Kiss and 90s Promotion

The poorly executed crossover of Kiss and pro-wrestling will be looked at later but we’re looking at the album that followed the comic: Psycho Circus. Kiss fans would be familiar with the comic and action figures handled by Image Comics and Todd McFarlane. It was when I noticed the different personas of the band.

It was mentioned in the comics that they were one of the most well-known bands in the world—it probably said “the universe”. Before that, I picked up the comic because I saw it mentioned in an ad in Curse of Spawn comic for the Kiss action figures. I figured they were more in Image Comics’ roster of dark, grittier superheroes.

While Kiss was always good at promoting themselves—or rather they’ve always had a good PR team—it was interesting to look back on how they promoted the band throughout the decades. There were no Kiss cartoons in the 90s, you could see them in one of those episodes of Scooby Doo with celebrities in them, and there were bands more relevant to the times around.

However, they managed to snatch up some gold records in another decade. Let’s take a look at Psycho Circus and see what were the bangers.

A Strong Opener and a Few Kiss Ballads

The opening track often sets the pace for the album but on occasion, it can surprise you and turn out to be unlike anything else on the album. In the case of Psycho Circus, the titular track kind of sets the pace. There’s a mix of tempos and sounds on this release but you have some that follow along the same lines as the opener.

Actually, there are several on the album and I wish the entire album was just that. Simply a bunch of hard rockers and heavy songs. Of course, Kiss can craft a good ballad and have several in their arsenal. We’ll get into the bangers but we’ve got to discuss these ballads—or ballad-adjacent songs.

“We Are One” and “I Finally Found My Way” are slower tunes with good placement on the album. I’m not a fan of ballads or most slow tunes but they’re not in odd places in the track list or even worse: stacked. If they had both followed “Within” on the A-side, I probably would’ve been turned off on the album. No one wants to will themselves through an album to give it a fair listen.

Then again, if those three songs all followed each other, the rest of the album would’ve been a fun ride!

Psycho Circus: The Bangers

I couldn’t tell you how I interpreted Psycho Circus the first time I heard it. Now, the title song I always enjoyed. I remember the video being pretty cool at the time and listening to the opener—the first banger of the album—really took me back. Again, I wanted the entire album to be this.

Having gave it a listen decades later and I found it to be an enjoyable album for the most part. “I Pledge Alliance to Rock & Roll” is a fun rock semi-anthem. I say “semi-anthem” in that it’s supposed to be an anthem track but lacks the punch of “You Wanted the Best” and “Raise Your Glasses”.

The other bangers vary between your heavy tracks like “Into the Void” and “Journey of 1,000 Years” and your hard rockers of “Psycho Circus”, “I Pledge Alliance to Rock & Roll”, “You Wanted the Best”, and “Dreamin’”. I’d say Kiss could’ve done two albums in both musical directions and it would’ve been a blast. I can’t say it’s the best Kiss album or the greatest Kiss album but it is the Kiss album I enjoyed throughout the most. If you’ve heard the band or their hard rock contemporaries, you’ve heard a lot of Psycho Circus but it’s all put together very well on this release.

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

Lizzy Borden – Visual Lies (1987)

We checked out Lizzy Borden’s debut album Love You to Pieces in a “Greatest Album Debuts”. The L.A act kept things going with Menace to Society which was as fast as they debut but a little more aggressive without going into thrash territory. Visual Lies continues where Menace to Society left off but mixes in some stuff you’d hear in glam metal or L.A heavy metal.

“Oh, like Nitro?!” No, not at all like Nitro. I’d say more like our next entry only faster and more polished.

The Bangers: Me Against the World*, Den of Thieves***, Visual Lies*, Voyuer**

Savage Grace – Master of Disguise (1985)

I don’t know if it’s the production, the lyrical content included or both but Master of Disguise is some speedy U.S power metal with some bite and their debut is a mixture of sinister tales, rebellion, lust, and a little fantasy just because. At a little over 35-minutes and with nine tracks, you’re in for a brisk listen featuring some anthems.

Now, let’s check out a monster of U.S power metal that I feel should get more recognition.

