Getting Heavier

The band’s debut was introduced to me as a work of Razor, the Canadians, some time in 1988. The guy who gave it to me had no idea that this was a totally different act, but man did this sound like nothing even remotely close to “Malicious Intent”, the only Razor album that I had theretofore heard. Yes, the similarity in the names was big, but style-wise they were miles apart. It was a year later when I found out that these lads were from the US, alongside other valuable pieces of information. So yeah, this first effort was a really good slab, the band siding with the more boisterous, power metal-oriented side of the Shrapnel community (Leatherwolf, Vicious Rumours, Apocrypha), easily finding a place under the sun with their consummate musical skills…

skills that failed to materialize in the same exuberant manner on the sophomore, this second heat a tad cooler, both composition and execution-wise, the guys unwinding with a fair number of mellow rock-ish tunes, dissipating the rowdier impact from the more intense speedier material. Not a great achievement, this second outing, the guys hopefully sparing themselves for the third charm… one that never came as they split up. But not before they got noticed as the axeman Paul Gilbert was asked to participate in the foundation of the very successful rock outfit Mr. Big, and the drummer Scot Travis went to join the legends Judas Priest. Yep, when you're truly gifted, offers fly from all sides, all the time.

Fair play to that, but what would the public say when you continue to churn out tepid underwhelming recordings when you play together? The band reunited in 1997, with two more albums released, those following the laid-back character of the second instalment, with an even stronger emphasis on the mild rock-ish motifs. If Gilbert had decided to use his once-main band as a rehearsal vehicle for his exploits with the still operational at the time Mr. Big, then he must have hypnotized his colleagues into submission since no single note of protestation was detected from their side.

Enters the new millennium, and the guys decide to welcome it by getting heavier. A wishful thinking, first and foremost, as the album reviewed here is anything but. The influence of the Mr. Big repertoire is too pertinent for any more boisterous tunes to prick the mainstream clout, and although such prickings do occur (the "eagle fly free” roller-coaster “Lucifer's Hammer”), they’re well conformed with the prevalent welcoming vibe emitted. Yes, this is a bucket of rock(s), like the title of one of the songs here says so well, with metal getting a few chances in-between to remind of itself, the fast-paced rhythms of “Heaven In '74” more on the punky/crossover side. The steady hard’n heavy flair of “Empty Man” is probably worth of note, but its significance is severely disputed by cheesy rockers like “The Siren's Eye” and “Catapult to Extinction”, the semi-balladic sentimentality of “Endless” beckoning irresistibly towards the eager rock crowd.

If this was the guys’ idea of getting heavier, then they must have lost all touch with reality. Hats off to everyone involved as professionalism isn’t exactly lacking, with Gilbert using every opportunity to shine with his dazzling pyrotechnics, and with Jeff Martin providing traditionally reliant, moderately attached clean vocals. Surely his more high-strung emotional performance form “Street Lethal” is missed, but this is an entirely different offering here, one that also doesn’t really need Travis’ thundering drumming, either, as the man has settled for a more jarring funky approach to his kit, making sure the audience don't start running for painkillers to the nearest pharmacy due to his destructive presence. Nope, painkillers won't be prescribed to anyone exposed to this, but anti-sleeping pills may be a good idea… instills drowsiness at times, this glammy melancholic rockabilia.

Lethal street fighting this would by no means instigate, but the band’s peaceful rock-bound existence could have at least served as a substitute for the Mr. Big repertoire as that formation folded shortly after this album’s release. Not much was heard from that camp until the guys went their separate ways once again in 2009. Travis is jamming with both Judas and Thin Lizzy, and Gilbert is busy with the project under his own name. Martin lent his siren to Dokken and Leatherwolf for a couple of live stints, and is currently occupied with the international hard’n heavy sensation Blasted to Static. The bass player John Alderete has had a consistent spell with non-metal related outfits, his biggest catch so far being Marylin Manson with whom he’s still in team. Not too shabby at all, the aftermath, with every musician having found a suitable niche… until the next collaboration with his old mates.