1338. Iron Maiden / Killers. 1981. 5/5

The burgeoning phenomenon that had been Iron Maiden’s rise from East End pub band into full blown heavy metal leaders of the pack had reached its crescendo with the release of their self-titled debut album in April 1980, an album you can hear about on this podcast on episode 48 should, you be interested in reliving the past in that way. That album had finally given the fans what they wanted, something they could take home and relive over and over again. It created new fans which in turn created even more fans, and the band’s popularity continued to rise. The album reached number 4 on the UK charts, and it created interest in other fan bases around the world. To support the release of that album, the band embarked on a headline tour of the UK, and then went on to being the opening act for Kiss on their European tour to promote their “Unmasked” album, and also supporting Judas Priest on other dates of their tour. The exposure the band received from this trek also gave them a huge boost in those territories.
Following the Kiss tour, guitarist Dennis Stratton was dismissed for what was said to be creative and personal differences. In an interview with Jon Hinchcliffe in October 1999, Stratton gave his side of the story: “I used to listen to things like George Benson, Average White band, Eagles. Loads of Eagles, just relaxing. Little River Band, you know all interesting melodic stuff. And it got to the point we were in one Hotel and Rod Smallwood came up and started shouting at me saying I am not supposed to be listening to this type of music. And I said to him "If I listen to Motorhead 24 hours a day my brain would be gone. You can't do things like that to people" and he said, "Well you can't be into the band if you are listening to that sort of stuff.". It just got silly. It got out of hand. We weren't mixing well and it got round to Oslo I think at the end of the Kiss tour. I had "Soldier of Fortune" by Deep Purple on Stun volume because I was in the Shower. And he had heard it. And he was saying "If you are going to keep listening to all this slow soft stuff ... " and it just got a bit silly. I said something like "You're just a bully" and we just fell out. And after the Kiss tour he said "Right we're not getting on. You're not into the band." I said what do you mean "I'm not into the band?" He said "I can't fault you're playing and your singing, but you are just not into the band." I went "Oh f**king hell" and just walked out of the office and that was it”.
Stratton’s replacement was an easy choice. In 1979, Adrian Smith had been approached to join the band, but had declined as at the time he felt that his own band, Urchin, was on the verge of making their own ascension in the music business. It was something that he eventually regretted when the band folded in 1980 without have reached the success he had been hoping for. Now though, with Stratton gone, he was asked once again to join the band, and this time he jumped at the opportunity. His first gigs with the band were the conclusion of their UK headlining tour in November and December of 1980, and he appeared in the band’s live video recorded then “Live at the Rainbow”.
As a precursor to the album being release, a single was recorded as the band was unsure about any of the track they had written for the upcoming new album as being single. Their publishers suggested covering the song “Women in Uniform” by Australian band Skyhooks. This they duly did, as well as filming a promotional video for the song.
Having been disappointed with the production of their debut album, the band and manager Rod Smallwood were making no such mistake with their follow up. The call came for legendary producer Martin Birch, whose stellar career had already led to producing albums from bands such as Deep Purple, Rainbow, Whitesnake and Black Sabbath. While his name had come up when it came to discussing producers for the first album, no one thought that he would stoop so low as to agree to produce a band that no one knew. For his part, Birch himself later admitted in interviews, including for the Classic Albums episode for “The Number of the Beast”, that he was bemused as to why they hadn’t asked him to be their producer on that debut album. Birch of course remained with the band until his retirement from the industry in 1992.
Thus it came to pass that less than ten months after the release of their debut album, Iron Maiden returned to the shelves with their follow up album, one that would again showcase the many faces that the band had to offer to the growing genre of heavy metal, the album that was called “Killers”.

Coming into their new album, the band already had a lot of material available that had not been used on their debut album, some of those songs having been played live in concert for years prior to the recording of the “Killers” album. Some had been composed and were in the process of being tested in the live environment after the release of the debut album. The new album’s title track “Killers” is a case in point. This song was played often in the latter half of 1980, with different lyrics and slightly different structure to what eventually became recorded on the new album. Many versions exist of the earlier version of the song. Songs that were played on the headlining UK gigs prior to the album being recorded include “The Ides of March”, “Wrathchild”, “Killers’, “Another Life”, “Innocent Exile” and “Drifter”. “Wrathchild” of course had been recorded and appeared on the “Metal for Muthas” compilation album in 1980 and had been bypassed for the debut album as a result, but its popularity and longevity from being one of the band’s earliest songs meant that it had to get its chance on album here. Both “Wrathchild”, “Purgatory”, “Another Life”, “Drifter” and “Innocent Exile” hark back to the very earliest days of the band, appearing on set list when Dennis Wilcock fronted the band. Indeed, it is acknowledged that only two completely new songs were composed for this album as it was being recorded, those being “Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “Prodigal Son”, an interesting comparison of songs that stand on different sides of the band’s defining qualities.
Breaking down this album as a study piece is an interesting project. Why were these songs, which had already been written some time beforehand, not utilised on the first album? If they were deemed surplus to requirement for the band’s first ever album, did that mean that they were second rate, and should not have been used at all? Does their use here indicate that the band had already runout of ideas and had resorted to using tracks they had ignored for their first album? Or was it simply that the band still felt these songs had plenty of strength in them, that they were indeed a part of what made the band who they were, and that they deserved tobe recorded for posterity and to allow all Iron Maiden fans the chance to enjoy them as well? Both sides of this argument have been discussed over the years, especially in discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the band’s first two albums and where they stand in the band’s catalogue as a result.
“The Ides of March” is the instrumental opening introduction to the album, inviting all listeners to get to their seats and ready themselves for the onslaught that follows. While it might be perfunctory in some fan's eyes, it does act as the perfect introduction to the song that follows, and the one everyone would consider the true opening of the album. As was spoken about on Episode 90 of this podcast that speaks about Samson’s album “Head On”, their song “Thunderburst” is basically the exact same track as this one, which is credited to the entire band along with Steve Harris. The Iron Maiden song is simply credited to Harry. Perhaps not the only time in the band’s history where correct credit to songs has not been forthcoming. And perhaps also the reason this version appeared on this album.
The arrival of “Wrathchild” and that marvellous bass and drums opening, along with Paul Di’Anno’s entry of “yeah” is still as iconic and marvellous as the day the album was released. Perhaps that is because this is the only song from the album that is regularly played live. It is also the reason many fans have fatigue over it. And yet, every time you put the album on, and Paul says ‘yeah’, you are away, dragged along back into the song and the album. Musically it's a great simple song driven by Steve’s bass guitar and Di’Anno’s vocals. The basis of the first two albums were these kinds of short sharp tracks that exude high energy and volatile lyrics and lovely guitar solos through the middle. It has been played for a thousand years, and it would certainly be nice to hear other songs from this era played live occasionally, but it doesn’t take away how important this song has been to the Maiden history, and how enjoyable it is every time it comes on.
“Murders in the Rue Morgue” is one of the two new tracks for the album, and it channels everything that made Iron Maiden the band on the rise they were at this time. The opening into the heart of the song is still such a wonderful mood setting platform, the bass harmonic, the clear guitar as the bass run builds to the entry of the drums and dual guitars, and then the burst of Clive Burr to take us hurtling into the heart of the track, with Di’Anno telling the tale based on the tale by Edgar Allen Poe. Harry’s bass guitar drums into your ears throughout this entire song, it just doesn’t rest, taking on almost lead guitar status rather than following the rhythm guitar. The driven high energy of the song explodes through the speakers. Di’Anno is at his finest here, and the combination of Murray and Smith in the middle section is still a joy to hear. Everything weaves together here to explore the best of what Iron Maiden does.
“Another Life” has the early live punchy feel that you can hear when you listen, and almost feel the sweat dripping off the wall of the pubs the band played in during their early years. The opening drum roll from Clive, the twin guitar burst, before the delayed guitar solo introduction into the heart of the song. I can see those long haired heads bobbing along at the front of the stage. The band played this live on their 2005 Eddie Rips Up the World Tour, and with three guitarists in the band, surely they could have made a better effort reproduce that delayed guitar riff solo in that instance. This blends into the instrumental “Genghis Khan”, where Clive Burr is the out and out star. His drum roll to enter the track with bass and guitar is fabulous, and then through the middle of the track the double timing he keeps is surely unplayable. Listen to the bass and guitars, they are almost struggling to keep up with him, and how he keeps that timing he plays is superhuman. Fortunately for all they all crash out of that to a more sedate turn for the second half of the song, allowing the melody of Dave and Adrian’s guitars to claim their spot to complete the song. This is a wonderful musical interlude, with all members showcasing their immense skill and creating another wonderful track.
“Innocent Exile” is a fan favourite, though has rarely been played live since the tour to promote this album. It is another song that harks back to their earliest days, and one as such that retains the kind of structure and format some of their pub days songs keep. It explodes outward in the back half of the song, picking up pace as the solo pieces from Dave and Adrian have their say, and this is where the real essence of the song comes to life, and closes out the first half of the album nicely.
The title track opens up the second side of the album, and it remains one of their signature tracks. Probably not politically correct for our lily hearted people in the modern day, but "Killers" is a great song to sing along to, telling the story of a serial killer in the mode of the Yorkshire Ripper. Once again it is the bass line and drum core that opens up a Maiden track, almost always a sure way to indicate one of the best songs from the band. And then Paul Di’Anno - he just takes charge. His positioned screams during the opening stanza are so perfectly tuned. The whole mood of the opening of the track sets the scene again, just as it does in “Murders in the Rue Morgue”, and like that song, the burst into the heart of the track with the arrival of the guitars is where it all bursts out of the speakers. The galloping bass line keeps the song charging along, and Clive’s perpetual drumming climbing aboard as well. Di’Anno excels throughout this song, his vocal dripping with the lip curling sinister atmosphere he creates, as he unfurls himself to reveal that he is indeed the protagonist of the song, and his exposed insanity comes to the fore. The harmony vocals of the breakdown in the middle of the track is fabulous. And the charge of the solo section with both guitarists given their head to fly along, all the while as Harris and Burr continue to crank the engine underneath. Di’Anno’s ability to channel the mood of the story and adapt his vocals to match it is pure artistry. “Killers” is a true classic, and here offers the very best that all of the band members, but especially Paul Di’Anno, have to offer.
Though on the original UK release of this album we move into the second newly written track, two other versions of the album have a different song inserted before its arrival. The US version contained the song “Twilight Zone”, a song that had been released as a non-album single a month after the release of this album, while the Australian version of the album, the one I first owned, had the pre-album non-album single “Women in Uniform” added in. Both, in my opinion, are excellent songs.
“Prodigal Son”, the other new track written for the album, is another example on these first two albums of a band that was so comfortable with itself that they were willing to step out of what they may conceive as their comfort zone and create a song that steps away from everything else that appears on the album. We heard that with “Remember Tomorrow” and” Strange World” on the debut album, and here we have it with “Prodigal Son”. Lyrically it is in a different world to what is composed musically. The song tells the story of someone who has been dabbling with black magic and now finds that the power he has been messing with is overpowering him and trying to take him away. Steve has written some wonderful lyrics here, and yet the music surrounding them is of a completely almost unrelated style. Gentler than most Maiden songs, the sweet harmonies exuded by the bass and twin guitars, as well as the completely underrated ability of Paul Di’Anno to sing a song in this mood, creates the almost calming and beautifully enamoured song that it is hard to reconcile with the music of the band, and of the lyrics with the music. In many ways, “Prodigal Son” is a conundrum, but a fascinatingly brilliant conundrum. It offers the kind of storytelling and melodic encompassment that allowed the band to further develop down the road without fear of being accused of selling out as a result. It is a wonderful song.
At the other end of the scale, “Purgatory” is almost a very early style of speed metal track, and must surely be the fastest song Iron maiden ever released. From the opening burst, when you listen carefully to what is here, it is hard to believe that the band was actually able to lay this down in the studio. There is simply, surely, no possible way that Steve Harris could have played this song live. It is just over the top fast. His fingers must have bled when he recorded this. On the frets and his right hand trying the hit each string at that velocity. That bassline throughout the entire length of the song is incredible, and still amazes me every time I listen to the song today. Add to that Clive Burr’s drums. I’m sorry, but how the hell is he playing this? Hit the hi-hats or the ride cymbal, cranking that right leg on the bass tom, and then throwing in his rolls as well. Far out. And yes, then Dave and Adrian following all of that up by playing what they do. My goodness I love this song; I love the fact that we have this kind of super fast paced song along with everything else the band has done on this album. They have covered most options and areas of metal on “Killers”, and shown they are capable of playing all of them.
The album is brought to its conclusion with “Drifter”, a song that had acted as a set closer for some time before its appearance on this album. It is a rambling and rumbling track, almost giving the feeling that the band is tumbling down the side of the mountain as it plays such is the increase in momentum it appears to gather along the way. It does sound like it is an end of gig jam, which of course when played live it became, often being extended with crowd chanting and audience participation. And by having this song close out the album, it feels like the perfect way to have that closure.