The Bangers: Bound to Be Free, Fear My Way*, Sins of the Damned, Master of Disguise***, Sons of Iniquity*

Omen – Battle Cry (1984)

If you want power metal with no fluff or whimsy and doesn’t keep the foot on the gas all the time: Omen might be for you. They’re to epic metal what Rage is to power metal: a talented, veteran band that did and still produces good music—but there are other bands better associated with the genre. As for this release, it’s heavy and filled more with tales of battles, wars, and raids than epic quests to collect something or defeat a Big Bad.

As for Omen’s ties to Savage Grace, former SG guitarist Kenny Powell formed Omen after leaving in 1983. What I’d say really ties this album together is the late J.D Kimball’s gravely vocals.

This will definitely be an album we’ll explore in the new year.

The Bangers: Death Rider***, The Axeman*, Dragon’s Breath**, Be My Wench**, Prince of Darkness*

Manila Road – Voyager (2008)

This is a bit of a cheat entry because I was trying to keep it in the 1980s with older bands and albums but I guess the rules no longer apply. Yes, the self-imposed rules of the list. Anyway, Manila Road was a Kansas band that started in the late 1970s playing hard rock and heavy metal. Their 1980 debut shows they had a focus more along traditional heavy metal but with each release they tried a little something new: faster songs, longer tracks, slower tales, darker stories.

Manila Road had gone through epic fantasy, horror, serial killers, mysteries, and with Voyager they were on their Viking and Scandinavian folklore sh**. They kept their heaviness but better production and song writing meant they came up with something that could be built upon.

Voyager has nine tracks across over an hour. I also recommend the album before it Gates of Fire.

The Bangers: Frost and Fire, Tree of Life, Blood Eagle***, Eye of the Storm

Medieval Steel – The Dungeon Tapes (2008)

Another cheat entry, this isn’t a full length release but a compilation of demos and singles. Medieval Steel is a band from Memphis that formed in the early 1980s. They wouldn’t put out a full-length until 2013 with Dark Castle. The tunes on this release definitely should’ve been re-recorded as an album because they were good when they were originally released!

The Bangers: Eyes of Fire*, To Kill a King**, Battles Beyond the Stars***, Medieval Steel***

What are some albums from epic metal or U.S power metal bands you recommend? Let us know in the comments!

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

Multi-Station Bands: Bon Jovi, KISS, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Co.

You did have a few older bands that got radio play on both stations. Bon Jovi and KISS are two bands that come to mind with 2000’s Crush and 1998’s Psycho Circus, respectively. They’re both bands from roughly a decade or two prior to the late-90s and had hits or singles you could hear on either format.

Of course, the hard rock station played the most known songs. Even at night, you weren’t getting the cuts that fans would love nor were we getting bands outside of the well-known ones—at least in my market. It’s to be expected with the influence some bands have or had on broadcast radio even when old songs are the focus.

A band that existed in an interest spot is Red Hot Chili Peppers. My hard rock station was odd in that you could hear RHCP songs from the 90s which seemed to be the cutoff for everyone but Metallica and Megadeth—but more so Metallica. For Red Hot Chili Peppers, the starting album for tunes on both stations is 1991’s  Blood Sugar Sex Magik which was loaded with hits—pretty much like Californication in 1999.

On mainstream radio, it’s as if the first four albums—seven years of music—didn’t exist. For someone who likes to dive into a band’s early stuff, it was like Evil Dead or Friday the 13^th and the first films in both franchises. Yeah, you could watch them but if you didn’t, you weren’t missing a ton.

The Xtreme Block

A bit of detour before we get in the most memorable block on our hard rock station: the Xtreme block. Over on the alternative rock station called the X—truly creative—there was an evening block called “Xtreme X”. This block usually ran on Saturdays starting at 9PM and featured mostly nu metal and modern—at the time—hard rock acts. So we’re talking Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, KoRn, Linkin Park,  Mudvayne—with Slayer, Fear Factory, and Hatebreed thrown in the mix.

Fear Factory always stood out to me because they were always a featured band on shows here around Halloween time. I’d say it just isn’t a Halloween advertisement without Fear Factory and Sloss Fright Furnace being mentioned. In the case of the contemporary bands on the station, you could hear their most recent songs during the day and throughout the week, but on “Xtreme X” the DJ would give you something else off an album—and even off older albums!

