Anvil - Legal at Last (2020)

With cover art and an album title double entendre that I can hardly keep a straight face over, Anvil rolls out its 18th studio full length effort. After an inconsistent decade, which started off strong with Juggernaut of Justice, my favorite that they'd put out since the 80s, it's a little difficult to build up any sort of expectations for whatever is going to happen next. The Canadians are survivors, I'll give you that, whether their hit documentary film spurred them on through the 21st century or not, but after a couple relative duds like Hope in Hell and Pounding the Pavement, any hope of a new winning streak was cut rather short. Still, they weren't all bad, 2016's Anvil is Anvil was a fun enough outing, and Legal at Last offers more along those lines, a dozen tracks of primitive, meaty heavy metal which offers no surprises whether you've been following the band for 4 weeks or almost 40 years...but then again, you won't need any.

As you've guessed from the title, this one's going to have a handful of Anvil's crushing sonic love letters to the marijuana, but despite the silliness with which their lyrics are often imbued, the music itself is no jokes, just some energetic heavy metal, starting out faster with the title track, and then going into one of their loping, mid-pacing, burning metal numbers "Nabbed in Nebraska" which will slightly remind you of fare like "Metal on Metal", "Concrete Jungle" or "Forged in Fire" only not nearly so legendarily catchy. But Robb Reiner's drums sound really powerful throughout, and they pull off a nice lead bridge and some backing vocals heavily redolent of old Twisted Sister. Other fun numbers include "Chemtrails", the rumbling "Gasoline" and the twisting "Talking to the Wall", a cool, darker, menacing cut which reminded me a lot of some of my favorite Anvil stuff on discs like Pound for Pound or This is Thirteen. Great riffs here, with a steady mid-paced tremolo picking and Lips sounding as bent as angry as he gets these years. And the hits don't stop coming there, in fact there aren't really any tracks here that I'd consider weak, and the vast majority of the material is hard hitting and memorable enough that I've been enjoying repeat listens.

Honest, blue collar heavy metal with a monumental rhythm section. The Lips/Reiner/Roberston lineup has really solidified over the last few years and they make this all sound effortless, not that it's particularly technical or nuanced for the genre but they clearly sat there and managed to come up with a dozen ragers at varied tempos, with no real filler. Hell, they even save the heaviest track "No Time" for the end, another one that throws me back to their darker sounding stuff from the past, and another killer lead sequence. Anvil has a distinct sound in their field, instantly identifiable, and this one plays to all of their strengths without ever drifting off into some of the mediocrity that has crippled more than half of the records they've put out since the early 90s. Should satisfy the long term audience as well as younger folks just looking for some bar-busting, catchy heavy metal with zero pretentiousness anywhere to be found. You might not be able to hammer out an effective weapon or tool on that glass mascot bong, but they'll certainly club your ears in with this record before fleeing town with your old lady and a bag of ganja.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://my.tbaytel.net/tgallo/anvil/

Anvil - Pounding the Pavement (2018)

Anvil has honestly put together a pretty decent run since the release of their documentary, with This is Thirteen and Juggernaut of Justice being arguably their best albums since the 80s, and Anvil is Anvil a few years ago also ably delivering the goods. However, I can't say that it's been a consistent effort, with the sagging Hope in Hell in 2013 and now, unfortunately, their 17th full-length, which as its cover implies, is hammering away at the pavement, but not dredging up much of any interest. That's not to say Pounding is a total wash, but it takes far too long to start getting anywhere, relies a little more on goofy and highly diverse lyrical subjects, and musically plays it too bloody safe, with a smattering of been there, done that riffs which catalog not only their own past but hard rock/metal in general.

Between the lumbering, mastodon metal attempts to produce a new "Metal on Metal" or "Forged in Fire", the more bluesy, party-rock anthems, or the energetically sincere but barebacked poundings that actually reach some level of engagement, this material just doesn't inspire. I'll admit, I laughed my arse off that the opener "Bitch in the Box" was a tribute to a GPS, but even there the music left so much to be desired; run of the mill, predictable riffing patterns, functional melodies or leads that are simply clones of so many you've heard before. They do shoot for a number of those slower, grooving and mighty heavy metal epics and almost always come up short of anything compelling, and often when tackling the more interesting subjects here ("Nanook of the North") the narrative structure of the vocals can come off a little tackier than intended. Sure, I actually do admire Anvil's dedication to taking on uncommon themes, whether silly or serious, but so often the execution just isn't there to match the inspiration. While they've always been a very traditional band in terms of construction of their rhythm guitars, there was usually some darker mood or twist, some epic chorus, or some cool lead to lend a little nuance or distinction.

Not so much here, as tracks like "Doing What I Want" feature such by-the-numbers structure, bland verse and chorus lines that are not worthy of one of Canada's most unique metal frontmen. The last chunk of album, starting with the relentless "Black Smoke", measured "World of Tomorrow" and frantic, bluesy "Warming Up", was actually passable stuff, I found my neck starting to twitch, but that's all about 30 minutes into the album, and even that material is fairly generic, it just seems a little more natural and the product of sharper decisions. The production of Pounding the Pavement is clearly not a flaw, not that I'd mind if the band recorded dirtier, but the rhythm guitars have a nice cut to them, the bass lines sound perfect in the mix, Robb's drumming is fired up as usual, and the vocals and leads are also very well balanced. But this is just not a selection of tunes I think you'll hear much in their live rotation, or at least not for very long since they just don't live up to the classics this band has penned in the past, even the recent past. Juggernaut of Justice is, for instance, a far better album and there's just no point at which I'd ever listen to this over that. A little more solid than Hope in Hell, but pretty unflattering overall.

Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]

http://my.tbaytel.net/tgallo/anvil/

Anvil - Anvil is Anvil (2016)

If Anvil! The Story of Anvil and its two neighboring studio efforts This is Thirteen and Juggernaut of Justice marked a resurgence or Renaissance for the beloved Canadian thugs, possessing their strongest material in many years, and affording them all manner of touring opportunities and a perpetual underdog spotlight...Hope is Hell sort of dashed that streak against the rocks, a mundane and forgettable effort redolent of many of such works they released tirelessly through the 90s as they leaped around labels and tried to stay afloat in a decade or so in which real heavy metal sunk into the background of other prevalent sub-genres and trends. Working up to Anvil Is Anvil,  their 16th album, I did not hold out much hope, hellish or otherwise, that this would be anything more than lazy redundancy, as the cover image and banal title would themselves seem to suggest...but thankfully, this is a measure more entertaining and catchy than its predecessor, with most of their strengths and all their flaws on exhibition.

Big, dumb, choppy heavy metal. Anvil has long relied on the joy and innocence they bring to their riff set more than any sense of nuance or technicality, which arguably fled the band's trajectory well back into the 80s after Pound for Pound (my favorite of their records). And here they are, chugging along like an 18-wheeler on the Trans-Canada Highway while the driver dreams of big haired 80s blondes, lumberjack attire, bleacher brawls at hockey rinks, ganja, brewskies and maple fucking syrup. Coincidentally, those are exactly the same stereotypes, I imagine as I'm listening through the sometimes thundering, sometimes lurching compositions which have been meted out evenly over most of their albums since Metal on Metal. Here you've got clear cases of both, charging along with "Up, Down, Sideways" or one of this disc's "Metal on Metals", "Gun Control". Riff construction is constant, concrete heavy blues worship which occasionally sputters into the Judas Priest or Accept lanes, while Robb's drums are as loud, appropriate and invigorating as ever. New bassist Chris Robertson grooves along accordingly, a solid bar band-style contributor which is nothing less than what Anvil requires, and Mattes Pfeiffer's production on this thing is bright, bludgeoning and beyond functional, especially on those mid-paced rhythms.

