Chained Lace-Morbid Fascination

Heaven and Hell Records
2017

Chained Lace was a doom metal band from Washington, DC. that was active during the eighties. The group was lead by Cheri Blade (ex-Rat Salad) and featured members with ties to the D.C. heavy metal band Hellion. One of those members was Norman Lawson (guitars) who also played in the bands Bedemon, The Obsessed, Bitch, Overlord, and The Factory. This limited-edition compilation gathers together the two demos that Chained Lace released (1985's "Chain Lace" and 1985's "Morbid Fascination") and then adds in unreleased material. Named after the group's one demo, "Morbid Fascination" features re-mastered material and makes Chained Lace's music available on CD for the very first time ever! With the punk rock-like vocals of Cheri Blade (R.I.P.), Chained Lace was strikingly different than most doom metal bands of the time period. At times you can hear the Black Sabbath influences. Other times you can pick up on the influence of The Obsessed. That is the doom metal aspect of these DC doom rockers. Along with Cheri Blade's punk rock delivery, "Morbid Fascination" suggests Chained Lace's flirtation with everyone from Motörhead to The Runaways! As Loot FP properly puts it's on Heaven and Hell's digital page for this album, Chained Lace had a one of a kind sound that even payed homage to (early) Mötley Crüe! For their time period this four-piece band was in a world of their own making. It was a place where punk rock, garage metal, and doom metal all converged in order to give us kooky cool music like this. Thank God that happened and much kudos to Heavy and Hell Records for realizing the important nature of that event!   

Forgotten Gems: Defiant-Can't Give It Up

I've got the fabulous site Boneyard Metal to thank for this discovery. Released in 1985 on the (fun-named) label Rad Elmo, which may or may not have been a homemade record label of the band's own making, this five-track EP was most-likely only released on vinyl. Featuring Sylvia La Mar on lead vocals, with Kenny Williams (guitars, keyboards), Tracy Wright (bass) and Clark "Moose" Johnson (drums) rounding things out, this was the one and only "official" release from this Hollywood, California act. Mind you that's if you don't count the group's self-titled cassette demo from 1987. That's neither here nor there though when we're talking about this heavy rock-leaning act with sultry and seductive lead vocals!  This female-fronted heavy metal act, which should not be confused with the other Defiant that hailed from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and released "Hear The Laugh" in 1995, gets extra points for Sylvia La Mar alone....even if the rest of the band members present here were no real slouches either!Maybe this one is not up to the standards of similar-themed hard & heavy acts of the mid-eighties (or for that matter some of the female-fronted rock and roll artists that were shinning on a spot-light on how well the leading ladies of the time could compete with their male counterparts!), but as a stand-alone piece it's a fun EP with straight, no-filler numbers and smoking hot lead vocals! Definitely worth downloading if you're into female-fronted heavy metal or the more rock-oriented sounds of eighties metal!

Bloody Climax-Back to the Wall

Karthago Records

2013

Here's an idea that I can totally get behind. As part of their new series entitled "Heavy Metal Classics Collection", which is due to start up this September (with "Back to the Wall" being the first in the series), the fine folks over at Karthago Records plan to release cult "one and done" recordings. Or as they put it "one hit wonders". Either tag works and the premise is pretty straight forward. You take a band that only released one album in their career (and not just any band/recording as they obviously have to be worth the effort) and re-master it/re-package it for the heavy metal community at large. Maybe it's not exactly a new idea (as there does seem to be more and more of these "one and done" albums being re-released in epic form), but the more labels doing this the better off  fans and collectors alike will be. Especially seeing as an album like "Back to the Wall" goes for big bucks on the secondary market as it's rare. With this re-release fans, and that includes me, will finally get a chance to hear this album in all of it's glory (hey, it's remastered folks and it sounds SO GOOD!) plus, and this is a nice touch, this re-mastered, re-release comes with previously unreleased songs (off of what would have been the second album for Bloody Climax) for a total of 16 tracks and a run-time of 78 minutes! That's 78 minutes of pure, unfiltered, no-frills German heavy metal-80's style! With a 24-page booklet! due to be issued with this cult album (hell yeah!) this one gets marked down as a must-buy folks (or at least for me!). While 2 of the bonus cuts, "Run for Cover" and "Ride with the Wind",  did show up on a 1987 Split that Bloody Climax was a part of, alongside bands like Midas Touch and Lancer, 5 of these tracks look as if they have never seen the light of day. That is until now thanks to this cool collection! Comparison-wise, as far as the original 1985 album goes, it's said that "Back to the Wall" was on the same level as Creature and Black Fate. Until I first played this re-release I had my own doubts about the validity of that comment. Once I finished up what was the original part of this collection (in other words the initial tracks from "Back to the Wall") I found myself in agreement with not only that idea, but the one which  holds that the original 9-track album is one the biggest classics of German heavy metal! It's too bad then a planned second album didn't happen as Bloody Climax could have been held in much higher regard then this lone album suggests. But with the re-release set, and in such a cool fashion, the music of Bloody Climax will now be heard by a new generation of heavy metal fans as well as old collectors like me! Kudos to Karthago Records then for giving us all a chance to (re)discover this cult recording. Here's hoping the rest of this series proves to be even better!

