TOUCHED: Back Alley Vices LP 1984. NWOBHM s

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Description

Touched
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Location: Lancaster, Lancashire
Formed in: 1983
Genre: NWOBHM, Heavy Metal
Jon Hull works as a sound engineer with Machine Head.

1. Warrior 04:53
2. Heartbreaker 03:19
3. Nothing to Lose 02:44
4. Curtain of Lies 02:53
5. Dream Girl 02:56
6. I Got You 03:34
7. Running 03:53
8. Straight from the Heart 03:40
9. Take it All the Way 04:48
32:40

Mark Caffrey Bass
Martin Schofield Drums
John Hull Guitars
Ronnie Wolstenholme Vocals

Glam/NWOBHM/Heavy Metal Fusion
Touched is an incredibly obscure NWOBHM/heavy metal act from Lancashire. Their sound is more closely to comparable to the American school of hard rock/heavy metal (at times) while songs vary from style to style in this one. This is their 1985 début and is thoroughly enjoyable, with some original ‘touches’.

Dream Girl is a slower romantic number that reminds me very much of what Motley Crue was doing at the time. Its a well-down piece for this type of song, and has an enjoyable and memorable melodic chorus which I think is a nice addition. This song stands out due to its soft sound among what is primarily and aggressive, dirty, and speedy overall sound. Good addition though.

My favourite track is the thrilling, breakneck paced masterpiece Nothing to Lose. This one is a speed metal track which is a blend of Motley Crue and Grim Reaper with a NWOBHM infusion. The centrepiece of this thoroughly enjoyable work is the phenomenally pacey, yet melodic chorus, which is enhanced by excellent structuring of the two voices. Ive got nothing to loose is shouted aggressively and excellently by the backup vocalist (presumably guitarist John Hull from Aragorn) which is fastly supplanted by the lead vocal in an excellent arrangement that packs punch. Songs like this are why I f**cking love heavy metal!!!!!! Anyway, the pace in this one is interspersed with little slow bits and showy segments of bass that are very reminiscent of Steve Harris sound.

I Got You is a strong track with deeper NWOBHM affiliations evident. Vocals in this one are aggressive in this one and evoke comparisons of Paul DiAnno (Iron Maiden) and Steve Grimmett (Medusa, Grim Reaper). This is a pacey number with more of the bass-heavy approach hinted at in Nothing to Lose. The prominence of bass in this one definitely gives it more of a NWOBHM feel, which is great. The attitude coming through in this one definitely make it more sound like Battlezone (a band worth checking out), with the type of lyrics that DiAnno does particularly the screams at the end.

Running picks up in pace for the guitar solo. The prominence of bassist of Mark Caffrey once again comes along, again drawing comparisons with Steve Harris from Maiden.

Overall, this is a fine effort. I enjoy the blend of sound these guys have. Theres some definite Maiden touches coming through I dont know if that was intentional or not as well as similarities with some of the other (more melodic metal) NWOBHM acts. The vocalist is thoroughly enjoyable, with a throaty almost DiAnno-like quality that works well with this aggressive, yet almost glam-ish style of metal (kinda like DiAnno with Battlezone) Nothing to Lose is a definite high point, while Dream Girl and Take It All Away are the almost glam/US sounding tracks I alluded to earlier. Decent all round effort here and well worth checking out for fans of classic metal.

Touched ? Back Alley Vices
Label: Ebony Records ? EBON 28
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: 1984
Genre: Heavy Metal
Tracklist?
A1 Warrior
A2 Heartbreaker
A3 Nothing To Lose
A4 Curtain Of Lies
A5 Dream Girl

B1 I Got You
B2 Running
B3 Straight From The Heart
B4 Take It All The Way
Companies etc?
Published By Ebony Music
Copyright (c) Ebony Records
Recorded At Ebony Studios
Mixed At Ebony Studios
Credits?
Bass, Backing Vocals Mark Caffrey
Drums Martin Schofield
Guitar Jon Hull
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals Ronnie Wolstenholme
Music By, Lyrics By Touched
Producer, Engineer Darryl Johnston
Sleeve, Artwork Terry Greer
Notes?
Recorded and mixed at Ebony Recording Studios. Digitally mastered.
Published by Ebony Music
© Ebony Records 1984

Additional information

Weight 0.25 kg

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