If a lot of that sounds dated, you’re not the only one who thinks so as the station changed formats several times over the years. Then you have the Eagle which held its format.

Time to Get the Led Out

The block you could always count on over on the hard rock station was the Led Zeppelin marathon. The voice tag would proclaim “It’s time to get Led out!” every day at 5 PM Central. It was always with an echo and one of two songs would fade in: “Immigrant Song” or “When the Levee Breaks”. You’d think they would mix it up but nah. Mind you, you wouldn’t know which of the two you were getting but it was just those two songs to kick things off during 5 o’clock traffic.

I guess you couldn’t be too picky if you on your Led Zeppelin options pre-streaming, pre-mp3 players, and while you’re stuck in some sluggish traffic. If you were unfortunate enough to be stuck in traffic the whole hour, you likely heard “Stairway to Heaven” close out the Led block.

While we’re in a time where radio isn’t the main method of enjoying music, what memories do you have of rock radio? Was it the broadcast blocks? Marathons? Winning tickets? Requesting songs? Let us know in the comments!

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

The band as well as the Crüe has its roots in the late 1970s hard rock act Sister which featured future Mötley Crüe bass player and vocalist Nikki Sixx and W.A.S.P frontman, guitarist and vocalist Blackie Lawless. Also in the band was future W.A.S.P guitarist Chris Holmes.

By 1984, Sixx had long since left Sister and—as well as its sister band London—and co-founded Mötley Crüe. Also by that time, Lawless had formed W.A.S.P and two years later, they released their self-titled debut.

What to Expect with W.A.S.P

Before we get into the album, for an idea of what W.A.S.P sounded like on this release, I’d go with a harder, heavier version of Mötley Crüe’s Shout at the Devil or Theatre of Pain but with the tempo of Too Fast for Love. Lyrically, it’s pretty much the same themes but I’ll admit, W.A.S.P’s depiction of sex and listing simply rock because there’s an aggression or crunch to their brand of U.S heavy metal that is different from many of the 80s L.A acts.

With the background and heads up done, let’s get into this one!

The A-Side

If you enjoyed Too Fast for Love from Mötley Crüe but you need something with a lot more bite and just overall oomph, just the A-side of this self-titled release should sate you. With five tracks, W.A.S.P started with a brisk jog via the opener “I Wanna Be Somebody”.

We’ll focus on this tune as an opener but it’s a solid track and isn’t out of place among the other five on this side. I’d say this A-side is nearly flawless as it’s hard to pick three standouts. Even the two songs on this side that aren’t just the heaviest of bangers, they are great tunes.

The final boss of the A-side is “L.O.V.E Machine”. Yeah, it’s one of the singles released for the album and one of their better known tunes but it’s an awesome song! The guitars and drums do their job on this song but Blackie Lawless’ chainsaw vocals just kick this song up a notch.

Enough about “L.O.V.E Machine”, the other two in the A-side thrillogy actually follow this banger. “The Flame” has a somewhat slower tempo than “LM” and that makes it sound more sinister. It’s simply one of a several songs that just drip with lust and it just happens to be one of the better ones.

The third of the storms here is “B.A.D”. This song is basically a harder “I Wanna Be Somebody” mixed with a few splashes of “The Flame”.

Standout Tracks: L.O.V.E Machine**, The Flame*, B.A.D*

The B-Side

Coming off the A-side closer “School Daze” is “Hellion”—which opened this side the way that the A-side should’ve opened. However, it wouldn’t do as an album opener. However, the song that followed—“Sleeping (in the Fire)”: album opener candidate. It’s a great tune with lot of oomph to it that is along the lines of “L.O.V.E Machine”, “The Flame” and “B.A.D”. It’s also in the same vein as “Animal (F**k Like a Beast)”. It has a lot of bite to it.

Similar to the A-side, there is a quartet of tracks that just deliver the goods. Following “Sleeping” you have “On Your Knees” which has some speed to it. Again, Lawless’ voice does the damn job on this one and it’s the case with “Tormentor” as well! This is one of those debuts with the least B-side B-side. Yes, W.A.S.P features an A-side and a A+-side because I really enjoyed this side more than the A-side from start to finish.