Then, of course, you've got Lips' belting out those obvious, everyman lyrics which are often pretty dumb, but again appropriate for an old metal band that has no desire whatsoever become anything else, and that's not exactly a weakness. His voice still has all the character it's carried for the past 30 years...wavering eerily at its higher range, but most comfortable with a hard bite that carries over well into an anthemic chorus line. This has always been the Canadians' #1 distinction, and I'm happy that it's been a constant, even if about half the choruses on this record are unmemorable and bland. Plus the album opens with a pirate song. Lead guitars wail along with abandon, just as alive as the rhythm section during those parts ("Die for a Lie", etc), and they never feel overly prepared to leech away attention from the rest of the components surrounding them. In the end, a longstanding Anvil fan is likely to have as good a time here as he's had with any of their other 21st century output. Expectations have never been set very high, the band lacks any ability to transition into any other plane of craftsmanship, so it's going to come down to whether the songs stick or miss, and with this thing cranked in the vehicle, I'd say that the former occurs more often than the latter, even if these are just endless reiterations of prototype tunes that they've been rehashing for decades. Loud, proud, pumped full of Cialis, this is textbook Anvil. Lips is pushing 60 now, and his music sounds like it tears asphalt at about that same speed, but with an armor plated grill that can plow poseurs right off into the breakdown ditch.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

http://my.tbaytel.net/tgallo/anvil/

Anvil - Hope in Hell (2013)

Hope in Hell is an interminably frustrating album because while its fully smooth and consistent with Anvil's canon, it just seems so bland, also- ran and forgettable by comparison to even their last few records. There wasn't a single hook or chorus among the 13 present here that I felt any attraction towards, though it's a direct stylistic successor to their last triumph (Juggernaut of Justice) and even bears a lot of similarities to their classic 80s fare like Forged in Fire or Metal on Metal. The tunes seem more or less dialed in from prior ideas the Canadians had already executed better, and the lyrics border on stupider-than-usual (from a group that has always had a penchant for a few silly themes on each of their many full-lengths). Not to mention, that even while I can't say I've ever seen an album cover of an anvil transmogrified into an aircraft carrier in the flames of the abyss, the artwork and title seem a little cheesy...not a first, really, nor is this the first disappointment I've encountered from this very band.

Don't get me wrong: it's pure Anvil. They haven't suddenly become Bon Jovi. The titular opener is the sort of slowish, heavy/doom crawl you'd expect from a band constantly attempting to reinvent "Metal on Metal", "Forged in Fire", or any other example of their Sabbath-like pacing. Instantly, you know where you are, back in the 'concrete jungle'. The musicianship is in no worse shape than on any of their prior efforts, with Rob Reiner's able drumming and Lips' pitch remaining consistent. But Kudlow is just not capable of pulling off a truly memorable line in either verse or chorus, and though they've always partaken of the 'everyman' lyrics rather than excursions into philosophical pretension or loaded prose, sometimes this just grows tired in its execution. Surely guys with 30+ years of experience have more wisdom to kick at me than "Badass Rock and Roll" or "Shut the Fuck Up", the latter of which is terrible. Sure, I'm nitpicking a bit, because the whole layman heavy metal thing has been their shtick for decades now, but combined with the very weak selection of rhythm guitar progressions on this album, it seems even more lazy and banal than usual.

Of course, if the chords and chugs were anything more than blazing effigees to tired, uninspired traditional heavy metal cliches that have been retread since (in some cases) the 70s, then I might still have retained a level of interest. This is Thirteen and Juggernaut of Justice were far from rocket science, but they both knew how to throw out some rhythm guitars or vocals that reaffirmed why I enjoyed them so much as a kid. Even the heavier, driving tracks here like "Eat Your Words" and "Shut the Fuck Up" are lamentably boring in their note choices, and though they definitely persist in that added layer of melody they implemented well the last time around, here the airy harmonies are every measure as predictable as the heavier undertow. "Time Shows No Mercy" and "Through With You" are examples of even blander songwriting, riffs that wouldn't even deserve to be on the cutting room floor of Metal on Metal or Pound for Pound, but somehow made it on here because 'like...they're pure old heavy metal, man.' In spirit, they're serviceable, but if I were to compile a list of post-80s Anvil highlights, not a one of these would make muster...

Anvil is a band you (or at least I) always want to love, and WILL continue to, because they're cool guys with hearts committed to music that most people abandoned for 15-20 years until its inevitable 'cycle' returned to fashion and then suddenly everyone decided to get back in touch with their youth. And yes, I'd say the same even if I had never watched The Documentary. But despite their best intentions, the Canadians are not above hitting a slump, like the substantial rut they found themselves in between Worth the Weight and Back to Basics, and I just hope this Hope isn't the 'teaser' for another one. Solid production, ageless musical ability, and familiar songwriting are the best accolades I can hoist upon this, but otherwise it's the least impressive outing they've had since hitting their nadir with Plenty of Power in 2001. As much as I admire Anvil, they are obviously far, far more capable than this, so I'm not about to sugarcoat my blasé reaction to this painfully average music. Time for an sonic enema of "Blood on the Ice", "Corporate Preacher" and "Fire in the Night" to purge myself of this lackluster offering.

Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10]

http://anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Monument of Metal (2011)

Monument of Metal is the second of Anvil's major compilations, and about the best I can say for it is that it's a fraction less worthless than its predecessor Anthology of Anvil. Sure, these releases keep to the alliterated titles the Canadians enjoy employing, and this one's got a fancy Robb Reiner cover which should thrill fans of the documentary who like that the drummer's into that, but in the end, all you really get are songs the the long term devotee has already heard, in some cases for many years. Granted, this is a more strategically positioned package meant to capitalize on the success of the film and upwards momentum of their latest studio offerings, both returns to form, but it's ultimately a massive missed opportunity to sate both the new and old audience...like so many other comps of its kind.

This could very easily have proven a great value had it consisted of 2-3 discs, perhaps with one devoted to lives and another to rare demos and unreleased studio tracks, but instead it's just one crammed disc, nearly 80 minutes of material, almost all of which is previously available on one of the band's 14 full-lengths, lives, or as a bonus track on a prior album. A handful of these are the 're-recordings' of classics: "Metal on Metal", "Winged Assassins" and "School Love", all of which sound pretty potent in their new incarnations but lack the character of the originals. "Thumb Hang" is a 'lost classic' of Anvil history, but was already included as a bonus on This is Thirteen (along with a remake of "666", which is also here). You might remember the scene in the Story of Anvil film about how this was their first written song, relating to torture in the Spanish Inquisition. While I've never heard the original rehearsal version, this sounds as if it must have been updated as more atmospheric. It's a slow, strong mover with decent, arching melodic vocals that has a similar appeal to "Concrete Jungle" or "Forged in Fire". Some sentimental value, but not entirely catchy.

Otherwise you've just got a bunch of rehashed material from the bands various full-lengths. I don't really see the point of including something from Juggernaut of Justice, which was still fairly new as of this compilation, but the title track is nonetheless present. A number of other choices are questionable. "Plenty of Power" from the album of the same name? Why bother? "Race Against Time" from Still Going Strong? "Park That Truck" from Speed of Sound? I realize their intention is to incorporate something from all the albums, but far better would have been to just dish out the quality goods. I mean, the point of Monument of Metal is to give the band's newer audience a taste of what they've been missing out on, so where is "Blood on the Ice", "Concrete Jungle", "Forged in Fire" or a number of their other pieces? Hell, where's "Smokin' Green"? They do include some of the necessary cuts like "Mothra", and surprisingly "Fire in the Night" from my fave Anvil outing Pound for Pound (great song), but it feels like an inconsistent sampling at best.

Presumably you'd just buy this if you were brand new to the band, checked out This is Thirteen or maybe Juggernaut of Justice and wanted to purchase a collection of the 'best' from their extensive backlog. You'll be disappointed, because these are not necessarily their best. I cannot recommend enough that you take the more direct route and purchase their early albums. I've always found metal tracks to be best experienced on their native recordings, even if that means they are surrounded by tracks one might feel are 'filler' from that same era. It's a far better representation of a band, and in the age of the internet you can already sample just about anything you'd want to begin with. This is part of the reason I hate comps like this, which simply don't go the extra mile to fulfill the long term followers. Not worth the money. Surely in 30 fucking years there were plenty of rare cuts, extra live recordings and such to cull material from? Monument of Metal might feature a few re-recordings you don't own from the original albums where the songs were first spawned, but otherwise its just furnace fodder.

