MALTESE FALCON, ODIN, INTRINSIC, CHINAWITE, JUDAS PRIEST (5 Metal LPs)

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Another 5  Pack Metal Attack!!!!!!

MALTESE FALCON - METAL RUSH (1984, Roadracer Records)

1. Alive

2. Rats

3. Mammas In Town

4. Heavy’N’Loud

5. Rebellion

6. Headbanger

7. On Fire

8. Metal Rush

Condition: Minor Edge Crush at top left of the album cover. The vinyl is near mint.

Catalog #: IRD 011

~ Well, I read about this band in a book entitled something like "Danish rock encyclopedia" or some shit like that. It said that this album had been called one of the worst heavy metal albums ever in magazine Kerrang and that the band's singer sounded like he had a hedgehog stuck in his throat. Okay, I thought to myself. Since I rarely agree with reviewers of magazines (most of them don't know what the hell they talk about anyway!) I wanted to check Maltese Falcon out. The library found the record for me and I went home and put it on the turntable.

The heavy tunes of Alive starts the record off in absolute superfashion. A real nice headbanger with nice riffing and also somewhat catchy. Really cool. The next two tracks (Rats + Mammas in town) are decent but nothing special. I haven't experienced skipping them yet so they're okay.

Last track on the first side is Heavy'n'Loud, a real crunching heavy metal tracks of the 80's. I actually believe that if the band had been marketed in the right way, this could have become a real heavy metal classic of the 80's. Unfortunately fate has been very cruel to heavy metal on several occasions! Anyway, it's time now to turn the record over and the second side kicks off with Rebellion, which also is a pretty good track. Not in the same vein as Alive & Heavy'n'Loud, but pretty good. Good riffing and catchy chorus. Nice.

I can easily imagine what a crowdpleaser the next track must have been in the mid-80's. It's called headbanger and the chorus goes something like "we all know how to headbang and we do it right". Musically this too is a pretty good track with a nice kick ass solo. It's recorded live. Nice! On fire is the ballad track of the record and it's actually a real good one. Has a catchy melody line and a nice rhythm.

Last track is the title track (Metal Rush) and it's the fastest track on the record. Has a punkish feel to it, but don't get fooled. It's heavy metal all the way! Nice way to end an album! Okay, this is really good genuine 80's heavy metal. It's pretty obvious that this band has been listening a whole lot to Judas Priest and early Maiden and despite not being original in any way, they've managed to write some real good songs. And no, the singer is not half as bad as Kerrang says. He's not a great singer like Halford but he knows his shit and he does it well and he actually has an amazing scream.

The guitarists are skilled and the riffs and solos are real cool! The drummer does what he's supposed to do yet not so much more, but he's stabile and there's no errors so I won't diss him. There's no need for Mike Portnoy here anyway. The bassist... well, if it ain't Hal Patino from King Diamond/Force of Evil :-) cool way to start your recording career. As always he does it good (check the back of the cover to see the band picture with a real young Patino. I couldn't recognize him...)

If you like the heavy metal of the 80's, you wanna get this. It's cool!

ODIN - DON’T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER (1985, Half Wet Records)

1. The Writer

2. One Day To Live

3. Shining Love

4. Solar Eye

5. Don’t Take No For An Answer

6. Judgement Day

Condition: Black vinyl with lyric/collage insert, Near Mint

Catalog #: GWD90509

~ Odin has taken a beating from a lot of people over the years--mostly from people who saw the admittedly terrible snippets that were shown on the 'Decline of Western Civilization - Metal Years' movie. And really, their best era, which this EP documents, was lamentably short. Their earlier 7" was trashy trad-metal while later stuff leaned toward cock-rock. 1985's 'Don't Take No For An Answer,' however, offers 4 songs of U.S. metal excellence, and two near-duds.

The EP kicks off with "The Writer," which is like a hybrid of 'Knights'-era TNT, classic Savatage, Armored Saint, and early Motley Crue. Lots of classic metal moves, some grit and speed, a few epic melodies, and the vocals of Randy O, which walk a fine line between menacing snarls, wailing screams, or Vince Neil- on-helium weirdness (as far as I'm concerned, Neil is one of the most useless "talents" to ever hold a microphone, so this is not a flattering comparison). "The Writer"'s intellectual/pacifistic theme is remarkable and interesting, considering the era/style we're talking about. "One Day to Live" and "Solar Eye" have a dark, urgent quality, as well, including some weird melodic choices by underrated guitarist Jeff Duncan (he later joined Armored Saint)--but not as weird as Randy O's melodies. The three aforementioned songs also offer a tight rhythmic chemistry. Pretty much the sort of stuff anyone into classic California bands like Malice and Omen would enjoy.

"Shining Love" is very much a ballad, but it's a smart one--plenty of depth and some fantastic solo work from Duncan. I have nothing against ballads, but most of them end up pretty lame. Like Dokken's "Alone Again" or Iron Maiden's "Wasted Love," this one is convincing, and it proves the band possessed seriously strong songwriting ability for at least a short period of time. Unfortunately the final two tracks--the title track and "Judgement Day"--offer nothing better or even comparable to what comes before. Musically they're not even terrible, although stock/generic riffs fill up the title track, and by "Judgement Day" I'm just weary of Randy O's completely off-key/off-kilter delivery. The speed of the song is great, and the strained riffs brew up some tension, but the vocalist just sucks on this one. If I wanted to listen to crappy off-key metal-sleaze vox, I guess I'd listen to Motley Crue...or Krank.