The album closes with “The Torture Never Stops” and the band stuck the landing on it. This release doesn’t end on a somber tone or with a ballad. There’s no sweeping 7-minutes-plus epic here. Like all other tracks here. It tickles 4-minutes and kicks the appropriate amount ass required—precisely what I want an album closer to do.

Standout Tracks: Sleeping (in the Fire)*, On Your Knees**, Tormentor**, The Torture Never Stops*

Strength of the Opener: I Wanna Be Somebody

Off the bat, there are songs on this album that would’ve been a stronger opener. While it’s a good song on its and would’ve been at home elsewhere on the album, the sound and imagery of W.A.S.P demanded a harder, heavier song to open things.

Personally, I felt “L.O.V.E Machine”, “The Flame”, Sleeping (in the Fire)”, “On Your Knees”,  and “Tormentor” were all stronger candidates that would’ve kicked album off with some real firepower. Hell, putting “Animal (F**k Like a Beast)” as the opener would’ve had the same effect as those four.

Overall, it’s not the worst opener or even a bad or weak opener but there were much better options. Flow-wise, having “L.O.V.E Machine” follow “I Wanna Be Somebody” was perfect track placement.

If you enjoyed this album, stick around for another dive into another Los Angeles band as we look at Liszt Borden’s debut Love You to Pieces.

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

What stands out to me about Lizzy Borden is that they’re one of those U.S bands that contributed to power metal. Mind you, Love You to Pieces isn’t exactly along those lines of fantasy/sci-fi/folklore and operatic presentation. They’re a band that had the presentation to run amongst the L.A bands of the time but didn’t have a ton of mainstream bangers on deck like some of their contemporaries.

What to Expect from Love You to Pieces

On this release, Lizzy Borden ran with the speed of acts like debut-period Jag Panzer and Omen but the lyrical content is more along the lines of a not-as-sleazy or aggressive W.A.S.P. While we haven’t gotten to this band yet, a spot-on similarity would be yet another L.A band in Savage Grace.

Lizzy Borden just didn’t have the storyline of a CHP officer who is also a sexual predator in their debut album like Savage Grace. Love You to Pieces does have some murderer/stalker tracks but there is a mix of lyrical themes here.

Sonically, the band had a speed metal approach to their power metal anchored by the clean, nimble vocals of Lizzy Borden. They would take this approach with 1986’s Menace to Society and 1987’s Visual Lies.

Version

The version I listened to is listed as the 2001 version released by Metal Blade available on Apple Music. I looked and saw a release for 2002 and the song placement has “Save Me” on the B-side and “American Metal” closing out the A-side.

The A-Side

Things get started with the speedy opener “Council for the Cauldron.” It serves as a strong introduction to the band if a listener didn’t catch their demos. Actually, the production makes this a great intro for newcomers to Lizzy Borden as it’s not rough for this time in the 1980s. Bigger acts had slicker production, sure but the production on this album—when paired with the music itself—works.

As for the rest of the A-side, you have the strongest bangers in “Psychopath” and the self-titled track. In the middle area of the A-side is “Red Rum” which is a good song on its own. However, it’s pretty much the “Psychopath”, “Love You to Pieces” and the anthem “American Metal” show on this side.

Standout Tracks: Psychopath**, Love You to Pieces**, American Metal***

The B-Side

On the review for Too Fast for Love, I said that it had the most B-side B-side I’d heard. The tracks firmly belonged on that side of the album and few would’ve made it to the A-side. Like W.A.S.P’s self-titled debut album, Love You to Pieces has a very un-B-side B-side. This side would’ve made for a tremendous A-side.

“Flesheater” is a good B-side opener but I would’ve put “Godiva” or “Rod of Iron” there and move “Save Me” to the middle. Just to break up the ass kickery. “Warfare” is one of the stronger tracks on this side but it’s really held up by the speedster “Godiva” and the anthem “Rod of Iron”.