Forgotten Gems-Jester

Never heard of this band until just the other day when I stumbled upon a download of their 1985 EP. According to Encyclopaedia Metallum this was their only release and they were from LA.  Upon listening to this I certainly guessed their place of origin before reading it. There is definitely a mid-80's LA hard rock on some of these songs maybe not far off from the likes of Ratt or Keel. However that's not all these guys do here. While something like "Who's to blame" definitely sounds like other LA hard rock bands of the day not all of the other songs are as simple. Opener "Jailbreak" has more of a hard rock meets early 80's Judas Priest sound complete with a shredding solo. "Let me love you" is a slower song with the early parts sounding a little like Ratt, but again they toss in plenty of squealing guitars and it manages to be a hard hitting slow song that never loses it's focus. "Don't be a fool" also starts slow and actually reminds me some of both early Rush and Diamond Head before settling into a more medium paced run. Only this song never dips totally into hard rock, but instead runs along between hard rock and metal in the second half. The last song "Follower" is perhaps the heaviest track on the album. Again they go between hard rock and metal and make it sound completely natural. Now for the record if you read some of my past views you may know that I have a love for mid-80's bands that combined metal and hard rock like WASP, Lizzy Borden, Witch, Axtion, Vyper and others. So Jester were right up my alley. Since there isn't much background on these guys I don't know all of their back story. Maybe they got into NWOBHM and other classic metal in the early 80's and then became interested in LA  hard rock acts once they became more prominent as the 80's went along. Or maybe there were member of Jester who like Priest and Maiden while others liked acts like Motley Crue and Ratt so their music was a result of mixed influences. Whatever the case this is a fine album. Again another band where it's a shame that they didn't keep going on because I would have liked to hear what they could have done in  a full length format.

The record store-Once upon a time

If you are of a certain age you probably spent some time at some point at your local record store. Whether that was an independent store or a chain store probably depends on your area although most areas probably some of both once upon a time. Now I am old, but I am not some old crotchety geezer that scowls at the digital format and says everything was better in my day. There are good things about both periods. My intention today is just to remember my local record store. I lived out in the country and the mall didn't pop up until 1987. Before that the big record in the county was a Sound Waves that wasn't that close, but I got to go there on occasion. They were typical of a non-mall chain store of the time. Everything very organized and tidy with posters of the latest pop releases on the walls, but they did have a pretty good metal selection on vinyl. In 1985 Curry's Music popped up closer to me This was an independent store in the true sense of the term. There were no uniforms and neatness in the store was relative. There weren't posters announcing the upcoming Moody Blues album, but instead there collage posters of Maiden, Dio and others as well as tapestries of Judas Priest and Black Sabbath tacked up on the walls. They burnt incense and played music regularly. On occasion it may be to promote a new release, but more often than not they put in 70's ZZ top, Motorhead or whoever they wanted to hear at the time. For workers it was one guy and a few occasional other workers. The owner was a thirty something guy who was into classic rock and metal. He was always quick with recommendations and everything he suggested that I bought was good. Between 1985 and 1986 he recommended albums by Loudness, King Kobra, Executioner, Grim Reaper and others to me and I loved all of them. He once ranted on about how good this band from Detroit called Halloween was and he even played me some of their cassette on the player he kept behind the counter. I was interested and asked him if he had a copy for sale and he said "no, the only copy I ordered was this one for me". Even at 15 I was able to realize at that moment that despite having a cool store maybe his priorities were not in  order for him to be a great businessman. That may be because he was indeed a fan of the music more than a businessman and that may be why the store only lasted a couple of years. However his interest in music and his willingness to have conversations about Slayer, Whiplash, Black n' Blue, Warrior, Armored Saint or whoever was the main reason I liked going there. Later there were some other stores where a conversation about the new Exodus album could be struck up with the guy working at the counter, but it was hit and miss. Curry's eventually couldn't compete when the mall stores popped up with their big selection and occasional sales so the little local record store went out. I enjoyed it while it was around and on occasion I like to remember the times I spent there.

