This box set has a double album and 144-page full color book, as they explore the early 80's Los Angeles metal scene that was the formative years of Metal Blade records. Much as I love music from Los Angeles between 1979-86 the years covered by this album, none of the LA bands I love are covered here. So rather than the Paisley underground side of Los Angeles this concentrates on the Hairspray spandex leather and lace end of the spectrum.
The compilation is a mix of well-known bands, bands featuring members who would go on to greater things and local legends, if you like 80's metal this is a great way to discover some lesser-known bands.
From the opening of Going To The City by Stormer the rock club feel is established with over the top guitars, in this case vocals that seem influenced more by soft rock, than the heavy metal of the guitars, of course they have a "classic" guitar solo, that's as by the numbers as can be.
Cocaine by L.A. Rocks opens like a Diamond Head outtake, as they start to rev up the guitars, the vocals are of course about Sunset Strips favorite fuel, this is a far more realistic look at taking Coke than JJ Cale's turgid song. The singer is somewhere between Jetboy and Ronnie James Dio with the guitars getting faster and sloppier like they have just snorted a line too many.
Bound For Hell by Max Havoc has far clearer production, as they celebrate a life on the road to ruin, with all the drink and drugs they've been able to take since they were 10 years old, when they clearly fell in love with Ozzy Osbourne and friends. The guitar solo sounds wreathed in dry ice. This song also has the only harmonica on the album.
Rock & Roll Ain't Pretty by Jaded Lady has black heart guitars, with screamo vocals, as one of the only girl groups on the scene, they solo just as intensely, have a little wink in the eye at all the boys playing with themselves, as they seek to sound like a heavier Runaways.
Steeler are Ready To Explode the guitarists hand must be moving like he's trying to break his own record for jerking off, this is super speedy glam as they race away on souped up hogs, this has a biker metal edge to it.
Lizzy Borden play No Time To Lose as one of the best known bands on this comp, you can hear almost no difference in quality to the unknowns, the vocals are very accomplished, the shredding super speedy but not thrash guitar solo, sounds like they have spent hours honing it, while watching far too many Kiss shows.
Sin are On The Run with an intro that is all horror movie organ, crashing sounds, the bombastic guitars pummel your face in the dirt drums come in, before the Sebastian Bach alike vocals, this is the first song on the album with a proper sing along chorus, to be sung in between mass head banging in the verses. Apparently Sin feature early members of W.A.S.P.
Black 'n Blue's Give'Em The Old 1, 2, 3, has a chugging beat for the guitars to fire off from, as salvos of sound hit you, as they get into another street brawl, for looking how they do I guess.
Bitch take us on a trip down to Damnation Alley that's a place where a Grace Slick style singer can front a hard rock band, no one gets out alive if they don't wear spandex. This is essentially a song telling Metal heads to take fewer drugs, to survive all the madness.
This is also perfect to chant along to the chorus of, it has a very Lita Ford feel to it, one of the best songs on the album.
Romeo give us Feeling To Rock, it's hard not to laugh at the bands pictures in the book, or at this cliched song that wants to be stadium ready, but has far too soft rock an edge to the vocals. By the time it gets to the instrumental section it sounds more of a parody than serious to me.
V.V.S.I blast out of the speakers on Savage Kind Of Girl with Dio style vocals, a biker metal sensibility and a sad tale at the heart of this song that's quite operatic in places, this has so many ideas flying at you with cool biker gang harmony backing vocals, it also feels like it should have a heart-breaking video to go with it.
Hellion live up to the bands name on Up From The Depths with singer Ann Boleyn growling her vocals with more grit than any of the blokes on this comp. This is a song of survival among the rubble of a destroyed city, This post-apocalyptic metal vision of the future stands out by the nature of the lyrics, the slower backing and far more inventive guitars than on many of the songs on this box set.
Angeles have Blades Of Steel a speeding Judas Priest style rifftastic tune, in love with that blade an what it does for you, this is proper over the top metal, with every trick they can think of thrown at it, as they cross the battlefield once more.
Knightmare II rip into Cold Reception as they get snubbed for looking how they look, being who they are, well we've all had that treatment, this lot sound like they have spent their lives being ghosted, snubbed as the singer moans about it, instead of just going and finding other dweebs like him to hang out with, the tune chugs along as an anthem, for bullied greasy metal kids everywhere.
Cinderella (In Black Leather) by Witch is everything you'd hope it would and wouldn't be at the same time, basically a song of lust for a certain groupie he wants, over the standard by the numbers hairspray backing, a pity singer Peter Wabbit doesn't sing with a lisp.
Reddi Kilowatt are lusting after a Liquid Lady this is a much more lo-fi production, it's lean but isn't mean, the guitar solos just a bit too long. School friends of Eddie Van Halen they may have been, but this is the sort of metal that bores me. The four-minute song feels more like 7 a real drag.
Armored Saint up the ante with Lesson Well Learned, as one of the only bands still touring on this comp it's easy to hear why they have lasted. This is Hairspray glam with a thrash edge, punch the air while headbanging along classic that was apparently the bands set opening song back then.
Leather Angel attack us with We Come To Kill they have Lita Ford or Runaways metal edge, a far too overactive drummer. Sadly they come across as all image, with a far too derivative sound, the wailing guitar solo doesn't save this. That said it is good to hear a female band playing in this very male scene.
Rough Cutt sound far too much like Guns & Roses on Take It Or Leave It, but this sounds like it could easily have been a radio hit, it has good use of effects with great backing vocals.
Lisa Baker has the chugging metal of Fool Of Lies to entice us into her world, she comes across as a Metal equivalent of Sam Fox, this is strident, full on rant at another lying piece of crap. This song will grow on you.
The album closes with Odin who of course sing a song called Judgement Day that’s in the Iron Maiden school of metal, with screamo vocals, that if they called the band Odin 20 years later would have been a growl. This has a real teenage dungeons and dragons fanbase appeal to it.
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