Forgotten Gems:LeMans-On the streets

Shrapnel
1983

In the 1980's there were so many hard rock/metal bands that it was hard to keep up with or hear single band that was in existence. Which is probably a part of why so many bands fell between the cracks. Some deserved to passed by, but for others it was unfortunate that they didn't get more notice. I never heard of this band until oh about two weeks ago and they definitely fall in that second category. Hailing from Concord, California this was the band's first of two albums. The line-up here includes guitarist Derek Frigo who would later play with Enuff Z'Nuff and vocalist Peter Marrino later of Cacophony. The style is melodic metal with a strong attention to details. Maybe a little like early Dokken crossed with early Lizzy Borden. Still they manage to define their own sound on this album. The vocals oddly enough remind me a little of Tim Baker from Cirith Ungol. The guitars are tight and the rhythm section is always on target. Tracks like to "Live to rock","Hells Halls","Take me down" and "Nervous Breakdown" had me hooked right away. No filler tracks at all and they had their hooks down right away. It's a shame that these guys didn't get noticed back then because for 1983 they were slightly ahead of time for the trends of hard rock as their kind of style didn't totally explode until the next year. Still you should definitely track this one down and check it out.