**Did you have a local record store that you grew up going to?

Forgotten Gems-Warminister-Out of the ashes

These guys hailed from Dayton, Ohio and formed in 1985. They released this four song EP in 1986 and then either broke up or just vanished because there is very little information on them other than this album. There really isn't a lot on this album. In the the only picture I have seen of them they wore goofy spandex outfits and the album cover looks like it was designed by a 13 year old who liked He-man and pro-wrestling. So is this a lost gem? No, not exactly. However they definitely had some real potential and I would them on a list of bands who I wish had gotten to do another album. The writing isn't great and the lyrics are cheesy at times as you can expect. However these guys had some decent hooks and were fairly tight for a band who had only been around for a year. They played a style that was a cross between metal and hard rock. Think of other band who played metal, but had the glam look like Witch, early Lizzy Borden and Axtion. Warminister play a similar style to those acts. It's kind of party type metal, but with solid beats and a great flow to it. Not overly creative perhaps, but I liked it the first time I heard it and still do. Again a shame they didn't stick with because it would have been interesting to hear what they could do on a full length effort.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdO5ADUOTYg&feature=related

Forgotten Gems: Abattoir - Vicious Attack

Combat Records
1985



For this week's particular Forgotten Gem segment Metal Mark and I decided to tag team the classic album "Vicious Attack" by Abattoir. As with Top Of The Heap and Hair Metal Hell we have broken things down into our two separate parts.


Andy says-
Given the fact that "Vicious Attack" was originally a demo recording it can be forgiven for being a bit raw production wise. The story is that Combat Records loved the pure raw energy of the demo and decided to release it as is. Chances are though that Combat Records either didn't have the money to allow Abattoir to re-record "Vicious Attack" or they were too cheap. Regardless this 1985 album is pure speed/thrash gold. Almost punk like in it's approach it has a Motorhead on a Metallica bender feel to it. That is probably a fitting description as the band choose to cover "Ace Of Spades" for the album. Don't let the raw thrash title fool you though as the band plays tight heavy metal. While the album originally listed Mark Caro and Danny Olivero as guitarists the real credit should go to Agent Steel's Juan Garcia. Vocals were handled by Steve Gaines (Bloodlust, Pagan War Machine and Bitch among others) and are rough while still giving it a thrash metal feel. Overall the album is raw and gritty with a punk streak a mile long. It is also a classic of the genre and a must have for thrash metal manics.

Metal Mark says-
I enjoyed their 1982 demo and really this album is similar. However my first exposure to this band was hearing their cover of "Ace of spades" on Hit Parader's cassette only compilation "The Wild Bunch". I liked it, but couldn't judge the band very well on just a cover song. It was almost another two years after that before I heard this album. This is kind of early speed metal in that it's fast but doesn't hit on the level that thrash soon would. Still it's well put together with plenty of speed and heaviness. Plus perhaps most importantly it still holds up well today. I listen to it a few times every year. They never quite made it though probably mostly due to there being so many speed/thrash bands pouring out at the same time. You just knew some good bands would fall through the cracks and Abattoir were one of those. Their second album "The only safe place" the next year saw 3/5 of the band change (!). The sound was similar to the debut to some extent as there is still plenty of speed metal, but there is also Judas Priest kind of classic metal feel to many songs as well. It's another solid album, but the band broke up not too long after that. Like many 80's metal bands they did reform in recent years. Both albums are worth checking out.

