Year : 1975-1982 (Hear No Evil / Cherry Red Records Edition 2022)
Style : Heavy Metal , Hard rock , NWOBHM
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + front
Size : 147 mb
Bio:
British hard rock / heavy metal band from Basildon, Essex formed in 1976. Band name was changed to "Samurai" in 1981 and back to "Prowler" in 1985.The band was formed in 1975 by John Pattenden (guitar), Martin Burrows (guitar) and Trev Pattenden (bass and vocals) in Basildon, Essex. Building up a grassroots fan base by regular gigging, they eventually supported the likes of Budgie and Atomic Rooster, as well as NWOBHM contemporaries Vardis. It was at one such show in early 1980 that they met famed rock and metal producer, the late Chris Tsangarides who worked with everyone from Judas Priest to Thin Lizzy. One of the Tsangarides-produced Prowler recordings, the self-penned ‘Gotta Get Back To You’, was indluded on ‘Brute Force’, the songs ‘Bad Child Running’, ‘Lost Without Your Love’ and ‘Prisoner’ were later recorded by Chris Tsangarides in September 1980, also included here.Prowler would briefly switch to calling themselves Samurai, and the songs ‘Under Attack’ and the self-titled ‘Samurai’ recorded by Samurai complete this album, before switching back to Prowler and eventually calling it a day in 1982, but thankfully Martin Burrows and Trev Pattenden reunited to record a 30th Anniversary version of ‘Gotta Get Back To You’ in 2010 and they got back together a decade after that for a 40th Anniversary take of ‘Heavy Metal Hero’ in 2020. In 1981 they changed the name to Samurai. Under this name, Essex Radio broadcasted the following tracks: ‘Bad Child Running’, ‘Lost Without Your Love’ and ‘Prisoner’. These were recorded before the name change and produced by Chris Tsangarides.Roughly one year later, in 1982, the name reverts back to Prowler and the band released this lone single below before they call it quits in 1984 or 1985.Trev Pattenden (v,b) and John Pattenden (g) reformed Prowler in 1991 with new members Jon Burchell (g) and Jamie Bryant (d). This line-up briefly toured the UK before signing a contract to perform and tour in the Middle East. This band was the very last version of Prowler and was based in Dubai, UAE for several months before disbanding in 1992.
Album:
Hear No Evil / Cherry Red Records are for the first time officially releasing the full record of cult British metal act PROWLER, ”Reactivate (Expanded Edition)”, tracks fully remastered from the original tapes, and including new recordings.Originally coming to prominence as part of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s that had given us Iron Maiden and Saxon, Prowler’s first appearance on record was for the MCA LP ‘Brute Force’ in 1980, a compilation of NWOBHM acts, where they were included alongside Raven, White Spirit and Quartz.The band was formed in 1975 by John Pattenden (guitar), Martin Burrows (guitar) and Trev Pattenden (bass and vocals) in Basildon, Essex. Building up a grassroots fan base by regular gigging, they eventually supported the likes of Budgie and Atomic Rooster, as well as NWOBHM contemporaries Vardis.It was at one such show in early 1980 that they met famed rock and metal producer, the late Chris Tsangarides who worked with everyone from Judas Priest to Thin Lizzy. One of the Tsangarides-produced Prowler recordings, the self-penned ‘Gotta Get Back To You’, was included on ‘Brute Force’, the songs ‘Bad Child Running’, ‘Lost Without Your Love’ and ‘Prisoner’ were later recorded by Chris Tsangarides in September 1980, also included here.Prowler would briefly switch to calling themselves Samurai, and the songs ‘Under Attack’ and the self-titled ‘Samurai’ recorded by Samurai complete this album, before switching back to Prowler and eventually calling it a day in 1982.But thankfully Martin Burrows and Trev Pattenden reunited to record a 30th Anniversary version of ‘Gotta Get Back To You’ in 2010 and they got back together a decade after that for a 40th Anniversary take of ‘Heavy Metal Hero’ in 2020.The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal spawned plenty of global superstars and hugely influential, if commercially underachieving, figures. Prowler didn’t come close on either front, not least because the Essex quartet didn’t get to release a full album in their original ’75-’82 lifespan.Forty years on, Cherry Red Records have attempted to rectify that. Prowler aren’t pushing the envelope. High-octane opener ‘Gotta Get Back To You’ sounds like a close cousin of Iron Maiden’s Running Free, and elsewhere their reliance on tightly wound riffs has a strong Saxon vibe about it as twin guitars lace Prisoner’s breathless assault.Although the legendary Chris Tsangarides produced the original 1980 tracks, the low budget is reflected in the old songs. Yet none of that detracts from the sinewy hard rock punch these songs pack, and more recent re-recordings, included here retain much of the original vim.
Line Up:
Trev Pattenden - vocals, bass - See also: ex-Samurai, ex-US
John Pattenden - guitar
Martin Burrows - guitar - See also: ex-Samurai
Mike Dowling - drums
Tracklist:
01. Gotta Get Back to You (1980)
02. Bad Child Running (1980)
03. Lost Without Your Love (1980)
04. Prisoner (1980)
05. Rocksong Part II / Heavy (live 1980)
06. Gotta Get Back to You (30th Anniversary Version 2010)
07. Heavy Metal Hero (40th Anniversary Version 2020)
08. Under Attack (1981)
09. Samurai (live 1981)
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