Verdict: Epic Fail [1.5/10]

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - This is Thirteen (2007)

I've already gone on at length about Sacha Gervasi's documentary on the life and times of aging Canadian rockers Anvil, and even written a full review for the film, but I do feel it's crucial in understanding and interpreting the mindset of these gents so late in their careers, performing in a field generally reserved for the young, testosterone bleeding hellions with something to prove. Not that Robb Reiner and Lips Kudlow have ever lacked in that androgen hormone, as their long legacy of silly sex songs has amply proven, but these guys were really at a stalemate by the middle of the 'oughts. Albums like Plenty of Power and Still Going Strong were middling and underwhelming, and while Back to Basics (2004) marked an improvement in actual songwriting, the vocals were weak enough to dull its effectiveness.

Enter This is Thirteen, and the band's decision to shell out some cash and reunite with British record producer Chris Tsangarides. A wise choice, as it turns out, because this was the best Anvil record since Pound for Pound, or should I say, the first GOOD album the Canadians had issued in nearly 20 fucking years. This is huge, ugly sounding heavy metal the way these boys were playing it through the 80s, polished but pummeling. Now, I can't squarely lay the credit on Tsangarides' shoulders alone. To be honest, the production itself was not a major issue for me in experiencing the band's output from '92-2004. Worth the Weight might have been a little dry, and Plenty of Power a little clean and stale, but the real stigma was the lackluster songwriting. Never outright bad, and there were acceptable tracks strewn through the Mausoleum and Massacre years, but none of them comparable to the first five full-lengths...

Well, now we've got the songs. And the sound. Even the vocals have made a turnaround, no longer the lazy, dry and disheveled presence of Back to Basics but the more vibrant, howling and piercing range he exhibited in the band's formative years. As early as "This is Thirteen", the first track on the album, a slow and superstitious lurcher redolent of "Metal on Metal" or "Forged in Fire", Kudlow stretches himself to the limit, and it never once drags down the effective drudge and doomed sensation of the riffs beneath. Songs like "Worry" and "Flying Blind" sound like they're being launched out of the 80s via rocket and crashing directly into your stereo speakers, and even if they're not among the best the band has written, they still carry that inherent enthusiasm that made Anvil so exciting in the first place.

Personal favorites here are "Bombs Away", in which Glenn Five gets to strut his formidable fingers below a set of concrete, flowing chords that channel the listener straight into the band's prime. "Game Over" also kicks some serious ass, bringing a little of that dirty Motörhead smear back into the band's repertoire, with some bluesy shuffling, and again, strong bass lines. It's also pretty hard to find fault in "Should'a Would'a Could'a", "Ready to Fight" or "Axe to Grind" which all feature a fond mesh of NWOBHM and 80s power metal virtues. Hell, the closing cruiser "American Refugee" even has Lips sounding like a Mike Muir guest spot. On the other hand, there are a few tracks that admittedly lag behind. The slow "Big Business" with its' Iron Butterfly wannabe riffing was far from a highlight, and I could go either way on the grooving of "Feed the Greed" or the somewhat bland "Worry".

Yeah, there's nothing here on the level of a "Blood on the Ice", "Metal on Metal" or "Fire in the Night" but that's to be expected. The genre was far fresher in the 80s and its works will always, for all history leave a stronger impression on both those who got to experience them the first time and those newer and younger fans who awaken to their glories decades hence. That Anvil finally pulled their shit together and ceased their incessant string of mediocre, going nowhere albums that stretched back for many years. Not that they had ever entirely given up on their dreams, but This is Thirteen sounds like a band which has gotten over its midlife crisis, grabbed its Viagra or tantra lessons or whatever and finally become reinvigorated, reassessed of its own inherent magic. There is nothing wrong with good old heavy metal music. There never was, and never will be, no matter what trends might arrive and conspire towards it becoming obsolete. Never gonna happen. Anvil's 13th record is far from amazing, perhaps, but it's proof positive of an enduring legacy and genre, and that sticking to your guns will eventually put you on target.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Back to Basics (2004)

After about 14-15 years of towing the lines of mediocrity, Anvil had begun to have the opposite affect of a fine wine: aging poorly. So it comes with great relief that Back to Basics, for the most part, does live up to its name. That's not to call it a righteous comeback, or even a really good effort, but for what it's worth, the guys seem to have dug in their heels and committed to writing some decent music this time around. There are still a few shitty pieces to be found, but in general I found at least the guitars here to offer some value, whether they're molded in the straight raging metal fashion of their numerous 80s ventures or the affable hard rocking throwbacks that the band have never fully shaken off.

But there is one serious issue with Back to Basics which precludes it from ever ranking among the band's better works: the worst Steve 'Lips' Kudlow studio vocal performance in the history of the band. Now, the guy's never been one of the more refined voices in the genre, and I can't count how many times I've seen critics claim that his presence on the microphone is the critical factor in holding the band back from ever achieving a greater success. But I must entirely disagree with that sentiment. Kudlow's got an honest, down and dirty style which is a perfect match for this workmanlike, aggressive traditional metal sound, and he generally got on well enough in either his lower, gravel pitch, howls or shrieks on their earlier records. Not the case here. The man hits his notes, yet he sounds tired, beat up, and frankly I don't see how they made it out the door in this final form...

Exhibit A: check out a few of the more hard rocking, older school tracks like "Can't Catch Me" or "Keep It Up". The tone of the guitars is great, the riffs themselves pretty driving and engaging, and yet the vocals sound like a lazy rehearsal that the band decided not to re-track. Even the backing vocals throughout the album seem bland and lacking confidence, and it surely cripples the album from being their best since the 80s. In particular, his performance on the power ballad "Cruel World" is awkward to experience, not that the song would be great otherwise. But say, for example, you took "Can't Catch Me", removed Lips and threw on a girl rock band like the The Donnas, Girlschool or The Runaways. Could have even kept the shitty but well meaning anti-infidelity lyrics and the thing might even end up on MTV. Or would have, at some point...

Anyway, he doesn't muck up the whole process here, and he's acceptable on most of the better Back to Basics tracks. Like the previous album, Anvil kicks this one off with a stock, mid paced power metal chest pounder in "Fuel for the Fire". The riff progressions aren't all that unique, but it's nonetheless bangable (in head form). "The Chainsaw" is another standout, with its dark and distorted intro and drudging, dirty grooves. I rather like how the music implies some sort of serial killer mood, but the lyrics are actually about deforestation. Lips sticks to his lower, angrier range ala Algy Ward or Lemmy Kilminster and it doesn't stand out so sorely as some of the neighboring tracks. "Fast Driver" has some force behind it, and "Bottom Feeder" has quite a good groove to it, with Robb Reiner's wildest drumming on the whole record (though the vocals are a bit embarrassing).

Back to Basics might have been a minor success had they spent more time waiting for a better vocal take, whether that involved a few 'cheats' and edits or not. I appreciate the honesty with which these guys have always approached their writing, but in the end I still want the finished product to kick my ass, and this album doesn't. It's one of the better albums with Ivan Hurd on the guitar, and the last full-length he'd fully partake of (a few of his solos wind up on This Is Thirteen), but unfortunately this fact would not coincide with some riveting return to form. Hey, at least the cover art is better than that last batch.

Indifference [6.75/10]

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Still Going Strong (2002)

Much like the irony of Plenty of Power was its treacherous lack of said power, the irony inherent to Still Going Strong is that Anvil was clearly not going strong. Is this a better album than its dialed in, subdued predecessor? Yes, but only by the slightest of margins, and in truth the 5th album in their Massacre deal shows an irritable lack of consistency. The plan here was apparently to bake a nice, thick home cooked crust and then insert some fruit filling which was well past its expiration date, but not a chef in the house would be fooled. It's a pity too, because this is also the 5th album with their second best lineup, so you would think that they'd somehow gel in writing and lay us all flat with something after about seven years of touring and albums together...

