I just love the fact that eighties' melodic rock gems continue to be unearthed.
Ok, most are rough diamonds, in need of studio polish, but many of them sparkle and shine just the same.
One such band was San Diego's
Assassin, founded by Guitar Trader workmates, Thom Beebe and Vinnie Cavarra. They lasted 2 short years, 1983-85, imploding on the cusp of a major label breakthrough, but have been temporarily brought back to life by the quaintly titled Deepshag Records.
This collection of tracks, 14 in all, has been remastered from the original 24 track recordings. The first 9 would have formed the core of their debut album. The remaining 5 capture the band live at their favourite California venue, Straita Head Sound.
Opener, '
Treason' was the one that gained them local attention and ultimate
FM Radio fame, but within the melodic rock genre it's probably the most homogenous of all the tracks here, lost in its slavish devotion to early 1980's chart pop metal.
But as we move forward, the music begins to create momentum.
The balladic
'Angel' owes much to the pop orthodoxy of the Brill Building. It's a fascinatingly rudimentary ballad, with a simple moon'n'june lyric and an uncomplicated melody. Yet it grabs you with the vicelike grip of a drowning man.
'
Nuance le Dancer' switches to the opposite extreme. An, er . . . nuanced rock song that builds patiently and promisingly from a standing start, full of kinetic energy and pregnant with emotion.
Occasionally, the album stumbles over a clunker or two.
'Backstabber' and '
Setback' are flatpack pop metal that sound like the band hurriedly assembled them in the studio, only to find, too late, that some of the components were missing, compounded by the feeling that vocalist, Pete Papps phoned in his contribution from some distant, off key location.
Fortunately, further excavation reveals hard'n'heavy, melodic rock & metal nuggets like
'Tower', '
Triangle' and '
No Way' (these are men of few words), all clearly influenced, but not dominated, by the bands in the US charts at the time.
No wonder then that those very bands sought out
Assassin to open for them when touring the US Westcoast. . . Alcatrazz, Coney Hatch, King
Cobra and Poison, to name but four.
A natural progression then to sign for a major label. But as it often perversely does, fate stepped in at that point, with vocalist Papps leaving to form his own band. That turned out be a fatal blow for
Assassin, folding shortly after Papps' departure.
Twenty five years later we have a deservedly resurrected album, largely filled with exciting, energetic, if occasionally flawed big hair rock'n'metal.
Unequivocally, a fitting legacy for a band who nearly made it.
Written by
Brian Friday, January 29, 2010
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