Description

KROKUS: Headhunter Ultra rare Cassette tape System S super ferro top quality. West German  https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n0Ya7seUNCtX0SmDb0UeOSxE_HekNNqxA&feature=gws_kp_album&feature=gws_kp_artist

Headhunter is the seventh album by Krokus and was released in 1983. It achieved Gold status in the United States. The track “”Screaming in the Night”” was the band biggest hit to date, and is still played on classic rock radio stations. Headhunter is the only Krokus album to feature Steve Pace on drums, and includes the Bachman Turner Overdrive cover “Stayed Awake All Night”.

Songs:
A1 “”Headhunter”” (Butch Stone; Chris Von Rohr; Fernando Von Arb; Marc Storace)   4:30
A2 “”Eat the Rich”” (Fernando Von Arb; Marc Storace; Chris Von Rohr; Butch Stone)   4:14
A3 “”Screaming in the Night”” (Fernando Von Arb; Marc Storace; Chris Von Rohr; Butch Stone; M. Kohler)   6:38
A4 “”Ready to Burn”” (Butch Stone; Chris Von Rohr; Fernando Von Arb; Marc Storace; Von Chris Rohr)   3:54
B1 “”Night Wolf”” (Butch Stone; Chris Von Rohr; Fernando Von Arb; Marc Storace)  “ 4:10 (written for the animated motion picture Metal Hollywood)
B2 “”Stayed Awake All Night”” (Randy Bachman cover)  4:24
B3 “”Stand and be Counted”” (Butch Stone; Chris Von Rohr; Fernando Von Arb; Marc Storace)   4:07
B4″”White Din”” (Chris Von Rohr; Fernando Von Arb)   1:50
B5 “”Russian Winter”” (Butch Stone; Chris Von Rohr; Fernando Von Arb; Marc Storace)   3:31

Side One Time 19:19
Side Two Time 18:19

Personnel:
Marc Storace – vocals
Fernando Von Arb – lead guitar
Chris Von Rohr – bass & percussion
Steve Pace – drums
Mark Kohler – rhythm guitar
Additional musicians:
Rob Halford – Backing Vocals on “”Ready to Burn”” [Judas Priest, Fight, Two, Halford, Black Sabbath, Hear ‘n Aid]
Jimi Jamison – Backing Vocals

Region Certification Sales/shipments:  United States (RIAA) Gold 500,000^

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Check whole album, every song:

I first heard this album back in the mid-1980 and “”Screaming in the night”” was a late night staple on the local radio station as well. Marc Storace has a strong voice and there are some impressive guitar licks here and there on the album. There are a few moments where I am reminded of AC/DC, but the closest band to compare them to might actually be Accept. Only it seems like Krokus are a little more on the hard rock side of the fence while Accept where a little more on the metal side. This is fairly no-nonsense hard rock and there is a place for that style. The title track kicks the album off in good fashion and “”Eat the rich”” is a solid enough anthem. I think that I can only listen to “”Screaming in the night”” every so often because I heard way too often growing up. My favorites tracks are probably the title track, “”Night Wolf””, “”Stand up and be counted”” and the really cool “”Stayed awake all night””.
Still this album holds fairly well for it age.
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5.0 out of 5 stars KROKUS’ METAL ALBUM – ROB HALFORD APPROVED!,
Long considered, and quite rightly so, to be AC/DC wannabes (check out their 3 excellent early albums “”Metal Rendez-vous””, “”Hardware”” & “”One Vice At A Time”” for proof), Krokus really came of age with the release of this their 4th album. Produced by Judas Priest associate Tom Allom in 1983 (between 82 Screaming For Vengeance & 84 Defenders Of The Faith albums), this even boasts having Rob Halford adding backing vocals on the track “”Ready To Burn””. However, the real meat in this mighty metal sandwich are the brutal opening title-track, plus equally blood-hungry & carnivorous “”Night Wolf””. Coupled with two very excellent & quite mature efforts in power ballad “”Screaming In The Night”” & the super-cool radio-friendly groove of “”Stayed Awake All Night””. The album also ends on a high with the guitar-effects heavy “”White Din”” which heralds closing track “”Russian Winter”” which charges along at great pace warning of the perils of fighting in the most inhospitable of environments. All in all, this is a classic metal album, brimming with fire, attitude & melody.
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5.0 out of 5 stars one of the best albums of all time,
melodic and heavy,good riffs,it like these krokus guys are not the same from the first 3 albums- there is no weak song on this,stands a god album like some on the 83-84 years, powerslave-penetrator-balls to the wall-defenders of the faith-crusader-love at first sting-slide it in (uk version)-Bon Jovi first-vertical smiles-elimanator-animal grace-perfect strangers-the last in line-under lock and key-4-pyromania-ride the lightning-hail to England-out of the cellar-russ ballard-1984-rising force- and so many others i can’t remember now……..
people who don’t have these just don’t understand music like a real practising musician not just a listener

 

Do you remember Krokus?  I certainly do. Krokus was the biggest selling Swiss band ever.  Back in 1983, Krokus was starting to make some headway in the US.  Their sound was heavy and sounded a lot like AC/DC.  Then on April 25, 1983, they released the album ‘Headhunter’.  They took that heavy AC/DC sound and when up another notch as they were louder and way heavier than they had ever been before.

