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Lȧȧz Rockit > No Stranger to Danger > Reviews
Lȧȧz Rockit - No Stranger to Danger

The proverbial fork in the road dilemma. - 70%

hells_unicorn, May 5th, 2019
Written based on this version: 1985, 12" vinyl, Steamhammer

Hindsight may always be 20/20, but it's also an invaluable guide in explaining some of the many historical oddities that have proliferated in metal's near 50 year history. Though the jury may be out on just what segment of the past 5 decades enjoyed the highest concentration of quirky stylistic experiments, the mid-80s are an elite contender for this distinction, owing to it being the time when divergent scenes within the metal umbrella started to become polarized. Ironically the location where most of this sectarian friction was the greatest was on the California coast, as the happy-go-lucky L.A. sleaze scene was routinely butting heads with the harder edged, working class thrash metal explosion rampaging out of the San Francisco Bay Area. Naturally there were some notable exceptions to the rule on both sides, with the L.A. scene also producing some edgier outfits like Agent Steel and Armored Saint that didn't take the plunge into the androgynous abyss, while San Francisco's neighbor Oakland offered up a more speed/power infused old school act Lääz Rockit, at least when considering the traditionally rooted character of their 1984 debut City's Gonna Burn.

Given that the aforementioned rivalry was beginning to reach a boiling point by 1985 with the highly successful third offering of Motley Crue Theater Of Pain and Exodus' blistering debut Bonded By Blood, it would seem logical that any band from the Bay Area would likely follow the example of the latter album in question. Surprisingly enough, this is not the road that this pioneering outfit of power/thrash took when No Stranger To Danger was put together, as can be assumed by the album art featuring the band all decked out like they're opening for Ratt on the sunset strip. It would be a slight stretch to state that this album is a 100% glam offering, but it's pretty tough to deny the massive similarities that it shares with some of the major players in the L.A. scene, mainly Quiet Riot and Dokken. Due to a fairly sizable remnant of the previous album being present in the guitar work, most particularly the speed-based riffing and frenetic virtuoso guitar shredding, it's a tad bit more aggressive and dangerous sounding than many of the mainline acts associated with the glam style, and when taking into account Michael Coons' slightly grittier approach, listens a tad bit like W.A.S.P.'s debut with about triple the production value.

This shift in stylistic direction is perhaps to be expected given that from a macro-view, the overall direction of metal outside San Francisco was being pushed in a smoother and more commercial direction due to the popularity of the more keyboard-infused latter day Rainbow sound that was being popularized by a number of associated projects, not to mention a sizable chunk of the NWOBHM alumni. All the same, Lääz Rockit carries it well by keeping most of their focus on more guitar oriented melodic fair, coming out with some respectable hard rocking anthems like the opening riff monster "Dreams Die Hard", along with some Dokken inspired fanfare like "Stand Alone" and "I've Got Time" that occasionally hints at the brilliance of Randy Rhoads' tenure with Ozzy Osbourne. There are a handful of filler tracks that get a little too corny for their own good, like the slow developing and cliche power ballad "Spared By Fire" and the fairly static mid-paced rocker "Tonight Alive", but there is also a sizable dose of melodic speed thrashing intrigue. Though maybe a tad out of place among the rest of these songs, the speed metal infused mayhem of "Backbreaker" and the gallop-happy cruiser "Off The Deep End" make a hell of a racket, to speak nothing for the blistering speed thrasher "Wrecking Machine", probably the closest this band could get to hinting at their later direction.

It's not all too surprising that this is the least liked offering out of Lääz Rockit's original run, as it essentially tries to straddle the line between their developing thrash sound and the mainline 80s arena rock sound that was on the upsurge at the time, coming out more in the latter camp and inviting accusations of brazen trend-hopping. While compared to what came before and what would ultimately come after this is definitely a qualitative step downward, it's a pretty solid if somewhat muddled offering for any old school 80s fans who enjoyed the melodic splendor of Dokken's Tooth And Nail and Quiet Riot's Metal Health. The production is extremely slick and polished, but the guitar tone has a tad bit more bite to it than a typical glam outing, and the wild soloing definitely carries enough chops to give George Lynch a run for his money. They would definitely function better when fully embracing their latent thrash metal tendencies and joining the ranks of Flotsam And Jetsam, Heathen and Metal Church in offering a somewhat more melodic yet equally aggressive answer to the riff-centered Bay Area sound and the darker extreme one that Sepultura and Possessed were ushering in, but objectively speaking, this is more of a competent stylistic interlude than an outright flop.