Those who have followed my journey with heavy metal music and Iron Maiden in particular will probably be familiar with my indoctrination with the band at the end of Year 10 in 1985, and the explosion of what one might call obsession with said band into 1986. Because my first experience with the band came through the albums “Powerslave”, “Piece of Mind” and “The Number of the Beast”, the exposure to “Killers” a couple of months after having devoured those three albums a hundred times over was of course a little confronting, because the singer on this album sounded different to how he had on those other albums. Oh, Iron Maiden had a different singer originally? OK, good to know.
The transition back from those three albums to what is contained on “Killers” is a truly interesting experience. Not only is the singer different, but the songs and their structure are also different. What “Killers” provides is the compilation of the rest of Maiden’s early years, the years where they were scraping together under constantly revised band lineups, but still playing the soundtrack created by Steve Harris, until he could find a line up and a means to get them all onto vinyl. So because these songs all came from that early era of 1975 through to 1980, they differed from what was written beyond this album, with a new singer and a whole different range that the band was able to explore. Whichever era you listened to first, there is an obvious divide between what came with “Killers” and before, and what came after. That for me when I first got the album was something that had to be traversed.
And I did. Quite comfortably as it turned out. Because most of the songs here are still incredible, and must have been even more so for those that heard this album on its release. For me, there are four outstanding songs on this album, and the remainder are only a notch below that. “Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “Killers”, “Prodigal Son” and “Purgatory” are those four tracks. Why do they stand out for me? It is the perfect combination that this line up of the band provides. Steve Harris and his bass guitar working overtime. On all four of these songs, he offers what made –and makes – him so different from almost every other bass guitarist. The way he writes the songs on his bass guitar to make that instrument so prominant, so integral to the greatness of the tracks. On all four of these songs he is front and centre, and in different ways. Melodically on Murders and Prodigal Son, belligerently on Killers and Purgatory. Clive Burr’s drumming is the other key. The way he and Harry lock in on those songs in particular, driving the tracks when necessary, and holding the fort when it isn’t. Clive is outstanding on this album particularly because he is able to play at the tempo that is required OF him by Harry, and that could not always be an easy thing to do. Dave Murray and Adrian Smith are terrific together, for the first time on a Maiden album. What I discovered listeneing to this album again this week though is that their presence is the least noticeable thing for me on this album. I’m not saying that what they play is not significant, because it is. And they are both excellent here, especially Dave who really shows his clout on the guitar on this album. But these songs for me are dominated by the rhythm of the bass and drums, and the vocals of Paul Di’Anno. And yes, Di’Anno is a star on this album, and these four songs in particular. Each so different from the other, and yet Di’Anno morphs to exactly what is required of each track. The storytelling of each story, each in the tone that the mood has been designated. He soars in Murders, he is sweetly beautiful in Prodigal Son, he is aggressively insane in Killers, and powerfully fast and iconic in Purgatory. The other tracks on the album are all terrific as well, and each member of the band is great on those as well, but for me these are the ones that create the grandeur of this album.
Not a year has passed in the last 40 where I haven’t listened to this album at least a few times. And 2026 is now no different, because I have been hammering it at work, and my vinyl copy still sits on my turntable in the Metal Cavern. And the undying love I have for this album remains undimmed. And why? If for nothing else, the ability to go from a song like “Killers” to a song like “Prodigal Son” and then to a song like “Purgatory”, and not miss a beat, and not lose a listener, and not lose any integrity in the work. And like I have already said, perhaps this IS just an album that draws together the remainder of the band’s song catalogue from the past, to ensure they all got their opportunity to be on an album. But thank goodness for that.
It of course also acts as Paul Di’Anno’s swansong, something that despite the years that passed he was never quite able to get over or get away from. Because when you listen to him sing on this album and its predecessor, you cannot imagine that he would not go on to be a force beyond this time, that his voice and charisma had to be an asset in reviving his music career. What it also probably proves is that in Iron Maiden he had a songwriter who was beyond compare, who gave him material that not only suited his character, but that he could also put a part of himself in to give it an attitude that helped make it what it was. In the years following, it always felt that it was the songwriting that let him down, and not his vocals. Despite this. Di’Anno’s legacy would always remain these two albums, for better or for worse.
As for Iron Maiden, their world was about to expand exponentially, with a success none of them could have imagined. The fact that “Killers” is a part of that springboard should not be forgotten. It should be celebrated.

1337. Mortal Sin / Rebellious Youth. 1991. 3/5

By 1990, Mortal Sin had already achieved something rare and incredibly hard fought for an Australian metal band - international recognition. Their debut album “Mayhemic Destruction” was a thrash metal masterpiece, flawed as it may be seen by today’s standards in regard to production and note by note precision. It announced the band to Australian audiences as one of the up-and-coming bright lights of the genre. Their early work was raw, fast, and clearly indebted to the American thrash movement, particularly Metallica and Anthrax. They continued to gig extensively through 19897 and 1988, all while writing and recording their follow up album with producer Randy Burns. Due to delays at different levels, the album did not come out until April 1989. That album, “Face of Despair”, brought a maturity and intelligent upgrade to the band’s music without losing the power and aggressive output of their live shows. This was best represented when they supported Metallica on their Australia shows on the Damaged Justice world tour, shows that have gone down in legend in Australian music. Mortal Sin destroyed venues as the opening act, and their reputation was sealed. On the back of this, the band opened for Testament on their European tour supporting their “Souls of Black” album, and the UK opening for Faith No More who were on “The Real Thing” album tour.
The pressure behind the scenes was beginning to take its toll however. Two of the most integral parts of the band were removed during this time. Drummer Wayne Campbell, whose drumming on those two albums had been so important, was fired from the band following the Metallica shows, while lead vocalist Mat Maurer quit the band after the European and US legs of their international tour. Maurer’s vocals had been hailed, and his loss meant the band had to find someone who could not only be the frontman of the band but could handle the intense vocal duties at the same time. Steve Hughes from Slaughter Lord had come in on drums, but when he and the band’s two guitarists Paul Carwana and Mick Burke all quit not long after, it looked as though the band was finished.
Sole remaining member, bass guitarist Andy Eftichiou had other ideas, and began to rebuild the band. He had recruited lead singer Steve Sly shortly before the mass exodus, and between them they brought in Alex Hardy and Dave DeFrancesco on guitars and Nash Hall on drums. The reformed band began to tour and get the new lineup known to the public. As a part of this, they entered the studio to write and record a new album, one that they hoped would not only help promote the band with new material to play at live shows, but also to show that, despite the changing line up, Mortal Sin was still around and looking to reestablish itself with the fans. As seemed to be the case for the band during its existence, not everything ran according to plan, not even the new album. For some reason, it was released under two different names in different markets, something which obvious made it very difficult to market and promote properly. Some places had it called “Every Dog Has Its Day”, but in Australia, it was released under the name the band had wanted, and that album name was “Rebellious Youth”.