All of that was due to producer Tom Allom.  Tom is a producer and a sound engineer who had worked with Black Sabbath and Judas Priest so the man knew his metal and he took that expertise and gave Krokus their biggest selling and most successful album to date.  And man, did it rock. The use of the twin guitars, the awesome sound of the double bass drum and man the singer could lay down some killer vocals on the chorus.  It is everything you could want. And on a side note for you Def Leppard fans, Tom was producer on their debut ‘On Through the Night’.

 

And look at that cover.  The skull and cross bones was all bright and shiny like metal.  Then the back cover had each member’s face super-imposed with a skull on one half of their face.  How badass is that.  Well, at this time in 1983, I was a young lad of only 14 and was badass to me.  Now, Def Leppard was King for me and so was Krokus. I had two posters on my wall at this point and one was Lep and the other was this one below.  And yes, I still have both posters (they are rolled up in a box in storage, but I still have them).

The band at this time consisted of the following members:

• Marc Storace on vocals (or simply called “The Voice” on the back of the album)
• Fernando von Arb on guitar
• Mark Kohler on guitar
• Chris von Rohr on bass
• Steve Pace on drums

Now, for some dirt.  Chris von Rohr was fired shortly after this album because he went to the press and leaked information about the band and their rock & roll lifestyle.  Apparently, that didn’t sit well with the band.  Also, this is the only album that features Steve Pace on drums.  He didn’t make it to the end of the year either.  So, with all the success the band was having, the band was in a little turmoil with line-up changes (sounds familiar)

SIDE 1:

The album starts out with a bang and those double bass drums blasting away at break-neck speed.  The guitar riff comes in and than Marc lets out a massive, yet melodic scream and then straight in to the lyrics that only a teenage boy could love…”Sex & Drugs and Rock & Roll, that’s my cup of tea”.  The song, “Headhunter” is fierce, it is loud and it is the closest thing I would get to speed metal at the time as those guitar notes and riffs were coming at you so loud and fast it would drive you mad.  Marc sounds like a mad man screaming out the verses and then ending with a nightmarishly scream before the final rat-ta-tat-tat of the drums.

Then right in to another vicious song in the form of “Eat the Rich” and any song with a curse word in it was something could wrap my head around.  The solo in this song was mixed with some wicked bass lines, some cool drum-fills and then a killer solo. But the highlight for me, as always, is those lyrics and Marc’s delivery. There is a roughness in his vocals (Bon Scott type) and is pure rock & roll.

But let’s be honest, as destructive as those first two songs are, the gem on this album and the song they are known for is the ballad, “Screaming in the Night”. The wind blows in with those soft and eerie guitar notes are played slowly as the drum and the rest of the band slowly fade in.  Marc goes softer with his vocal delivery and reaches for all the heart strings in the emotions he brings and man, what melodies. MTV played the hell out of this song and is probably why I went and bought this.  The backing vocals on this were Cobra lead singer, Jimi Jamison…but you might know him as lead singer of Survivor just a year later.

And all you Judas Priest fans hold on to your hats as Rob Halford helps with the backing vocals on “Ready to Burn”.  The song starts out with some bad sounding motor and I’m not sure if a car or a motorcycle, but luckily when the guitars and drum come in you forget about that.  Krokus are back with the rock in full force.  Marc still throws in some screams which seems to be his trademark in these songs, but the guitars are the winner on this one, oh and Halford of course.  When you get to the chorus and you hear Rob, you kinda feel like it is a Priest song…it’s as heavy as one.  It is a nice treat and an amazing end to a brilliant first side.

SIDE 2:

Side 2 kicks off just as hard as side one with another heavy, speed song in “Night Wolf”.  The guitar shredding on this one is exactly what everyone needs to hear.  The song is a torrent of  guitar notes flowing swiftly throughout. On a fun fact note, this song was originally written for an animated movie called ‘Metal Hollywood’ and nope, never heard of it.

“Stayed Awake All Night” comes next and is actually a cover of a Bachman-Turner-Overdrive song.  It isn’t as rocking as the rest of the album and  the tempo and style are so different then the rest of the album.  Steve Pace gets a moment to shine in the musical interlude break as he drives home the rhythm behind an understated guitar solo.

The heavier side is brought back with “Stand and Be Counted”.  This is another rock anthem for the angst filled youth.  Not as good as “Headhunter” as far as an anthem goes, but still enough to get the juices flowing.  And the guitars still shred and that is what you want to hear anyway.

We get an instrumental on here as well in the form of “White Din” written by the two “von” boys.  The song opens slow except for this really cool, fast pace, electronic sound repeating.  There are a lot of effects on here that make it a little scary sounding, but also an emptiness feel to it.  It is interesting.

Then the album ends with “Russian Winter” which for me feels like an Iron Maiden song.  The guitar has this galloping feel to it and the whole thing has this whole epic battle charge going to it.  It is pretty awesome.  And it is a great way to go out and leaving you wanting more.

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I still love this album today and it takes me back to my youth on when I was discovering heavy metal.  I didn’t go too far heavy, but I did enjoy this.  The album delivered some blistering dual guitar work and the howls of Marc Storace are something to be heard.  It is a solid metal album and even gives you one of the best power ballads of the time.  What more could you want!