Still Going Strong at least starts out well enough, with the straight power bruiser "Race Against Time". The clinical muted intro riff had me hopeful that the band would be pulling out another dark track of "Blood on the Ice" quality, but what manifests is a straight rager redolent of the stuff Saxon were writing on albums like Metalhead. To be honest, Lips' voice functions fluidly with this beefy, driving guitar tone, the chord selection is satisfying and any fan of mid-paced European power/heavy metal can easily bang his/her head off. Not extremely catchy, but better than anything from the previous album. "In Hell" seems to continue this pattern, albeit lurching along like one of the band's primordial classics "Metal on Metal", "Forged in Fire" or so forth. I don't like this tune so much as the first, and Lips' screams seem a little limp, but it still sounds vibrant enough that expectations are not entirely spurned.

Leave that spurning to the next chunk of the album, which begins with "Holy Wood", a wimpy hard rock tune with powerful drums that sounds like something Motley Crue would have loafed out in the last decade. Dull riffs, cheesy chorus, forgettable lead. Ditto for "Still Going Strong", another pro-metal/hard rock track in line with "Real Metal" from Plenty of Power. Only this time, they only reference themselves once in the final verse, and spend the rest of the lame lyrics waxing about how heavy rock is still around after 50 years. I'm not saying this is something we shouldn't celebrate, but pretty much anyone listening to an Anvil record has never STOPPED that self-same celebration, so the combination of lame lyrics, repetitive chorus and bad rock bludgeoning feels like a black hole opening to consume the few good songs on this album. Other lackluster showings here include the swaggering, predictable hard rock of "Don't Ask Me", the indulgent drum solo "White Rhino" and ANOTHER self-affirmation track in "What I'm About".

Still Going Strong does pick up again with the closing tracks "Sativa" and "Defiant", the former another of the band's crunchy metal marijuana tributes and the latter a decent, mid paced power metal chugger, but by then its really too late to give much of a fuck. As an EP with only the first and last pairs of tracks, it might have been a decent teaser for a full-length in the same direction, but ultimately the total riff count is hardly more interesting than Plenty of Power. That said, the album does feel as if the band had given itself a talking to, or a swift kick in the ass. Everything feels more enthusiastic. The production and performances brighter, and Lips not sounding as if he were about to start yawning in between lines in the vocal booth. A major sag down the middle, much like the aging players' physiques by this point, but maybe a glimmer of something better to come. Maybe.

Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10]

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Plenty of Power (2001)

The 90s felt like a decade of lost causes for traditional metal bands, and it would have been nearly impossible for a group like Anvil to make any headway when the misguided youth were awash in the revolting tides of gangsta rap, boy bands, grunge and the 'alternative' rock scene which was born of numerous genres. So many of those apes who were newly drawn to metal, or formerly enamored of thrash, USPM and NWOBHM would become converts to the raging tough guy and drug addict attitudes of bands like Pantera and Cypress Hill, so what could be left for an Anvil or an Exciter? Not a whole fucking lot, so it's a miracle than such acts managed to stay afloat when it seemed like the world was ready to shove them face first into the dust. Thank the stars for metal festivals, Europe, Japan and that dwindled population of loyal headbangers who somehow kept it all worthwhile!

Sadly, I can't follow up such sentiments with any proclamation that Anvil would soon return to relevance, or write that long-anticipated comeback album we all knew they had in them. Why, I myself had been waiting for such an album since 1988's Pound for Pound. For a decade they had toiled with the law of averages. Plenty of Power had plenty to prove, and yet it manifest as what must be one of the band's most joyless exercises in composition to its day. The gaudy, ugly cover art might bear some relevance to the title, but it's one of the worst in their discography, and the songs aren't much better. Anvil were attempting to tap into the 'issues' of these times, tackling internet addiction ("Computer Drone"), turn of the century Armageddon ("Ball of Fire"), or the plight of the middle class everyman ("Disgruntled") that they'd been on about since Strength of Steel in 1987, but then tempering the seriousness with "Pro Wrestling" or the sad pair of self affirmation tracks in "Groove Science" and the lame "Real Metal"...

Seriously, you don't need to justify your existence as a metal band with weak 'I don't give a fuck' lyrics aimed at critics and the non-metal audience, nor by listing off some of your past album titles in one of the verses. Or, rather, if you do this, the music had better be damn good enough to forget such pitiful prose. "Real Metal" is instead one of the most pathetic tracks on this album, a mix of uninspired demi-thrash rhythms upon which a half-decent lead is wasted. Compare and contrast this with listless numbers like "Ball of Fire" or "Plenty of Power" itself, mediocre riffing made even worse by the phoned in vocal patterns that show only a faint resemblance to any of that rugged charisma Steve Kudlow exhibited through the 80s works. He's not heavily relying on his Lemmy-like lower grit as much as he was on the previous pair of albums, but he's got very little to show for himself here, on an album that includes not even ONE good chorus, and a metric fuck ton of boring hard rock Skid Row boogie riffs in songs like "Beat the Law" or "The Creep".

Not every song here sucks entirely in the composition category, but almost any case of the guitar getting interesting is only due to its deviation from the norm. They once again try the tremolo proto death lines in "Pro Wrestling"; and "Computer Drone" incorporates some decent, leaden grooves through the oozing bass lines and slow, thrashing chops. But the majority of the tracks never reach any of the excitement levels that one would find on Forged in Fire or Pound for Pound in the 80s. The production is clean but lifeless, and strangely enough there's no silly sex song on the core album (not counting the bonus track "Dirty Dorothy"). As much as I'd been pining for Lips and company to kick that tradition, it's sad that it had to come amidst such an uninspired crop of songs that should have been left on the cutting room floor. Plenty of Power is not the worst album in the history of our species, nor even particularly terrible, but it's the first time I think I ever felt that the band sounded 'old', a strange descriptor to cross the lips of such a lover of old as I.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Anthology of Anvil (2000)

It had to happen sooner or later, and I'm surprised it took as long as it did, but at last, the very first official Anvil compilation arrived through Metal Blade, their former imprint through the later 80s. I mean, we all know just how much anticipation the band's audience had built up to hear songs that they already owned, right? Oh wait, no, because the only fans that would snap up such a release as this would be those interested in rarities, unheard live cuts and previously unreleased recordings that actually justify it's existence. Curiously enough, Anthology of Anvil provides none of these. What it does is grant the purchaser nearly 80 minutes of sloppy seconds, or rather, tracks that are best experienced in their native album environs.

Face it, this was nearly a decade before their documentary flick thrust them briefly into the spotlight they had only glimpsed at in the earlier 80s, and the Canadians were in no way a hot commodity. The diehard following was divided between a group of devoted old schoolers who already own the Anvil albums, and perhaps a small handful of newcomers who were ahead of the curve in that 80s heavy metal nostalgia which has since exploded. There was absolutely no reason to release a collection of redundancies like this one apart from scraping a few bucks. I'll give Metal Blade credit that they've managed to include cuts from each of the band's 9 studio full-lengths to its day, and even one selection from the live record. Perhaps some snappy licensing maneuvers were involved there, but in the end the result is the same: repackaged content with no clear incentive for a purchase.

Yeah, they include a lot of the band's best songs: "Metal on Metal", "Blood on the Ice", "School Love", "Forged in Fire (live)", "Mothra", "Winged Assassins" and "March of the Crabs" all deserve their slots on this roster. For the newer stuff, not so much. "Speed of Sound" and "Smokin' Green" I can see fitting here, but then there are a few others like "Bushpig" and "Doctor Kevorkian" that don't really belong (even if the latter had a video). You're looking at an average of about 2 tracks per album, so it might even come off as a decent sampler: if it were free or at some heavily discounted price (like a dollar). At the full price of a record? Fuck no. An absolute, el Gigante fuck no. With the advent of the internet, I'm sure you can stream just about every song on this disc somewhere...you even could in 2000. There's your sampler. For anyone who actually cares about this band, buy their albums on tour. Or some merch. Give them something of value to them, and get something in return. Track down the old 80s vinyls. I have a few of them, and they're sweet. Anthology of Anvil is just another coin-spinning emblem of commercial emptiness, a void to avoid.