Given this is almost completely an entirely new band from the one that recorded the first two albums, it is only natural to expect a different sounding album from those two. And that is what you get. Comparing it to those albums doesn’t make a lot of sense, because this band apart from its bass player has nothing in common with them. Indeed, it makes more sense to listen to the album without those expectations as a result. I feel it would be a lot higher regarded if this was the case.
The album opens up with the energetic “Inside Out”, leading with a two-minute clear guitared opening that builds in heaviness that sounds as though it should perhaps have had its own introductory naming, and allowed the actual song to crash into its beginning after this build. It sounds great, but because the two parts are so different from each other, they should have been split on the track list. Once into the heart of the song, the song explodes into a fast tempo with great grooving guitars, and Steve Sly opens with an over-the-top scream of vocals before falling back into his average range. Anthrax-like backing vocals complement the track, which kicks off the album in a great way. “Access Denied” leads off with its sci-fi story through spoken word, explaining the basis of the song before the opening drum and guitar groove enters to kick us in the right direction. Once we are underway there is a more traditional heavy thrash speed sound going on, with the urgent tempo pushing everything into overdrive. Sly’s vocals again have moments where they fit perfectly along with moments where they just stray into territory that they don’t quite fit. In some ways there is a King Diamond sense about the way he constructs his vocals, but cerainly not to the extremes that King does. The song that acts as the pseudo-title track, “Every Dog Has Its Day” is next, and it is one of the heavy anthems that works best on the album, bringing a great riff to the show and lyrics that can be chanted by crowds at gigs with ease. Is there a bit of Death Angel about this song? I think so. It’s catchy, and melodic both lyrically and musically, with great solos through the middle of the song. It’s a beauty.
“Behind the Lies” goes a little darker, and is also where Sly goes to his upper range for a majority of the vocals on the track, something that gives it a flourishing focus, and drives this track with a distinctive style that moves it apart from the front half of the album. The band then offers us “Wasted Days”, the track captures the album’s reflective side, with lyrics that explore regret, lost time, and personal struggle. When you hear a word like ‘wasted’ in a song title, you can almost always guarantee that this means that the album’s ballad track has arrived. This is no different with “Wasted Days”, though Mortal Sin has provided a song with a mid‑tempo groove and emotive vocal delivery that doesn't descend to the depths of the power ballad. The margins that draw this away from the central musical theme of this album allow it to be heard as a reflective tone rather than a ballad motive. While it mightn’t be my favourite song here, it is listenable and not a travesty.
The bass heavy tones of “From the Gutter to the Grave” mirror the groove-oriented guitars and drums that create the rhythm of the song. The mid-range tempo of the track allows the heavier tone to hold fort, while the breakout drum clubbing leads to the pace increasing through the guitar solo. The mixing of tempo and gravity inducing heavier feel through the song gives this a unique and entertaining sound from start to finish, showcasing there is more to this band than just the everyday metal riffs. Pulling out of this is “Side Effect”, which is short, punchy, and energetic, and injects a burst of adrenaline into the album’s second half. It doesn’t burst out along a typical thrash metal track, but it is one that mirrors the way that genre was heading at the time and creates a solid song out of it. “Blackout” is another great darker and moodier track, with terrific atmosphere inherent as it winds its way through the various moods of the song. The rhythm guitar and bass set itself in concrete from the beginning, creating the solid base of the track that allows Sly to motor along over the top. It is another track here that comes at the very beginning of the groove metal tones that were creeping into metal slowly at the time, and it succeeds in its presence.
“See No Evil” picks up the pace again, bringing together all of the styles the band has drawn together. It is fast and aggressive and is one of the closest to classic thrash on the album. If there is a song on this album that best mirrors what they have released before, then it is this one. The old Mortal Sin has not gone completely. “The Price of Peace” winds its way through themes of war, sacrifice, and political hypocrisy. The lyrics are thoughtful, and the music balances heaviness with melody. Sly again mixes up his vocal range here to provide the colour commentary to the track.
The true title track “Rebellious Youth” is another energetic and pulsing anthem, speaking as you would expect about the themes of this album as a whole: defiance, individuality, and generational tension. It is one of the most upbeat songs on the album, brought to life by the twin guitar solo section and Sly’s high range chanting vocal performance. The album then closes out with “Why?”, an introspective and groove inspired track with a heavier tone and driven vocal. The mid paced tempo and melodic focus draw a sense of finality, ending the album on an excellent note.
It is impossible to ignore the bands that Mortal Sin have utilised in the writing of this album. You can hear the sounds of Metallica, Anthrax, Testament and Death Angel drilled into the song riffs and melodies throughout. There is nothing wrong with that, drawing inspiration from your heroes, and the way Mortal Sin weave around that sound to incorporate it as a part of their own is fun to listen to.

My, wasn’t this an interesting album to purchase and listen to on its release. I had spent almost two years prior to this album being released listening to and probably obsessing over the band’s second album “Face of Despair”, released on the eve of their tour to support Metallica in 1989. And then i saw them live on that tour, and that album (along with And Justice for All) remained on my stereo for months afterwards. I loved that album so much, and when I then got their debut “Mayhemic Destruction” not long after, I loved it just as much. So it is fair to say that the band’s third album had a lot to live up to. What is even more significant is that this album was released on the day of the first night of two c0nsecutve nights supporting Megadeth in Sydney at the Enmore Theatre on their first ever Australian tour. Far out. How do you live up to that?
So I bought this album on that afternoon before I saw them support Megadeth, but couldn’t listen to the album until I got home, AFTER seeing this newly constituted band line up. And I had known about the whole band troubles through various articles in Hot Metal magazine. Anyway, I saw the band both nights in Sydney before I got to listen to the album. And the new line up with their new singer... left me underwhelmed live. But you know, I had probably overhyped the whole situation given the amazing experience seeing the more-or-less original line up of the band supporting Metallica where they were awesome. And I was very hyped to see Megadeth for the first time. So although my memory is that they were only average, perhaps that memory is slightly false.
The ALBUM on the other hand!... ummm... it was also underwhelming on first listens. I definitely wanted so much more than I got on those first listens. I wanted the full thrash experience that the first albums offered. And Sly’s vocals were not Mat Maurer. So I had the album on for awhile, but with the live experience behind me, it fell out of rotation. The first impression was not exceptional.
Eventually though, when I came back to it, I took to it. The band was on their first hiatus then, and I was curious as to whether or not they would ever get back together. And I gravitated back to this album without any preconceived notions. And what I found was surprisingly engaging. It probably helped that this era of music by then had rolled by, and it was actually nice to hear this late 80’s early 90’s form of thrash metal again. Comforting, probably. And as I have mentioned, you can hear their heroes in the music, and I enjoyed that. Steve Sly may have gone by then, but this time around I enjoyed what he has put down as vocals on the album, and the music was surprisingly good. And my enjoyment of this album came from that time rather than its initial release.
This album doesn’t come out often, but in reviewing it again for this podcast episode, I have rediscovered what I enjoyed about it all over again. This may never be an album that is considered a classic, but as much as I at least maligned it on its release – and there is only one person I’ve ever met who truly adores it – I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to this album all over again.
The questions that rose in my head as i thought about this album this week were various. It was 1991. Did the album work? Was it right for the time? My personal view is that, as well as having constant management issues, Mortal Sin suffered the same fate as dozens or hundreds of similar bands at the time. The music world changed, and if you didn’t move in the direction of grunge or follow the course set by Metallica with the black album, then you mostly doomed. Even those bands that DID follow those paths, it didn’t guarantee you would survive. In Mortal Sin’s case, they couldn't take a trick. Their struggles with their management, which then affected their ability to play gigs or even get paid for the ones they did play, meant further tension within the group and between the members of the group. The fact that their sound and genre of music was being overrun by the tsunami of grunge meant that it just wasn’t feasible to continue, which eventually led to the dissolvement of the band.
As of the recording of this episode, Mortal Sin has been resurrected for the fourth time, and are about to head out on tour in Australia once again. For old people like me, it is a trip down nostalgia lane, one I look forward to enjoying. Whether the band revisits any songs from this album, given its estrangement with the rest of the catalogue, remains to be seen. If it does, then no doubt these tracks will remain as strong on stage as they appear here. In a different world, this album would be held in far higher esteem that it is. It’s a shame it isn’t.

1336. Deep Purple / Purpendicular. 1996. 4/5

It was often said over the years that the tension that brewed within the members of Deep Purple, and in particular between lead singer Ian Gillan and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, was what helped them to create the amazing back catalogue of albums in their discography, that the drive to succeed and better each other and the group was what helped to create the superlative albums that the band had released. Perhaps there is an element of truth to that, but it must have made time in the studio and the constant touring far less enjoyable than it could have been. The band had slowly peeled away until its eventual hiatus in 1975, something that was discussed in more detail on the review of “Come Taste the Band”, episode 158 of this podcast. The return of the Mark II lineup in 1984 was heralded, but the old arguments returned, which saw Gillan remove himself from the group again for 1990’s “Slave and Masters” album, and then be reinstated for 1993’s “The Battle Rages On”. 1993 was the band’s 25th anniversary, and the record label and other band members wanted Gillan to return for it, something that Blackmore had been decidedly against, only agreeing to it when he receive what amounts to a $250,000 bribe to be a part of it. Good money if you can get it.
Things surprisingly didn’t improve. Tension was still rife within the group. Of particular contention was that Gillan had reworked much of the material that had been written with Joe Lynn Turner for the new album before he had been moved on for Gillan’s return. Blackmore felt that Gillan's rewrites had made the songs less melodic than they had been in their original versions. On the tour that followed, Blackmore became more disgruntled, and began behaving like a petulant child, often not performing his guitar parts and performing spats with crew and cameramen. Eventually Blackmore quit in November 1993, this time for good. Guitar god Joe Satriani was drafted in to complete the tour, shows that were met with unanimous praise and a feeling that perhaps the tension had finally lifted. Satriani was asked to join the band but declined due to his own commitments. Instead, the band unanimously went for Steve Morse, guitarist for the Dixie Dregs, to come into the band, which occurred in August 1994.
Deep Purple was now in a new and different era. Four of the five members of the Mark II lineup remained, alongside their much younger and sprightly guitar player. The 90’s decade had brought about a huge shift in the style and popularity of music genres, and there had to be questions as to where – or whether or not – Deep Purple and their style of music still fit in the changing world. What would their newest recruit bring to the table, and would that be enough to help right the ship? All would be revealed on the album that retrospect likely shows us was the beginning of the next great chapter of the band, the album titled “Purpendicular”.