Forgotten Gems-Whiplash-Power and pain

Roadrunner

1985

Ah, early Whiplash, truly an album that stunned me back then and even today retains much of the force that it did back then. My first run in with this band was hearing them do "Thrash 'till death" on the Speed Metal Hell compilation in 1985. Not too long after that I heard their debut "Power and pain" with the classic three Tony's line-up (Portaro, Bono and Scaglione). The band had knocked out a few demos before getting signed to Roadrunner. The sound isn't far off from early Metallica and Slayer and maybe even Judas Priest only sped-up. However the energy is what helps plus they never go with just one riff because the trade-mark of their early sound was finding a way to put in a quick underlying fill riff that would catch your attention and add to the overall frenzied sound. Tracks like "Warmonger", "Last man alive", "Stirring the Cauldron" and "Message in blood" showed the band's explosive style. This was thrash when you could still hear all the notes being picked and appreciate every note, beat and word being thrown at you. Whiplash knew how to milk all they they did and get the most out of everything. They had been around less than two years when this album came out, but I guess the multiple demos and many shows in the NY/NJ area had then prepared because indeed they came with everything they had on this album and I think it's their finest moment. After this they would go through line-up and eventually sound changes with differing results. Their sophomore album "Ticket to mayhem" comes close, but this their debut remains their best album.

Twisted Sister-Come out and play

Spitfire
1985/2011



Twisted Sister's forth full length album has the unfortunate but not totally deserved reputation of being a real missed opportunity. After the success of Stay Hungry in 1984 this band was really at the brink of becoming huge. They just needed their next album to push them over to the next level. There was no reason to believe they wouldn't because their first three albums were all tremendous. Even though it took radio and MTV pushing the singles off of Stay Hungry to get them noticed they still seemed like a band that would make it. All of that changed in 1985 though largely because Twisted Sister underrated their fans. Believing "Leader of the pack" was a wise choice to release as their first single (or even put it on their album) was a foolish decision. It obviously wasn't going to appeal to the teenage hard rock fans that loved "Stay Hungry". Also "You want what we got" and "Lookin' out for #1" are lame anthems. Both suffer from complete lack of spirit or any kind of edge. The slightly moody ballad "I believe in you" is okay overall. They try, but it does out kind of dull. With those songs out of the way we get to the better tracks on the album. "Be chrool to your scuel" was the second video and had a cameo from Alice Cooper. Not so hard rock perhaps, but a fun song although I can see it not being the best choice to release as a single. Again it probably didn't appeal to the band's established audience. "King of the fools" was originally added as a bonus track on the cassette and CD only. It's a slow winding affair, but I have always enjoyed it and thought Dee Snider have his vocals the right degree of emotions. "Out on the streets" also tends to get ignored, but again the vocals help and it's a likable track. Now to the absolute best of this album. "I believe in rock n' roll" has the typical cornball lyrics, but it's a high spirited, fist pumping song that sucks you in right away. "Kill or be killed" is still one of the heaviest Twister Sister songs ever done. Perhaps one of the band's most underrated tacks ever is "The fire still burns" which is one I always have to press the repeat button on. The band must like it to as it has appeared on some of the live performances they have released in recent years. The title track has an opening inspired by the 1979 cheeseball gang film "The Warriors", but quickly burst out and knocks you flat. So I like about 2/3 of the album which makes it above average and certainly not the bomb that so many people dismiss it as. Not the band's best moment for sure, but there are still gems on this one. The new re-issue includes slightly different packaging from the previous re-issue.

Warlock-hellbound

Metal Mind
1985, 2011

Germany's Warlock's originally formed in 1982, then released a demo in 1983 which eventually lead to them getting signed and releasing their 1984 debut "Burning the witches". Their sophomore disc Hellbound was originally released on Vertigo records in 1985. That's the brief history lesson, but to my ears this was the point when they began to really establish the sound they would be know for during their all too brief career. Warlock walked the line between metal and hard rock as well as anyone in the 1980's and they were frequently riding on powerful guitar riffs as well as fantastic melodies. This album allowed them to really demonstrate those skills. Almost every song here serves as a showcase for the vocal talents of Doro Pesch. On "Time to die" she belts out some fantastic screams while the crunchy "All night" slows down the tempo and allows her to reach down and really put all she has into every word. The music frequently reminds me of what Accept were doing at the time. None to surprisingly two members of this line-up would later join U.D.O just two years after this album. Here guitarists Rudy Graf and Peter Szigeti do a splendid job churning out some cutting lead and slamming rhythms on songs like the title track and "Wrathchild". The rhythm section of bassist Frank Rittel and drummer Michael Eurich lay down the backbone for Warlock's sound and keep them driving particularly on the adrenaline fueled "Earthshaker rock". This re-issue includes a live version of the title track and the fist pumping anthem "Hellraiser" as bonus tracks. This album has certainly held up very well over the years.

