The Michael Schenker Group - Assault Attack. 1982 Chrysalis (LP). From the Colorado Springs Record Show (Nov). I've enjoyed a nice reunion with MSG. Their debut is now locked deep into the collection, based on a strong nostalgic pull. The second album I was familiar with due to an old tape recording, and I enjoyed revisiting that as well. I did decide to part with it eventually only because it was largely a rewrite of the debut. Anything after that, though, will be new to me. And to Schenker's credit he did mix it up a bit on Assault Attack. Bringing hard rock veteran vocalist Graham Bonnet gave the sound a new tenor. The keyboards are in the background, but it's mostly organ which is curious. The production is solid, giving it a real oomph that hard rock as a genre calls for. The question remains - is it unique enough for collection space? No.
Triumph - Surveillance. 1987 MCA (LP). Found at the Rocky Mountain record show in Denver (2024). Eleven years from their debut, and after many years of radio success, what could Triumph possibly offer at this late date? Def Leppard apparently. Naw, it's better than that band's later works but it's essentially the same kind of juiced up commercial hard rock. Kind of a last hurrah from Canada's other finest trio (Rush being the other of course...). By 1987, Triumph were irrelevant, but at least they gave it a respectful try.
Uriah Heep - Abominog. 1982 Mercury (LP). Thrift shop find (Oct). The album prior to Head First and similar sounding. Many apologists out there proclaiming Abominog was a return to form. Not really. It does still have some of that trusty and dusty organ, but also plenty of period synths and a strong try for MTV airplay. Good for its era, but not at the next level like Saga (as but one example) were at this stage. More tracks like A1 and B4 would have helped its legacy.
*Badger - One Live Badger. 1973 ATCO (LP). Collection revisit (Sep). The biggest challenge this album faces is that of expectation. Tony Kaye of Yes + Roger Dean gatefold cover will do that. But it's not a prog album, rather a good jamming hard rocker. Kaye's organ and mellotron contrast nicely against Brian Parrish's lead guitar. Even Peter Banks took a lot of Yes with him to Flash, but no such luck with Kaye. With five of the six tracks totaling between exactly seven and eight minutes, this allows the group to flesh out their jams without exhausting them. Not exactly a unique sound for the era, yet had this been an obscure UK or German band, the album would sell for hundreds today. The hidden star here is Parrish (real last name Morris), who had bounced around the Swingin' London scene throughout the 60s and early 70s. Badger would appear to have been his big break but it wasn't meant to be. He tried for solo stardom in the mid 70s and then basically disappeared for about 20 years. I'm sure there's a story there.
Def Leppard - Adrenalize. 1992 Mercury (MC). Back to my buddy's garage sale here in town who had all the tapes for a buck (Sep). Admittedly I was a bit of an apologist for Pyromania, preferring nostalgia over quality. Adrenalize is two albums on from that and oh boy, is this bad. We're talking crawling around on the floor hoping to find a few pennies to ultimately buy a bottle of cheap whiskey. They want the middle 80s back so bad. That time was in the rearview mirror and so was this kind of tired pop music guised as hard rock. Pathetic.
* - Keeping for the collection
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