This is the third in the US Metal series put out by Mike Varney and Shrapnel records to support underground metal bands and guitar heroes. Basically doing what the Metal For Muthas albums did in the UK.
First up is Violation and Paul Harris on guitar with Gonna Get To You. It is not a bad track for the time, and the guitar playing is straight up no frills. Wild Dogs and Jeff Mark on guitar are next with Never Gonna Stop. They have been taking notes from Iron Maiden, not a bad song and the guitar solo is not too bad either. Now we have Mixed Blessing with the dual guitars of Pete Zizzo and Lucas Janklow and Kill Or Be Killed. This sounds like it’s the first song they ever wrote and the guitar is pretty wild sounding. Next up is Hawaii and Marty Friedman on guitar with Secret Of The Stars. We have gone up 10 divisions here. The song is great and the playing is top drawer. Side 1 closes out with the Steve Richards’ Band playing Saved For The Fight. A killer fast blues with some great guitar playing.
Over to side 2 we go and some familiar names, starting with The Rods and Hot City, the difference in class stands out a mile. A slow heavy groover with some great guitar, plus it gets my vote as favourite tune. Derek Frigo is up next with Powerplay, and I’m sure Enuff Z Nuff fans will be familiar with Derek, but maybe not his guitar histrionics. He gives it the full on EVH homage here with this instrumental. Vicious Rumours and Jeff Thorpe follow with Ultimate Death, the song is just okay but as you would expect, the guitar playing is on the money. The penultimate track is Flaming Metal Systems by Manila Road featuring Mark Shelton on guitar. The vibe of the song is NWOBHM and Mr. Shelton can certainly play. The last track is We Live For Rock by Gilles/Marino Assault with Bob Gilles spanking the plank. This would be my second choice as fave, as the song is really cool and Bob’s a great player.
These albums prove invaluable as social documents, keeping a record of musical trends of the period.
7.5/10 from The Grooveman.