Verdict: Epic Fail [0/10]

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Speed of Sound (1999)

Indifference and respect. Two words that, combined, defined my reaction and relationship to the 'mid period' of Canada's enduring metalsmiths Anvil. Loved that the band were continuing to craft their music with the same love and loyalty that they originated in their first decade of output, and loved that they were trampling on down the road and proudly shucking off whatever trends were flown into their faces, without ever seeming 'dated'. Just didn't love the actual songs they were writing. Speed of Sound is, unsurprisingly, a pretty direct extension of the sounds wrought from the two previous records, and yet, if set in the square circle against its Absolutely No Alternative, I believe this album would come out on top, forcing its predecessor to tap out in the third round.

That doesn't mean Speed of Sound is great, or even really good, but there are a few tunes here which even my jaded arse would have to admit to being catchy enough that I'd listen to them more often than anything from Absolutely... or Worth the Weight. The first is the title track, a chunky and pissed off track that represents their first return to the aerial theater since their classic "Winged Assassins". Granted, the "Speed of Sound" chorus is predictable, but I love the overt use of the wind and explosion samples, the solo sequences in the bridge and the way the guitars just dig into a moderate, mid-paced chugging power metal style. Robb Reiner lays the listener out flat, and even if there aren't any particular 'money riffs' it's a job well enough done that it breeds heightened anticipation for the rest of the rock. Another highlight was the cheesy but entertaining "No Evil" in which the band utilizes creepier riffs, atmospheric keys, bells and even some tremolo death metal riffing to exit their comfort zone for a 'haunted house' effect.

For the rest of the tracks, the label 'okay' would be the height of praise I could reward. You've got your signature sex anthems like the "Man Over Broad" (haw haw haw) and the "Mattress Mambo", but neither is much good musically apart from the clever use of the guitar in the outro of the latter to simulate the some creaking cot of coital ecstasy. Anvil continues to reel in the topical material with the child violence anthem "Blood in the Playground" and "Deadbeat Dad", but again, these are quite average arrangements of grooving power/thrash. Then there are a few here which are flat out dumb, like "Bullshit", "Secret Agent" and the domestic terrorist themed "Park That Truck", all of which might have about one and a half decent guitar riffs between them. Speed of Sound is mildly dirtier than it's predecessor, with a sodden, churning guitar tone. Lips is still centered on his lower range vocals circa Lemmy Kilminster, but he exhibits a wider range throughout the album, with a few glorious howls channeled straight from the 80s. Otherwise, this is admittedly interchangeable with either Absolutely No Alternative or Plugged in Permanent: competent, marginally entertaining, but never the band at its best.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Absolutely No Alternative (1997)

Absolutely No Alternative is just another of those 90s era Anvil records which, while doing nothing particularly wrong, failed to further the band's influence and audience. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate the band's overt, titular stance on the dregs of that decade which crippled metal music to begin with, but there is ultimately so little to distinguish this effort from its neighbors, nor does a single song from its selection belong on a career highlight reel. At the very least, this proved a cement lining for the Canadians' relationship with Massacre Records, which began with its predecessor and endured 'til Back to Basics in 2004. It was good for Anvil to have a home, but I'm not sure they ever capitalized on that security.

This was more or less Plugged in Permanent part II, the only differences being that the band dialed down the energy and enthusiasm a small fraction, and Lips stuck almost exclusively to his lower vocal range, leaving the impression that Anvil were going for a Canadian Motörhead vibe with a more complex (but less bad ass) palette for guitar composition. A handful of tracks here are engaging and fun musically, namely the chunk in the middle of the playlist that includes "Hair Pie" and "Rubber Neck", but nothing really leaves a lasting impact. There are a great deal of strutting, grooving guitars performed at fairly explosive speeds, with an enormous influence from the boogie of 70s hard rock and its evolution into the NWOBHM sound, but you'll also hear a consistent undercurrent of primal, thrashing patterns that the band had always manifested, even in their formative early 80s material. That said, so few of them are arranged into unique or memorable patterns that when something DOES, like the bright, atonal chords woven into the song "Green Jesus", they really make me pine for an Anvil that would stretch itself further...

Not all THAT much further, but whenever this band waxes creatively, it shines through their tendency towards drab, light-hearted predictability. I also found the lyrics throughout the album to be a strange, subdued contradiction. It's not that the Canadians haven't always flaunted their silly sex themes alongside the more serious contemporary issues, but it just seems so bizarre to have social themes like "Hero by Death" and "Black or White" pressed up against more lovingly exploitative titles like "Show Me Your Tits" or "Red Light". I mean, I like breasts and vaginas as much as the next guy, if not more, and Kudlow and the gang are obviously not attempting to flaunt misogyny, but I guess I just never noticed how much of a contrast it creates within the space of an album. That aside, this is stock Anvil for the period. Great drums, goofy lyrics, competent leads, decent bass lines, a handful of riffs that will whip the listener into a headbanging frenzy: all too easily forgotten within an hour or so of the experience.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Plugged in Permanent (1996)

As much as I've enjoyed Anvil in the past, and as much as I always want to sympathize with their plight after seeing their documentary, I don't think it should surprise anyone why they had to endure such a sagging relevance for so long a time. The Canadians just weren't writing the flagship, crowd pleasing cuts that they were once known for, and throughout the 90s they failed to produce a single album that I could compare favorably to a Metal on Metal, Forged in Fire or Pound for Pound. 1992's Worth the Weight was a real lull, with an almost emotionless emphasis on technicality (drums and guitar) over quality. An interesting shift in priority, but thankfully for its follow up they'd return to a more entertaining aesthetic.

Plugged in Permanent does not mend all the fences, and it's not a major improvement in terms of enduring anthems or strong composition, but it's at least far more lively and vibrant than its predecessor. Sebastian Marino had flown south to join Overkill, so they brought on a newer 'permanent' replacement in Ivan Hurd. Worth the Weight was also the swan song for long term four-stringer Ian Dickson, so they acquired Glenn Five, who has since proven an icon for the band, not only for his shaved head and braid flinging around at live sets, but also his more ample use of his instrument, plunking along adventurously below the bludgeoning dual current of the guitars with far more of a natural, quirky curiosity than his forebear in the position.

In a sense, Plugged in Permanent was the birth of the 'second classic lineup' for Anvil, one that many who experienced them on the various small tours and festival dates they performed in the later 90s on into the 21st century would recognize, before their recent resurgence. There's still quite a lot of musical intensity here, though instead of the intricacy of the guitar-chitecture it's delivered here more through sheer speed. Unlike a lot of their 80s output, you don't hear much slow material. "Guilty" is a dull bone cruncher bringing up the rear, and "Destined for Doom" lives up to its namesake, but otherwise the songs here are played fast and frenzied, which keeps Plugged in Permanent far more exciting than it is interesting. Cuts like "Racial Hostility", "Face Pull", "Truth or Consequence" and "Five Knuckle Shuffle" hurry along with something to prove, but none of these really deliver the money shot riffs or chorus you'd hope for. Okay, "Five Knuckle Shuffle" might deliver a 'money shot', but of a different sort...

A few of these tracks were minor hits for the band, or at least made it into the circulation of their live set: "Doctor Kevorkian", which they filmed a video for, and "Smokin' Green". The former is not all that great of a song despite its choppy attitude, but the latter, despite being a pedestrian marijuana hymn lyrically, is actually one of the strongest of their 90s tunes. Killer leads abound, and it's effectually the apex of the vibrant waves of energy that thread through the 46 minutes of material. I feel like, next to this, most of the others are lacking that something 'extra', but I'd still take them selection over almost anything on Worth the Weight.

