Year : 1983 (Rock Candy Remastered 2015)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 119 mb
Bio:
The British band known as Rage has no ties to the German melodic thrashers who emerged a few years later, but actually rose from the ashes of '70s hard rock also-rans Nutz in 1981. Having witnessed the promise of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal firsthand when their last Nutz composition, "Bootliggers," was featured in the very popular Metal for Muthas collection, but knowing their previous baggage marked them as members of a previous generation, singer Dave Lloyd, guitarist Mick Devonport, bassist Keith Mulholland, and drummer John Mylett hired second guitarist Terry Steers to beef up their sound and cleverly renamed themselves Rage.Initially, their new lease on life seemed to bear fruit, with their first album for French label Carrere, 1981's Out of Control, selling quite well and receiving healthy press accolades, including a "5-K" review from Kerrang! magazine. But their euphoria was short-lived, as subsequent efforts like 1982's Nice 'n' Dirty and 1983's Run for the Night saw a return to the underwhelming songwriting and indifferent fan response that had plagued Nutz throughout the 1970s. This ultimately led to Rage's ignominious and final breakup sometime in 1984. Mylett tragically died in a car crash later that year, but Lloyd moved forward into a new project called 2 A.M.
Album:
Rock Candy Records have 'Remastered & Reloaded' the 3 albums by British '80s rockers RAGE, available for the first time on CD, and believe me, all worth your attention. "Run For The Night" was Rage's third and last record, and although their previous is considered the best, I have a soft spot for this one, the more melodic, AORish of the bunch.Signed to the fast rising independent label Carrere, Rage issued two well received albums before settling in to record their third album, this slightly more refined "Run For The Night", a record that would be the band’s bid to hitch their wagon to the more melodic, arguably AOR side of Rock genre. Indeed, Rage noticed the commercial & catchy sound of acts from the other side of the ocean, like Survivor and Foreigner, was the path to follow, still feeling unmistakable British.Self produced, for "Run For The Night" the band enlisted the help of fellow Liverpool songwriter Steve Morris of revered AOR rockers Export, to help with material. For the first time they also utilised well crafted keyboard support lending a bold sheen to their third and final album.From opener "Cry From A Hill" you'll know this is a 'different' Rage: an anthemic midtempo melodic rocker with lots of keys in the background.Next, "Fantasy" will remind you Aldo Nova and not only for the title but for its catchy chorus and that 'Canadian sound' which brings to mind Loverboy as well."Can't Say No" has some Urgent in it (featuring a great Steve Morris guest solo), the Americanized "Light Years" is absolutely Boston / Scholz, while "No Prisoners" (love the backing vocals) is not far from the first Export in terms of sound."LadyKiller" is killer indeed, driven by a monster guitar riff akin Coney Hatch and an overall feeling which made '80s AOR / hard so great. A highlight.Of course, with this Rage 'new' melodic rock approach also arrive the band's first (and last) ballad ever; the smooth title track plenty of nice atmospheres."Never Before" is totally Loverboy, then the band wraps the album with the hard rocker "Rock Fever" via a strong twin guitar attack in the vein of the band's second album."Run For The Night" is pretty unknown for Brit AOR / Melodic Rock fans & collectors, perhaps due to Rage's previous more hard rocking delivery. But this album is full of catchy melodies and sticky choruses in the best early '80s AOR tradition."Run For The Night" was always a hard to find piece because the label did not properly supported the recording, and only a first LP batch was pressed. You can note this lack of support (not strangely the band broke up soon) in the production sound; it should be alot better.This Rock Candy remaster tries to rescue a deeper low end & brilliance, and now it sounds much better (I heard the original and this is a true improvement). Additionally, this is the first official appearance of "Run For The Night" on CD.If you love any of the bands mentioned above, grab this one immediately. This Rage final album is a must for all classic AOR / Melodic Rock fans out there, especially from the first half of the '80s.
Line Up:
Dave Lloyd - lead vocals, guitar
Mick Devonport - guitars, backing vocals
Terry Steers - guitars
Keith Mulholland - bass
John Mylett - drums
additional musicians:
Steve Morris - guest lead guitar on 3
Paul Owens - sax
Rick Juckes, Mike Railton - keyboards
Tracklist:
01. Cry from a Hill
02. Fantasy
03. Can't Say No
04. Light Years
05. Ladykiller
06. No Prisoners
07. Run for the Night
08. Badlands
09. Never Before
10. Rock Fever
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