I love ending both sides with an anthem and bonus for “Rod of Iron” having an open that sounded like a ballad—only to slam the gas. Good sh**. I’m not a big ballad fan but I could’ve done one for Lizzy Borden since the rest of the album slams.

Standout Tracks: Godiva**, Rod of Iron***

Strength of the Opener: Council for the Caldron

I believe “Council for the Caldron” is an extremely strong opener for the album. A speedy opener that gives the listener an idea of what kind of party they’re getting into? Perfect. You’re getting mostly uptempo tracks running between 3 and 4-minutes. Not only that, most of the songs feel shorter because of the track placement.

“Council for the Caldron” could hold it down on either side and it would work perfectly. As for other possible openers “Psychopath”, “American Metal”, the self-titled track, and—actually, just the entire B-side. This album has a lot of might to it and is definitely an album to check out if you haven’t.

If you’ve already listened to it and enjoyed it—it’s almost 42 minutes, a pretty light listen. Give it another spin.

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

Definitely hard rock but there’s speed and weight to it. Most of these songs don’t have that slower blues mosey or rockabilly bounce you’ll hear in energetic songs from AC/DC or Kiss. Also, pay attention to what Freddie Mercury is able to do with his voice on the debut.

The A-Side

I’ve done a few albums from the 1970s and 1980s where we have a 10-track release that manages to keep things under 40 minutes. In those cases, the album is usually split eventually across the two sides. With Queen, we an A-side with four tracks but that’s because a few songs are a bit on the beefy side length-wise.

There are two tracks that really caught my attention here in the two “King” songs. “Great King Rat” comes in with speed and heaviness which I love, of course. It’s not what you’d get from speed metal in the 1980s but it was similar to a song on New York band Riot’s first two albums. I’d something like “Road Racin’” or “Warrior.”

As mentioned in our review of Riot, those first two albums—also released in the 1970s—were hard rock with a speed metal song tucked in there somewhere. Queen was definitely cooking with something here—they were cooking throughout the album—but this song and the other A-side banger really intrigued me.

Before getting into that one, “Keep Yourself Alive” deserves a nod for opening the album with some bite. There’s such a mix on this album that if you’re someone who needs some fire off the bat—like myself—this track does the job.

“My Fairy King” is my favorite track on the album. It reminds me of something I would hear on a Rainbow album—and that gets a massive thumbs up. Queen released before Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow but the more of that and Uriah Heep I hear here, the better.

I’m not the biggest progressive rock fan and Queen isn’t just dominated by it but what prog is here leans more towards the faster, heavy end. That works for me.

Standout Tracks: Great King Rat**, My Fairy King***

The B-Side

The B-side is pretty damn good throughout. It opens with “Liar” which has the same bite and oomph as “Keep Yourself Alive.” Things slow down quite a bit with “The Night Comes Down” which is a fine song and the only track on the album that catch me off the bat. It would be replayed but on the first run through, it didn’t get any replays.

“Son and Daughter” and “Jesus” were the replay magnets on the B-side. I really enjoyed “Son and Daughter” it was right along what I like about “Great King Rat” with the heaviness. The album closes with “Jesus” and the instrumental “Seven Seas of Rhye.”

Instrumentals rarely do it for me but the closer was a brief one and decent. Again, there was a lot going down in under 40-minutes.

Standout Tracks: Liar*, Son and Daughter**, Jesus

Strength of the Opener: Keep Yourself Alive

My replacements for opener tend to come from the standout tracks on both sides. “Keep Yourself Alive” does a fine job as an opening track but either of the two “King” songs would be my top two picks for that slot. I love an album that starts off with dynamite, high energy—some fire and fury.

“Keep Yourself Alive” has both but “Great King Rat” is a stronger song and “My Fairy King” is even stronger! “GKR” is a bit lengthy for an explosive opener but part of this song’s strength comes from keeping that aggressiveness throughout.

“Son and Daughter” would make for a good opener as well and is punchy in length to where it doesn’t stick around too long.

Overall—like others who have reviewed or recommended Queen—I believe this album shows a lot of the potential that Queen would realize in the 1970s and 1980s. There were a few songs that were fine and many that were good or better. You can hear Queen showcasing “We can do this and that—oh and this! Plus we have this awesome singer and amazing guitarists!”