The lyrics here are not a strong point, with a lot of nap inductive PC ranting in "Destined for Doom" and "Racial Hostility", but I admit that I really like how Lips uses a lower, more gravelly vocal tone throughout a lot of tunes like "Face Pull", "I'm Trying to Sleep", as if he's channeling a bit of his pal Lemmy Kilminster. If only the songs had been a little more memorable overall, I might cite this as a true return to form, but despite the appreciable enthusiasm of the writing, it has never left much of an impact crater on my mind. A step back in the right direction, sure, but I think Anvil needed a leap.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Worth the Weight (1992)

The Anvil of the 90s turned out to be considerably less appealing than that of the 80s, not for any lack of trying but for a lack of those same, memorable results that numbered their formative output among the best heavy metal exports of Canada. Part of this was due to the decreasing popularity of the style they played, and a larger part was their misfortune at being tossed around between labels, shifting management and band members. Full-length releases were scarce, at least in the former half of the decade, and what we were given was hardly anything to write home about. That Worth the Weight was the band's most thrash oriented album is no coincidence, as the band had brought aboard Sebastian Marino to replace Dave Allison, a man many might know better for his later move to the East Coast staples Overkill.

So what we have here is what must be the most technically inclined and frenetic of all the Anvil recordings, with the implementation of tremolo riffing (as in "Embalmer") and a copious load of frantic lead sequences which feel incredibly structured compared to the previous record Pound for Pound. From a proficiency perspective, Kudlow and Marino really shine here, and there's no shortage of innovation to their playing, at least compared to prior Anvil records, but this factor is betrayed by the dearth of quality sing-a-long songs. The war drums and harmonics which lead into "Pow Wow", the shrill vocals used in the chorus of "Sins of the Flesh", the straight muted thrashing rhythms (and sexual double entendre) of "Bushpig" and the groove and drive of "Infanticide" all seem like a fresh canvas for the Canadians to paint upon, though stylistically they don't deviate a lot from the formulas on prior albums. Unfortunately, none of the songs really have an impact. The drier, spiffier guitar tone fits the new paradigm of the writing, but it feels nowhere near as heavy as its predecessor, and even though the note sequences can seem intricate and explosive, they're rarely if ever memorable.

Even worse, the vocals are rather limp throughout. There are these points at which Lips emits these puerile screams on tunes like "Infanticide" and "Embalmer" where I felt myself cringing, and yet by far the low point of their career to its day was the balladry of the opening sequence to "Love Me When I'm Dead": "Sadness", in which the vocals meander all over the spectrum, the only ligament to bind them the awkward means by which they panhandle the depressing lyrics. Anvil had spared us such atrocities in the past, but clearly Worth the Weight was not the place to start in on this tripe. There are some positives to the album, like the sheer ability wrought through the guitars, and the fact that they didn't become an all-out, Pantera worshiping tough guy groove metal band like so many other speed, power and thrash metal acts from N. America in the 90s, but after the climactic and immensely fun Pound for Pound this record felt rather lifeless, dry and uninspired. In short: it wasn't worth the wait.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Past and Present: Live in Concert (1989)

Eight years and five studio full-lengths into a career seems a very reasonable point at which to release a live record, and so for their final Metal Blade outing we were treated to Past and Present: Live in Concert, recorded in San Pedro, California. Having seen the band a number of times at fests and other gigs in the states, and I can say that they do put on a pretty fun show, Lips the proverbial heavy metal front man with a riotous presence. However, I cannot attest to having ever heard them sound THIS good in such a setting, so credit should be given to the band, the producers and the man at the sound board for delivering such comprehensive clarity. In fact, the album might seem a little TOO clean, in that the set selections so eloquently capture their studio atmosphere.

But basically, anyone who loves the collective 80s Anvil output is bound to enjoy this mix of favorites. Personal highlights from their career like "Blood on the Ice", "Forged in Fire" and "Metal on Metal" each sound fabulous. Material from Hard 'n' Heavy is nowhere to be found here, but that's never been their most popular, so if there were to be an omission that album makes sense. Metal on Metal is well represented with the title track, "Mothra", "March of the Crabs", "Jackhammer", and "666"; while Forged in Fire is covered through its own title track, "Motormount" and "Winged Assassins". Only one track makes it from Strength of Steel ("Concrete Jungle", a wise choice) and then "Toe Jam" joins "Blood on the Ice" from Pound for Pound, which was their latest at the time. The final three tracks on the album are each medlies of two songs ("March of the Crabs/Jackhammer", "Metal on Metal/Winged Assassins" and "666/Mothra"), which I found a bit unusual, since splitting these would have made the CD at least flow better...it'd be nice to visit the latter halves of these without fast forwarding.

I might have liked another track or two from Pound for Pound in the set, but what the band has included here all sounds excellent, with a clean and punchy guitar tone, solid bass plugging courtesy of Ian Dickson and vocals that feel quite authentic to their former, studio incarnations. Granted, you won't get a lot of the added howls and layered screams from the records, but in a way this more stripped approximation of the material delivers just as authentic experience even if Anvil seems mildly less 'wild' throughout. The mix is superb: while I would normally think that Reiner's drums might steal the thunder, they're kept appropriately balanced so that the melodies and minor vocal nuances shine through. Crowd participation is present, but never overwhelming, you'll hear this most in between the paired up tracks. In all, Past and Present is a rock solid representation of the band's material, perhaps not set up in the most explosive set list progression in this track order, but as smooth and clean as other quality live albums from the 80s like Live Without Sense, Live After Death and so forth. Further proof that the Canadians were a 'total package' deserving much more attention than they received in this time.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Pound for Pound (1988)

Strength of Steel might have churned Anvil to a halt as far as the band's linear progression in the 80s, but that doesn't mean that their later efforts were entirely void of individual distinctions. Take its 1988 successor, Pound for Pound for example, which draws upon all the ire and wrath that the Canadians previously hinted towards, and then dials it all up to 11. This is easily my favorite of their catalog to its day. To this day. A darker, volatile and dynamic effort which does not ignore the proto-thrash leanings the band exhibited through the early 80s output, and riff for riff their strongest in terms of branding itself to the memory. What bluesy hard rock influence remains here is delegated to a pair of brooding, doom laden crushers, and even the frivolous and silly sex songs are delivered with speed, passion and menace.

It helps that Pound for Pound also features my favorite Anvil track, and perhaps the greatest tribute to the sport of hockey in all of metal music. "Blood on the Ice" is a monster of hammering speed/thrash rhythms, eerie tapping melodies and dire, violent lyrics which celebrate the game's more entertaining, gladiatorial components. You'll note that Lips' vocals are honed in on a lower, grimier range which is the case for almost every song on the album, and I rather like the tactic as it helped gradate the band towards the more hostile climate of aggression that was popular in this period, without abandoning the manly, muscular heavy metal roots akin to Manowar. But the composition itself was just brutal for this band, every guitar lick incredibly well incorporated into this structure of blades, sticks and fisticuffs. I hail from the admittedly hockey saturated New England populace, and just 30-60 seconds of this track is all it takes me to wax nostalgically for the bleacher-based vertical mosh pits (complete with crowd surfing) that the restless jocks at my high school used to conduct much to the dismay of the rest of the town...

But then, just about every song on this album with the exception of the useless 14 second outro snippet "Cramps" is worthwhile. There are slower, thundering heavy/doom pieces like "Senile King" and "Corporate Preacher" that are bursting with screaming leads, arching rock grooves and some of Kudlow's tightest, glorious howling yet. Frenzied, memorable speed metal surges with Lips' tense screaming like "Brain Burn" and it's simply but gluey chorus, or "Machine Gun" which is one of the heaviest beatings this lot has ever meted out. It wouldn't be an Anvil record without a few smut anthems, and the orgiastic square dance of "Toe Jam" and condom praising "Safe Sex" fill that soggy purse here; yet both are fast, driving, and loaded with a fuck ton of riffs and lovable, noodling excess that make them seem almost too serious for their lyrics.

