Randy-Randy

No Remorse
2011


Astute readers will no doubt recall that I covered Randy once already in a Forgotten Gem segment. In fact here it is:http://metalmark.blogspot.com/search?q=Forgotten+Gems%3A+Randy-%22Shadows+Are+Falling%22+Single+ This release is the best-of album mentioned in that segment that the record label No Remorse released at the tail end of 2011. After hearing the group's single and a few tracks off of this release (one of which was the top-notch "It's Got To Be Love") I decided to track down a copy of "Randy". Lucky for me that a seller had it listed on Ebay at a reasonable price. The thing is the more I listen to this collection the better it gets and honest to God it was worth every penny I spent getting it shipped here from overseas! Musically these fine gents come across as more of a laid back and garage based Praying Mantis although it is also similar in nature to stuff like early Picture. The band takes rock, pure hard rock, NWOBHM and eighties heavy metal and gives it a shoot in the arm of class and style. Not only was this band a great mix of those genres the fact was they wrote songs that were rock classics. They had the ability to write catchy music that was full of melody and hard rock grit. Now, if the band's 1986 7" single was not proof enough that record labels let a great band slip through their fingers then Randy's 1987 demo is proof positive that PR people are not all they are cracked up to be. I say that of course with the greatest of respect to my friends who work in PR because other than the possible fact that the music was a bit light for 1987 it is damn near perfect. Then again hair metal was still alive in the later part of the eighties as grunge had yet to kill it off. Randy though owed more to true hard rock than the glam and pop metal groups of the day and cuts like the righteous "C'mon Let's Rock" are the stuff dreams are made of. Somehow it comes across as Kiss meets AC/DC only with more of a garage band feel to it. The sound is real though. Nothing fake or artificial about these boys from Denmark. "Nightmare" and "The Razor's Edge" are eighties in tone although the catchy nature of these two tracks is timeless. "Nightmare" has a chorus that got stuck in my head and was hard to shake. "The Razor's Edge" reminds me quite a bit of bands like Dark Wizard or even Highway Chile. It is hard rock, heavy metal and NWOBHM all rolled up into this killer number. The group's 1987 demo is heads and shoulders above so much of what was on rock radio then it boggles my mind how they remained unsigned. "Victim of the Night" (which is represented on the demo as well as live) is a true blue powerful rocker and as the band walked the thin line between rock, hard rock and traditional heavy metal they proved capable of sounding just as good in a club setting as they did on tape. "Who's Got the Power" is as smooth as it is sharp and showcased Jørgen Jensen's great vocals. "Don't Look Back" is probably too raw for those that liked their hard rock all tricked up by studio work. With it's bluesy riffs it is bar room rock at it's most purest form. "Who's Got the Power" and "Don't Look Back" again are breed from the same starting material as all the popular rock bands of the eighties. The only difference with Randy is how it comes of more natural and pure. The three live cuts all come from 1987 and offer a nice look at this three-piece band in it's natural setting. You can get a real sense of the energy these guys brought on the road and from the sounds of it playing live is where they really came alive. What a shame it is that Randy got passed over and instead we got stuck with tons of craptastic bands like Nelson, Warrant, Slaughter, Europe and Nitro. This release should be a must-own for all eighties metal fans as well as those interested in hearing no-frills rock/hard rock.