Album Reviews

[binnie]

From the vaults: Accept – I’m a Rebel (1980)

Album number two from Accept was by no means the band’s best – but it was a helluva a blast. A long way from both the proto-thrash majesty of 1982’s ‘Restless & Wild’ or the slicker and simpler anthems of ‘Metal Heart’ and ‘Balls To The Wall’, ‘I’m A Rebel’ developed the best parts of the band’s debut and simplified them into something more distinctive. The title-track is the real gem here: a punky fist to the face of the Sunset Strip sound, and a call to arms for headbangers everywhere, it’s driving power are the duel guitars and searing leads of Wolf Hoffman and Jorg Fisher and the huge hooks spat out in Udo’s quintessential rasp. In many ways its crunchy hard rock defines the album, with ‘Thunder & Lighting’, ‘China Lady’ and ‘Do It’ delivering more of the same electric charge – short, simple and satisfyingly pure. Elsewhere the fantasy imagery and whiff of psychedellia on ‘Same Us’ recalls the work that Priest were producing the in the late ‘70s; and ‘No Time To Lose’ is a power-ballad with heavy Scorpions overtones which is both surprisingly evocative and proof that this type of song should not be dismissed out of hand because of the horrors which the end of the decade produced.

The Dio-esque fantasy of ‘The King’ might not be built on strong enough ingredients, but overall ‘I’m A Rebel’ deserves high praise than it receives. The band was still crystallising its sound – and you get the sense that they were holding back their urge to histrionics – but in 1980, how many heavy metal bands were as good (let alone better) than Accept?

[VHscraps]

From the vaults: Accept – I’m a Rebel (1980)

Album number two from Accept was by no means the band’s best – but it was a helluva a blast. A long way from both the proto-thrash majesty of 1982’s ‘Restless & Wild’ or the slicker and simpler anthems of ‘Metal Heart’ and ‘Balls To The Wall’, ‘I’m A Rebel’ developed the best parts of the band’s debut and simplified them into something more distinctive. The title-track is the real gem here: a punky fist to the face of the Sunset Strip sound, and a call to arms for headbangers everywhere, it’s driving power are the duel guitars and searing leads of Wolf Hoffman and Jorg Fisher and the huge hooks spat out in Udo’s quintessential rasp. In many ways its crunchy hard rock defines the album, with ‘Thunder & Lighting’, ‘China Lady’ and ‘Do It’ delivering more of the same electric charge – short, simple and satisfyingly pure. Elsewhere the fantasy imagery and whiff of psychedellia on ‘Same Us’ recalls the work that Priest were producing the in the late ‘70s; and ‘No Time To Lose’ is a power-ballad with heavy Scorpions overtones which is both surprisingly evocative and proof that this type of song should not be dismissed out of hand because of the horrors which the end of the decade produced.

The Dio-esque fantasy of ‘The King’ might not be built on strong enough ingredients, but overall ‘I’m A Rebel’ deserves high praise than it receives. The band was still crystallising its sound – and you get the sense that they were holding back their urge to histrionics – but in 1980, how many heavy metal bands were as good (let alone better) than Accept?

Thanks for the review, Binnie.

I always really liked that album, but apart from watching the title tune on youtube now and again, I haven't heard it for ... probably 30 years.

I think I saw them opening for Judas Priest in the UK around the time it was released - maybe it was somebody else they opened for ...

I preferred the version of the LP with the band squashed into an upside down phone booth on the cover!

[binnie]

Thanks for the review, Binnie.

I always really liked that album, but apart from watching the title tune on youtube now and again, I haven't heard it for ... probably 30 years.

I think I saw them opening for Judas Priest in the UK around the time it was released - maybe it was somebody else they opened for ...

I preferred the version of the LP with the band squashed into an upside down phone booth on the cover!

Cheers.

