowd.

Rating:  Honesty is my only excuse  4/5.

"Leper Messiah" at Bataclan

774. Metallica / 11-6-2003 1st Show La Boule Noire [Bootleg]. 4/5

A week after the worldwide release of their album St. Anger, Metallica embarked on an inventive promotion ploy, playing three gigs on the same day in three separate locations in Paris, France at well known venues. Each gig lasted an hour before packing up and heading for the next gig.
This bootleg is from the first gig, played at La Boule Noire. The recording is quite good for an audience recording, best rated as B+ in this regard. And the crowd really gets into it, which always makes a bootleg sound better when you can hear their enthusiasm, and cheering, and their singing along with the words.

The set list and performance is excellent. Mixing up a selection of great early hits, the only song to come from the new album is "Frantic", which frankly still comes across rather tinny here. It is also noticeable that Lars is using a very skinny kit, because there are a lot of things in these songs sound less full than they should be. No doubt the moving of gear quickly would have been behind it, but that's not to say it couldn't have been improved.
Rousing versions of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Master of Puppets" are followed by the crowd favourites "Harvester of Sorrow" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", with the crowd being led enthusiastically in chorus by James. St. Anger's "Frantic" follows along with "Sad But True", before a trio of old school heavy hitters in "Battery", "Creeping Death" and "Motorbreath" round out the set in style.

The winners here are the generally pre-1988 set list as well as the crowd involvement. It lifts your enthusiasm while you listen along, and is the hallmark of all of the best bootlegs - hearing the crowd, but not having the two or three near where it is being recorded from dominating in conversation through the gig. Well done recorder!

Rating:  It is... going to... take your breath away!  4/5

Full bootleg

773. Yngwie J. Malmsteen / Spellbound: Live in Tampa. 2014. 2.5/5

You would think that a live album - correction, a double live album - featuring Yngwie Malmsteen, arguably the most celebrated guitarist of our time, should be a no brainer. We already know he pretty much plays live what he does in the studio because he is such a stickler for his instrument, so you know that they guitaring will be superb. Then we know he has an extensive catalogue of songs, both with vocals, and just instrumentals, so that he will surely choose a set list that will have everyone jumping. And even though he played almost every instrument on his last album Spellbound, including the sparse vocals that were required, we know he has had a brilliant array of vocalists through the years, so no matter who he employed to sing on this would be terrific.
Well, most of that doesn't really come to pass at all on this live album, Spellbound: Live in Tampa.

The majority of this double album is made up of instrumental numbers. Now, that's not such a big deal when Yngwie is involved, but no matter how far you want to go with this argument, this many instrumentals can only engender boredom and repetition whether you are watching it, or just listening to it. As brilliant as Yngwie is, his guitaring can only hold your complete attention in an instrumental for a certain length of time. So count them up. There are 30 songs on this release, and of those 30, there are 19 instrumentals, of varying lengths. Once again, don't get me wrong, Yngwie is a genius and brilliant to listen to, but when it's all guitar for too much of the time, well it just becomes too much. Even when you throw in stuff like "Far Beyond the Sun" and "Black Star" that are still as brilliant today as they were 30 years ago.
So, with a majority of instrumental tracks, no doubt Yngwie decided that forking out for a lead vocalist was a bit of a waste of time, given that he would be rendered superfluous for at least half of the set. So, what do you do? Well, you get your keyboardist Nick Marino to do a double shift, and sing lead vocals when necessary as well as fill out the keys necessary for the night. Great money saving idea. Except that Marino's vocals are despicable. Not terrible, but just not right. They don't fit the songs at all, and when he has to do any amount of vocal chord stretching (and given that he's trying to sing songs done by Jeff Scott Soto, Joe Lynn Turner, Doogie White and Tim Owens, that is a LOT!) he is found out noticeably. And it would be a false statement to say that it doesn't detract from the songs at all, because it really does. Overall the current band line up is good. Everyone does their job well, and leaves it to Yngwie to be the show. It does get very tiresome as Marino keeps telling the crowd "Let's hear it for the maestro!!" You know how good he is, we know how good he is, and Yngwie knows how good he is. Surely neither party needs to be encouraged to give praise.

