Mass-Swiss Connection

SPV

1981/2010

What a difference a year made. I don't what the guys in Mass did in between 1980's "Angel Power", but it sure made a difference. They not only bought a clue, but they figured out their musical direction, how to create strong grooves, how to very styles and their production values inproved by about 60%. Plus they were going to get even a little better after this album. Still I cannot get over the leap they made on this album. It's not great as they still could use some breaks in the repetition and few more hard hitting moments. Still they figured out so many things and turned out albums where every song is at least decent. That is indeed reason for some sort of celebration considering I could barely struggle through "Angel Power" and it's almost complete lack of anything to latch onto. Still this German band were somewhat behind the times compared to what was going on with the top NWOBHM acts. In fact the music here has a little more in common with late 70's hard rock than with other early 80's acts. The most important facts are that Mass managed to improve drastically and lay down some catchy hard rock tracks. If you are interested in checking this band out then I would definitely skip Angel Power and go to this release instead.

Mass-Angel Power

SPV

1980/2010



Wow, ummm this album is kind of well... rough to be quite honest. It sounds a very raw and very early rehearsel. However this was actually the band's forth album. The prodction is weak the vocals being twice as loud as the music, but still very fuzzy. The music is too far in the background with an incredible lack of backbone for a hard rock release. Maybe the band had little control over that I can understand that. The music itself is not a whole better. There is just a complete lack of grooves and hooks. They hit upon some initial riffs to get going, but 15-30 seconds in the band as a whole seems overwhelmed by the task of having to create a 3-4 minutes song. So they stumble through to the bitter end dragging our poor eardrums down with them. Even if I heard this when it first came out in 1980 my view would not have been much favorable. Listen to this and then then listen to something like Iron Maiden's debut or Saxon's Wheels of steel. You would immediately be aware of just how much work Mass needed to get up to acceptable level. The re-issue includes one bonus track.

Mass-Metal Fighter

SPV
1983/2010

Germany's Mass had been around for about seven years when they released "Metal Fighter". To me this is definitely their best work and quite a step above their previous releases. Drawing on late 70's hard rock/metal and NWOBHM influences Mass tie it all into a very direct, guitar driven attack. It's nothing that you have not heard before. They are decent writers with some catchy songs. Mass also manage to vary the pace and tone quite often from song to song as well. Tracks like "Metal Man" and "High heel thrills" wouldn't win awards for most throught provoking lyrics or receive many originality points. Still there is no doubt that Mass could be quite proficient at playing a basic yet enjoyable songs. All things considered this album holds well enough over time. The re-issue includes some brief notes about this album, booklet and the bonus track "Don't stop on your way". Overall a good package and I am glad that SPV gave this one a re-issue.

Mass-War Law

SPV
1984/2010

Not to be confused with the American band of the same name or the German band who recorded one album ten years ago. This Mass also hailed from Germany, but they formed back in the mid-70's and ended up doing 8 albums between 1977 and 1986. War Law is their second to last release. This is fairly standard metal, but if I heard it without knowing the year it was recorded I would guess about 1979 or 1980. So they were a little behind the times as metal in general was getting heavier and branching by 1984. Still there is something to be said for the fairly catchy brand of music that Mass embraced. They remind me of times of a cross between late 70's Judas Priest and maybe a heavier version of KISS. Being where they are from there may be some early Accept influence mixed in there too. The slightly dated sound is probably what kept them from being as well known as other bands who moved ahead with the times. Still there they were cranking out this slightly under produced music that still has enough kick to be likable. I guess that was the key for them. The fact that they ignored trends and went with what they liked. Dated or not it was still pretty good. This new re-issue includes a bonus track "Playing in a rock -n- roll band" from 1978.

Interview with MASS

MASS are a hard rock band whose origins go back to the early 1980's. Recently I interviewed vocalist Louie St. August to find out more about the band's history and their plans for the future.

MM-So what are you currently working on?
LS-Hi Mark!
Right now we are re mixing some bonus tracks that will appear on two CD
re-releases we have scheduled for Retrospect Records this summer. Will be re-releasing “Take You Home” & “Voices in the Night” each with a never before heard bonus track.
Also re-mixing a never heard before little acoustical gem for an overseas compilation CD which is scheduled for release later this year as well.

MM-You guys actually started out being known as Axis. Tell us a little about how you formed and when and why did you change your band name?
LS-I started the band during our high school years with me originally on drums and vocals. After a few changes with local musicians from our neighborhood It wasn't until around 1980 when we had the final line up put together, with me coming up front and Joey taking over behind the drums!
They said I was a lot better singer than drummer LOL!

When we learned of another Boston band that was using the name “Axis” in there band name that’s when we decided to make a change.
So after tossing around a few names we finally ended up with the name MASS around 1983.


MM-You signed to A&M in 1982, but your “Fighter” album was never released. What happened then and did that set back any progress you had made at the time?
LS-Yes, we were all just getting out of High school when we landed our first major recording contract with A&M records. We were very young and naïve at the time and practically signed our lives away to man we later realized was a lunatic! LOL!

He not only drove the record label and us crazy but everyone else that had the misfortune of meeting him. We were approached by the label and we were given an ultimatum to go in and finish up the recordings in Florida with legendary producer Tom Allom (Judas Priest) and then get rid of your management or they were not going to release our record. So that’s exactly what we did and it took us over 2/12 years to finally break free of all contracts by filling for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Losing what was left out of the $175,000 advance from A&M records and our record deal as well!
This put us back about three years when we should have had our first Major release in 1982!