I actually liked Accept's earlier work ('I'm a Rebel' and 'Restless & Wild' in particular) more than their 'big sellers' like 'Metal Heart' (which felt a little curtailed by being designed for the US market).

That being said, the last two records they've made - 'Stalingrad' & 'Blood For Nations' - are as good (if not better) as anything they've done. Both are reviewed in here.......

[philouze]

Restless kicks Major Ass. Now, if Russian Roulette had that raw production Restless had, it would have been great too. As far as I'm A Rebel is concerned, let us never forget that the title track was originally intended to be an AC/DC song... I actually think they recorded it, but Udo keeps the tapes in his vaults. Thanks again, Binnie. Accept Rules.
And yeah, Tornillo makes us forget Udo. Makes ME forget him, anyway. Wolf's riffs are still as killer as they've always been.

[binnie]

Wolf Hoffman is one of those guys who really should get more props - that sound was the beginning of something new, y'know?

I think Glenn Tipton and Wolf Hoffman must be the most unheralded dudes in metal guitar.......

[philouze]

Check out Anthrax Alive 2 Documentary... Benante claims that Accept was one of the reasons Anthrax was born. Available on the Tube.
I've always admired Wolf. Will always do. And yeah, Glenn Tipton is FUCKING tremendous too, even though I'm not a Priest fan. The guy played with Cozy & the FUCKING OX, for fucks sake.

[Hardrock69]

I remember talking to Glen about 10 years ago...he was going to release a full album of the sessions with him, Cozy and John. I think the reunion with Halford sort of put that on the back burner. Hope he releases the rest of the stuff someday that he did with them.

[philouze]

I miss Entwistle so much I'd love to hear this album...

[binnie]

On a side note, I'm sort of gritting my teeth in the hope that the new Judas Priest record (the first without KK) won't be as awful as I suspect it might...........

[binnie]

Primal Rock Rebellion – Awoken Broken (2012)

You’d never guess that this side-project featured Iron Maiden guitar player Adrian Smith. It may be heavy, but the points of comparison end there – looser, and featuring a broader range of references (dance, reggae, orchestration) the result is something at once darker and richer than Maiden. And that is refreshing – too often side-projects sound either like impoverished versions of a musician’s day-job, or prove to be an exercise in self-congratulatory indulgence. Primal Rock Rebellion – which sees Smith team up with ex-Sixth vocalist Mikee Goodman – is neither. This is a genuine meeting of minds (and generations) in a project that, for all its cracks, bustles and glistens with energy.

When older artists try to sound contemporary is often result in something horribly contrived. Not so here. Goodman brings a balance of urban venom and introspection which is so distinctive you almost forget who is playing behind him, and Smith seems happy to hang back in places. Goodman croons, barks, scats and weazes his way through lyrics about mental illness, homelessness and religious musings, moving from the vulnerable to the menacing mantra of ‘I See The lights’ (think Killing Joke at their most rock). Opener ‘No Friendly Neighbour’ is awash with spacey rock and beats, and demented sort of funk topped off with a scatted vocal. ‘Search For Bliss’ combines grunge and psychedellia without ever feeling out-of-step, whilst the title-track is an absolute stormer of demented rock fury. Perhaps best of all – to these ears, at least – is ‘Toruted Tone’, a dark take on female self-loathing which sees a slow-build of several melodies emerge into something genuinely affecting. Of course, there’s plenty of heavy thuds, too: ‘White Sheet Robes’ and ‘No Place Like Home’ deliver plenty of guitar thunder and nifty solo work.

It would be folly to deny that some of it doesn’t work – ‘Bright As A Fire’ is more stodgy than stompy, whilst ‘ Savage World’ is an explosion of ‘80s goth which feels somewhat unfocussed – or to admit that this won’t be for everyone: not only is Goodman’s approach to vocals unique, his lyrical subject-matter many leave many cold. But even the naysayers would have to admit that this is a far more interesting – and satisfying – experiment than another meandering white-boy-kills-the-blues record. Primal Rock Rebellion has legs – a second helping would be more than intriguing.