This actually turns out to be a rather depressing release. The vocals on the songs that require them are just dreadful, and suck any enjoyment out of them immediately. The songs that don't require vocals are either brilliant (see above mentioned two songs as examples) or just a little overplayed to enjoy. No one can doubt Yngwie still has it, he plays like a demon. If he had taken Ripper out on vocals for this, it probably rates a 4 or 4.5 out of five, even despite the average song list. Put the average song list and the average vocals together, and you have a rather unhappy result.

Rating:  I can see the moment of some kind of truth.  2.5/5

772. Praying Mantis / Time Tells No Lies. 1981. 3/5

The explosion of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal between 1979 and 1981 provided a number of bands a great deal of publicity in the music media, and saw record companies looking to sign up new bands with the hope that they would become the ‘next big thing’ and provide those labels with the riches that they were hoping to reap as a result. One of the interesting things about looking back on that time in music from this far in the future is not just the bands that became the huge groups of that era as a result of their talent, but the number of bands that were considered to be their equal or even better at the time who were unable to make that great leap. It really is amazing that of all of the bands spoken of during that three year period, that only a small handful went on to make a mega career, while others disappeared forever. Some have been able to find a way to maintain a career to the present day, and have actually created a solid music catalogue away from the major spotlight that they may have begun with. It is arguable to say that Praying Mantis is one of those bands.
The band was formed very early on for one that made its break during that time period. It was 1973 when college friends Pete Moore, Chris Hudson and brothers Tino and Chris Troy, came together to create their band. They operated under a couple of different names including Prowler and Junction, before settling on the name Praying Mantis. In those early years, the band would play in youth clubs and small gigs, eventually graduating to pub gigs by 1978. Around this time the band recorded a demo tape, which (like many other bands of the time) they were encouraged to take to Neal Kay who was the DJ at the Bandwagon at the time, and had become an influential figure when it came to the promotion of up and coming metal bands. This gave the band a platform on which to increase their exposure. On October 31 of 1979 they recorded for the popular Friday Rock Show on BBC Radio, which was broadcast the following week and included the tracks “Captured City”, “Loves to the Grave” and “Johnny Cool”. Following this, they recorded the song “Captured City” for the compilation album “Metal for Muthas” which was released in February of 1980, and an album that was reviewed on this podcast on Episode 10.
From here, the band toured as support to Iron Maiden and Ronnie Montrose’s Gamma, which also led to playing at the Reading Festival on August 23, 1980. By this time Steve Carroll had joined the band as guitarist and co-vocalist, and Dave Potts had come in on drums. The increasing exposure, along with the success of the Reading gig, led to the band being offered a recording contract from Arista Records to produce their debut album. The album was written and recorded but still came with a couple of delays in actually being released. One of these was the decision for the band to record a single by the name of “I Surrender”, written by renown hitmaker Russ Ballard, and originally released in October 1980 by a band called Head East. Praying Mantis had already recorded the backing track and were adding the vocals when they were told permission had been denied at the last minute, as another bigger band had decided that they were going to record their own version of the song. That band was Rainbow, and their version made it to #3 on the UK charts. Soooooo close!
The album though finally saw the light of day, and was released upon the world in the hope that they would be the next band from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal to break it big on the world stage, with the name of “Time Tells No Lies”.