MM-By 1985 you signed with RCA and released “New Birth”. How was the relationship with RCA different than when you were with A&M?
LS-After free from any legal obligations we had set up three or 4 showcases with labels. We eventually signed with RCA and recorded “New Birth” we never really got a taste of what the differences would have been between labels because all we did for A&M was spend 3 months in Florida recording an album that was never released. So we never did get to see what type of promotion, videos, etc, were in store for us at A&M.


MM-What do you remember about the writing and recording process of that album?
LA-The summer of 1985 in upstate Bearsville, New York was a great time!
We were working with Tony Platt in a very country style studio atmosphere.
The band actually lived and did pre-production for two weeks prior to the recordings in a huge barn with 4 bedrooms upstairs and rehearsal room kitchen area downstairs. Most of the songs were already written before we had arrived we just tweaked them a bit and made them stronger with Tony’s assistance.


MM-I remember seeing copies of “New Birth” in a local department store that carried very little metal. So how well did the album sell? Did you get do a major tour to support the album?
LS-The album sold quite well for us and the MTV Video “Do you love me” single, sold extremely well also! Over 40,000 45’s were sold in just the New England area alone and album sales reached over 100,000 units. We did a month tour going up and down the east coast supporting the New Birth record.


MM-After that you were on Enigma, so what happened with RCA?
LS-In late 1986 RCA was then sold to GE and the people who had originally signed us had left the label and under there new direction our management at the time thought it was best for us to take a buy out and shop the band elsewhere.
So we left RCA with another record that was still owed to them on the contract and took the $50,000 buy out instead. In Late 1987 we signed with California based Enigma Records.


MM-What was it like working with Michael Sweet when he produced “Voices in the night” for you?
LS-Working with Michael was great he is not only a great musician and perfectionist but a real down to earth nice guy. It was not only great to work with a friend but a true fan of the bands music! Michael and his wife Kyle were even kind enough to ask the band to move into his own home for two months while we recorded Voices in the night in various studios in the California. This was ideal for us because we needed to save money on the recording budget.


MM-What were you doing in the 1990’s? How tough was it after the shift in musical trends of the early 1990’s?
LS-When the 90s came in with the grunge and rap scene it killed our style of music so we just kept a low profile and continued to write a lot of new material and do some selected appearances in the new England area. We also released a best of called MASS “Best Ones”. We also lost our bassist Kevin due to personal reasons and got to spend some much needed time with our families.



MM-How has this decade gone for your band so far?
LS-The band is rocking now better than ever! In 2007 we signed with a re-release company called Retrospect records and will have 3 re-releases out by the summer of 2008!
We also signed a brand new record contract with one of the best
Overseas labels called Escape Music Ltd (UK) for new MASS material.
We signed a five year 3 album deal. Our first brand new release in nearly 18 years is called MASS “Crack of Dawn” recorded in New Jersey and Massachusetts and mixed in Sweden by Martian kronlund.
Michael Sweet learned we were recording a new record and wanted to be involved so he along with engineer Kenny Lewis helped produce two tracks off the new CD!

The New CD has gone on to sell great around the world with hundreds of outstanding reviews and gaining MASS more fans now than ever before!



MM-If you could only listen to three albums over the next month what would they be?

LS-MASS “Crack of Dawn”, MASS “Voice’s in the Night, MASS “New Birth”
I think I am a bit biased? LOL!

MM-You are playing at Rocklahoma this summer on the Retrospect side stage. What day and time are you playing? What are you expectations about this show?

LS-We will be performing prime time on Saturday July 12, at approximately 9:00 PM right after Kix and before Warrant.

We really don’t have any major expectations just to go out there have a good time and kick some rock n roll ass the way we always have done! Hopefully we will please some of our older fans that never got the chance to see us back in the day and be able pick up some new fans along the way as well!

MM-Will you be playing more shows in 2008?

LS-Yes we have been performing a lot these last few years on the East coast mainly and are looking to perform overseas next year as well in support of our European releases.


MM-If someone had never heard one of your albums and could only afford to buy one then which one would you recommend and why?

LS-Tough Question! I guess I would have to say our latest release “Crack of Dawn”
It just sounds great with today’s technology in the studio verses the old analog tapes. I think the new release really gives the listener a real good sense of what MASS is all about in regards to our versatility in style.
We can go from a heavy rocker to a ballad or blues it up or funk it out!

MM-Do you think that hard rock is making a comeback now? If so then why do you think that is?

LS-I believe all good music comes back around again! I hear a lot of the newer bands coming out playing riffs like we wrote back in the 80s. And now look at this Rocklahoma event with over 200,000 people expected this year all lining up to hear there favorite bands of the hard rock era!

MM-Is there anything else that you would like to say about you band or your music?

LS-Just would like to thank you Mark for the interview and for letting me chat about MASS and our new release MASS “Crack of Dawn”
Hope to see you on the road and look for our re-releases this summer!
Also many thanks to our loyal fans over the years we are nothing without you! You Rock! Louis

For more info on MASS please visit.

http://www.massmusic.biz/

or

http://www.myspace.com/masstheband