With so much pressure on the band and their new guitarist from the outset, both Deep Purple and Steve Morse deliver immediately from the opening track “Vavoom: Ted the Mechanic”. Not only is Morse’s staccato guitar riffing immediately prominent, offering his own playing while comfortably fitting straight into the style that Deep Purple have made synonymous, it fits around Gillan’s vocals and both are comfortable together. It has a live feeling about the track, and Morse with his own eccentricities bounds along. Ian Gillan’s lyrics are based around a story he heard in a bar, and he sings it in the narrative style that he performs so well. It’s catchy, has a terrific groove, and the band sounds as though they are having a great time while playing it. “Loosen My Strings” changes the mood up, coming at you with a melodic yet introspection of both music and lyrics, with the layering of Gillan’s vocals drawing more out of this as a result. This style of song is one that Deep Purple had been developing over its past three albums, with Roger Glover’s bass guitar setting the platform of the dulcet mood. Jon Lord’s keys are subtle but enhance that mood throughout, and the song builds through to the fuller sounding conclusion, with Morse’s guitar solo mirroring the beautiful nature of the song as it fades out. It is a song that echoes the direction the band would take into the new century as the band grew into its age and realised it wasn’t the hard rock trend setter it had been at its peak. “Soon Forgotten” has a darker and more experimental tone, driven by Lord’s organ and the offsetting riff he provides on it. Backed by the equally charged harmonics from Morse it is an eerie and unusual atmosphere created here, very unlike Deep Purple, and yet despite the shift in mood its unconventional structure offers a counterpoint to what most would expect from the band. Its adventurous, it's strange, but it is compelling.
Then comes the track that is the album’s glory, one which constituted the true beginning of the new era of Deep Purple, “Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming”. Beginning with Lord’s beautiful piano organ tone and Gillan’s soft and emotionally wrought vocal, it crashes in with the drums, bass and guitar along with the organ back in control, the rise in Gillan’s power slightly to emphasise the growing to the next level of the song. His articulation of his lyrics moves with the song, as Morse and his guitar beautifully accentuate the same beautiful parameters of the track, before crashing to the higher level as Gillan sings more forcefully and emotionally as Ian Paice’s drums drive the harder aspect of the chorus. Then, just as suddenly we sink back to the moving middle section, Lord and Morse switching the front and centre parts as Gillan continues his mid-range emotive exposition, and then climbing back into the chorus again. It is a rising and falling swell throughout the song, moving motions around as it goes. Morse’s solo is still one of the most beautiful things he has ever produced, and then we build to the powerful crash of the wave that blasts the track home, as Gillan tracks over his vocals to double down on the emotive outpouring he and the band have offered throughout. Words of description here barely begin to explain how amazingly beautiful and powerful this song is. Deep Purple used to write hard rock and metal anthems, alongside their amazing hits like “Child in Time”. This song is a thing of beauty, and while it may well be the final truly great song they have ever produced, it most certainly is that. It remains one of my favourite ever Deep Purple songs.
Having recovered from the emotional journey of the previous track, “Cascades: I’m Not Your Lover” brings you back to earth with the more straight forward and traditional hard rocking track. The energy of the live aspect of the band flows through this song, with Lord and Glover dominating the verse and chorus sections, and the drive coming from Paice on drums and Morse on guitar. Gillan’s vocals return to full strength along the way, and the middle section of the song where Lord and Morse are given their chance to shine give it the full Deep Purple candour. “The Aviator” has a true folk-rock feel about its structure, a surprisingly and somewhat humorous thing given the way their former guitarist went with his music over the following three decades. There are touches of Led Zeppelin about this performance, an understated track that Gillan’s lyrics evokes with flight, freedom and introspection. The semi-acoustic touches add another level to the music that the band has composed for this album. The changing depths to the music of this album is given another nudge here. “Rosa’s Cantina” mixes things up further, a very funk, groove-driven track that wouldn’t have been out of place on the Coverdale-Hughes era albums of the mid-1970's. Gillan’s harmonica also makes an appearance. Paice and Glover strut their stuff here holding down the funky groove, with Lord joining in during his musical interlude.
A return to the true merge of organ and guitar comes with “A Castle Full of Rascals”, a track with the mix of the best elements of each member involved. The break down in the middle, the quieter section that splits the song in two, draws in another element of change within the band’s renewed template. “A Touch Away” is a more melodic song, gentler in output more atmospheric in tone through the guitar and organ moodiness. Like “Loosen My Strings” it signals a deliberate change in the band’s direction, subtle though it is at this point of their career. It is another beautifully composed and played track that does not compromise the integrity of the band’s history while certainly pushing the initial beginnings of the band’s growth into its middle age.
“Hey Cisco” clicks back into traditional Deep Purple territory, and the byplay between Lord and Morse here returns in a more upbeat and fun sense, Gillan’s bouncy vocals drawing off the similar bass line from Glover and the busier drumming from Paice to create an enjoyable and tempo raising track. This is followed the lean back into the blues based hard rock anthem of “Somebody Stole My Guitar”, with Gillan’s best story-telling vocals when he sounds at his most confident. These kinds of songs are often Deep Purple’s best because the band sounds relaxed and the songs come across that way as a result. The album then concludes with “The Purpendicular Waltz”, a whimsical, rhythmically unusual track that blends rock with a waltz‑like feel. It’s a bold ending, once again showcasing the band’s willingness to experiment and that there is a definite air of change about what the band is offering. With their new guitarist on board, and a more collaborative feeling within the group due to Morse’s arrival, it concludes an album that exudes a new start for a band, one that hits all of the right notes.

The mid-1990's was a scene of massive upheaval in the music world that I resided in, along with the real world I was trying to navigate. The result of this was that 1996 was a year that I didn’t go out and find a whole lot of new albums that were being released. And despite my adulation of the band and ALL of the albums they had released up until that point, this album and its follow up passed me by on its release. It wasn’t until Deep Purple made their belated return to Australian shores after 15 years in 1999 that I found out this album and its follow up existed. I saw them live without knowing them, and after that concert I tracked both albums down. So the last Deep Purple album I had listened to had been the previous release “The Battle Rages On” with Blackmore, which I enjoy, but having seen Steve Morse live I was looking forward to hearing what he had contributed to the band in the studio.
This had been an interesting album when I finally got around to hearing it. And that comes solely from what I’ve already spoken about, the change in how Deep Purple were heading with their sound, that begins right here on this album. And that change is gradual over several albums, before they become the comfortable sounding almost lounge club act that they have become over their last couple of albums. Listening to the changes in musical style of the band through songs such as “Loosen My Strings”, “Soon Forgotten”, “The Aviator” and “A Touch Away” was something that, when I first listened to the album, I didn’t think I was prepared for. But in the long run I was wrong. Deep Purple was not the young, brash trend setting band they had been in the 1970’s. And with the movement in music genre that had taken place during the 1990’s decade, the fact that Deep Purple had not followed those trends, and had instead found what they were comfortable in writing and recording, and stuck true to their own core musically while incorporating the changes that THEY wanted to be directed by, meant that their integrity was retained, and for me as a fan I found that to be comforting. What is perhaps ironic is that there can be a case made that this was the kind of thing Blackmore had been pushing for with the “Slaves and Masters” album, and which had been stripped away when Gillan had returned for “The Battle Rages On”.
My CD copy of this album has been out again for the last couple of weeks, and to me this still sounds magnificent. This is still a Deep Purple album, despite what may be presented here in this review. It is a more modern, less bombastic version of the band from their heyday, but so it should be after almost 30 years, and the sound that they initially came from. Deep Purple has reinvented itself three or four times over its journey to this album, each to incorporate newer members of the band, and incorporating their sound into their music. And it has always worked. And it works again here. The core of the band here has been together for an eternity, and it is always a comfort to hear them play together. And Steve Morse is just marvellous, and his contribution to the album and the band is spectacular. None better than on this track, which is still one of the best things this band has ever produced.

