Canadians Anvil were bigger than Ben Hur back in the 1981-1982 era. Coming to the fore with their mighty ‘Hard N Heavy’ set in 1981, the quartet kicked into overdrive the following year with this molten set.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Anvil
ALBUM: Metal On Metal
LABEL: Attic
SERIAL: LAT 1130
YEAR: 1982
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada
LINEUP: Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow – vocals, guitar * Dave Allison – guitar, lead vocals on ‘Stop Me’ * Ian Dickson – bass * Robb Reiner – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Metal On Metal * 02 Mothra * 03 Stop Me * 04 March Of The Crabs * 05 Jackhammer * 06 Heatsink * 07 Tag Team * 08 Scenery * 09 Tease Me, Please Me * 10 666
WEBLINKS: Wikipedia Page
Background
Canadians Anvil were bigger than Ben Hur back in the 1981-1982 era. Coming to the fore with their mighty ‘Hard N Heavy’ set in 1981, the quartet (as they were back then) were causing waves in the rock press, due to their image, lyrics, stage props and general demeanour.
L.A metallers W.A.S.P. would go one better when they hit the public headlines two years later. No wonder Tipper Gore became breathless during her time with the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center!), but Anvil probably predated her scorn by a few years. Lucky for them!
Produced by Chris Tsangarides (who would also play a prominent part in the current-day resurrection), the album became a better representation of gonzoid metal. More so than the founding father of the sub-genre: Ted Nugent during the early 80’s.
Regular readers of Sounds Magazine may remember the full two page article on the band when Metal On Metal came out. Somehow I wish I still had my old magazines with me, long since lost.
The Songs
Anvil get stuck in from the outset, the title track giving the periodic table a complete makeover of the heaviest proportions. The band toy with the Japanese cinematic monster ‘Mothra’, and flip into a metal monster of their own. It’s one of the band’s defining classics for mine.
Anvil ease up for ‘Stop Me’, the band taking a breath before landing ‘March Of The Crabs’, which stalks you across low tide. It’s an instrumental with a hint of U.F.O‘s ‘Doctor Doctor’ in the rhythm guitar department.
Robb Reiner sets the metronome a flurry on ‘Jackhammer’. This borders on Judas Priest styled metal from the ‘Killing Machine’ era. ‘Heatsink’ is one of my fave tunes here, the chorus similar to the earlier ‘Mothra’. It’s very bullet-proof by design!
‘Tag Team’ takes on a regimented rhythm, and crunches with chewy thickness. I’m pretty certain they are not singing about WWF wrestling!The pace picks up nicely for the excellent ‘Tease Me Please Me’. This one sounds like an after-thought from ‘Hard N Heavy’, so all good there.
What 1982 wouldn’t be complete without some demonic influence? If Iron Maiden and Venom went all out in the devils backyard with their ‘Number Of The Beast’ and ‘Black Metal’ LP’, then Anvil do their damnedest with their closing track ‘666’, which is their attempt at early thrash metal. This veers more toward the Metallica side of the stage than anything else. It’s pretty good for its time.
In Summary
Anvil toured extensively in 1982, including gigs with Iron Maiden, and making an appearance later in August 1982 for the Castle Donington ‘Monsters Of Rock’ show over in England.
I did buy this vinyl platter back in the day, but for me 1982 was entirely absorbed by AOR contenders Night Ranger, Aldo Nova and Wrabit.
Metal took a bit of a back-seat unfortunately. Listening to this, I’m thinking the production sounds a bit dry, and could’ve used a bit more dynamics in the mix. But that’s just me I guess. However, I’m glad I came back to Anvil’s early material, as there is a lot to rediscover, including a batch of songs on this album.
Anvil on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