Forgotten Gems: Malice-In the beginning

Atlantic 1985
Re-issue: Wounded Bird 2005

For this Forgotten Gem we will both be chiming in with our views on it. Enjoy!

Andy's Take-L.A. band Malice got their start on the first Metal Massacre compilation. After securing a contract with Atlantic Records the group delivered In The Beginning which should have launched the group into stardom. With lights in their eyes the band set out to try to build upon a loyal local fan base and bring their Priest style metal to all of America. But in 1985 there was already one Judas Priest and as is too often the case once they were labeled clones they couldn't shake the tag. Blame it on James Neal really. The guy has an amazing voice and does indeed sound like Halford on a few tracks. Add to that the guitar duel of Mick Zane and Jay Renold (and their sounding exactly like those two guys from Judas Priest-do I need to spell them out for you?) and you could see where people might get the idea that they worshiped all things Priest. But peel back the layers and what you have is old fashioned metal that straddles the line between traditional and power metal. Songs like the opener "Rockin' With You" are top notch catchy 80's metal at it's best. Sure song's like "Air Attack" and "Squeeze It Dry" sound like watered down Priest. But "Steeler Masters" and the awesome "Hellrider" make up for it. And the band closes things out with "Godz Of Thunder" possible one of the best metal songs ever to come out of 80's metal! So yes, Malice do sound like Rob Halford and company at times. But they make up for it with a nice mix of catchy hard rock/metal riffs,soaring vocals and (always a bonus in my book!) cheesy lyrics. I can't help but feel this is a guilty pleasure. Maybe given more time to flesh out their sound Malice could have been another Armoured Saint. But instead they folded after another album and EP. Too bad as In The Beginning is a great slab of vinyl worthy of much better than the Judas Priest clone title.


Mark's Take- I saw small black and white ads for this one im the backs of a few metal magazines back when it was released. However it never popped up in my local record store. Just the band name and the simple had me thinking that they must very cool, real fist pumping metal. Fast forward about twenty years to 2005 and I saw this CD pop on eBay from a seller I dealt with regularly and for a fair price so I nabbed it and it's follow up. They were both the re-issues from Wounded Bird with bonus tracks. On first listen they were Judas Priest sound alikes. After a few more plays I was realizing that although the influence is strong that Malice were a little more raw around the edges and I mean that in a positive way. That goes for the playing and the production. If I had heard in 1985 it's likely I would have taken to it more quickly because I was kid then and far less discriminating. Still it's solid metal and easy to enjoy. As for why they didn't become more successful in the 80's my guess is it could have been that they sounded so much like Priest that they never really established their identity or it could have been due to lack of promotion. Yes, that is a dig at their label Atlantic. Okay, they did well with Twisted Sister (for a while) and Ratt, but heavier bands like Raven, Loudness and even Savatage (at least at first) didn't do quite as well on Atlantic. No matter the case I still enjoy listening to this album.

***So there you have it, our views on the debut from Malice.

Bronz-Carried by the storm

Your Tune
2010

Bronz had some success after releasing their debut "Taken by storm" back in the mid 1980's. They were excited about working on their sophomore effort in 1985 with Ozzy-producer Max Norman set to work with them. Line-up changes and record label problems lead to the album being shelved. Band members went their separate ways, but now guitarist Shaun Kirpatrick and mastering engineer Gordon Young have blown the dust off the 25 year old master tapes and finally put together a polished, finished version for fans to hear. They are sometimes lumped in with the NWOBHM, but don't expect Saxon or Raven because this really isn't metal. There is some old blues based hard rock similar of some 70's British bands, but Bronz owe much more to American style AOR of the 80's like Foreigner or Survivor. After all of the history and background story, this really is a decent album. Typical of the style of the time as they offer up huge melodies and smooth production values. The vocals are the band's best featuire for certain, but the guitar solos are strongand the keyboards are used moderately for the most part which works for me. A few songs like the title track and "Man girl machine" lost me by being way too pop for their own good. Most of the other tracks are heavy and memorable enough. Thinking back to 25 years ago I could imagine some of these songs getting airplay if it had out back then. Fans of 80's AOR will likely eat this album up and be thankful that it finally came out.

