Mini-reviews

These were some CDs I treated myself to for my birthday last month.

Breaker-Get Tough
This is a two CD set with the first CD being the 1987 release "Get Tough" and the second disc is unreleased songs, demos and other. This band has gotten some hype over the years so I had thought about getting this for some time. They are somewhat like a cross between Scorpions, Judas Priest and Accept. They have some very impressive songs, but most of the material is just good rather than great.

Autograph-Missing Pieces
I got this used for $6.99 and it's a collection of previously unreleased tracks and demos. All pretty typical of this band which means it's just alright. A few slightly heavier songs, but some rather routine ones too. The booklet with the memories from Steve Plunkett about how the bands got going was actually kind of interesting.

Leatherwolf-Stree Ready
This was Leatherwolf's third release and it came out int 1989. Leatherwolf kind of rode the line between metal and hard rock as they had lots of melodies, but a heavy sound as well, I think this might be their best album as everything kind of came together and it's very tight.

Leatherwolf-New World Asylum

N.I.L 8
2007



Long known for strong melodies and their triple guitar attack back in the 1980’s, Leatherwolf came back in 2006 with an album called World Asylum with former Crimson Glory vocalist Wade Black taking over on vocals. Black ended up leaving before the end of 2006 and the band brought original singer Michael Olivieri back in to the fold. They also made the decision to re-record World Asylum with Olivieri and call it “New World Asylum”. Okay, that’s a slightly long story, but it was probably worth the steps the band went through because the end product is quite spectacular. So many bands tend to get more conservative and lighter in their approach, but Leatherwolf went all out. This album comes at you like a crushing steamroller in the style of Judas Priest, Vicious Rumors, Accept and maybe even some of Metal Church’s more recent efforts. They also easily weave in natural sounding vocal melodies and some hints of progressive metal in their music as well. It’s not all 80’s throwback as well which is a refreshing change plus they easily mix the classic metal style with a slightly more modern edge. Almost every track works out and perhaps more than anything else it’s just because the band sounds very comfortable working together. Normally my expectations on a comeback or reunion album are low, but this release easily exceeded all of my expectations. Hopefully this line-up stays on track and keeps going because there is obviously some steam and more than a few strong ideas left in them.



http://www.myspace.com/leatherwolfmusic