Review Summary: And with "Perfect Man," the true legend of Rage began!
Peavy Wagner had to suffer the first general disbandment (but not the last) of his musical career shortly after publishing the disappointing "Execution Guaranteed", after which drummer Jörg Michael and guitarists Jochen Schröeder and Rudy Graf left the band, probably due to the little commercial success of the group and the erratic musical direction of the third album.
However, Peavy knew how to recover from these losses and quickly incorporated into his ranks the more than competent guitarist Manni Schmidt and the powerful drummer Chris Efthimiadis, along with whom he created what in my opinion can be considered the first classic album of the band, and that undoubtedly defined the style that the group would carry in the following albums. And so, the first classic trio and one of the most beloved formations of Rage was born!
Maintaining their contract with Noise, they also started a fruitful relationship with producer Armin Sabol, with whom they would work on all the group's recordings until 1991. Sabol achieved a modern sound, which leaves great prominence to Wagner's bass but maintaining sharp guitars and a very powerful double pedal drum, making "Perfect Man" sound great even today.
But the most important thing is that here we find a band who knows perfectly what they want to do! Speed-thrash metal of the best quality but with a distinctive personality, very direct, with shorter songs and leaving aside the darkness of "Reign of Fear" and the experimentation of "Execution Guaranteed", but at the same time increasing the instrumental virtuosity to create a coherent, fun and much more vitalist set of songs.
It’s not really a power metal album, but I’m sure that “Perfect Man” was a big influence for many bands, (power-metal ones included) at the time. And although Peavy here is still interested in singing very highly, his voice sounds much better than before, with more cockiness, and certainly reminds us of the great singer that he would become in his stage of maturity.
In conclusion, “Perfect Man” is a gem of the late 80’s and maybe is the best place to start if you want to discover Rage's old stuff!
Best Tracks: In the Darkest Hour (has a rock n’ roll vein that I love), Perfect Man (fast, aggressive and with an amazing rhythmic base), Don't Fear the Winter (the real first classic of the band, a steamroller on live concerts even today) and A Pilgrim's Path (despite the excess of treble in the chorus, it is another song of great quality)
