format: 12" EP
year: 1982
country: The Netherlands
label: Little Rockin' Lady Records
#: 121981
info: thin maxi-type sleeve
style: Heavy Metal
Side A:
Side B:
This is probably more than a little weird & silly, but sometimes I get this comforting feeling when I see how some of my fave vinyls of Olde Forgotten Steels DON'T drop in prices as the years go by. I guess its a confirmation that new Metal fans out there keep discovering the record, the demand is steady and thus a testament to its durability and quality.
Yeah, price = quality right? I told you it was silly...
Seriously though, this debut from reknowned Dutch HM drummer Frankie Woodhouse and friends is one of the BEST 'non-UK NWOBHM' releases of the early European 80's and an absolute must-have for everyone with the slightest tastes for that type of sound. I do want to stress that this is far from the clichéd 'rumpel metal' chug that often gets a NWOBHM-tag slapped on it. No, this is the real deal, straight-from-the-heart New Wave Of Heavy Metal, taking all its influences from the absolute heaviest 70's forefathers, turning it up to 11 and then just finishing off with that tiny pinch of its punk-rock cousins. From the epic "Angel Of Beware" to the punky "Stevie" to the closing Best Dutch Metal Tune Ever-contender, speed-trip and masterpiece "Lost Child" it's all roooooooaaaarrrring guitars, sizzling organs and wild, Wild drumming. I'm actually amazed at how fucking LOUD this sounds! This is RAW production at its most successful and I imagine this is how a NWOBHM-band would have sounded like if they had jumped into a time machine back to the roaring 60's and used the same recording techniques as those of the finest phychedelic rock underground bands. Last overuse of uppercase letters for this review I swear, but you MUST - own - this - EP. Period.
...or if it proves too scarce or expensive you can always hunt down their significantly cheaper and easier to find full-lenght album (actually a 2x12" set) released under the 'Frankie Woodhouse'-name, "Something In The Air", where you'll get 2 of these songs in almost as good versions + 7 more crushing tunes.