Great Metal Albums of 1981: Triumph- Allied Forces

For all the moaning I do about Canadian metal not getting the respect it deserves, Triumph are one band that my moaning certainly applies to. Sure, they have enjoyed lots of success in the USA where they have sold many albums and have given Yanks many a good concert memory but if you mention them here in the UK, there are a lot of British metalheads who would answer "Who?" Now before I get a load of responses from my British readers shouting from the roof tops how much they love this band, there are many out there, including some long established metalheads who haven't heard of Triumph. Sacrilege, I know.

"Allied Forces" was the album that first introduced me to Triumph and for me, it was love at first listen. I was hooked from the very first notes of "Fool For You Love," a great rocking track and a very appropriate opener. I really love the second track, "Magic Power" and how it starts with a guitar intro that hints at being a fantasy ballad and then hits you over the head with all out power. That song got a couple of extra listens on its own. Like a good baseball team, the album has a very good middle of the order. All four songs are just fantastic, so much so, I can't pick one that stands out above the other. They're just all good. Thinking about it, Rik Emmett does play a rather mean guitar solo "Hot Time in the City Tonight." The two instrumentals on the album are both short and to the point and that's not a bad thing. It all closes with a very suitable "Say Goodbye" and while you know the album is finishing, you can't help wanting to go back and listen to it all over again. I know I did.

Track Listing:

1. Fool For Your Love

2. Magic Power

3. Air Raid

4. Allied Forces

5. Hot Time in the City

6. Fight the Good Fight

7. Ordinary Man

8. Petite Etude

9. Say Goodbye

[caption id="attachment_1547" align="aligncenter" width="208" class=" "] Triumph[/caption]

Rik Emmett- all guitars, vocals

Gil Moore- drums, percussion, vocals

Mike Levine- bass, all keyboards

If there is any album that supports the notion that Triumph should be heralded as a great band, it's "Allied Forces." I made me believe and I'm sure I'm not the only one this album did that to. If you haven't heard it, have a listen and it will have the same effect on you.

Next post: UFO- The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent

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Great Metal Albums of 1981: Riot- Fire Down Under

Riot were one band that, all throughout the 80s, I always intended to listen to but never got around to doing so. The opportunity finally came in 1987 when my sister made me a tape of various metal songs on it for my birthday and one of those songs was the great opener, "Swords and Tequila." That song had and still has the same effect on me that Hanoi Rocks's "Tragedy" has on me. I want to jump about my living room playing air guitar to it. "Swords and Tequila" has another dimension to it though. The stick in your memory line "Swords and tequila carry me through the night," had actually meaning for me. Okay, I never had much use for the first item in the title but there were times when the second item did what the rest of what that line says. Oooh, fond memories indeed.

If I had listened to the "Fire Down Under" back in 1981, I would say that it would be the album that set the standard for all future heavy metal. In that sense, it could be argued that Riot were ahead of their time. That could be why they never had the commercial success they should have. There are so many great songs in the classic heavy metal sense that if I were to mention them now, I wouldn't have to write a track listing but I will say the second half of the album probably just edges out the first. "Don't Hold Back" is a definite stand out here and I love the guitar solo in it. "Altar of the King" starts with really cool acoustic intro before blowing you ear drums with some great power chords and "No Lies" follows on very very nicely. Saying that, I can't take anything away from the rest of the album because it's just that damn good.

Track Listing:

1. Swords and Tequila

2. Fire Down Under

3. Feel the Same

4. Outlaw

5. Don't Bring Me Down

6. Don't Hold Back

7. Altar of the King

8. No Lies

9. Run For Your Life

10. Flashbacks

[caption id="attachment_2409" align="aligncenter" width="300" class=" "] Riot[/caption]

Gary Sparenza- vocals

Mark Reale- guitar

Rick Ventura- drums

Kip Leming- bass

Sandy Slavin- drums

After both Hanoi Rocks's "Tragedy" and "Swords and Tequila" in back to back posts, I find myself contemplating what it would have been like if I had heard both of these songs back in 1981. It would have been mind blowing for sure! Way back when I first introduced 1981, I said that music got me through some rather difficult times that year. It would have been even more up lifting to have had "Fire Down Under" from Riot. If I had heard it back then, I would have declared myself a total metalhead right there and then.

Next post: Triumph- Allied Forces

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Great Metal Albums of 1981: Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks

Here's yet another metal band that didn't come to my attention until they had a few albums under their belt. Unfortunately, I never heard of Hanoi Rocks until 1984 when I saw them play at a small club in New Jersey, almost exactly one month before the tragic event that would eventually cause the band to split up shortly after. I'll go into more details about that when I get to 1984 but they way I'm going, even with two posts a week, it looks like that's going to be quite awhile. Right now, it's their debut album "Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks" which came out long before Razzle joined the band.

