Going through my cd collection to find this month's classic I came upon this long lost gem and it brought back a lot of great memories. The very overlooked
Vicious Rumors first reared their head back in 1985 with their fantastic debut Soldiers of the night. They continued to put out classic albums through the 80'ies and start of the 90'ies. Unfortunately (and maybe unfairly) I lost track of them after Word of mouth was released in 1994. Around the same time
Vicious Rumors suffered a tragic loss when their singer Carl Albert passed away in 1995 But the band has kept on releasing albums and seeing the new lineup live on their tour with
Savatage back in 2002 was a great experience that gave me hope for the future of the band.
Ok, enough history. This is about Welcome to the ball, the last album on the Atlantic label, released back in 1991 and my favorite VR album. This is a solid ball of Metal that hits you hard and fast with the crunching power chords of
Abandoned and leaves you gasping for breath when
Ends of the world is over 45 minutes later. The songs on Welcome to the ball are varied, straight to the point and never boring. Complementing the fast songs are two slower, but equally powerful ballads. If you have never heard of
Vicious Rumors before and like Power Metal and Painkiller-era
Judas Priest then I am sure you will be blown away by their music.
Carl Albert was an amazing singer. His soaring voice matches the powerful music and is able to command it with a great sense of melody. Take an extremely tight song like
You only live twice, where his vocals are spot on, or the line
"Lay down the tracks upon the shore" from
Dust to Dust, which is one of many times where his voice captures a fantastic melody. His voice has a great tension and there is always a feel that he can explode at any time. If you spliced the power of Rob
Halford with the emotion of Jon Oliva and added some secret ingredient, then Carl Albert is close to what you would get. A powerful and one of a kind singer.
On drums Larry Howe keep things tight with an amazing precision and he brings a lot of great detail to the album. Likewise on the bass, Dave Starr plays an important role in several songs. Guitar wise the work of Geoff Thorpe and Mark McGee is splendid. A great abundance of cool riffs and fast solos are sprayed all over the album. But the best thing about
Vicious Rumors is the perfect way the instruments work together to create something very heavy and powerful.
The album is varied and doesn't have a weak song, just pure Metal. Each song has something to offer and songs like
Raise your hands with its drive and rythm that just sweeps you away,
Mastermind with its psycho chorus and overall cool feel and the aggressive
Savior from anger are songs that provide a solid base for the album. That also goes for
Dust to dust, which has some very cool riffs.
My absolute highlights are
You only live twice,
Six step sisters and the two ballads.
You only live twice is not a Bond movie cover song. The song is ruled by an incredible heavy and powerful riff and fast power drumming. It is one of those songs that will cut through your speakers and eat you alive if you play it loud enough. Carl is in top form and in the spirit of the main riff sings in a very tight and controlled voice. The same can be said of the guitar solo. A fast and melodic song driven by pure energy.
Children is the definition of a Power Ballad. Even my sister sang along to this song once upon a time. I love the start of the song with its monstrous and heavy dual guitar riff. Pretty simple and very effective. Carl's voice delivers the message with just the right amount of feeling, never sounding contrived. Children is one of those songs that has a timeless message.
Six stepsisters is another favorite for obvious reasons... Just listen to the song and you will understand, hehee. Well, twisted would be one way to describe the song and lyrics. Right from the insane start the intensity level is raised to boiling point and through the song it is kept intact due to the frantic background riffing, kick ass drumming and Carl's voice, which is filled with held back emotion. If the extremely cool chorus doesn't get you then I'm sure the ear raising middle part will. What a cool song.
When love comes down is a wonderful ballad. The bass lays a very soothing background to Carl's voice and the guitar is used to enhance the song just right. A perfect hearfelt guitar solo leads to the final part of the song which doesn't just fade out but ends on an emotional note.
The production is just like it should be, full and powerful with room for every instrument.
The lyrics takes on a lot of differerent subjects ranging from world pollution through government control to finding your inner strength, friendship, love and never giving up. One thing that has certainly defined this band.
Welcome to the ball is an essential release from a band that has been far too overlooked. A timeless classic that should have a good home in every Metal collection.
Written by
Steen Friday, March 5, 2004
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