From the very opening of the album, the sound that fills your senses is immediately picked to be from the era that it was recorded and released. It has that sound from the outset. The opening song "Cheated" tingles like a Thin Lizzy or Gary Moore tune of the era, but the harmony vocals in the chorus do give it its own little corner to move into. One of the band’s attacking points on this debut album is the moving around of the lead singer role. Guitarists Tino Troy and Steve Carroll and bass guitarist Chris Trot all share the role on the album, something that changes the focus of each track depending on who has the main singing role on it. On this opening song it is Carroll who takes the lead. It comes across as a commercially friendly single, in the style of many other bands of a similar ilk at the time – think Paul Di’Anno’s first self-titled album after leaving Iron Maiden, later Angel Witch and Sweet Savage. All seem to share a common history. This was, having had their initial choice of a single taken from them, the first single from the album, one released a couple of months before the album’s release. This is followed up by a cover of The Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night", an interesting choice to put on the album, and one that became the second single released. This version is sung by Tino and is enjoyable enough, highlighted by the twin guitar solos in the middle of the song. It this era you can understand the idea of covering a song that had been popular in different decades, and while it fits within the role of the album, perhaps giving it a bit more hard guitar would have freshened it up.
"Running For Tomorrow" is credited to all four members with Carroll back on lead vocals. Given the connection to the band as already reported here, this actually gives off vibes of 1980’s Rainbow in the song style, one that tries to sound like a hard rock and heavy song but with the obvious flourishes within the verses and vocals of reaching for that commercial sound. Once again the guitar slot in the middle of the track is very enjoyable, and offers a vision of the band reaching the heights of that new wave of metal, but through the verses and chorus it dials things back. Then you have “Rich City Kids”, composed by the Troy brothers and sung by Tino. This song could very easily have been taken straight off Def Leppard’s debut album of the previous year. Musically it is bang on from the style they utilised on that album, apart from the use of the piano incorporated into this track. Even Tino’s vocals backed by his brother sound very Joe Elliott-ish. Apart from that glaring similarity, this is one of the better songs on the album, and again the guitar work in the solo slot of the middle of the song is really enjoyable.
“Lovers to the Grave” changes up everything. This is the band’s shot at the soft rock ballad, with clear guitars and harmony vocals, this time with the lead taken on by Chris Troy. And I guess if you are looking for the direction of finding a commercial breakthrough then this is the kind of song your record company will probably push for. But you know the drill. The first half of the song is the usual generic stuff... and then you get into the second half of the song. The guitar solo breaks the track out of the doldrums, the tempo picks up, and we actually get one of the heaviest parts of the entire album as the guitars riff away madly, the bass line switches up and down the fret board, and it plays out the first side of the album in terrific style. It is a surprising song even to today. It is a remarkably transformative track here.
"Panic in the Streets" is a faster and heavier song to open up the second side of the album, dominated by faster drum work and guitar riffs, while Tino's vocals and the excellent twin guitar breaks from he and Steve Carroll drive it along in a way that is much more fitting of the new heavy era of the release. There is no sign of compromise to commerciality on this song, it is of the basic heavy sound of the time. It has an easy singalong chorus that brings about crowd participation as you listen. It’s a great way to break into the second side of the album. This is followed up by the multi faceted “Beads of Ebony”. The opening of the song leads you in to a belief that this is going to be a heavy track that breaks out of the tough sounding opening lyrical burst and undertoned riff – but it then weeds out a bit with a reedy sounding chorus from Chris on lead vocal that doesn’t befit exactly what it felt the song needed. It turns out to be a bit plain and not as strong as it could have been, especially after the previous track. It feels trapped between wanting to be a heavy track and a progressive think piece. So to with the following song "Flirting With Suicide" which kicks off with a great guitar riff, and should be a terrific heavy song. And for the most part it is. Tino is back on lead vocals, and it all sounds fine. Until we reach the chorus. What should have been a tough sounding chorus with a harder riff is softened out, beseeched by another less than ideal harmony vocal that just doesn’t quite fit how you expect that the song SHOULD go. The verses sound great, the solo slots are good, the bass line from Chris throughout is excellent and Tino offers the right toughness vocal in those verses. It’s just that damn chorus harmony that does not work.
As may have become apparent by this time, the one weakness of this album comes in the vocals. All three of Tino Troy (four songs), Chris Troy (three songs) and Steve Carroll (two songs) share the lead vocal duties, while they also all share the harmonies in the chorus lines. So not only do you have three different styles of vocals taking the lead on the album, you have those melodies in practically every song, which really don't change in pitch or tune from song to song. And it is the choruses that tend to take away from the greater excellence of the remainder of the song. In MOST cases. They appear to be there just to show they can do it, rather than adding to the songs. Most of the songs here would benefit from the chorus staying with Tino's tougher vocal being performed on its own, making the track harder and heavier and just BETTER than it ends up being because the lightweight harmony vocals come through instead.
Take "Children of the Earth" as an example, the closing track on the album. The song again starts off with a cracking riff and awesome bass line, and the initial vocals from Chris in this instance are good. But before you know it, it seems to transform into coming across as quite moaning, especially during the shared chorus vocals. This song should stand as up with the equal or better than the songs being produced by the bands of this same era. The solo guitar slot that takes out the song is sensational. Take a listen to it. Tell me there isn’t a bit of future Metallica in parts of that solo. It’s there. The start of this track and its conclusion are just brilliant, hugely enjoyable. Unfortunately, the middle of the track brings it back in any estimation. That conclusion though, where the song transforms, and it becomes something a little bit special. This is where the true potential of the band comes to life and shows what they really had to offer.

