Review Summary: Jack Starr's solo debut - and also Rhett Forrester's first post-Riot outing - is an absolute barnstormer, and a criminally overlooked 1980s metal classic.
In 1984, with musical differences arising with his own band,
Virgin Steele, and soon to prompt his departure from that outfit, hotshot shredder Jack Starr crossed paths with larger-than-life frontman Rhett Forrester, who had himself recently been left jobless by the sudden disintegration of legendary New York hard rockers
Riot. Quickly establishing a friendship, the pair decided that it was time to record what would become Starr's solo debut, and duly enlisted the services of two-thirds of local heroes
The Rods, in drummer Carl Canedy and bassist Garry Bordonaro.
Let it be known that the product of this collaboration is an absolute barnstormer of an album. Opening with the absolutely hair-raising "Concrete Warrior", it quickly becomes apparent that while the musicians involved were known quantities to varying degrees,
Out of the Darkness is a high-water mark for all of them. Forrester belts out a tailor-made lyric with devastating conviction, Canedy whacks his kit like it owes him money, Bordonaro keeps perfect pace with the assault, and Starr simply plays like a man demonically possessed. Speedometer and seismometer alike are both pegged into the red from the get-go, but Starr really opens the seven gates of Hell two minutes into the song with what is already the second of many jaw-dropping lead breaks on the album; needless to say, the standard of guitar playing is mind-blowing, and Starr's phrasing and ear for melody not only are first-rate, but also matched by his ability to lay waste to all comers in the speed stakes and cram every last available space with wild fills.
The album settles down as it rolls into the march of the excellent "False Messiah", whose verse riff is a sly wink at Michael Schenker's "Attack of the Mad Axeman", and which finds Forrester sounding more at home as the tempo slows. When it comes time for Starr to step up for yet another head-spinning solo, though, things kick up a gear as Canedy deploys his double-bass technique to match the intensity of the fretboard fireworks. Still, not even those can match the following "Scorcher", a brief unaccompanied Starr shredding showcase, and one of two instrumentals on the album. The four-on-the-floor strut of "Wild in the Streets" places Forrester firmly in his comfort zone, home to past Riot triumphs such as "Hard Lovin' Man" (the scorching opener from 1982's Restless Breed album), and just as Forrester did on those tunes, both him and Starr deliver performances so utterly unparalleled in their swagger, it's easy to forget it's the shortest song on the album. Meanwhile, side one is closed by the stunningly mature, sap-free balladry of "Can't Let You Walk Away", which sees both Forrester and Starr pouring their hearts and souls into it, and the former's gospel influences coming to the fore.
The second side begins much as the first did, going straight for the throat with the speed metal one-two punch of "Chains of Love" and "Eyes of Fire"; again, Starr shreds, Canedy pounds and Forrester growls to perfection. With complete sensory overload having been guaranteed by this point, Starr and company step off the accelerator completely for "Odile", a gorgeous blues instrumental which, with its prodigious guitar pyrotechnics, is very much along the lines of what Gary Moore would do years after Out of the Streets was released. The album closes in decent fashion with the party-hearty "Let's Get Crazy Again", an ode clearly penned with Forrester in mind, and one which also sees a wildcard appearance by original Rainbow and Elf drummer Gary Driscoll. Unfortunately, it's over all too soon: in what is perhaps the album's only noticeable flaw, it is merely just under 33 minutes long, with 26 and a half comprised of actual songs.
Still, make no mistake:
Out of the Darkness is an inexplicably lost classic which deserves to be ranked among the greatest shredder-meets-screamer efforts, wherein the likes of Graham Bonnet's collaborations with Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Schenker, Chris Impellitteri and others reside. All of the musicians involved with this album - with the exception of Driscoll, given his untimely death three years later - would go on to make more great albums, but nothing quite like this one; for there are mere collaborations, and then there are matches made in heaven.
Out of the Darkness is undoubtedly a case of the latter, and is therefore not only recommended to all metal fans, but absolutely essential for devotees of Rhett Forrester, Jack Starr, The Rods, and shred guitar in general.