1335. Primal Fear / Nuclear Fire. 2001. 4/5

Following their sophomore album “Jaws of Death”, released in 1999, Primal Fear had come to solidify their position in the power metal sphere of the metal genre, when the genre was beginning to explode globally. And yet Primal Fear was still very much of their own version of that genre, their music rooted in the traditions of Judas Priest, along with Accept, Helloween and the German heavy metal lineage. After forming around the trio of lead vocalist Ralf Scheepers, bass guitarist Matt Sinner and guitarist Tom Naumann, the band’s first two albums were solid entries into the European metal scene of the late 1990’s without providing a significant impact, or perhaps more importantly exuding a unique style that all bands are looking to find. Despite the excellence of the band members themselves, they were to this point in time better known as having the former lead singer of Gamma Ray, and that first album having had Kai Hansen guest of three tracks.
After the album had been completed, Naumann had been force to quit the band due to ill health. During the tour through Europe, Brazil and Japan he was replaced by Alex Beyrodt for the live shows. In January 2000, Henny Wolter joined the band as a permanent replacement on guitar.
Moving into their third album, the band needed to find a way to bring about their own individuality, to stamp their own style onto their music while utilising the best style that they possessed. The first two albums had a drum style that was solid yet not distinctive, a great vocalist who had proven himself in other bands prior to Primal Fear being incorporated, and music that differed from the style that most power metal bands from Europe utilised by being a guitar driven band rather than a keys and synth driven band. What Primal Fear needed to work out was what worked best for them, what they wanted to bring in to have them make their own mark in their music. And it is fair to say that with “Nuclear Fire” they managed to unlock the key that was to give them the impetus they needed as they moved into the new millennium. It represents a crystallization of their identity: a fusion of excellent guitar riffing, unlocking the true soaring vocals of Scheepers, mixed with the commitment to the classic heavy metal ethos. While their first two albums established Primal Fear as heirs to the German metal throne, “Nuclear Fire” is where they truly stepped into their own embodiment.

The album opens with a blast of speed and precision. “Angel in Black” is a mission statement: fast, melodic, and driven by a chorus that sticks instantly. The twin‑guitar harmonies of Stefan Leibing and Henny Wolter set the album in motion, but it is perhaps Scheepers’ soaring scream and following vocals that set the tone for the entire record. The fast tempo is exactly where the album needs to be, and it leads of in wonderful style. It is one of the band’s most iconic openers and remains a live staple. This is followed by “Kiss of Death”, a darker, more dramatic track which showcases Primal Fear’s ability to blend atmosphere with power. The chorus is expressive, and the song’s pacing gives Scheepers room to explore his dynamic range. The guitar solos combine a wonderful melodic quality that is pushed along by the rhythm of Sinner’s bass and Klaus Sperling’s drums. “Back from Hell” brings in Scheepers’s best Rob Halford channelled vocal screams, and mirrors the great speed metal tracks of the 1980’s with its incredible speed driven by the double kick and double time riffing guitars. The injection of adrenaline from the opening stanza combines with the mood and greats of the genre. There is barely a chance to draw breath throughout, and it is this kind of track that Primal Fear surely looked to build their reputation on. The opening three tracks on this album have already set the platform for where the band wanted to take their sound, and it is a fist shakingly fantastic stand to take. The guitaring in particular is brutal and brilliant.
After the breath stealing opening to the album, “Now or Never” pulls itself back into a more melodic and mid‑tempo anthem. The chugging guitar riff keeps the heaviness of the track prevalent and balances the change in tempo without making it feel as though the integrity of the album has collapsed. The chorus is perfectly performed by Ralf, and the melodic dual guitars of the middle of the song, combined with their solo pieces, creates another piece of this excellent metal puzzle. “Fight the Fire” crashes back into the powerful and aggressive drum and guitar combination, a fast and fiery track with a ripping guitar riff and powerful chorus that acts as the centrepiece to the song. Primal Fear have made a career out of producing this kind of blueprinted track from this album onwards, and this remains one of their best in that respect, with that rhythm setting up the song and Ralf’s duelled vocals pitching it over the top.
On the back of this comes “Eye of an Eagle”, which again moves back to a mid-tempo driven by Scheepers and his power mid-to-high range vocal being the basis of the song, drawn along by the hard core guitar riff and matching guitar solo break from the two guitarists. The solid normal tempo hard hitting drum beat backed by Sinner’s powerful bassline make this a truly interesting comparison track alongside the faster scintillating efforts that precede it. Scheepers and his multi layered vocals give it a chanting feel along the way.
“Bleed for Me” acts as the drawn back change up track for the album, channelling the power metal ballad in its characteristic slower pace and clear guitared section to match Ralf’s soaring vocal that would portray the style – and yet it avoids true comparison to that style of track because of the band’s refusal to allow it to descend to that depth. Ralf’ amazing vocal holds firm in not trending to ballad status, and the music behind them also does not sell out to that quality. As a song that looks to act as a counterpoint to the rest of the material on the album, without going so far as to be something it is not, “Bleed for Me” is a highly effective. It is followed by the title track “Nuclear Fire”, one that lives up to its title. It returns the album to its heavy, fast, and packed with energy best. The chorus is explosive, and the song encapsulates the album’s musical themes of intensity, raw speed and thunderous guitars. The melodic combination through the middle of the song is pure Helloween and Gamma Ray, and it continues to deliver what the album has professed that it is. Then comes the excellent opening riffing of “Red Rain”, banging into the hard-hitting rhythm and Ralf’s melodically dualled vocals again taking centre stage. “Fire on the Horizon” hits along the template that the band has crested for itself on this album, the fast start driven by the drums and bass, the entry of Ralf’s amazing vocals and then riffing of the guitars, which go into overdrive during their solo exhibitions. It’s another beauty. This then leads into the closing track, the unapologetically cheesy “Living for Metal”, the song that celebrates exactly where the band has come from, and the style and sound that brought them together. The lyrics speak to what the band believe in, and in a way that becomes the power metal anthem that gives the band it final flourish. It was the first, but certainly not the last, of this kind of track that Primal Fear would offer us along their journey.

My introduction to Primal Fear was in fact this album, which came from the discovery that initial Gamma Ray vocalist Ralf Scheepers was a part of the band. I loved Ralf’s vocals on the first two Gamma Ray albums – not so much the third, but that is a story for another day – and I was excited to discover what he was doing in a new band. What I discovered was something that I thought was outrageously good. Not just Ralf, but the band and music as well. It was in fact very close to what I truly wanted from my power metal music – the bright guitars, the fast paced music, the hammering double kick timing that wasn’t overloaded, and great vocals to match it all. That is what Primal Fear offered to me on my first impressions with “Nuclear Fire”. And I was dragged in from the outset.
What they also did was not blunt their fire and energy with a characteristic power metal ballad or two, which is pretty much the order of the day if you are a power metal band. The one song that changes up the focus of the album, “Bleed for Me”, retains its metal focus and does not descend to the depths that a majority of these types of tracks often do. And for me that was the clincher.
Power metal is not for everyone, and even in this instance, many prefer the guitar duelling with the brazen keyboardist and synths to bring that melodic feel to the music. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy that too, especially when those bands allow the dual to occur just like the best music in Deep Purple did with Blackmore and Lord. But here, banking on the two guitars like traditional pure heavy metal does, Primal Fear are able to draw in fans of both styles because of the way they construct their songs with their lineup. And for me at least, that is a winner. The burgeoning writing combination of Ralf Scheepers and Matt Sinner is important, and the dual guitars from Leibing and Wolter is spectacular are pleasingly spectacular, along with the excellent drumming from Sperling.
I have had this album back in my CD player again for the past week, and it has been just as enjoyable as it always is. As it was my entry point to the band, it will always hold a special place in my memory. But it is the enjoyment of the pace of the music, those guitars and Ralf’s massive vocal entry that keeps me coming back.
This was the start of a string of albums from the band that brought them to prominence in the heavy metal community. It stands as the first, as the album that saw the band discover the style that was their own, that became that template of Primal Fear. And 25 years on it still stands the test of time in that regard.

1334. Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi / Seventh Star. 1986. 3/5

There were several times over the years that the legendary guitarist Tony Iommi attempted to progress down the path of performing in a solo band; to write, record and perform in an entity that was NOT named Black Sabbath. When he has his initial discussions with Ronnie James Dio, after Ozzy Osbourne had been fired from Black Sabbath and it looked as though that band may well cease to exist, they were about putting together a separate project together that would not perform under that banner. Eventually it was Dio that joined Black Sabbath as Osbourne’s replacement. When he had discussions with Ian Gillan after the split with Dio and Appice, it was about performing in a project that would not bound to the Black Sabbath name. It wasn’t under that album was completed that all involved saw that it would indeed be released as a Black Sabbath album. And following that album, titled “Born Again”, when Gillan had returned to Deep Purple to bring back their own Mark II lineup for a reunion album and tour, and bass guitarist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward has also both moved on for their own reasons, Iommi was faced with that reality head on once again. That surely, on this occasion, Black Sabbath would be lain to rest, or at the very least be given some time out to pasture.
And so, he prepared to write songs for a new project, a Tony Iommi project, one that would not be judged as a Black Sabbath album, where he could put together material that would not necessarily fit in a Black Sabbath world. And this is what he did. His initial plan was to write material and have a different vocalist on each track. His wish list included singers such as Robert Plant, Rob Halford, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes. However, negotiating with their own publishing companies proved too difficult to sort out that idea, and he gave up on it. After a couple of short stints with vocalists David Donato and Jeff Fenholt, which included recording some demos that eventually were leaked and bootlegged extensively, Tony did come together with Glenn Hughes. After collaborating on a couple of songs, they agreed that they would do an entire album together, one that would allow Iommi to write material that he could never do under the Black Sabbath name, a deliberate move where he could show a versatility away from that band’s progression.
As with all things in music of course, not everything happens that easily. Record executives, no doubt seeing diminishing returns if they promoted the album as a Tony Iommi project, insisted on the album being released under the name Black Sabbath, even though not only was the tone of the album completely unrelatable to the material that band had released up to that point, but also that Tony was the only remaining member from either of the Mark 1, 2 or 3 lineups. It really was a complete cock-up, because this in no way sounds like a Black Sabbath album. But the executives and company weren’t having it. In the long run, the album was credited as “Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi”, which is surely one of the most ludicrous and preposterous band titles in the history of music. Tony had always been a part of Black Sabbath – why was it now Black Sabbath FEATURING Tony Iommi!?!? Did that solve the case that it was, and still should be considered, as a Iommi solo album? No. It does not. And the fact that it is listed as a part of the Black Sabbath discography is still something that feels out of place. It should be written out of that line up and just admitted as a solo release. Why? Well, that is something that we will now come to discuss.