I was already familiar with the opening and best known track from the album, "Tragedy," which I have on a compilation CD and so, that song gave me a bit of optimism when I listened to the album. It is a really good song, arguably one of their best. When I hear it, I want to regress back to my youth and jump around my living room playing air guitar. However, the rest of the album has a good number of rocking tracks too. "Stop Cryin'" has a very ear catching intro and the next three tracks, "Don't Ever Leave Me," "Lost in the City" and "First Timer" are all really good rockers on their own. Come to think of it, "Cheyenne" is also a stand out track. My conclusion is that this was another album I regret missing back in the day but am glad that I did get to hear it eventually.

Track Listing:

1. Tragedy

2. Village Girl

3. Stop Cryin'

4. Don't Ever Leave Me

5. Lost in the City

6. First Timer

7. Cheyenne

8. 11th Street Kids

9. Walking With My Angel

10. Pretender

[caption id="attachment_2403" align="aligncenter" width="265" class=" "] Hanoi Rock[/caption]

Michael Monroe- lead vocals, piano, saxophone, harmonica

Andy McCoy- guitars, backing vocals

Nasty Suicide- guitars, backing vocals

Sam Yaffa- bass

Gyp Casino- drums

In 1981, heavy metal was still developing but even then, it was grabbing people's attention all over the world. Hanoi Rocks is Finland's most successful band and with their debut album I can certainly understand why.

Next post: Riot- Fire Down Under

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Great Punk/Metal Albums of 1981: Dead Kennedys- In God We Trust Inc.

First a confession, while I say that I was and still am a big Dead Kennedys fan, back in the 80s, the only two DK albums I listened to in earnest was their first album "Fresh Fruit for Rotten Vegetables," (for those who have joined recently, I did visit said album when I was journeying through 1980) and their 1985 "Frankenchrist" album and you can bet I will be paying tribute to that one. The 1981 EP, "In God We Trust Inc." slipped past me back in the day. My excuse is and it's a piss poor one, that EP's weren't something very common back in 1981 and so I didn't pay much attention to them. That is what this album is labelled as. When I stumbled across "In God We Trust Inc.," I thought it couldn't have been an EP because it had eight songs on it and the standard EP has three or four. Then I quickly discovered that the eight songs on this EP take a grand total of just over thirteen minutes and most artists who release ones with three songs can be longer than that. Saying that, I'm not here to generate a debate on the definitions of EP's and albums but to celebrate a great offering of music from a great band.

It may be only thirteen minutes but in that brief time you get totally bombarded with some loud, fast and furious in your face punk rock. Unlike the Plasmatics, this is punk as punk was meant to be. It ticks all the boxes of punk for those who like to categorise things. I don't but there are some who do. The funny thing is that I don't care that I can't understand what is being sung in the opening track, "Religious Vomit," maybe that's what it is, but I just want to have a good scream when I hear it and that is what punk was meant to do. The next few songs are slightly more intelligible, especially "Moral Majority" and "Hyperactive Child," although I don't know where the last one ends and the next songs begin and frankly, I don't care. I just am carried away by the ferocious music. It is the last three tracks that get slightly more serious and they slow down just enough for Jello Biafra to get his political message across with "Nazi Punks Fuck Off." The same goes with the next and longest track "We've Got a Bigger Problem Now," a fitting song for back then and probably now. In the sense of political awareness in music, I think the Dead Kennedys were ahead of their time. Still the ferocity of the music is not lost in either track. The album ends with a very amusing punk cover of "Rawhide" showing a sense of humour in the band and it was a great way to end things.

Track Listing:

1. Religious Vomit

2. Moral Majority

3. Hyperactive Child

4. Kepone Factory

5. Dog Bite

6. Nazi Punks Fuck Off

7. We've Got a Bigger Problem Now

8. Rawhide

[caption id="attachment_1897" align="aligncenter" width="273" class=" "] Dead Kennedys[/caption]

Jello Biafra- vocals

East Bay Ray- guitar, backing vocals

Klaus Flouride- bass, backing vocals

D.H. Peligro- drums

If you want a good ear bashing but don't have much time, then I can recommend "In God We Trust Inc." from the Dead Kennedys. You will certainly get an ear bashing for thirteen fast and furious minutes. This may have been a short EP, but when it's over, you surely don't forget it and like me, starting over to listen to it again.

Next post: Hanoi Rocks- Bangkok Bakes, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks

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