Ratt mirror

Running behind with writing this week. Work has been busy as we switched to a new cataloging system. I thought I would just link to an old post today. This is one of the first posts I ever made. Enjoy. I may get time to write an album review later today.


http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2005/06/ratt-mirror-in-my-living-room.html

D.O.A-Let's wreck the party

Sudden Death
1985/2010

Joey Keithley's Sudden Death records have re-issued his band's 1985 album "Let's wreck the party". Hard to believe that this is twenty-five years old now, but it is. This was the band's third release and it was a departure from the first two albums. The previous releases were far more straight ahead hardcore while "Let's wreck the party" goes down more of a hard rock style although Keithley's vocals retain the same bite. Listening to their early albums and more recent albums it's almost starling to hear the couple of tracks on here that use keyboards and some pop style drum beats. It's just a few, but obviously they trying some new things. Fortunately the attitude is still the same and that's what's always defined this band for me. Their discontent and disatisfaction with an unfair system are still the focus of their lyrics. So even the music is a little lighter the motivation is still the same and that's what has and still gives this band the punch behind their songs. In the middle of the revolving door of drummers, bass players and occasional second guitarist; it's always been Keithley who has been driving this vehicle for over thirty years. That kind of passion, anger and sarcastic humor of his is at the forefront of this album. The above traits are a huge part of why this band has been able to survive for so long. Not their greatest album, but a good one with some memorable tracks.

Mad Max-Stormchild

Metal Mind

1985/2010

Things were happening fast for Germany's Mad Max after their second album and to keep up they changed 3/5 of the band line-up prior to recording "Stormchild". Guitarist Jurgen Breforth was now the only original member left and vocalist Michael Voss was going into second album as the band's frontman. The band's image changed as well with them pulling away from the simple black leather look and opting for a more colorful, semi-glam look. The music picked up on the melodic metal sound that they began working with on "Rollin' Thunder". Only this time around they are not quite as heavy and they had began to subscribe to an even more melodic sound. In fact they sound most similar to some American bands of the time including Leatherwolf, Dokken, King Kobra and Icon. They had toned down on the traces of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest that been present before, but one only has to listen to songs such as "Never say never" and "Return of the hunter" to realize that Mad Max were playing the kind of songs they were comfortable doing and they excelled at it. In fact for 1985 they were certainly one of the best bands playing this kind of metal. Makes me wish I had actually hear this album back then because I would have been all over it. The lyrics are about as cliche as it gets, but the music and the powerful vocals make up for it. At this point "Stormchild" could be certainly be seen as their tightest and most consistent release. This remix includes the bonus track "Can't stop taking" and a lyric booklet with a band biography.

Christmas list

Now first on my Christmas list would be a new stereo because mine is shot. Second on the list would be a new turntable because that is shot too. Okay, my car stereo and another CD player fortunately are still in operating order. After those two if I was making a Christmas list I would add this album...




I have no clue what Sinful's "Gonna raise hell" sounds like although I would guess it's glam tinged metal. I just think the cover is so over the top ridiculous that I would love to have a copy. Not that I will make the effort to actually seek it out, but I can still add it to my imaginary list.



***Anyone else have a metal Christmas list? It can be real or just a wish list.

Railway- 2

Metal Mind
2009



Just over a year after their self-titled debut came out this band returned with the follow-up. I am uncertain as to what overcame the band in between the previous album and this one, but something changed. The self-titled disc is a fine hard rock album, but the direction of the album is somewhat scattered. At some point Railway picked up the pace and hammered out a more more direct style. That is what we get on this release. Okay, they sound more like Accept than on the debut. A few of the songs sounding similar in style to Accept around the time of Breaker and Restless and wild and they also sound a little like early Warlock as well. Now with song titles like "Lick it, stick it" and "Stronger than rock" you know that they didn't try all that hard with the lyrics. Still the music and vocals more than make up for the lyrical shortcomings. Railway certainly upped the heaviness on this release going from more hard rock to metal. Although there is still a melodic edge here and there that was present in the self-titled album. They seemed to have come into their own on this album and they found a sound that worked well for them. This album was easy to like and it will certainly be getting repeated plays from me in the near future. Metal Mind's re-issue includes a lyric booklet with photos and a band biography.