The major reason for the certain amount of blowback that this album has received over the years is because of the way the songs have been composed, and just what the INTENTION was when those songs were written. They were written in the main by a legendary guitarist who was looking to compose a different type of song from what he had produced over the previous 15 plus years with his highly successful and influential band, alongside another legendary vocalist whose vocal style was usually lent to a different style of music than what was being expected from the band that this album was eventually referred to. And there is no doubting the quality of Glenn Hughes as a vocalist. Anyone who has heard him sing on the Deep Purple albums “Burn” and “Stormbringer” can attest to that. But he isn’t a heavy metal singer, or one that is ready to sing those types of songs that Black Sabbath had produced in the past. And between these two, they looked to produce an album that could combine Hughes’s talents along with Iommi looking to find a different drive away from his usual template. This is the way that the album should be listened to, not as an album of the Black Sabbath discography.
That being the case, there are some really good songs on this album, and some songs that require a certain amount of consideration of the reasoning behind why they were written. The album opens strongly with “In for the Kill” with a great introduction for new drummer Eric Singer, who Iommi had ‘stolen’ from his then-girlfriend’s solo band, Lita Ford, something that Iommi admitted in his autobiography helped to end that relationship (along with always doing copious amounts of cocaine with his mate Geoff Nicholls). The rumbling bass line from Dave Spitz helps create a great mood, and the rolling tempo geared with Iommi’s riffing offers a solid entry point into the album. “Turn to Stone”, which is the third song on the album, follows a similar route. It is uptempo, it has what I like to call on this album a great alternate Iommi riff and solo (one that isn’t the metal groundbreaking style of early Sabbath, but of a terrific hard rocking style that suits what he wants to achieve on this album) and Glenn’s vocals rage along in sync with it. It is another really good track for those that enjoy hard rocking fast tempo music. We then have the Geoff Nicholls keyboard heavy introduction of “Sphinx (The Guardian)” that acts as the precursor to the title track “Seventh Star”, a slower song that feels as though in a previous incarnation would have been far gloomier and doomier than this song is. Still, it has a terrific bass line from Spitz that is supported by the greater influence of the keys throughout from Nicholls, that simple solid drum beat from Singer, and Glenn’s vocal crooning over the top. Add to this another great riff from Tony and an even better composed solo through the middle of the track. All it seems to be missing is more energy throughout, both from Tony’s guitar and Glenn’s vocals. If he REALLY sang this, like we know he can at the top of his pipes, it could have been far more extraordinary.
Side 2 opens up with “Danger Zone” which has the most energy and punch of the album. The riff is harder, Glenn sings harder, and it sounds so much better as a result. “Angry Heart” phases in and out of soft rock while clinging somewhat desperately to the tendrils of hard rock around the edges. It channels some of the pieces of pop rock songs of the era with a greater emphasis from the Keys of Nicholls in the mix, and in this case it is Glenn’s vocals that carry the song, giving it the depth of character that makes it worth listening to.
The best examples of the experimentation Tony wanted to produce with this album can best be heard from three particular tracks. “Heart Like a Wheel” is basically a freeform blues exposition. The fade in of the song at the beginning is a bit standard, and the slow tempo and blues base of the track has you imagining the basement club filled with smoke, while an average blues band goes about its work. The ring of Singer’s snare on the track comes through too loud in comparison to the rest of the music on the song. Iommi plays as brilliantly as ever, and it is songs like this that he wanted to experiment with on this album, and the reason why the album is the way it is. And I’m all for it – it just isn’t the kind of song I enjoy, no matter who is playing it. At close to seven minutes of blues exploration, it overstays its welcome. The closing track to the album “In Memory…” is the second ballad of the album, this one of a truer character in that respect. It segues out of “Angry Heart” almost unnoticed apart from the softening of the mood of the track with the guitar closing to clear, and Glenn’s vocals rise to his beautiful ballad qualities that he is quite magnificent at.
Then comes the kicker. The second song on the album is the promotional single that was released, titled “No Stranger to Love”. If you are ever of a mind to do so, it is worth checking out the music video on YouTube and you’ll have an even better idea of how far away this is from being a Black Sabbath album. This is a pure power ballad, with every trick in the book that power ballads use to entice those that love these kinds of tracks into their web. And it is where this album loses a lot of listeners, because as the second track on the album it is so unexpected and so historically different. But here’s the thing - if you take it in the context that this ISN’T a Black Sabbath album, then you can judge it on face value, to like it or not like it. It is the major dividing song on this album, the one that truly sets itself apart from the track list. As discussed here it isn’t the only song that doesn’t necessarily fit the template that most want it to, but it is the major divisive one.
If you look at this purely as a solo album, does that cover up the large spindly cracks that being classed as a Sabbath album uncovers? No, it does not, and this song just goes to prove that. But approaching this as a solo release does at least give your ears the context they need to understand WHY it sounds so different to every other Sabbath album. Glenn Hughes is a brilliant vocalist, one of the greatest voices ever, and what he sings here is different from all other Sabbath vocalists. Anyone who has listened to the Iommi/Hughes album “Fused” from 2005 will know that these two can write and perform a thumping album. But this was 1986 and in an era that has its inherent problems.

“Seventh Star” was one of the first Black Sabbath albums I ever heard. This was mainly due to one of my best friends at the end of high school, who became particularly interested in the band during that time. As a result, he not only collected their albums in the same way I did – by having them taped for him by other friendly people onto blank C90 cassettes, but he also purchased this album on vinyl. He would often have it playing when I frequented his house, though initially I had trouble placing who the band was. It sure didn’t SOUND like Black Sabbath, musically or vocally. Once I had worked out the story behind the album, I made sure that he recorded it for me on my own C90 cassette that I offered him. This particular friend, who has been my brother-in-law now for over 30 years, remains a big fan of this album. I admire him for that in many ways.
I have had a difficult journey with this album over the years. I actually think that discovering it when I did has helped me accept it more than I might have had it been later on. At that time I was in the middle of two years where I was trying to discover and digest as much music in this new genre that I had found as I could, and anything remotely interesting I grabbed on to and listened to. And while this was certainly not as heavy as most of the music I was getting in to, it was still ‘labelled’ as Black Sabbath. And probably because I was enjoying bands such as Bon Jovi and Europe as much as I was Metallica and Iron Maiden at the time, I found I could listen to this and enjoy it as well. But I won’t deny that it wasn’t all that I hoped for. I first listened to this album a short while after finding “Heaven and Hell” and “Mob Rules” and “Paranoid”, so in comparison to those albums, it just wasn’t even in the same weight category. I listened to it and enjoyed it, but it was like comparing Dom Perignon to Blowhole Spumante (and that is a Kiama reference that most of you will not know, but I think will understand).
Why didn’t Glenn Hughes also play bass on the album? My guess is that his bass playing is too funky to incorporate into the songs Tony was writing, and that they needed a more mainstream style. But it also begs another question as to why this doesn’t sound like a Black Sabbath album. Because of Geezer Butler. As important and necessary as Tony Iommi is to making a Black Sabbath album sound like Black Sabbath – and a lot of Iommi’s guitaring here is fairly generic and his soloing is kept to a minimum, which given it is his greatest source of drawing in the fans is a little strange - I’ve always believed the same is true of Geezer Butler. Without his iconic bass sound, the songs lack the energy and drive to make them that good. Of course, this was not meant to be called a Black Sabbath album, was it?
If only this album could be re-recorded. Not now, of course, but if Iommi and Hughes had decided to do this all over again when they got back together in the mid-2000’s and added the kind of energy and power the songs deserved, this could be a far better and more enjoyable album. Just listening to it again this week, that much has been obvious. Better production, more passion in the songs. It wouldn’t have made it a world beater, but I think it would have found a way to better showcase the strengths that some of these songs do possess.
As one of two stand-alone albums away from the Ozzy Osbourne, Dio and Tony Martin eras of the band, “Seventh Star” suffers from mis-direction of the band name and the turmoil that went with the band members and tour that followed. Hughes was fired just six gigs into the tour and replaced by Ray Gillen, who if you listen to the remastered version of this album has the live songs from that tour, where Gillen sounds magnificent. Of course, he was then fired while recording the next album, so the turmoil had continued past this album.
My vinyl copy has been on my turntable in the Metal Cavern again this week, and I still enjoy listening to it. And as I am sure has become obvious over the course of this episode, I don’t listen to it as a Black Sabbath album. I listen to it as the first of the Iommi/Hughes collaborations, which eventually stretched to the 1996 DEP Sessions and then 2005’s “Fused” album. Songs like “In for the Kill”, “Turn to Stone” and “Danger Zone” are still as enjoyable to me as they were back in 1986. And yes, “No Stranger to Love” is still a completely average track. Yeah, look, I still sing along to it every time I listen to this album, but I feel dirty doing it. I love both Iommi and Hughes, but I still can’t abide by the power ballad. It is a conundrum.
If you take “Seventh Star” as a non-Sabbath album you will find it is worth a listen, flawed as it may be. There are pieces still worth a listen, even if it is as an historical reference. If you want to hear what Hughes and Iommi can REALLY do together, find a copy of “Fused”. It tears this to pieces.