Another personal favorite here, second only to "Blood on the Ice" would be "Fire in the Night" a slower paced cut which I'd gladly place on the level of past transgressions like "Metal on Metal" and "Forged in Fire", though this is busier and far more pissed off, Lips often sounding like the great Savatage frontman Jon Oliva at his most furious. "Where Does All the Money Go?" might be my least favorite of the full-length cuts on this disc, with a lot of the 70s rocking swagger that populated their earlier work, but it's not at all bad and the guitars are a bit more complex than something like KISS (if not as catchy). And even here, Robb Reiner is bludgeoning along with enough force that he could likely cave in a human skull with a snare roll. No wonder the guy was probably sought out by a number of higher profile acts at the time, a real human steamroller who gives a lot more than any perceived, percussion indulgence might take away.

The leads should also get a mention: they're wild, dirty and not enormously catchy, but they add this sporadic layer to the pummeling rhythmic substrate which comes across like a molten steel bukkake jerking session. This was Dave Allison's last studio album with the band, and he makes it count as he and Kudlow exchange their shrill, shrieking fretted diatribes. I've heard some gripes about the production of Pound for Pound, and to be truthful I can hear how it might not be so smooth as Strength of Steel or Forged in Fire, yet I admire the tension it creates, the pools of shadow hiding beneath the darker note progressions and the faltering, stormy heights of the higher pitched screams where they appear. This is one hell of an album. Bad ass defined. Period. If 1988 hadn't been so overly choked with higher visibility records the likes of ...And Justice for All, Operation Mindcrime, So Far, So Good So What and Seventh Son for a Seventh Son, or an undercurrent of both US and European brilliance in the thrash genre, an effort like Pound for Pound might have gotten the attention it rightly deserved. But it's never too late, and if there's a single Anvil experience I could recommend over any other (excluding the documentary), this would be the one.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (pile up, punch out in the end zone!)

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Strength of Steel (1987)

Strength of Steel is about the point at which I realized Anvil were not likely to progress much further. I don't say that like it was the end of the line for the Canadians, we all know otherwise, but the fact remains, that, directly in the middle of the 80s, when metal bands were exploding all around them, they spent four years to come up with an album that sounds more or less like a direct continuation of Forged in Fire speaks volumes as to their potential when records like Master of Puppets, Reign in Blood, Peace Sells... and The Dark were reaping whirlwinds of attention, and the genre as a whole had burst into the mainstream alongside the more fickle, empty headed glam and hard rock that served as its gateway drug.

Primarily, thrash had arrived in full force and stolen some of the limelight away from the bands that were sticking more to that heavy/speed or more traditional sound, and I think Anvil was absolutely a band to suffer from this shift in paradigms, along with countrymen Exciter. But where that band was still playing in a very fast, breakneck speed for their niche, Anvil stayed focused in on the slower brand of heavy metal that made their songs like "Metal on Metal" and "Forged in Fire" cult hits. Strength of Steel is quite a slow to mid paced record overall, and this time that fact does not always work out in their favor. In particular, the opener "Strength of Steel", while it exhibits some decent melodic singing from Steve Kudlow, and a few of the other cuts like "9-2-5" just don't pull their weight. The former is more like an intro to the record, but the constant repetition of the title seems a little uninspired and obvious, while the latter is just too repetitive, though once again, I like how Lips is stretching his pipes.

Then again, there are a few pieces here which use such measured momentum fully to their advantage. "Concrete Jungle" is a heavily atmospheric song, even more so than "Forged in Fire", and the use of the guitars as ambiance was quite impressive and unique for the period, when most bands were focused on hard hitting riff after riff. This track is also symbolic of the highly urban, middle class lyrical observations that dominate this disc, and I'm sure it's now slang use of the good old 'n' world turns heads even to this day, though the context in which it's used does make sense for the song and was doubtfully meant to offend. I also quite enjoy "I Dreamed It Was the End of the World", which has a great deal of swagger to it, and features my favorite guitar licks and chorus here, but doesn't exactly pick up into faster territory.

Of the rest, I found a sort of mix of those I enjoyed, still enjoy and then others which I couldn't care about or remember if you trained me to with some electric shock treatment. The closer "Paper General" is pretty good, with brazen melodies similar to what Running Wild were writing in the latter half of the 80s, and "Cut Loose" and "Straight Between the Eyes" are reasonably entertaining, though the lyrics are mediocre at best and I don't like the vocals on the latter (the harmony reminds me of tripe like Bret Michaels), which involved Dave Allison. The instrumental "Flight of the Bumble Beast" has some decent leads and guitar progressions, but I almost wish they'd lengthened it and added some vocals. On the other hand, "Mad Dog" is a track I particularly revile, one of those generically plotted blues/hard rock hound dog pieces which sounds like it was added more as a joke than anything. I'm also not fond of "Wild Eyes", which feels a little like "Forged in Fire" in the verse, with those lurching guitars and counter chords; though in truth it's a cover of Canadian rockers The Stampeders and the vocals aren't much alike.

I will say that Robb's drumming here continued to improve, with a lot of double bass and dynamic tension that honestly manages so steal the thunder away from the guitars and bass. Lips has also really settled into his range, and this was perhaps his most concrete, if not the most memorable performance to its day. Dave Allison doesn't do lead vocals here at all, but perhaps that was for the best. Production wise, it's slick and clean like Forged in Fire but there is still some depth to the guitar, and certainly the drumming. Considering that it arrived after an uneventful quartet of years (unless you count Backwaxed), and that it was the band's debut for Metal Blade, I had hoped for much more, but while it actually managed to chart on Billboard here in the states, it felt like a clear halt to the momentum they showed in the early 80s. There are good songs here (still), and it's a 'good album', but not the blockbuster they needed.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (in the land of the predator)

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Backwaxed (1985)

So "Butter-Bust Jerky" examined the joys of splashing your man-wax on a lover's bouncing assets, and now we've got a compilation named for a title track in which Anvil entreats us on the joys of a similar emission along the contours of her backside... perfectly acceptable to all us perverts in the audience, but it makes me wonder if part of the band's plight in not reaching the level of their North American peers in the mid 80s might have had something to do with such colorful lyrical exploitations? Probably not, but I doubt it helped. After all, "Bang Your Head" wasn't about THAT head, and "We're Not Gonna Take It" was not, at least in my estimation, a hard rocking anthem for premarital abstinence.

Backwaxed arrived at a period in which Anvil were somewhat inactive in terms of their studio output. Having rocked out three albums in three consecutive years (1981-83), the band was busy gigging, dealing with personal shit and inevitably, seeking out a larger label deal (this was the last release through Attic records). So until 1987, in which Metal Blade and the band would collaborate for Strength of Steel, this was all we were getting, and it's a mix of redundant tracks from the prior full-lengths and studio outtakes that were recorded during the sessions for both Metal on Metal and Forged in Fire. Sadly, these are hardly hidden gems, but frivolous pieces of fluff which I would also have left off the full-lengths due to their relative ineptitude.

Four of the five rare cuts were unreleased, except "Steamin'" which had appeared on the band's rare s/t EP in 1982. I'd never gotten hold of that, so it was cool to finally hear it...until I actually heard it, and it's basically your typical throwback hard rock sex track similar to what they had written on previous albums, but the lyrics suck and the music is not much better despite the bluesy burn of the lead. Two others ("You're a Liar" and "Fryin' Cryin'") also suffer the same fate, with useless and uninteresting riffs and a pretty piss poor performance of Dave Allison's vocals on the former. Then there's the instrumental "Pussy Poison" which is faster paced Priest style speed metal with some crazy flange on the opening riffs, and "Backwaxed" itself, which is a pretty loud and proud means of celebrating the 'pulling out' method of doggy style birth control, and ironically far more memorable than any of these other obscurities...

As for the rest, they basically decided to fill out 37 minutes of play time with five selections from the earlier albums. Some strong songs here, like "School Love" off Hard 'n' Heavy and "Metal on Metal" from the sophomore of the same name, rounded out by "Jackhammer", "Scenery" and of course the "Backwaxed" companion piece "Butter-Bust Jerky". But I can't help but feel this was both a retarded and redundant choice. Why not huck a short live set on the album instead? Or some demo reels? Fuck, give us SOMETHING we do not already own. The ways these are just tacked onto the end feels pretty lazy and heavily cripples the compilation's value as a whole.