[binnie]

Dupe post

[binnie]

Flyleaf – New Horizons (2012)

Flyleaf have always excelled at making heavy rock accessible through hooks the size of the Milky Way, and ‘New Horizons’ continues to deliver their typical brand of scuzzy angst dappled in pop’s fairy dust. What you feel about that will depend on what you feel about rock ‘n’ roll more generally. If you think that 1) ‘feelings’ should be left at the rehearsal room door; and 2) any guitar work that veers away from boulder crushing testosterone drive is ‘ghey’, then this band is not for you. But if you like your heaviness served up on a bed of melody and with more atmospherics than an agoraphobic help group’s first hike of the summer, there’s plenty here to love. Firmly in the vein of where most mainstream hard rock bands have sounded since the early ‘00s – smashing grunge’s melancholy into pop-punk’s bounciness with compellingly schizophrenic results – Flyleaf race through 11 infectiously tuneful songs in 36 minutes and, as always, leave you wanting more. ‘Green Heart’ is the whole spectrum of rock crammed into 3 minutes and a helluva hook, whilst ‘Fire Fire’ is a huge blast of 21st century rock with a chorus incendiary enough to make 30 Seconds to Mars blush. Few bands have the knack for writings songs which twist darkened hues into such delicate melodies, and the key – as ever – is singer Lacey Sturm, whose beautiful quirk of a voice spins from wail to vulnerable with admirable effortlessness. I fall in love a little bit more every time a new verse starts.

But that’s not to say this is a light kind of heavy. Both ‘Freedom’ and ‘Call You Out’ deliver plenty of oomph and bottom end clout – even the hardened metalheads would be pushed to resist riffs like those. If there’s a downside, it’s that the whole things does not feel quite as cohesive as the band’s first two records – more like a clutter of songs than a focussed album, the inclusion of weaker material (‘Saving Grace’) perhaps implies that things were not quite a-OK on the good ship Flyleaf. The departure of Lacey shortly after this album was released seems to confirm that suspicion – it’s a crying shame that a band with hooks and traditional song-craft should suffer a setback only 3 records in. More people should hear this record than will do, but you can’t help thinking that the band will become a victim of changes.

[binnie]

Manowar – The Lord Of Steel (2012)

‘The Lord Of Steel’ sees Manowar return to more familiar territory after attempting to expanding their sound into more symphonic territories on ‘Gods Of War’ (2007) – an ambitious, but ultimately noble, failure. Here you get everything you could possibly want from a Manowar record in all of its (ridiculous) glory – the big, bigger, and biggest in equal measure. It says something about the sheer distinctiveness of the band’s delivery that they can forge such a unique space in the musical landscape with a sound which is, ultimately, built from the most generic of (metallic) component parts: 4/4 rhythms, power-chords, fantasy lyrics, and wailing. No-one has ever accused Manowar of being the Burt Bacharach’s of Heavy Metal, but their song-writing chops do remain under-heralded and their secret, in truth, was always to Americanize metal: that is, to simplify it and in doing so make it more powerful. On ‘Manowarriors’ and ‘Expendable’ they deliver festival crushing anthems with aplomb, whilst the pomp of ‘Annihilation’ and ‘Righteous Glory’ is as utterly irresistible as it is predictable. That there is not a hint of the tongue-in-cheek about all of this has always left many baffled by the band – the seriousness with which they take their worship of all things ‘metal’ lends an air of ridiculous to proceedings – but they are a band which only the initiated are ever going to ‘get’: ‘Heavy Metal is my life/ Heavy Metal will never die’ (‘Annihilation’) – you have to feel it to share it.