This album isn’t a collection of Queen’s best but they do deliver some bangers that make me wonder “What if they went this route?” and “I’d love more of this and less of that.” Queen encourages possibilities and ups anticipation for the follow-up and that gets a thumbs up.

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

As always, it’s in descending order with the best being saved for last. Also, one * means it’s highly recommended while ** means you should probably add it to a playlist or fave it if you haven’t already.

Powerage (1978)

There are parts of Powerage I love. Like AC/DC can write a closing tube. They wrong “Kicked in the Teeth” as if they were writing “Whole Lotta Rosie Pt. 2: Too Much Rosie.” Following “Rock N Roll Damnation” the two songs just came up as meh—until I got to “Riff Raff” and “Sin City”.

Things really pick up once we float into the B-side and the old school rocker tunes are more prominent. When the faster stuff turns up next in the queue, it’s always a great occurrence.

Standout Tracks: Riff Raff, Sin City, Kicked in the Teeth**

Let There Be Rock (1977)

This is a very familiar-sounding album to where you can hear the blues influence on AC/DC and what songs may have influenced other bands. It’s also an odd album in that—I’m kind of blues rock’d out and some the mid tempo lull me towards the skip button. Then the song starts to kick ass midway through or at the end.

Only one song—“Dog Eat Dog”—didn’t do it for me. Everything else? Not bad at all and the album closer was a tremendous one. There should’ve been an opener with this energy. This is what I want for the bulk an album: “Whole Lotta Rosie” and “Bad Boy Boogie”.

Standout Tracks: Bad Boy Boogie, Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be, Whole Lotta Rosie**

High Voltage (1976)

The international version comes in at 44-minutes across nine tracks and is mostly bouncy, blues-heavy hard rock. You know, the kind of rock that holds down the afternoon classic rock block until it’s time to “Get the Led” out in 5PM traffic. It reminds of Rocka Rolla, Judas Priest’s debut. It’s not a similar sound, it’s the significance of the debut to the band’s development.

The debut had some splashes of glam here and there but it was more Thin Lizzy and less Kiss. The pace isn’t to my liking exactly and there’s a mix of tempos but they’re mostly at the slower end. You can heard where they are going musically here but they would be closer with Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap to the high energy rock they’d become known for.

Standout Tracks: The Jack,  T.N.T**, High Voltage*

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976)

This should be a short one but this album was my first AC/DC album. My father brought a bag filled with 8-tracks. We had an 8-track player in the den and this album was always fun! It’s thick in blues and would’ve been fine as the debut. I’d say this is my favorite AC/DC album of the 1970s.

Strongest Tracks: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap**, Big Balls**, Squealer*

Highway to Hell (1979)

This is a well-known AC/DC album because it’s the band taking major steps with their sound only for it to be the last album with lead singer Bon Scott. With improved production came a couple of promoted bangers and one of their most accessible releases not called Back in Black.

Highway to Hell is a milestone album with a good distribution of bangers on both sides—strong bangers. As mentioned on Powerage: their closing song game is overwhelming. They knew how to close big very early into their careers.

Standout Tracks: Highway to Hell**, Touch Too Much*, If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)**

What would be your ordering of albums? If you wish to add T.N.T, feel free. I ran with the albums available on Apple Music which doesn’t feature that or the debut High Voltage.

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

The Change in Hard Rock on Back in Black

Perhaps most amazing to me is that the band got to work right after losing their long-time lead singer Bon Scott earlier that year. Not only that, they managed to produce an incredible album that takes that bluesy hard rock approach of the 1970s and add more bite and gunpowder to it.

Listening to the album, one thing that contributed to this had to be improvement in production. It doesn’t sound overly polished but it’s not dank, cavernous and tinny. Of course, the Young brothers, Rudd and Williams did their thing here but Johnson’s vocals from song to song—powerful.

I’ll admit, there were song from the 70s stuff that I’d love to hear redone with these vocals because they just have more bite. Dirty Deeds Done Cheap with Johnson’s vocals? I’d give that a spin or three. From start to finish to album slams and it slams very early in the decade!