I cannot tell you how long I spent seeking a copy of this album over the years. When it comes to finding anything in Australia in regard to bands of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, it can be very difficult. It was a quest that didn’t end well initially. I just eventually gave up, and let the dream die. It wasn’t until many years later, about fifteen years ago now as I record this episode, that I began to once again seek out the bands and albums of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal era, this time utilising file sharing and YouTube and all the new fangled ways you could search for rare material. And this was how I first came across “Time Tells No Lies” and was able to finally discover just what the debut and only true Praying Mantis album of that era was like. And like all of the other bands I was discovering albums of that time during this period, I found that I really enjoyed it. Angel Witch, Sweet Savage, Blitzkrieg, Diamond Head... each had a unique sound that I enjoyed. Yes, some of the vocals on ALL of those albums took some time to get used to, but once I did I was in for the ride. And that 12 month period where I discovered so much music that I had always wanted to experience was a terrific time for me.
So we come to this past week or so, and let’s talk about where I am today as I place it once again in the CD player of my stereo in the Metal Cavern. Because as always it is one thing to listen to an album and like or love it for what it is on the surface, but it is when you go into it in a critical review situation that you can often find either flaws that you have tried not to notice, or find amazing things that you probably knew but were not quite as aware of as you should have been. In this past couple of weeks, I have probably come across both of those things.
I have already spoken about the vocals here, and the way they get a bit reedy when it comes to the harmony or melodic attempts, mainly within choruses. I don’t really want to be critical of this, because we all know singing can be hard. Two things came to me on my relistening’s for this episode. One is that no matter what I may think if I am to criticise this, that when I listen to the album it only bothers me... a little. The second is this. When the band reformed in 1990, they employed a succession of extremely good vocalists to come in and act as leader singer for the band, those being Paul Di’Anno, Doogie White and Gary Barden, as well as Dennis Stratton who was guitarist and vocalist for a decade. And my thoughts were – I wonder how these songs sound with any of these quite excellent vocalists taking the lead? I’d like to find out.
But the music, and perhaps more especially the guitaring... it has amazing moments on this album. The play out of both sides of the album on the songs “Lovers to the Grave” and “Children of the Earth” is just brilliant, so enjoyable to listen to. I mentioned here that the album is slightly caught between wanting to push in a commercial direction and wanting to be a real metal album, and maybe that is what makes it one that got lost in the mix at the time. If they had pushed the heavy tones here more, closer to an Iron Maiden direction, would that have been more successful? I don’t know. Also, did they miss a trick not including “Captured City” on this album? Sure it had been published on the “Metal for Muthas” album, but would that have pushed the album more with fans who already knew that song? Would that have mattered anyway? More questions I don’t have the answers for.
The final answer for me on this album is that I still really like it, despite my protestations on parts of the album. Listening again this week does reinforce to me that the flaws it has make it an album that was a missed opportunity, and that perhaps re-recording it in the modern day, with a modern sound and fixing those few little bits would be amazing to hear. I still believe that if I had had this album when I first began to listen to heavy metal back in high school that I would rate this album up there with my favourites, just because discovering it then rather than 20 years later would have given it a different pair of ears to listen to it by.
The band, like so many others of this vintage in the era of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, fell foul of poor management and lack of record label support, and eventually went into remission for almost a decade. Since their reformation in 1990, they have consistently toured and released albums, so the story has ended on a better note than some or many of their contemporaries. This debut album still stands as a testament to the age and the movement, and is more than worthy of your attention.

