RAVEN (Reissues)
Rock Until You Drop
Wiped Out
All For One
Spitfire Records/Neat Metal

Raven were one of the greatest, and most influential metal bands from the '80s! This band broke all the rules of traditional metal and were one of the most underrated of all the NWOBHM artists. After one listen to these three groundbreaking discs, the influence Raven bore on then-embryonic American bands, such as Metallica and Megadeth, is easily apparent.

1981 saw the original vinyl release of Rock Until You Drop, a monumental metal masterpiece that combined thrashing metal (with whaling guitar solos and screaming vocals) with the aggressive attitude of punk. Songs such as "Hard Ride," "Hell Patrol," "Don't Nee Your Money," "Rock Until You Drop," and "Lambs to the Slaughter" led the way to a whole new trend of metal music, a term that has since been labeled as "thrash metal." This CD is so honest, so raw, and so cheaply produced (you can actually hear the band members rant, rave and tune their guitars in between every song), but still sounds 100 times better than 95% of the metal CDs released over the past decade. The fact that this album has been remastered (Roadrunner originally reissued Raven's first two records onto CD back in the early '90s, though the tracks were not remastered.) This CD also features the bonus tracks "Wiped Out" (originally released as a single on Neat Records, I believe, back in '79), "Crazy World" (a B-side Neat single) and "Inquisitor," one of my faves, talk about groundbreaking riffs and chord changes! (This track was originally from the Neat compilation cassette Lead Weight released in the early '80s).

Wiped Out, originally released in '82, was Raven's follow-up record that proved to be even more over-the-top than the debut. Songs like "Faster Than The Speed of Light," "Read All About It," and "Live at the Inferno" solidified Raven as the kings of thrash metal. Calling their brand of music "Athletic Rock," which described their over-the-top performance, Raven were in a class all their own. Drummer Rob "Wacko" Hunter is unreal and John Gallagher screams like Halford on hormones! Bonus tracks include "Crash Band Wallop," "Run Them Down," and "Rock Hard."

All For One, Raven's third release, sees the band with a proper production, thanks to the Double-Trouble team of Accept screecher Udo Dirkschneider and knob-master extraordinaire Michael Wagner (Accept and Raven were the bands who introduced Wagner to the metal public.) Songs such as "Take Control" and the single, "Break the Chain" were power-metal anthems with catchy hooks and chorus, while "Hung, Drawn & Quartered" and "Seek And Destroy" (I told you they were a big influence on Metallica!) hints back to their psycho-metal roots. The band came to America for the first time in support of this album, and invited Metallica as support. Hence the tour (appropriately titled) "Kill 'Em All For One." This CD also contains three bonus tracks: An over-the top version of Born to Be Wild (with Udo!), "The Ballad Of Marshall Stack," and a newer (better produced!) version of "Inquisitor" (also featuring Udo.) Raven are True metal legends.

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