Failure - 55%

Felix 1666, February 10th, 2018
Written based on this version: 1988, CD, Steamhammer (Reissue, CD-Mid-Price Series)

Dear all, I have made a survey concerning the quality of "No Stranger to Danger". James Hetfield called it "The Album that Should not Be", Dave Mustaine said "So Far, So Bad... So What" and Gary Holt just told me "And Then There Were None". Well, this might be a little bit too hard. Nevertheless, it is a fact that the second album of Lääz Rockit marks the nadir of their actually very inspiring discography. To put it concisely, it lacks power, aggression and harshness. Just look at the picture of the guys on the cover, all these well styled haircuts and I guess you get a first clue about the sound of the output.

Listening to this effort makes me think of the German Steeler who developed into the wrong direction, too. "No Stranger to Danger" is on the same level of heaviness as the equally dubious "Strike Back". Not totally limp, but polished and obviously interested in being commercially successful. There are not many edges and corners which remind us of the fact that we are listening to a combo whose debut offered a robust hybrid of power, speed and thrash metal. Pretty aggressive tracks like "Backbreaker" or the closer "Wrecking Machine" try to build a connection to "City's Gonna Burn", but they remain exceptions. Apart from this pieces, the group is concentrated on smoothness. The guys did not pen overly sweet melodies, but it gets quickly obvious that they wanted to modify their sound by moving down the road that leads directly to mainstream music. "Stand Alone", for example, is a pretty vapid track without any signs of combativeness. To avoid misunderstandings, "Spared from the Fire", the ballad of the album, does not stand at the center of my criticism. It has a good chorus with a fine melody. But even if the situation here were different: no album suffers from a more or less questionable ballad significantly, but many go to the dogs in view of a generally softened approach. And this applies for the lackadaisical "No Stranger to Danger" as well. This does not mean that the guitar work is completely bad or that Michael Coons has suddenly become an incompetent lead vocalist. But the band is definitely not able to live up to its full potential in view of this self-chosen stylistic change.

The compositions fail to convince with excellent riffs. Many of them seem to be carefully calculated and the more or less harmless production underlines the fact that Lääz Rockit did not intend to impress with merciless heaviness. Please don't ask me for my personal highlights, because I cannot mention a single song. All of them wallow in their more or less decent mediocrity. They do not give me any pain in the ass (or somewhere else), but they also avoid exciting, thrilling or spectacular elements. It is therefore only logical that "No Stranger to Danger" did not find many friends. By the way, Scott Ian also was participating in my survey. He told me that "this Fistful of lukewarm Metal was Spreading the Disease and made me wish that I am no longer Among the Living". Well, he always exaggerates.

Not bad 80s metal - not great either - 60%

UltraBoris, April 3rd, 2003

This isn't really the Laaz we know and love... not the one that's monstrously catchy while being furiously thrashy at the same time. This isn't bad, but sometimes it's not all that much removed from Motley Crue, as opposed to Heathen or Death Angel.

Dreams Die Hard is a decet opener, and I've Got Time isn't bad either... Town to Town gets a bit repetitive, but is a fun singalong. The funny thing is, that you can just tell this vocalist was meant to sing thrash, so his voice isn't quite right for melodic 80s metal. This is especially evident during the hyperfast Backbreaker, which is solid speed metal.

Stand Alone is a bit less triumphant, riding a similar riff to Town to Town, and then Spared from the Fire is a forgettable ballad. Off the Deep End is pretty nice and yes, the album does indeed pick up in intensity by the end. Tonight Alive continues that, and then we get to Wrecking Machine... starts off as a pretty ordinary song and then... WHAM!! Thrash break!

Brilliant idea, fellows!! This would be realised to its full extent on the next album... here, it makes for the best song!

There's a few bonus tracks on some of the re-releases... live tracks from Eindhoven '88 include the excellent Euroshima from the next album, the really bad Spared from the Fire, and then Prelude to Death and Forced to Fight from the debut. Finally, Leatherface is from 1989 or something and sounds totally unlike the Laaz of 1985... it would not be out out of place on No Stranger to Danger.

Overall, a solid little album - if you like 80s metal, you'll dig this one.