771. Various Artists / Shocker - The Music. 1989. 4/5

Movie soundtracks can be amazingly hit and miss, and this is often more the case for fans of heavy metal and hard rock. For a start it is often hard to find movies that utilise ’that kind of music’, and then it is difficult to find movies where the music is something that you want to listen to after the event. However, in the late 1980's and early 1990's there was stream of movies that, as a young male is his teenage years and early 20's, were so bad they were good, and also had good artists doing the music, which in turn encouraged you to go out and buy the soundtrack, as well as the film on VHS.
“Shocker” was one of those movies and soundtracks. The concept and story of the film is fairly typical of the B-grade horror films that were coming out around this era. Released in 1989, the story centres on serial killer Horace Pinker, played by future X-Files alumni Mitch Pileggi who would play Assistant Director Walter Skinner. In this film, Pinker has killed over thirty people, including most of the foster family and the girlfriend of the main protagonist Johnathan Parker, who we eventually learn in Pinker’s biological son. Parker has formed a psychic connection with Pinker, and he is able to help his police detective father in capturing Pinker who is sentenced to death. Pinker has however made a deal with the devil, which allows to him be converted to pure energy on his execution, and thus be able to possess other people to escape where he is and also continue his murder spree. And now not only do the good guys have to work out that Pinker can do this, but how to stop him.
Back in the day I saw this at the cinemas when it was released, travelling to Sydney with my usual circle of friends to laugh and make inappropriate comments through the film, and enjoying the songs that were a part of the movie. The main one that had been released as a single prior to the movie's opening was the cover of Alice Cooper’s “No More Mr Nice Guy” performed by Megadeth, which was one of the reasons we decided to go forth and watch it. And then when the movie was released on VHS, I hired it and made my own copy for further viewings over the years. And I won’t lie to you, I loved it. It was so corny, so laughable, that it was fun.
Watch the movie now, and you would wonder what we saw in it. Even as a cult film now, whenever I watch it now (yep, I still do) I have to cringe through some parts of it.
Of course, the soundtrack came out at the same time, and I did eventually get around to buying it, although it was a couple of years later, most probably when I had copied the movie to watch again. And if you want 80's hard rock, which is heavily influenced by one Desmond Child, who was the hit-maker at the time, helping to make Bon Jovi stars, and revitalising Alice Cooper, Aerosmith and Kiss for the 'modern' age, then you get that in spades here.

