Description
A great document of one of the earliest NWOBHM. A really thoroughly researched compilation documenting the NWOBHM phenomenon’s rarer out reaches. 15 tracks licensed from rare and hard to find New Wave Of British Heavy Metal songs. This LP will appeal to all metal fans, and aficionados. This is for everyone into rock music history and anyone interested in British music – and culture history. Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Judas Priest and Saxon all got signed by majors and sold records galore, meanwhile bands in every village across England formed. Inspired by the energy and DIY attitude of the punk scene these acts recorded and released their records all on their own. The music heard on this LP has been treasured by NWOBHM connoisseurs.
Here is this CDs complete tracklist:
1. THE HANDSOME BEASTS – All Riot Now 4:22
2. THE HANDSOME BEASTS – The Mark of the Beast 3:44
3. THE HANDSOME BEASTS – Breaker 2:26
4. THE HANDSOME BEASTS – Crazy 3:27
5. THE HANDSOME BEASTS – One in a Crowd 3:32
6. BUFFALO – Battle Torn Heroes 3:34
7. BUFFALO – Women of the Night 4:35
8. DRAGSTER – Ambitions 4:07
9. DRAGSTER – Won’t Bring You Back 4:15
10. LAST FLIGHT – Dance to the Music 4:21
11. LAST FLIGHT – I’m Ready 2:38
12. SPLIT BEAVER – Savage 3:08
13. SPLIT BEAVER – Hounds of Hell 3:57
14. SATANIC RITES – Live to Ride 4:28
15. SATANIC RITES – Hit and Run 3:31
This CD contains:
*THE HANDSOME BEASTS “All Riot Now”/”The Mark of the Beast” 7″ single (1980)
*THE HANDSOME BEASTS “Breaker” 7″ single (1981)
*BUFFALO “Battle Torn Heroes” 7″ single (1981)
*DRAGSTER “Ambitions” 7″ single (1981)
*LAST FLIGHT “Dance to the Music” 7″ single (1981)
*SPLIT BEAVER “Savage” b/w “Hounds of Hell” 7″ single (1981)
*SATANIC RITES “Live to Ride”/”Hit and Run” 7″ single (1981)
Check all samples:Â Â http://17329745.tistory.com/entry/Heavy-Metal-Records-Singles-Collection…
As the liner notes to this CD state, after the more famous Neat Records, Sedgley, U.K.-based Heavy Metal Records was undoubtedly the next biggest label to release New Wave of British Heavy Metal records back in the early ’80s. After all, they would put out the debut single by noted speed metal merchants Jaguar (“Back Street Woman,” the strength of which would get them signed to Neat), and later even two full-length LPs by Coventry doomsters Witchfinder General. Founder and main man Paul Birch formed the Heavy Metal label in 1980 because he was otherwise unable to secure a deal for his friends and heavy metal colleagues in the Handsome Beasts, so he decided to put out their debut single himself and by his own means. This is the type of D.I.Y. attitude that made the NWOBHM thrive in those early days and spawned some truly classic music in the process.
This CD contains seven of the earliest 7″s that Heavy Metal put out, appropriately kicking off with the very first to see the light of day, THE HANDSOME BEASTS’ “All Riot Now”/”The Mark of the Beast.” And what a single it is. It is raw, honest and real, great pub rock with striking chord progressions that propel these two songs into the realm of greatness. BUFFALO also figure in with their 1981 release “Battle Torn Heroes,” and the B-side “Women of the Night” in particular shows just how rooted the NWOBHM style always was in early punk, this song coming off as a cross between Tygers of Pan Tang and the Sex Pistols. The band however that really clinched my desire to buy this CD was DRAGSTER, as their one and only official release (at least until they would later on reform in the late ’90s), the 1981 single “Ambitions,” is included here in its entirety. This is an absolutely brilliant record, one of my favorite NWOBHM singles of all time in fact. The title track “Ambitions” you may remember from Lars Ulrich and Geoff Bartons essential “NWOBHM: ’79 Revisited” compilation from 1990. This is an absolutely mind blowingly awesome song, which combines the rough edge of the first Def Leppard single with a truly moving riff from guitarist Andy Trafford. The B-side “Won’t Bring You Back,” which I had never heard before getting this compilation, on the other hand is a slower, more bluesy and very emotional piece rooted in ’70s rock. The other three bands included here, LAST FLIGHT, SPLIT BEAVER and SATANIC RITES, all turn in some confident, catchy and immediate songs that also capture the era well, though the first three bands I mentioned were the highlights for me.
All in all, this CD is a great, entertaining listen from beginning to end, and documents an age that relied heavily on the lost art of the heavy metal single, where you are presented with in most cases only two songs, and hence you don’t get the filler and extra padding you sometimes get with full-length LPs. This CD comes highly recommended for those, like me, who are constantly searching for obscure and lost treasures to satiate their NWOBHM CD buying addictions.
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