1333. David Bowie / Station to Station. 1976. 4/5

By the time we had reached the mid-1970’s it is remarkable to think that David Bowie had already released nine studio albums. Much of his success up until that point in time had been his ability to reinvent himself and his style of music, meeting trends (or perhaps setting them himself) and creating and crafting songs and music that were able to meet the mood of the time, and then build on the legend he had created for himself. It is also true that his success was not always met with the huge monetary returns or initial albums sales that we have seen in the years and decades since. However, in regards to the recording and release of this album, it was the commercial success of his previous album, “Young Americans” in 1975 that allowed Bowie far greater freedom when it came time to write and record his next album. It is also true that the sessions established the lineup of guitarist Carlos Alomar, bassist George Murray and drummer Dennis Davis that Bowie would use for the remainder of the 1970’s decade.
It had been a remarkably busy time for Bowie in both his music and his other creative pursuits. Following the release of “Young Americans”, Bowie was offered a role in the movie adaptation of Walter Tevis's 1963 novel ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’. In the film, Bowie portrays the lead role of Thomas Jerome Newton, an alien who travels to Earth in search of materials for his dying planet, eventually becoming corrupted by humans. director Nicolas Roeg warned the star that the part of Newton would likely remain with him for some time after the filming. With Roeg's agreement, Bowie developed his own look for the film, and this served as a major influence on Bowie's next onstage character, the Thin White Duke. Prior to filming beginning Bowie had picked up a nasty cocaine addiction. He recalled in 1993: "My one snapshot of that film is not having to act...Just being me as I was perfectly adequate for the role. I wasn't of this earth at that particular time”. Bowie moved to Los Angeles for the filming, and stayed with Deep Purple Bass guitarist Glenn Hughes – not the most stable of room mates. Bowie lived in an increasingly paranoid state, recalling he refused to use elevators because of his fear of heights. His addiction severed friendships with musicians Keith Moon, John Lennon and Harry Nilsson; he later said: "If you really want to lose all your friends and all of the relationships that you ever held dear, cocaine is the drug to do it with”.
When he had time off from filming, Bowie wrote a collection of short stories called ‘The Return of the Thin White Duke’, as well as writing new songs as the film progressed. On its conclusion, Bowie and his band returned to the studio to create, master and record his follow up to “Young Americans” that he simply titled “Station to Station”.

The opening track winds its way through ten minutes of beautiful and imaginative Bowie magnificence, the longest song of Bowlie’s entire discography, the opening wavy imitations of a steam train entering the station not lost upon the title of the track, before incorporating the distorted guitar in the back of the mix, allowing the drum beat and funky bass to hold court in the main. It is a slow march, in no hurry to reach its destination. At the five minute mark to song moves into a higher energy and faster tempo, and it is almost a different song in the way it jumps around enhanced by the keyboards and bass and guitar solo through the back half of the song that now dominates, bringing back sounds that are familiar on “Aladdin Sane” and “Ziggy Stardust”. It doesn’t feel like ten minutes while listening to the song, perhaps because it DOES feel like two different tracks, and because the second half of the song is so upbeat and joyous. Lyrically the Thin White Duke persona is mentioned in the first line, and brings us to where this album and Bowie himself were heading on this album. It is a cracking opening track.
“Golden Years” was the first single released from the album, some two months prior to the album’s release, acting as its emissary. It is perhaps the best known track from the album, and also possesses a more regular rhythm and vocal throughout as a result. Stories abound that the track was written for Elvis Presley, with whom Bowie shared a record label at the time, but that he turned it down. It is more of a mid-tempo funky groove and less energetic than the opening track, one that sits in a safe space here.
“Word on a Wing” closes out the first side of the album, draw back even further, offering closer to a soul sound than the funk and energy of the previous two tracks. Bowie admits that the song was written out of a coke-addled spiritual despair that he experienced while filming “The Man Who Fell to Earth”. In 1980 Bowie spoke to the magazine NME, saying: "There were days of such psychological terror when making the Roeg film that I nearly started to approach my reborn, born again thing. It was the first time I'd really seriously thought about Christ and God in any depth, and 'Word on a Wing' was a protection. It did come as a complete revolt against elements that I found in the film. The passion in the song was genuine... something I needed to produce from within myself to safeguard myself against some of the situations I felt were happening on the film set”. And you can hear this in his vocals through the song, the passion and desperation all mixed into one during his performance. Given his quoted thoughts, you feel as there is no acting going into this particular track.
Side 2 opens with “TVC 15”, a song that appears well influenced by the cocaine that he was imbibing at the time. The track features almost honky tonk piano in places, and discusses the protagonist watching his girlfriend being eaten by his TV, and knowing the only way to get her back is to follow her in. It is a song not from a lucid mind one suspects, and yet here it works in the context of how the album came to be produced. If one were to criticise it, the perhaps it repeats itself for too long to take the song out to its conclusion, but perhaps that is exactly what the song was trying to indicate. Following this comes “Stay”, a true funk and soul guitar built track that incorporates the best pieces of Bowie’s repertoire, the heavy rhythm section overlain with great guitar licks and Bowie’s vocals moving between low to high, conversational to singing as the song requires. Guitarist Carlos Almoar later recalled: “This song was recorded very much in a cocaine frenzy. 'Stay' was basically done with the rhythm section. It was pretty funky and pretty much straight ahead. I wrote out a chart and said this was pretty much what we wanted to do. That song I think David did on the guitar. He strummed a few chords for me, and then we gave it back to him. The rhythm section really liked that one, and then Earl Slick covered some of the lines I had laid down with a thicker sound”. The band is really given its chance to shine on this track, and the mix of the album, with the bass coming through forward while the guitars are slightly more in the background works a treat.
The album closer is “Wild is the Wind”, which is a cover of the Johnny Mathis song that was recorded for the 1957 film of the same name, and which was then recorded by Nina Simone. It was this version of the song that Bowie covered, saying it was as a homage to her vision of the track. Simone had extensively reworked the song, with slow, sparse instrumentation and her drawn-out vocal delivery expressing a sense of loss. Bowie admired this, and for his version here he said he tried to take special care with the arrangement and production, committing to an emotional and romantic vocal performance modelled after Simone's. It is indeed quite a startling performance here by Bowie. Musically it is beautifully moulded and performed, but it is his vocal performance that is staggeringly good. Everything about this track is pure magnificent David Bowie, and something that is hard not to love.

David Bowie was a ‘later in life’ love affair for me. He was always someone who I knew of, mainly from some obsessive fans that I went to high school with, who did spend some time trying to convince me of his supposed greatness. But it wasn’t until the late 1990’s that I began to be drawn in by his music, and that came from a couple of different sources, which included movies and TV shows that I admired using his music in them, and thus giving me a greater exposure to a wider range of his music. This eventually led to me investigating through a best of album, and once I had been indoctrinated, it meant then investigating David Bowie albums on a whole. And the fact that he had so many of them made it a long and somewhat slow process. And it also involved some albums immediately connecting with me, and others that remained on the periphery for a long time.
“Station to Station” has been one of those albums that has remained mostly a mystery to me. I didn’t even own my own copy of this album until just recently, and I admit that had been an oversight. Apart from the well known track of “Golden Years”, I didn’t even know the name of the other five songs on the album. So it is definitely one of those albums that I don’t know particularly well. One of the things that surprised me about “Station to Station” is that it is so highly regarded within the Bowie fandom, and even in regards to albums that critics suggest everyone should listen to. Only because, within the people that I discuss music with, it has never ever been mentioned. The albums all around it are all spoken of, but this one I just was barely aware of. And this made my dissection of the album for this episode more than interesting.
As you will have heard, it has been an interesting experience this week, reliving an album that I had heard before but never really taken in. It is a transitional album, away from those early 70’s albums and into what would become his Berlin Trilogy, where his sound and image took on its own new persona. And the more I have listened to the album, the more I have enjoyed it. I enjoy how it doesn’t outstay its welcome, it isn’t overblown in regard to total length, and the six songs sit in a perfect arc that when looked at in retrospect, around all of his other albums of that decade, seems to be a perfect fit. And in many ways, only someone like David Bowie could have achieved that.
In my mind, as I approach an older age, I look forward to the day when I can sit back, set aside an entire week, and work my way completely through David Bowie’s discography, and get a true feeling for the way he put together his musical career. Listening to “Station to Station” this week, and finding another piece of that puzzle, I get the feeling that my appreciation for his greatness would increase if, or when, I get that opportunity.

1332. UFO / The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent. 1981. 3.5/5

The band UFO had had a terrifically successful decade through the 1970’s, with high selling and iconic albums and songs driven by the band’s excellent twin guitar and keyboard attack. This success had culminated in the brilliant live album “Strangers in the Night” in 1979, which also signified the end of that particular era of the band with the departure of volatile genius guitarist Michael Schenker. In his place, the band had brought in a former short term guitarist in Paul Chapman, whose contributions both on guitar and in writing were a solid substitute for Schenker. The first album released with this line up of the band was 1980’s “No Place to Run”, an album that ha its own review way back on episode 4 of this podcast, for those that are interested in its story.
Following the tour to support the album, Paul Raymond, the band’s keyboardist, rhythm guitarist and supporting vocals, left the band. He instead, he chose to follow his former bandmate and join his band The Michael Schenker Group, in time to record and tour on their second album “MSG”. This left the band in a predicament. The band was lined up to play the Reading Festival on 23 August 1980, when the band played as the Saturday night headliner. For this gig, former Wild Horses' keyboard player Neil Carter replaced Raymond. But when it came to writing and recording for the band’s new album, he was not the first choice. In an interview after the album was released, Paul Chapman was quoted as saying:
"We produced the album ourselves with nobody breathing over our shoulders. The only problem was it cost twice as much because we kept changing studios and rerecording stuff. I tried to get John Sloman involved because he could sing, play keyboards and guitar, and was just out of Lone Star like me. He did play on the Wild album, but most of the keyboards are by the brother of the engineer Gary Edwards – until Phil sacked him. We finished that album without a keyboard player, then got Neil Carter in later."
So despite Neil Carter being listed on the album as having played on it, it was a combination of Slocum and Edwards who played the keyboards, with Chapman recording all of the guitars.
“No Place to Run” had been seen to be a good album rather than a great one, and now the band had the chance to show that they were not a one trick pony, and produce a follow up album that would showcase the best parts of the individuals within the group. That album was released almost a year later to the day, and was called “The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent”.