The album opens with the song that comes over the credits and is the movie’s title track, “Shocker”. It is performed by the 'superstar band' who came together for this project called The Dudes of Wrath, comprising Paul Stanley and Desmond Child on duelling vocals, Vivian Campbell and Guy Mann-Dude on guitars, Rudy Sarzo on bass guitar, and Tommy Lee on drums, with backing vocals by Michael Anthony and Kane Roberts. "Shocker" is the high energy anthemic theme to proclaim the heroes at the end of the film once they have vanquished the villain. I love this song despite its cheesiness, you can barely stop yourself from singing along in the car. And it is truly stuck in that era and drips with Desmond Child’s influence. This is followed by Iggy Pop (with some help from Alice Cooper) singing "Love Transfusion", another with obvious influence from Desmond Child and co-written by him and Alice. It has the same melodies and chorus lines as the opening track in some ways, and fits in nicely as a result. I’ve always enjoyed this song, and Iggy isn’t quite as hectic as he often is. Terrific. Tagging along after this is Megadeth's cover of Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy", a great rocking version of the song. This was such a great version of the original, it actually inspired the band I was in at the time with my mates to play it live. And the first time we did our vocalist had run out of puff so I did double duty on drums and vocals. Anyway. Mustaine does a great job in this song. I actually bought the cassingle to this when it was released, which also had two songs on the B-side that I eventually found were also on this soundtrack album. That cassingle got a hammering in the car at the time.
"Sword and Stone" is the next song performed by the band Bonfire, and as soon as you hear it you will believe you are listening to a Kiss song. And you wouldn’t be wrong, as the track is actually written by Stanley and Child, along with Bruce Kulick who was Kiss’s guitarist at the time and was demoed for their “Crazy Nights” album. Instead, it was offered to Bonfire who recorded it for their own album “Point Blank” and also for this compilation. It’s a fun song. Eventually though we had to come to the power ballad, the song utilised in the movie to signify lost love through the murderous rampage of a serial killer. And that song is “Timeless Love”, the Desmond Child penned abomination performed by Saraya. Child uses all of the power ballad tricks in this song to draw out the emotion he is looking for. For me however, that emotion is severe nausea. It’s a tragic song, but not in the way the writer and performer were looking for.
The Dudes of Wrath return to clean up the mess with "Shockdance", co-written by Child, Guy Mann Dude, Vivian Campbell and Kane Roberts, and this time featuring Alice Cooper on vocals, rapping along with Horace Pinker himself, Mitch Pileggi. It is so 80’s that it is somewhat painful, but in the long run it is fun, and Alice Cooper is always great to listen to. His back and forth with Pileggi’s character is overcomes and perceived weaknesses. This is followed by "Demon Bell (The Ballad of Horace Pinker)" which is performed by Dangerous Toys with some writing input from Child. This is also a beauty, and was one of the B-side tracks on the “No More Mr Nice Guy” single. It has a great upvibe tempo and fits in with the mood of the album nicely. "The Awakening" by Voodoo X starts a little slowly but builds to a satisfying conclusion. They released this song on their only album “Vol 1: The Awakening”, and the song is actually quite good, channelling several bands of the era in the hard rock scene. It’s interesting that they didn’t amount to more. One song that really caught my attention initially was "Different Breed" by Dead On, perhaps because it was the other B side track to the "No More Mr. Nice Guy" single I bought before I bought this soundtrack. I don't know what happened to them, but they sound like an early version of Scatterbrain, who I loved when they arrived around this time. I've always loved this song, and was disappointed I could never find any more of their music. The album then concludes with a reprise of "Shocker", fading out leaving you feeling like the hero.
THE awakening

I’ve pretty much covered my history with both this film and its soundtrack. The producers of the film were cluey in having Desmond Child oversee the songs for the soundtrack and how they fit into the film, because he has done a great job here, not only with the composition of his supergroup and their input, but the other bands and musicians attached. Because I really believe there is only one weak song on this album, the afore mentioned atrocity that is “Timeless Love”. Everything else here is very enjoyable, even if you have to imagine you are back in 1989 to get the most from it. Because there is little doubt most of the songs here have dated, which is what made them so good at the time because that was what the era of music was throwing at us.
On many soundtrack albums, there will be bands that no one knows, who have songs that are mildly forgettable. I don’t think that is the case here. Bonfire, Dangerous Toys, Voodoo X and Dead On all give us some above average songs to enjoy after the big hitters have lit up the front end of the album. And while the hard rock anthems provided here by Desmond Child and his collaborators might still be very cheesy today, as a reminder of that time, they are excellent value.
That said, there would be a narrow field of people who will love this album and/or the film, and I don't pretend it to be otherwise. Kids watching to and listening to this today would for the most part likely be horrified not at the violence on the screen but the style of music the soundtrack contains. Having seen the film on the big screen all those years ago, and having owned a VHS copy since it was released (now sadly gone through the deterioration of the tape), and having both the Megadeth single and the album soundtrack more or less since their release, my opinion is certainly be biased towards the positive for nostalgic reasons as well as perceived quality.
I have listened to this soundtrack album a dozen times over the past couple of weeks, and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. It is one of the best soundtrack albums I own, and I have more than gotten my money’s worth for it. Some of you out there, of course, may well believe that that is a Shocker!

