Blood and Thunder

Lately to kill some time i've been going thru my CD/record collection and picking out some stuff I haven't heard in eons. What's fun is when you come across some stuff that is just killer, and you wonder why they have been neglected for so long. There's just so much to choose from, and so little time....

Take for example, "Blood and Thunder", by More. More put out two albums in the early 80's and kind of got lost in the NWOBHM/thrash influx.......Maiden, Metallica, et al. But these two More albums kick major ass. I played Blood and Thunder (the second record) the other night at maximum volume and was blown away by the riffage. A long lost gem to be sure. Both of them are available on CD, and I suggest you get them NOW!!

Another example is Spooky Tooth's "Two". Again, with the stuff on this record, it should be considered a classic, but it gets sorely overlooked. You've got the sinister riffage of "Evil Woman", "Waitin for the Wind" and the Judas Priest-covered "Better By You, Better Than Me". Plus you get Luther Grosvenor, aka Ariel Bender from Mott the Hoople fame, on axe work. If you wanna really hear the best of Bender, though, you gotta listen to Mott's "Live" CD,which I guess I can categorize as another forgotten classic. Bender's Les Paul Junior guitar tone is just monstrous.

Then there's Ten Years After's "Alvin Lee and Company"......and also "Sssssh". Now, usually when I listen to TYA i'll put on the live album. Alvin Lee and Co. is best known for it's side-long jam "Boogie On"....and Boogie they do. There are sections devoted to drum, organ, bass, and guitar solo's.......of course when it's Alvin's turn it kicks into high gear. Sssssh has some good stuff on it too......especially "I Woke Up this Morning". Makes me wanna run out and purchase a Gibson ES 335....then I could play like Alvin, too!!

The last one that comes to mind is Saxon's "Wheels of Steel". Now Saxon was kind of a second-tier NWOBHM band......always in the shadows of Iron Maiden. But this album....sheesh....rocks hard and fast. "I can beat your street machine!!" Biff screams out on "Motorcycle Man" while the guitars just pummel you into submission. Alas, Saxon would never be this great again. Biff and Co. were supposed to play last year at this dive in Allentown, we showed up....but Saxon didn't! So our chance to see the Biffster in action was foiled.

I can add one more to the list for this rant.....and that's the Action Swingers "Decimation Boulevard". The Swingers just pummel you one song after another....much like a Ramones gig used to do. The pace and fury are relentless. It's like Black Flag on steroids. Buy it if you can find it, and I think you still can.

Next Blog.....a review of the new Slayer CD. We've been waiting for this one a long time.