AC/DC Delivered on the Singles

Back in Black had four singles and three of them are well known since they’ve been peddled out for ads, movies, and so on forever. The fourth is this album’s closer “Rock N Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” and I was going to tackle this one first because it’s the first time I’ve run into an AC/DC—while listening to write—that we have an ending that doesn’t do it for me.

Actually, this is one of those rare times I’ve gotten an album that could’ve had a better closer. It’s not a bad or dismal song, it just didn’t end on a high energy note. Which is odd because you have this guy with this amazing voice—give him something to really blast and roar through. I mean, he did it throughout the album!

The easiest solution would be to just swap tracks around. You have a straight up wipe on the A-side with it having all bangers and four on B-side: anything could close this out on a big note. Personally, I like “Let Me Put My Love Into You” and “Shoot to Thrill”.

Then again, it did extremely well in the market it was ran as a single: the UK. The U.S singles of “Back and Black” and “You Shook Me All Night Long” are powerful tunes that continue to get played daily on the radio—as does European single “Hells Bells.”

Of the four singles, “Hells Bells” and “You Shook Me All Night Long” were my favorites on the entire album. Other songs I really dug included “Shoot to Thrill” and “Let Me Put My Love Into You”. These are songs that if released in the previous decade might not hit like they did here.

That’s my last thought on this album: it makes me think of how a lot of the Scott-era stuff would sound with Johnson on the mic. There’s great stuff in AC/DC’s early catalog that probably could’ve used more bite to it or a different kind of bite.

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

When it comes to Crüe, I was introduced through the music videos that played on MTV and VH1 in the 1990s. The first song I remember from them was “Dr. Feelgood” which was still getting play on MTV and The Box—“Music Television You Control”—into 1990-1991. Thinking back, Metallica’s “One” still got play on The Box in the early 1990s. Someone in the Greater Birmingham market had the song code for that particular Metallica song and often requested it around the same time on the weekend.

We’ll look at Too Fast for Love and the strength of both sides of the album as well as the standout tunes on both sides. Finally, we’ll look at the strength of the opening track and see if there were better openers to set the pace or define the album. As for the release, we used the Elektra Records which features nine tracks and is available on most popular streaming platforms.

Let’s get to it!

The A-Side of Too Fast for Love

Starting things off, we have five tracks for the A-side. The album opens with “Live Wire” and as stated before, we tend to spotlight the opening track towards the end. However, just as a track without the distinction of being the opening or closing track, “Live Wire” slams on its own. Looking at the rest of the A-side, we do have good tracks such as “Public Enemy #1” and “Take Me to the Top” but those tracks are like a soft-good.

I wouldn’t say without a doubt those two tracks are good at the minimum. It’s more like that those songs have enough good to them to be a “good tracks” but there’s an element of the songs that keep them in flux. That’s very different from “Live Wire” which is just a fun, high-energy song with some bite to it. “Come On and Dance” rides and isn’t exactly high-energy but it isn’t lethargic either.

It’s an interesting song as the A-side has some speed to the tracks and this song isn’t exactly rapid.  

Standout Tracks: Live Wire**, Merry-Go-Round, Take Me to the Top

The B-Side

There are some albums that have a B-side that is surprisingly better than the A-side—the first impression side. You also have albums where that side could be considered awful and unnecessary—replace the material, re-record it, or just make it an EP. The B-side of Too Fast for Love doesn’t fall into either of those categories.

It’s probably the most B-side of any B-side I’ve written on. The majority of the songs on here are fine but “Starry Eyes” stands out the most. It’s not as fast as I prefer in my music but it’s good. I had to give this side more listens to see if anything else would catch my attention enough and “Too Fast for Love” is another solid track that was worth an “I like this sh**” replay—just not as many as “Live Wire” or “Starry Eyes”.

“Piece of Your Action” kicks off the B-side and works as the opener to that side. While I prefer “Starry Eyes” more, it wouldn’t do as the B-side opener—unless you need something to break up the somewhat speedy pace of the A-side. I will say that “Too Fast for Love” could easily replace “Piece of Your Action”.