I did read somewhere that someone compared this album to being a conundrum, because it sounds like side A and side B are two completely different albums, and that isn’t a bad analogy.
“Chains Chains” opens up the album with the heavily blues slide distorted guitar from Paul Chapman, and then settles smack bang into the atypical Mogg/Way written tracks from UFO that you expect to hear. Pete Way’s bass guitar comes through beautifully on this track and provides the basis for Phil Mogg to beautify the track with his wonderful vocal line. The follow up is an interesting combination of factors that create a fallowed mix. The instrumental and orchestral pieces in “Long Gone” are an interesting touch to the track, but I fear for my own likes, the slower quieter opening passages before breaking out into the faster more powerful places of the song are what drive me to distraction. The drawing on the band’s 1970’s ideology certainly keeps the song relevant to the album and the band, and I’ve always believed it is one of those tracks that gets better as you listen to it more, but I do also have some reservations over it. The title track “The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent” settles into its mid tempo early on and just chugs along throughout with the best UFO vibes you can imagine as a fan. The chorus though feels mutilated by the out of places ‘ooh ooh oh oh’ backing up Phil Mogg’s lead vocal. The riff itself from Chapman is catchy and chunky and his chugging riff also suits the style that UFO like to create. The chorus though, that makes me cringe a little every time I hear it. Despite this small crack, Mogg’s vocals throughout drive this song in his wonderful way, the power of his singing through the verses here is outstanding. The fade out of this track then segues with the closing track on Side A, “It’s Killing me” which actually fades in for the beginning of the track, and you are struck once again of the fact that it is drawing in those influences from 1970’s contemporary rock, almost AOR sounding. Paul Chapman very much more of a contemporary 70’s guitar sound, not as flashy or individualistic as the band’s previous guitarist was. He has brought more of his own sound into this album, and yet it is interesting that this song is a Mogg/Way composition without his contribution to the writing, and the very laid back and ‘laisse fare’ attitude of the sound and tempo of the song brings a different tone and atmosphere to the first side of the album. In all of my reading of reviews and fans opinions on this album, it continues to surprise me that not only is there a large opinion out there that this is one of the best UFO albums if not the best, that this first side of the album is the best that UFO ever released.
Side 2 opens with the quiet and almost acoustic opening that channels the opening of “Doctor Doctor” all those years ago before breaking back into Chapman’s typical guitar riffing mixed with the melodic bass line from Way that is the basis of the song. “Makin’ Moves” indeed does just this, a song that is reminiscent of the style of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement of the time without the true push into a metal form, retaining the band’s 1970’s roots instead. Mixing things up the band opens the following track with the keys, again reminiscent of older UFO tracks. “Lonely Hearts” contains the most prominent keyboard sound of any song on the album, something that has always been a part of the charm of the band. Here without a hired keyboardist in the band, the songs have a much more guitar-heavy composition with Chapman taking more prominence. The solid yet simple rhythm of the track reverberates throughout the length of the song, holding its own along its pathway. “Couldn’t Get It Right” bases its form by the rhythmic drum beat from Any Parker and also Pete Way on bass once again, induced along by hand claps and the chanting vocals. The album then concludes with “Profession of Violence”, driven by the keys and orchestration from the beginning, the ballad of the album. UFO have been able to write amazing songs of this type in their history which have a substance that creates their status as legendary tracks. This isn’t a bad song, but it also doesn’t have enough about it to truly create the atmosphere and adulation that would give it a pass mark on this or any other album. Essentially, it just seems a little too… dull… compared to the great movements and writing inspiration that those albums had. And for the most part, that is true in too many places on this album.

My story of the discovery of UFO has been aired before on this podcast and also the podcast that preceded it, and involves in the main the purchase of a compilation album called “The Michael Schenker Anthology” while in my first year of university in 1988, one that culled songs from his career with the Scorpions, with his own band The Michael Schenker Group, and also his work with UFO. That album is one I loved and played to a standstill, and it eventually directed me to the five amazing albums he produced with the band during the 1970’s, ones I came to love just as much.
Chasing down and listening to the albums beyond this was not a priority at the time. It became something I did much later on, well beyond the years that those albums were released. It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested as such, it was just that it was Schenker that I had originally come for, and then he had gone. It eventually became my task to find and listen to the rest of the UFO discography, which of course did result in me tracking down “The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent”. And I think my opinion of the album has been best expressed here already. It doesn’t create much enthusiasm. It hasn’t got the inspiration of their earlier albums. It has some good pieces here that are enjoyable, and the musicianship is not under question, because each of Phil Mogg, Pete Way, Andy Parker and Paul Chapman are excellent once again. But it just hasn’t got the spark about it that their great songs and albums contain. Is this perhaps because of the fact that the band produced it themselves, and that they were in and out of studios too often rather than knuckling down and truly creating what they needed to make this album work? It is possible. And let me also add this - on my review for “No Place to Run” I spoke about whether or not this is a good or average album, in comparing it to the albums being released that year by up and coming hard rock and metal acts it was a tough gig. And that could be seen to be true here once again. 1981 had, for instance, Ozzy Osbourne’s “Diary of a Madman”, Iron Maiden’s “Killers”, Def Leppard’s “High N Dry” and Black Sabbath’s “Mob Rules”, just to mention a small sample size. Again, all four of those albums had a spark and an energy about them that was continuing to push their name forward. This album doesn’t have anything like that.
I have had this album on again for periods over the past few weeks, and I’ll say it again here that I still enjoy listening to this album, despite the many flaws I think it possesses. That comes from a love of the band itself and a tolerance for the differing levels of excellence that they portrayed over their career. But it also reiterated to me that it doesn’t hold a candle to their great albums, despite my mentioning earlier of the great love some of the fandom has for this album. For me it is an average album. Good, if you really want to press me hard on it. The fact that it is so very highly regarded by so many long term UFO fans is a little bewildering to me. But hey, opinions vary greatly, and if mine does here with some of you out there, then I offer you my sympathies. We can’t be in agreement or disagreement all the time.

1331. Ratcat / Tingles [EP]. 1990. 4.5/5

One of the anomalies of the band Ratcat was that they were formed in 1985 in Sydney, and had two releases prior to the EP we are going to discuss today. The fact that so many people are of the belief that the band began with this EP probably goes to prove how unknown they generally were before its release, and then how big they became in Australia after its release.
Formed by Simon Day on lead guitar and lead vocals and Victor Levi on bass guitar, who had both been members of the popular garage band Danger Mouse in the early 1980’s, they also recruited Andrew Polin on drums to complete their lineup. Ratcat built-up a strong live following initially by focusing on playing the venues of the Sydney skate-punk scene, alongside bigger and well-known Sydney underground bands such as Massappeal, The Hellmenn, The Hard-ons and Happy Hate Me Nots. On the back of this the band signed to Waterfront Records, and released a self-titled EP in December 1987 that contained their best live songs at the time.
This was followed in July 1989 with their debut album titled ”This Nightmare”. Levi had moved on by this point in time, replaced on bass guitar by John McAteer. By that time the line-up was Day, John McAteer on bass guitar and Andrew Polin on drums. Music critics were favourable to the release, suggesting that the witty and effervescent songs were catchy and representative of the era, emboldening it as a solid first album. Amr Zaid replaced McAteer on bass guitar and backing vocals, and in February 1990 Ratcat supported English group Buzzcocks and fellow Australian band Falling Joys, before deciding to leave Waterfront Records and signing with the rooArt label, distributed by PolyGram.
For their first release with their new label, Ratcat again decided on releasing an EP, gathering together new material to showcase their growing stylistic changes as the band reached the start of the new decade. It was to become their true breakthrough, the EP that put them well and truly on the Australian music map and more importantly on the Australian music charts, with the collection of quirky rock songs that they named “Tingles”.

There is every chance that I would never have listened to the band Ratcat, nor to this EP in particular, if not for two non-coinciding events that occurred in my life in January of 1991. One of those events was having been asked to form a band with four of my very good friends of the time back in 1989, a band that (somehow) was still together by the time we reached the beginning of 1991. Two members in particular, along with other mutual friends, had become slightly obsessed over this EP and played it often. So I was aware of it, even more so when we decided to record a demo tape to take around to the local pubs and clubs to try and drum up some gigs, and the first song that the other three members of the band insisted we do was “That Ain’t Bad”. Over the next 12 months we added three of the songs off this EP into our gigs. Pretty sure I got outvoted there. The other event was that I started dated the sister of one of my best mates, and it was at this time that I discovered that she had this EP and played it often and spoke about it often. Perhaps it worked in my favour that I did indeed know this EP at that time. 35 years later and we do still occasionally listen to it together.
It’s catchy. Having listened to it a lot at the time it was released (not by my choice at any time) a lot of it grew on me. Four of the six songs, as you will have heard, are ones I can still run with today. And there is a lot of nostalgia tied up in listening to this EP now, because of those significant goings-on at the time it was released. Our band was beginning to look to play our first gigs, and I began dating the girl I eventually married. They are great memories that these songs bring back to me.
Helen’s vinyl copy of this album was lost in the flood of 2001, but I did eventually get around to replacing it with a CD copy many years later, again for nostalgia’s sake, and it is that copy I have listened to again this week. And it is those same old memories as described here that it brings back to me. The EP eventually made #1 on the Australian singles charts, and finished 1991 as the second biggest single in Australia, behind Bryan Adamas and “Everything I Do, I Do For You”.
So no, Ratcat has never been MY band. They are a band that I somewhat had forced upon me. This EP is still fun enough to listen to, but I really don’t think I ever would have listened to them without those incidents being prevalent on its release. But then, why did I feel the need to buy the EP on CD to replace our lost copy? Maybe I know less about my own feelings here than usual.