Ultimately, the only tunes here that are not a waste of time are "Backwaxed" and "Pussy Poison", but neither is worth paying whatever outrageous amount it might require to get one's hands upon this release, and really, even they are not at the level of most of the fare on the first five albums. That said, these songs are not available elsewhere. Even the later, comprehensive anthologies don't sport them, so if you're an absolute die hard or manic collector, it might be worth having for completion's sake. Otherwise, listen to "Backwaxed" on Youtube or something, laugh at the funny lyrics and move along.

Verdict: Fail [3.5/10] (I've got a method that ain't thought of yet)

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Forged in Fire (1983)

It's often the case that a band seeing a brief and sudden splash of success will attempt to closely emulate that success, if not note for note than at the very least aesthetically. Metal on Metal was likely not a commercial breakthrough on anyone's scale, but clearly that leading single was far more resonant than anything off the debut album, so it makes sense that Anvil would follow it up with a similar lead-in title track on Forged in Fire. Not that these have been the only two tracks in this style by the Canadian old timers, and not that "Forged..." is in any way a direct knockoff of its spiritual precursor, but it's difficult not to come away with a sense of deja-vu for the first five minutes of this third album.

Fortunate then, that "Forged in Fire" is one of the clear highlights of this disc. Set at a dangerous, slow groove, it lurches along at a spidery pace while Lips performs a treatise on metallurgy, the duality of which would not escape even the most addle brained headbangers. The vocals trade off on the signature sneers and howls, while the thud of the bass sets the momentum. I rather liked the glistening strings of melodic feedback throughout the bridge, which set at atmosphere even greater than that of "Metal on Metal", but probably the most interesting element is the counter point of the guitars in the verse. It's also an introduction to a 'cleaner' Anvil, at least in the tone of the guitars and tidiness of the drumming. Clearly more polished than the sophomore effort, with a dearth of rawness in the chords, but that said the music is stylistically quite similar to Metal on Metal and the heavier cuts found on Hard 'n' Heavy, 'pound for pound' their most muscular effort to date, if you'll forgive the foreshadowing.

That's not only due to the pace of many of the tracks here, but also the drumming. Once again, we're faced with a performance that might audibly come off as less menacing than the prior LP, but in terms of technicality Robb Reiner seems somewhat more energetic and advanced, as if he's slowly evolving along with the riffs. Outside of the title track, favorites here include "Free as the Wind", a nice atmospheric speed metal piece which served as a peculiar presage to the late 80s stint of Germans Running Wild, even funnier as the first lyrics in the song are, in fact, 'running wild'. "Make It Up to You" has a bit more of a commercial appeal, sort of like Heart meets REO Speedwagon, but while the lyrics are shitty, the music is incredibly catchy. And then, of course, you've got the closer "Winged Assassins" which serves as the ultimate Anvil tribute to aerial combat, pretty fast for the band at this time and incorporating some of Lips' better vocals on the album.

There are a number of tunes ("Shadow Zone", "Hard Times Fast Ladies") in which he utilizes a shrill, shrieking tone that almost devolves into parody, but thankfully the music is great; and others where he uses the same style of screaming more effectively ("Motormount"). We've also got what must be the best of the Dave Allison fronted tracks here in "Never Deceive Me". It still feels heavily influenced by that 70s rock that the Canadians have a hard time shaking out of their set, and far from perfect, but good enough that fans of KISS, Boston and so forth might dig it. And then, of course there's the mandatory ridiculous sex song, which is even more laughable and absurd here in that it's distinctly about ejaculating on your female partner's chest and having her rub the results onto her preferably large mammaries. This is, of course, the "Butter-Bust Jerky", and yet I know that even reading that has the potential to scar you for life. I apologize, since Anvil is not likely to.

Overall, various gripes and coital eccentricities aside, the album is quite consistent in quality and I believe it's nearly a match for Metal on Metal. Song for song, there's a lot of excitement, some tearing leads, and a laudable atmosphere which prove that Anvil were continuing to evolve as songwriters. The best was still yet to come, but they were well on their way, and Forged in Fire has a timelessness about it that is hard to ignore (much like the debut).

Verdict: Win [8/10] (made for pounding a massive weight)

http://www.anvilmetal.com/

Anvil - Metal on Metal (1982)

Anvil might have had a pretty good start with Hard 'n' Heavy, but it was the sophomore Metal on Metal that would usher in a new wave of attention towards the Canadians and very nearly hand them a hall pass to the level of notoriety bursting like fireworks around a select handful of other North American metal luminaries in the same era. Yeah, we all know how it turned out in the end, but no one can deny that this time, the band came strapped with more than just the good intentions and raw testosterone of their heavily hard rock influenced debut. This time they brought a 100% genuine anthem with them that would remain their best known song for all the decades to come. In fact, there are people out there who likely know Anvil ONLY for the track "Metal on Metal", as if the rest of their storied saga could be swept under the rug.

And it wouldn't be hard to plead their case, because this is one of those timeless monsters that simply won't escape your memory once it's pounded itself in there. Personally I loved the clever use of their namesake in this and other album/title track selections, but beyond that you've got this unique, dark and swaggering brute which features the appropriate metal clanging gimmick that you'd expect from the title. Immediately we're introduced to a darker, heavier Anvil with far more muscular guitar tone, and Steve 'Lips' Kudlow, while still utilizing the same range as the first album, seems as if his balls have dropped, or he smoked a few packs before churning this out in the studio. Huskier, manlier, and bolder, the near growls in the bridge stand out as a welcome warning that you are about to get your skull caved in by the weight of it all. Doesn't hurt that the lead burns like molten steel, the backing shouts are well developed and the damned central guitar riff is one of those so simple and effective that many other bands were probably slapping themselves in the forehead that they didn't come up with it.

But that's not the only great track here, and a number of its neighbors possess a rather startling depth that I don't remember experiencing on much of the debut. The year before, the Canadians had written the first good metallic tribute to a Stones' tune I'd yet heard, and here they unleash the first to a Toho monster in "Mothra", and a good one. Solid, mid-paced Judas Priest riffing helps spin the saga of the fictional Japanese beast while spurious leads help glide it into a finely structured chorus and a killer breakdown riff which yet again seems like a precursor to thrash. Lips is all fucking over this song, and the robotized vocals at the finale are another nice touch. Another legendary Anvil cut is the instrumental "March of the Crabs", also pretty effective as it allows Reiner's pummeling abilities to rise to the fore behind the rise and fall of the melodies, and fuck, the very EXISTENCE of this piece on the album just goes to show that these guys were getting serious...

Alas, not all of the writing here lives up to this same, impressive standard. We've got another Dave Allison fronted track called "Stop Me" which by this point feels like another band entirely, and a girl anthem called "Scenery" in which one of the riffs is a bit close to "Crazy Train" for my comfort (though the song is not entirely without merit). Others, like "Tag Team" in which Lips channels a bit of Gene Simmons' rugged vocal appeal is not all that special, or the driving if bland "Tease Me, Please Me" and "Jackhammer" just can't compare to a song like "Metal on Metal", and perhaps that's the reason the album wouldn't have the staying power the band needed to ride their momentum to the top. Don't get me wrong, there are a few other delicious tunes here like "Heat Sink" and "666" to strengthen the back end of the record, but it doesn't have that pure track by track appeal that contributed to the success of an album like Kill 'Em All or Number of the Beast.

Metal on Metal deserves a lot of credit, though, for the clear evolutionary path it represented for its progenitors. Louder, brasher, and far happier, the woodshed studio tones of the debut were dropped here in favor of a more industrial strength workspace, and this is felt in the thunder of the guitars and the raw weight of the guitar tone. Even the bass of Ian Dickson sounds more metal on this effort, thunking away with abandon even when he hasn't got an interesting line to engage. This transformed Anvil from a rather average sounding, fun hard rock/metal entity into something to be respected and perhaps even feared, as the celebrity roundup on their documentary film will attest.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10] (to hell with tomorrow)

http://www.anvilmetal.com/