770. Dianno / Di'Anno. 1984. 1.5/5

Paul Di’Anno’s life had turned on a screw back in 1978 when he was asked to join the upcoming and promising young British band Iron Maiden. There had been any number of personnel changes in its early years, but once Di’Anno came on board as the powerhouse lead vocalist with attitude, many of the right pieces had fallen into place. With Di’Anno at the helm, the band had recorded a demo, an EP, and then having been signed up by management and record company, released their first two albums to massive acclaim. There were even tours to the continent and overseas, and everything seemed to be trending upward for the band in every possible way.
And then Paul got sacked.
Now while it may have been controversial decision with some fans at the time, all of this turned around pretty quickly. The recruitment of Samson lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson then brought forth the new album “The Number of the Beast” ... and, well, you all know the story from that point on. Iron Maiden went forth and conquered and continued to do so pretty much to the present day.
For Di’Anno himself however, he now found himself an icon without a gig. His addictions, homesickness and lack of care for his primary asset, his voice, had all contributed to losing his paid gig, and now he needed to find a way to get himself back on his own two feet.
From this position so far away from those days themselves, it seems incomprehensible that Paul Di’Anno, who had been the popular and enigmatic lead singer of the biggest band of the NWoBHM era, could possibly be out of work for very long. No matter what the reasons for his dismissal had been, here was a frontman that any band out there must have been considering as a perfect fit for their sound. Or, on the other hand, if Paul himself decided that he wanted to build a band himself, surely there had to be musicians and record companies falling over themselves to become involved with him. It seems impossible to think that he could be away from the music scene for very long.
As it turns out, though it did take some time, this did indeed come to pass. Paul had come to frequent the gigs of a band called Minas Tirith, a band who had recorded several demos without much success. Eventually Paul had a discussion with guitarist Lee Slater, keyboardist Mark Venables and bass guitarist Kevin Browne and convinced them that they should work together on a new project to be called Lonewolf. Along the way the band recruited P.J Ward as a second guitarist from the band Bastille and Dave Irving on drums to complete the group. Then there was a dispute with another band that also went by the name Lone Wolf (though with a space between the two words), which brought on the change of name simply to Di’Anno - which, surely in hindsight, was the best way to publicise the new band to fans of his previous work.
All of this led to the writing and recording of the debut studio album, the release of which would be measured purely by the success it could achieve.

On a recent podcast episode for Adrian Smith’s solo project album “Silver and Gold”, I mentioned the same thing I am going to say here – if you are looking for an Iron Maiden album, you have come to the wrong place. This is not quite as far away as you could imagine an album to be from what you may have expected, but it is pretty damned close. When the album starts, and it jumps straight into a synth keyboard strut, those worst fears appear realised within seconds. What follows is confirmation of everything that it could be. Pure 1980's vanilla, those three and four way harmony backing vocals, for the most part drowned in synthesizer, with the guitars almost taken out of the plot, given only an occasional solo break to make themselves be known, which for the most part are used rather lamely. It is an interesting experience, in a similar way to that Adrian Smith album, in that this band has a twin-guitar attack, but it is the keyboard and synth that is the most prominent factor in the music mix. Then we have Paul's vocals themselves. They are fine. They are strong. But there is no effort to push themselves either. He mostly stays within a very comfortable range without any expectation of extending himself in the way he had in the past. His vocals at the very beginning of "Tales of the Unexpected" just aren't his at all, or at least they are not in the style that fans had become accustomed to. Paul reaches out, and tries to emote in a way that will be attractive to the audience that this album is obviously striving for, the harmless middle-aged people who like to sit and listen to their stereo at a low volume from the comfort of their armchairs. Because this is what it is. It isn't elevator music, it is comfort music, like those American AOR bands such as Foreigner and Chicago. There is no aggression, nor is there anything containing unsubtle hints of innuendo. It is the calm and relaxing conversation on the phone between people rugged up in front of the fireplace.
So get ready for a collection of tracks that are as surprising as you could imagine. “Flaming Heart” that has a synth solo at its heart rather than a guitar driven background, and Paul’s vocals with a melody of backing vocals around him. “Heartuser” is an unapologetic rock ballad while “Here to Stay” could have been written and performed by any of the AOR bands of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, so formula-driven is the concept. Two soft rock ballads in a row! That’s pretty tough to take.
“The Runner” runs for three minutes with the same repetitive riff and synth combination that it feels like you are pulling teeth by the end. And then what I guess was written to be the mid-album epic of “Tales of the Unexpected” jars the remaining strength from your body.
Side Two of the album does a little to alleviate this feeling. “Razor Age” actually has Paul pulling out a more energetic and realistic vocal performance, and the guitars come through more than they have previously to create what is at least a semblance of a hard rock track. Ditto with “Bright Lights”, with an opening guitar riff solo! Hang on, we might have something here! The synth soon returns to provide the man backing of the track, but again at least Paul’s vocals are recognisable and the guitars like their presence felt. “Lady Heartbreak” sounds like an early, average Bon Jovi song with the synth dominant. “Antigua” is more of the same. And the closing track “Road Rat” is more unoffensive clamouring of that dreaded synthesizer based product that the era wanted but ties all albums of such ilk to it for eternity.