Plodding along with the solid resolve of a Viking longboat hellbent on laying waste to any shore they land on, Manowar here do more than merely placate the hordes. These are songs which deserved to be played alongside the classics, the sort of music to chug beer, fornicate and rumble to (witness ‘Hail, Kill & Die’). Yes, there are problems – Joey Demaio’s Mount Doom bass sound is so overdone it makes the record feel flat (you can barely here the guitar at times) and throws all of the dynamics of the sound out – but you just don’t care. They may be a long way from their heyday, but they still have enough fire in their bellies to serve up a disc of molten metal goodness which is, incidentally, their best record in 20 years.

[binnie]

From the vaults: Extreme – Saudes De Rock (2008)

Extreme were always out of place amidst their Hair Metal contemporaries. In a world that celebrated sleaze, they were just little bit too ‘nice’: they probably brushed their teeth twice a day; made their beds; were religious about doing their homework; and rocked out only after their chores had been completed. Motley Crue fucked groupies in the ass – Extreme probably cuddled them (gently). But whilst those bands were infected, Extreme were infectious. That rested upon two things: 1) they had songs that could compete with anyone; and 2) they always had sense of grandeur, a camp theatricality, that made everything seem and sound bigger and brighter - where most Sunset Strippers were hooked on Johnny Thunders, Nuno Bettencourt and co. were aiming straight for Queen. That musicality made ‘Pornograffiti’ a stone-cold classic amidst a sea of retarded coke-heads, a searing riff sodden, melody entwined middle-finger to the third rate Guns ‘N’ Roses clones that were cluttering up LA at the tail end of the ‘80s. Sure, ‘Three Sides To Every Story’ suffered from that grandeur being taken too far; and, sure, ‘Waiting For The Punchline’ was patchy in places (although it remains chronically under-rated), but you always sense that Extreme were rock’s perpetual nearly men. ‘Saudes De Rock’ was never going to be a multi-million seller, but it is nevertheless a triumph of sorts for Extreme – proof that even after all these years they could still bring it, and still march defiantly to the beat of their own drum.

You know what it sounds like: it’s a straight up hard rock record constructed around huge hooks and a persistent desire to get the funk out (!) There are some scorching moments: opener ‘Star’ is a punchy rock song which combines Cheap Trick melodies and Queen pomp with Nuno’s relentless funk-rock riffs; ‘Comfortably Dumb’ is a monster – a huge riff eases in a loose, smouldering groove over which Cherone’s newly smokey vocals add an effortless cool – and the band sounds like they’re having more fun than they’ve ever had (the image that riff conjures in my head is 3 dozen of the hottest girls you’ve ever seen shaking it – that’s SWAGGER). Perhaps strongest of all are ‘Learn To Love’ – a statuesque love song which features a hook bigger than Saturn – ‘Inferface’ (a perfect piece of 21st century rock) and the skiffle (yes, a skiffle) ‘Take Us Alive’, which is the sort of curve ball Roth-era Van Halen might have thrown into the hard rock arena. As was always the case with Extreme, the ballads are the sticking point. If you did not like them in 1990, you ain’t gonna like ‘em now. ‘Peace’ is creepily over-earnest whilst ‘Last Hour’ – the pick of the bunch – is a ridiculously over-styled as you’d expect, but its eerie Edith Piaf like lament in the verse is oddly affecting. Nuno still plays like he is an alien from another planet; Cherone still sounds odd (but oddly effective); and new drummer Kevin Figuerido combines dexterity with a monstrous weight that lends the band more pop than they’ve ever had. Good times.

Extreme continue to do what they’ve always done, albeit in a looser, less histrionic manner. And, they continue to make the same mistakes of the past (too many ballads, and albums that are too long). But ‘Saudes De Rock’ is a triumph despite its flaws, and really deserves to be heard more widely.

[binnie]

Granted, Nostradamus was dire.

My concern for the new stuff is that, irregardless of how good Ritchie is, the Priest sound relied to a great extent on the chemistry between Tipton and Downing - with KK gone I fear that we might get a parody of that, which would tragic....