Side A:
While this elusive mini-album remains on many a want list of collectors of both Swedish as well as rare 80's HM in general, I much too seldom see or hear anyone singing its praises on musical qualities alone. I've even come across some disturbing comments about it belonging in the much detested 'Overrated Rarity'-division and THAT dear fellow Metalheads is pure and utter poppycock! Frankly this is one of the better Swedish Metal 12" vinyls of the 80's. At least in the sense that it belongs to the better half of said group. And then I'm not even including the aor/poser-crap into that equation.
Let's cut the crap and talk music: What makes Vanguard so great is the riffs. They make simple, by-the-book ones, only better. "Scare For The Future" is the perfect example. Every chord is in the exact right place - they don't fuck around and they neither overcomplicate nor oversimplify, it's just 4 minutes of Swedish Metal perfection - the distinct 'Swedish' part being the tell-tale quality vocal harmonies. The following "Heavy Metal Paradise" is that great, lost Heavy Load hit you never heard and once again simplicity is the key. Someone once described this tune as 'corny' but I don't hear it. Good, honest Heavy Metal simply sounds this way. Deal with it.
...and so, the fucking BOMB!
"Beast On The Run" - this will one will ALWAYS make it to my Ultimate Mix-tape Of Obscure Swedish Steel. If vikings would have waged war on horseback, this song would have been their rallying battle cry! There's this incredible... 'truddelutt' is the strict scientific term in Swedish, but unfortunately there is no proper English translation for it. This guitar-riff-thing.. it will DESTROY you. Poor "Lady Of Madness" kinda pales by comparison after this, but once you get past the sappy first minute of the song it's a quality HM closer all things considered.
Unfortunately nothing good seem to have emerged from the band after this, as their
only other vinyl legacy is a quite useless wimp-hr track on the "Double-Up" local 2LP compilation from 2 years later. Let's cross our fingers for the existance of some unknown, earlier demos to compliment a future full LP reissue. I'm looking at you, CMC!
Edit: Damn that's embarrasing...