Four killer songs and two weak but tolerable ones. I'm glad I've kept this one around for so long. Cool cover, too. Embarrassing back cover though (for them, not me). I'll never kick it out of the collection. I need "The Writer" and even "Shining Love," and damn, I do love white vinyl! Too bad they never capitalized on this EP.

INTRINSIC - INTRINSIC (1987/88, No Wimp Records)

1.Ahead Of The Game

2. Hit The Streets

3. Compo

4. Rip!!

5. Possessor

6. No Return

7. Leaving Insane

8. Wasted Life

Condition: Vinyl is near mint, the sleeve does have some splits on the edges.

Catalog #: NO WIMP 88561-8243-1

~ Intrinsic’s Morro Bay contact address automatically put them on an overpopulated raft in the Bay Area, and if you’re aware of that tidbit, you’ll have no problem deducing the direction of their sound.

While nothing here mounts intensity’s fence, Intrinsic is just a tad less generic than some of their blander geographic mates, motoring along with welterweight thrashiness, a helping of speed, and a sliver of the progressive that is more demurely magnetic than Acrophet, brash moments of Atrophy, and arid Eviction. Instead, they bind reservedly catchy rhythmic aptitude (drawn out "No Return", traditionally carved "Ahead of the Game", nominally aggressive instrumental "Compo") and technical proficiency without trying to ensorcell the listener with every speck of music and produce a slab of average value. While you don’t need an ear-horn to get a bead on the band’s sufficiently accomplished prowess, the solos of Mike Mellinger and Ron Crawford ride like an 80s Camaroon a lonely one-way street, igniting the essence of freedom.

Vocalist Garrett Graupner stands on the upper steps of normal tenor, mostly smooth and placid with a half-expected yelp or two lancing the stratosphere, though he shifts to a wilder gear for the more undomesticated duo of "Possessor" and "Hit The Streets". The controlled yet briskly changeful architecture of "Leaving Insane" is a highlight, galvanized to deliver something more artful than its siblings - or God awful-ness (say Dave Mustaine’s "singing" abilities).

For those into The Bay Area sound ~ check ‘em out.

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CHINAWITE - RUN FOR COVER (1984, Mausoleum Records)

1. Run For Cover

2. Feelin'

3. Slow Train

4. Lookin' For Action

5. Operator

6. Runnin' High

7. Take No Prisoners

8. Midnight Cafe

9. Fast Lane

10. Heartland

Condition: Near Mint

Catalog #: SKULL 8351

~ Chinawite sits alongside the other melodic/hard rock bands of the genre, along with Snowblind, Bronz, Young Blood and Praying Mantis. They stray on the very edge (or possibly fell over that edge according to some commentators) of what’s acceptable NWOBHM for metalheads, and what is mere rock music, corrupting the gene pool of heavy metal. Bronz, Quartz and others, proved that you could still kick a bit of ass, while playing AORish NWOBHM, and what we have here is a band with a similar philosophy, so a less grandiose, majestic sound – that is still enjoyable on a sunny day with a few cold beers (e.g. right now). This band concentrates on 70’s rock inspired vocal harmonized chorus, attempting big AOR hooks, coupled with soothing, smooth guitar melodies and leads. When they’re at their best, it’s strong and enjoyable.

‘Lookin’ for Action’ is a song title and theme that has been tackled an innumerable number of times by everyone form Iron Maiden, to KISS, to Motley Crue. The soothing, pop-rock feel given to the track theme here, fails to arouse the same polished splendour of KISS, the same sleazy eroticism of Crue, or the downright aggressive nastiness of ‘Prowler’ by Maiden. It his however, a passable number, but won’t blow you away. One favourite is the strong and slightly more inventive (save the title) ‘Operator.’ ‘Midnight Café’ is quite badass though, seeming to have a bit more vigor than some of the others. It features their trademark heavy use of vocal melodies all over the show, which is something I frequently cite that some NWOBHM and heavy metal bands are missing from their sound. This gives things emphasis, power and is absolutely essential for the poppy stuff like this. The band gets their boots dirty in tracks like ‘Fast Lane’, which could be considered a bit more of a typical NWOBHM piece, and kicking a bit of ass with it’s chorus that features another great harmonized vocal section.

Altogether, this can be a quite enjoyable record if you’re in the mood. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not heavy and nasty, like early Saxon – it’s quite pop-rocky, and AORish, which is fine if you dig everything from Nightwing to Bronz to Journey to Wildfire. The band features very frequent uses of 70’s rock vocal hooks, and the lyrics and themes are pretty much taken from that side of things too. There’s no real dark or metal tracks or themes, just examples scattered throughout of quality hard rock. ‘Heartland’. There’s some decent guitar solos peppered throughout this thing, and there’s even some moments when it sounds like they’re going for a Def Leppard kinda thing.

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JUDAS PRIEST - ROCKA’ ROLLA (1985, Victoria)

1. One For The Road

2. Rocka Rolla

3. Winter

4. Deep Freeze

5. Winter Retreat

6. Cheater

7. Never Satisfied

8. Run Of The Mill

9. Dying To Meet You

10. Caviar And Meths

Condition: Mint

Catalog #: VICTORIA VLP-123 (E-30.650)

~ Spanish Label version of this classic album. No need to describe to you metalheads.

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