Painted WIllie-Mind Bowling

DC-Jam
2009

This is a re-issue of an album that originally came out on SST records back in 1985. I know of and heard several artists on SST back in the 1980's but these were not among those. Never heard of them until this re-issue came out. After hearing it I can safely it's certainly not essential listening and it's rocky in place, but it's not without some definite merits. I think I was expecting mid-80's punk rock just based on the label this was originally released on, but that's not what this is. There is certainly basic punk beats and attitude, but the structure is very loose and various jams pop up here and there. That helps to keep matters interesting even it doesn't make the ending results turn out completely smooth. I would make the assumption that this trio liked some 1970's hard rock/metal almost as much as they liked early 1980's punk rock. What comes out of this approach is metal-laced punk rock with a rough played out the basement style. I don't think they completely flesh out all of the ideas that they start. However looking back with what we know today I think they were on to something that would come later as there is enough here that shows traces similar to the style of some stoner rock acts from say the last ten or so years. So Painted Wilie's fourteen year old offering is not without some flaws, but it's certainly an item of interest.

Bleach, line-up changes and the dreaded melodic turn

A new record store had just opened near me in the summer of 1985. One hot Summer day my dad was going into the grocery store and I had enough time to slip down to the record store and just enough money to buy one cassette (yes, I know that was a bad format to choose). I remember looking at lots of choices. Most were bands I only knew by name or one song from one of the late night metal radio shows that I soaked in. Finally after much deliberation I settled on King Kobra's "Ready to strike" although I don't remember why. This band was formed by former Cactus, Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice and eventually rounded out by four bleached blond musicians. Their debut wasn't anything new, but I loved it then and still do. The pace and heaviness level is comparable to Dokken or Black and Blue, but for me the kicker was singer Mark Free. Years before his gender change he was a remarkable singer. You can really hear it on the "Motor City Strike" bootleg too because there are no overdubs and you are treated to his fabulous range.

Unfortunately a year later their label pushed them to create more radio friendly songs and the result was the more AOR leaning "Thrill of a lifetime". Mark Free still sounded good, but guitarists Mick Sweda and David Michael Phillips get shoved to the background and Carmine Appice's drum sound is thin and limp. Only the last three tracks had much life to them. After this album the revolving door began going on full motion. Their label dropped them, Mark Free left and was replaced by Marc Torien and bassist Lonnie Vincent replaced Johnny Rod who had left for higher ground as he joined WASP. It wasn't long after that point until the four blonds left Appice to form their own band. However David Michael Phillips didn't get along with Marc Torien so he soon returned to Appice while the other band would become the Bulletboys. King Kobra was soon completed with Johnny Edwards on vocals, Jeff Northrup filling in the second guitar spot and Larry Hart on bass. By this point it was 1988 and the band couldn't get signed so Appice released "III" on his own label and got some distribution help in the form New Renaissance. To me this album was a mixed bag that sounded like it was made up of leftovers and while Edwards was quite decent he was no Mark Free. The band did not tour for this album and soon they broke up. An album of unreleased demos called "The Lost Years" came out years later and unfortunately so did an ill-advised not really reunion album called "Hollywood Trash" in 1999. Truly a band that never followed up on their initial potential, but I still enjoy the debut and the bootleg.

Remembering Blitzkrieg

I believe that I bought Blitzkrieg's "Ready for action" on cassette around 85 or 86 at my local record store. Obviously I didn't buy this EP for the cover because it looks like some sixth grader knocked it out during their math class one day. It seems like this originally had a big sticker with the claim "produced by Ron Keel" which I guess carried some weight in 1985. The production is average, but good enough. There doesn't seem to be a lot of background information on these guys for some reason. They were from LA and wore a lot of spandex and hairspray. I guess that description fit a hundred or so bands back then. It's the music that set these guys apart. I have memories of playing this over and over back when I was in tenth grade or so. The heaviness level is similar to early Motley Crue as they head directly into the meat of the material. About two years later my tape snapped while being played. I almost forgot about these guys until a few years ago when I picked it up cheap on CD. Hesitantly I slipped it into my player thinking that perhaps it hadn't aged well. It certainly wasn't perfect, but it still sounded pretty good. They definitely had some real potential and it's a shame they didn't stick around long enough to knock out another album.