Well, I hope your Spring has been more stable than mine. I've already had both snow and hail! In the mean time, I'm still working through some classic releases, partially to check out some albums for my Top 5 articles. Here's what I've been jamming lately!
I was in some prog rock community when I saw someone mention this band and how Yes-like they were. Curious, I figured I'd put it on my list of bands to check out, and now that I'm doing these Top 5 lists, I thought I'd listen to their debut from 1975. While this band didn't last long, they certainly have the pieces of something interesting, though it's much softer than I was expecting.
I want to say that there's a big Canterbury Scene vibe, as this is largely a very mellow album, similar to some of Yes's softer songs, like "To Be Over." The rhythm section is solid and jazzy, with bassist Neil Brewer throwing in a few Squire-like melodies. Andrew McCrorie-Shand puts in a ton of work with his Mellotrons, so if you like that sound, it's here in spades. However, the vocalist, who simply goes by "Dane," seems to be trying a little too hard to sound like Jon Anderson, stretching his falsetto just a tad too far here and there. Otherwise, they sound pretty cohesive as a unit, with plenty of nice, pastoral melodies.
That being said, I do wish there was just a bit more rock energy on the album. There are a few uptempo moments, but it's pretty clear they're more interested in creating atmosphere and space. Perhaps it's because they're not as technical as Yes, so instead of impressive musicality, we get a handful of songs that just drift along. I did end up liking the two longer songs at the end the most, "Dawn of Evening" and "Shangri-La," with their expressive dynamics and transitions. Maybe this will grow on me with more listens, but for now, it's mainly a decent album.
Shifting ahead five years, this is the first of two albums this legendary NWOBHM band put out this year (I'll get to the other one soon enough). While their self-titled debut had some decent ideas, the band clearly hadn't matured into their sound quite yet, mainly being 70s hard rock. Just a year later, and already I'm hearing more of Saxon's iconic blend of rock and metal.
Things kick off with the uptempo "Motorcycle Man," feeling like they took a few cues from Motörhead, who I learned they were touring with at this time. "See the Light Shining," "Machine Gun," and "Street Fighting Gang" all have a similar style, and keep the album moving forward. Meanwhile, their other car-driven speedster "Freeway Mad" made me think of Deep Purple, and "Stand Up and Be Counted" had some nice Thin-Lizzy style guitar harmonies as well as a good, catchy chorus. I will admit that "747 (Strangers in the Night)" and the title track dragged a little, and "Suzie Hold On" was oddly sentimental, but they were still fine.
Already, I hear the improvement, as the songs are tighter and stronger than the first album. Biff remains an iconic singer, with Paul Quinn and Graham Oliver really uniting as a guitar duo on this album. Meanwhile, the rhythm section of Pete Gill and Steve Dawson maintain good energy throughout, ensuring that the album never really loses its steam. Overall, I liked a lot of this one, as it feels like the band is definitely in their groove at this point.
Speaking of which, this legendary band would release their best known album in 1980 as well! I reviewed Bomber last year, and I thought it was fine, if a bit sluggish. I know that On Parole came out between these two, but it seems to be largely ignored by the band, so I'll just move ahead to this one. While it may seem like business as usual for this band, I find this album is more consistent in quality than their earlier ones.
The album kicks off with the title track and probably their most iconic song. I remember first hearing it as the intro music to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (which probably dates me quite a bit!), and its infectious energy makes it absolutely timeless. The rest of the album is some pretty typical rocking from the trio, with lots of chunky, straight-ahead riffs and Lemmy's iconic crooning. Other than the title track, the stand-outs for me were "Live to Win," "Fire, Fire," and "The Hammer," but overall I can see why this album is their most successful. While it's not perfect (as the lyrics do get pretty sleazy at times), it has a lot of drive and power, making it very influential on a lot of other bands and a landmark album in heavy metal history.
Iron Savior - Dark Assault
In between all the classic rock I've been listening to, I figured I'd break things up with catching up on Iron Savior's discography. The next album in my journey ends up being the last with Kai Hansen, so his influence seems particularly prominent, as many of the songs definitely have a Gamma Ray feel to me. Still, this is same solid, chunky power metal that I've come to love and expect from these Germans.
While not all the songs stick to the Iron Savior story, they do tell the tale of a new threat called the Shadow, causing the Earthlings and Atlanteans to work together to face them, even if it means taking a suicide mission to close the gate they came from. In the meantime, the titular super computer star ship works out its philosophical crisis and comes back to help humanity fight them off. Certainly an epic sci-fi tale worthy of some melodramatic power metal.
The album starts off a little odd, as the opening track "Never Say Die" starts with a muted tone, but things kick into gear soon enough. The energy continues with highlights like "Seek and Destroy," "I've Been to Hell," "Predators," and "Firing the Guns," the last of which features some laser-heavy special effects. I will say it does get a little cheesy towards the end, with "Back into the Light" making me think of Queen's theatrics, and "After the War" is a power ballad, leaning pretty hard on some synthesized strings. Then they have a few decent covers to wrap things up (at least on the Japanese version). While Hansen's Gamma Ray style is very prominent, I can also hear the band slowly developing their own sound, and the album brings the story to a solid close, at least as a trilogy. Of course, things may change with the next album, which I'm looking forward to. While I don't know if I love this one like I do their most recent albums, but I'm definitely enjoying the origins of this band and their storytelling.
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