 | Tracklist:
1 Riding With the Angels
2 Earth Mother
3 Nice Girl
4 Blood Lust
5 Go to Hell
6 Bright Lights
7 Once Bitten
8 Grime Crime
9 Communion
Release Date: 1981 | |
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1 of 1 thought this review was well written
For their third record, as well as second and last with Dickinson, Samson stuck to the same rules, although they certainly further worked on the somewhat rough edges from Head On. The new Shock Tactics would become a greater achievement than its predecessor, and remains the arguably best-known album the Brits put out.
The improvement is clear right from the beginning, as opener Riding With the Angels now shows the full extent of Dickinson’s voice, who’s performance is much closer to his latter on The Number of the Beast than it is to the one on Head On. The vocals are definitely more catchy, and see a plunge in a more operatic area, where those on Samson’s previous album were more standard rock-orientated.
The guitar also achieves greater presence, though overpowering the recognizable bass that was an interesting feature on Head On. By the sound of it, Paul Samson took his time to listen to Thin Lizzy, most notably Jailbreak, which well could have served as an inspirational source. The songs are overall better structured, the riffs pack more punch, and though the solos are still nothing really noteworthy, the serve their purpose well. And no, drummer Thunderstick still failed living up to his name.
As a result of these improvements, the overall material is stronger, and real filler can’t be found. Sure, the 6-minute Blood Lust gets a bit repetitive towards the end and should have been cut down, and songs such as Bright Lights don’t contain the most original lyrics, but that doesn’t mean they’re not catchy.
The best about Shock Tactics may be that it is such an improvement on Head On. In favour of the earlier recognizable bass, the guitar and vocals received tremendous improvement. The songs are catchier, pack more punch, and are better presented. Samson still didn’t become (and never became) anything near essential with this record, but it is a great hard rock album, once again made all the more interesting because Dickinson has his name on it.
- Paul Bruce ‘Bruce Bruce’ Dickinson ~ Vocals
- Paul Samson ~ Guitar
- Chris Aylmer ~ Bass Guitar
- Barry ‘Thunderstick’ Graham ~ Drums
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Album Rating: 3.5
That concludes my business with Samson. Not much more to tell 'bout this one.
Digging: Dave Matthews Band - Crash | | |
great review, one nitpick: And no, Thunderstick is not any better. i think you should mention that he is the drummer as a lot of other readers may have missed your last review, and so, have no idea who or what thundersick might be.
Digging: Dark Age - Acedia
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Fixed. Metalstyles should be happy once more.
And hehe, as if this even gets 'a lot of other readers'. So far, an ASTONISHING amount of 24 views.
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metalstyles is happy......once again
shit man, up to 29, i'll be damned lol.
Also, lol, Nagrarok: 63 reviews, Metalstyles: staying at a steady 41 haha. If you would cover new releases too you should be a contributor for sure. I will have a review out during tomorrow or in the weekend too.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Too bad new releases I care for are always reviewed by staff, thus effectively overshadowing my reviews. It's not that I wouldn't like to review them (I think there are 2 or 3 in the 63 so far).
Now working on two new Purple reviews, then I've got a Halloween special planned...heheheh.
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is it going to extend to a little Helloween special discography reviewing ;)?
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
No, that would be a tiring as hell job, plus I only care for their early work.
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aight. I'm going to review the new Soil (if you ever heard of them) and after that, i have no plans. Maybe i'll do Sub Dub Micromachine - Auferstanden! (I'm certain you haven't heard about them) but i will definitely take my time with it i guess
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