Whether this album is a bad album or not becomes somewhat irrelevant by the fact that it sounds exactly like a thousand other bands' albums of that era (and before and since for that matter), and that for me is the sad part about it. I don't think the direction of the music on this album is as disappointing as the fact that it doesn't do ANYTHING to make it stand out from the pack. What market are they looking for here? Radio friendly rock? Because Journey is better than this, Chicago is better than this, Foreigner is better than this. New Wave? Spandau Ballet is better than this. The Human League is better than this. You know you have a problem when the best song on the album is a rather pacey version of oft-covered "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", which is a bonus track on the CD release only.
I can see a pattern as to why this occurred. By 1984 the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was over. Those bands that hadn't busted out and made something of themselves had now dissipated, or very soon would. No doubt Di'Anno was also looking for something that wouldn't associate himself with his previous band. He probably wanted to show he was versatile, that he could do more material than fast punk heavy metal. There was also a chance to try and merge into the success of a more commercial hard rock sound such that Def Leppard had begun to tap into, and the synth-driven radio friendly pop songs that were plagiarising and filling the radio airwaves. Or perhaps I'm way off the mark, and this was just the album this band wanted to record and promote. Whichever way you look at it, success wasn't what came. The album didn't chart in the top 100 anywhere, and after a tour where Di'Anno refused to play any Iron Maiden songs in the set (something that changed markedly forever not long after) they went their separate ways to other ventures.
When I first discovered this album existed, and eventually tracked down a copy so I could listen to it, I can't say that I had any idea as to what I would be walking into, nor was I prepared for what awaited me on the other side. In fact, it is safe to say that of all of the concepts I could have imagined this album being like, a throwaway sarcastic guess would most likely have been a closer response than what I discovered. And that is still the case. I even found this on vinyl second hand about a year ago for $15, and just had to buy it even though I knew what I was getting into. So for the past two weeks, I have had this out of its cover again, and filling the metal cavern with its tones. And I can tolerate it, simply because it is Paul Di’Anno. Having it on in the background while I have been either composing other podcast episodes or watching the footy with the commentary turned down, it has been quite enjoyable. But apart from that initial few weeks when this album was released, is there anything here that would inspire anyone to buy this album, or indeed just listen to it on a regular basis? 18 times over this two week period, I have played it from start to finish, trying to divine an answer to that question that isn’t ‘fuck no this is absolute shite’. My answer though continues to be “it’s not great, but it is fine”.
Di'Anno himself went back to what he was renown for, firstly for the very short run of the so-called supergroup Gogmagog alongside Clive Burr, Janick Gers, Neil Murray and Pete Willis, and then in bands like Battlezone and Killers he rediscovered his mojo to a certain degree. By doing so, he confined this album to the mothballs of history, a place where he no doubt feels comfortable with it being. As a historic remnant it is an album that is worth hearing if only to prove that Di'Anno can sing in a different register than he is generally known for. But once you have heard this, I can't say that I expect too many people to revisit it in the future.