Standout Tracks: Starry Eyes*, Too Fast for Love

Strength of the Opener: Live Wire

As an opener, “Live Wire” is perfect for this album. There’s honestly no other songs that would do to kick things off. “Piece of Your Action” is fine in the middle of the album but it could’ve swapped places with one of the other tracks on the A-side.

In regards to the album as a whole, continuous listen; Vince Neil’s vocals added to the songs but they could bombard you from song to song—and not in good way all the time. It was actually the reason why the B-side required more listens while I was taking notes, the singing and the shape it took in each song made most of the songs sound similar even if the guitars and drums were doing something different for a different song.

It makes me wonder how this album would’ve been recorded or sounded when Shout at the Devil came out two years later. Of course, I’d want to keep Shout at the Devil because it’s another good album and a strong follow- up to Too Fast for Love.

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

Exciter (Judas Priest – Stained Class, 1978)

Debuting in the opening song “Exciter”, this character is described as something of a redemption-bringing powerhouse. He’s either capable of transversing space or worlds, brings light, wields powers of fire and just seems like a world-beater. From the song itself:

Everything he touches fries into a crisp.
Let him get close to you, so you’re in his trip.
First you’ll smoke and smoulder, blister up and singe.
When ignition hits you, the very soul of your being will cringe.

Stand by for Exciter.
Salvation is his task.
Stand by for Exciter.
Here he comes now.

He’s a Captain Marvel, a Goku, a Superman—someone who could turn a planet into hourglass sand with a blast from space. You know, if they were on a tight schedule or just didn’t have time for whoever is on that planet’s sh**.

Exciter could be introduced as some sort of elder god, celestial being, alien—he has the power to come and go as he pleases after all. For human mortals, Exciter would probably be described as the embodiment of the sun and he’s not beyond rewarding and punishing.

There’s some easy, low-hanging lore off the bat for Exciter as part of a Metal Gods world.

The Sentinel (Defenders of the Faith, 1984)

Often battling our last entry for the top spot of my favorite Priest character, The Sentinel is probably the easiest to brainstorm. He’d also probably be the easiest to get on screen, comic, or video game. In “The Sentinel”, he isn’t described as a galactic superhero-tier force. Instead, he’s something of a post-apocalyptic cross between Batman and Judge Dredd:

Sworn to avenge
Condemn to hell
Tempt not the blade
All fear the Sentinel

Amidst the upturned burned-out cars
The challengers await
And in their fists clutch iron bars
With which to seal his fate
Across his chest is scabbards rest
The rows of throwing knives
Whose razor points in challenged tests
Have finished many lives

I’d read that comic—especially if it’s in 2000 A.D. The Sentinel is a vigilante or perhaps a mercenary who roams what has to be a destroyed or overrun city. His existence is proof that there’s little to no order going down here. It’s a great setting for such a character and seems ready for an adaptation. There might need to be a budget to factor in special effects but not to the level of a galaxy or universe-spanning science fiction adventure such as Exciter and our third entry.

Painkiller (Painkiller, 1990)

Yes, I’m sure y’all are tired of seeing Painkiller mentioned on this site. It’s my favorite Priest album and a fun as hell listen. It’s a great drinking and reading or gaming album and the titular character is something that rivals Exciter.

Whereas Exciter is the sun or light and leans towards being a force for justice and retribution, Painkiller really seems like he could be either a force for universal and dimensional law—or chaos. He’s that powerful, that destructive and how Halford describes him as the rest of the band just saws and rips for six minutes and change is enough to warrant some adaptation.

Faster than a bullet
Terrifying scream
Enraged and full of anger
He’s half man and half machine

Rides the Metal Monster
Breathing smoke and fire
Closing in with vengeance soaring high

He is the Painkiller
This is the Painkiller

Planets devastated
Mankind’s on its knees
A saviour comes from out the skies
In answer to their pleas

What an introduction! And that’s the thing for the three characters mentioned and more to be mentioned: the basic lore is there, just make stories around that. Or start on the career-spanning concept album. I mean, I’d love a Priest comic where Painkiller appears or The Sentinel is grimly correcting wrongs indefinitely but a concept album would be cool as well.

If you’re a Judas Priest fan or know your Metal Gods lore, what characters stood out to you across their albums? Let us know in the comments!

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.