REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: August 10, 2022

QUIET RIOT – s/t

I have been looking for the first two Quiet Riot albums for some time. They were only released originally in Japan, and when they came up anywhere they went for big money. So a big thank you to No Remorse Records in Greece for finally putting these albums out. There is an extra bonus with this the first album, as the original three track single, Suicide Show, from ’75 is also included.

There have been a few things said in print from Randy’s mom alluding to EVH copying things from Randy’s sound, and it should be Randy getting more credit than Ed did. I think things have been well documented that Randy was at Mammoth and VH shows, and the fact that George Lynch was blown away at how good Eddie was.

This album came out in ’78, the same year as VH’s first album, and I think you will agree that the band’s are light years away from each other. The songs aren’t that good on this album – it sounds very mid-seventies. Randy does play some mean solo’s on this album for sure, and if you’re a fan of his, then I guess this is a must have. My favourite track is Get Your Kicks. The bonus track, Suicidal Show, is interesting as in reverse its Crazy Train by Ozzy, which would appear two years down the line – Randy would be unrecognizable from these recordings.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

BONFIRE – Don’t Touch The Light

This is the band’s first album as Bonfire released back in ’86. Recorded at Dieter Dierks’ studio (as were a lot of Scorpions albums) – vocalist, Claus Lessman, does sound like Klaus Meine at times. It has a pretty standard mid-eighties hard rockin’ sound with a decent production, although the snare drum sound is very annoying at times. The band didn’t do a whole bunch in the UK, but in mainland Europe they were huge, and towards the end of the eighties they had some success in the US.

I’m a sucker for big overblown intro’s, and that’s what the band deliver here before kickin’ into Starring Eyes, which is a straightforward rocker. Hot To Rock is the best track on the album – a nice uptempo rocker with a great sing a long chorus. You Make Me Feel is a typical euro ballad – a la Winds Of Change. Side 1 closes out with Longin’ For You – with its riff heavy groove, it’s almost NWOBHM in feel.

The title track opens up Side 2 and it is a mid-tempo plodder with a simple riff, and a very melodic chorus that almost sounds as though it belongs to a different song. SDI follows and is quite slow with a chugga riff – it’s quite basic in its make up. No More is next up and is a straight up fat riff groover with a nice melodic chorus. The album closes out with L.A, and I guess it’s the band’s homage to their favourite city. Sure, it’s quite cheesy, but it’s a a great fun track.

Not the best album by the band, but it’s cool to go back and see how it all came together.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.