Now down to a trio (along with bassist Glenn Five), Anvil hooked up with long-time fan and erstwhile British heavyweight producer Chris Tsangarides, to produce their latest (and thirteenth) album up to this point.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Anvil
ALBUM: This Is Thirteen
LABEL: Self Released
YEAR: 2007
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada
LINEUP: Steve ‘Lips’ Kudrow – vocals, guitars * Robb Reiner – drums, percussion * Glenn Five – bass
TRACK LISTING: 01 This Is Thirteen * 02 Bombs Away * 03 Burning Bridges * 04 Ready To Fight * 05 Flying Blind * 06 Room 9 * 07 Axe To Grind * 08 Feed The Greed * 09 Big Business * 10 Shoulda Woulda Coulda * 11 Worry * 12 Game Over * 13 American Refugee * 14 Thumb Hang (bonus)
RATING: 80/100
WEBLINKS: Wikipedia Page
Background
For any of you that have seen ‘Anvil: The Movie’, then you will be well familiar with this album, and the hardships endured by the band over the years. An endearing movie, it’s one of my favourites in the rock music/biopic category, and follows the career of the band’s two leading lights Steve ‘Lips’ Kudrow and Robb Reiner.
Having released a heap of albums since their classic 1981 debut ‘Hard ‘N Heavy’, Anvil have been privy to the highs of the rock n roll scene, plus more often than not – the all too numerous lows as well.
The 21st century has witnessed the survival of Anvil as a HM identity, with pockets of fans scattered throughout the world, most notably in Europe and Japan, where the band continue to tour successfully.
Now down to a trio (along with bassist Glenn Five), Anvil hooked up with long-time fan and erstwhile British heavyweight producer Chris Tsangarides, to produce their latest (and thirteenth) album up to this point: ‘This Is Thirteen’.
The Songs
Interesting start to the album. The title track ‘This Is Thirteen’ kicks off in doom metal fashion. Black Sabbath eat your heart out. At 6 and a half minutes, it’s also the longest track on the CD.
Track two sees Anvil back in the groove with the blistering ‘Bombs Away’. I’m not too convinced with the lyrics though, they are sung as if being read from a book. Back to a slow hard edged groove is ‘Burning Bridges’, grinding out some powerful metal with Lips growling and snarling his way out of the microphone.
Reiner picks up the pace on ‘Ready to Fight’, a drummers workout with double bass drums working overtime, while Lips revisits some familiar riffs from earlier material (‘Ooh Baby’ anyone?). Any fans of the long gone NWOBHM will love ‘Flying Blind’, this song has attributes that can be found on many of the bands originating from that era.
‘Room 9’ will appeal to those who loved German band Accept during the early part of their career. It has a very Euro metal feel to it, and powers along relentlessly. ‘Axe To The Grind’ is typical 80’s styled metal stomp in the vein of early Metallica, while the first change-up comes with ‘Feed The Greed’, a fast-paced dare-I-say-it commercial hard rocker.
Both this and the next track ‘Big Business’ are an obvious swipe at the world of business and the shallow nature of individuals within it. Getting back to the music, Anvil sail away on a blaze of Motorhead like intensity with ‘Shoulda Woulda Coulda’. Lemmy are you listening?
Changing the game yet again, ‘Worry’ takes us back to the debut album era in terms of style and sound. Letting go of the brakes is easy for these guys, ‘Game Over’ chugs away with guitars on red alert and drums in seek & destroy mode.
‘American Refugee’ sends a message to a part of the American population to say that it’s not all as rosy as it would seem. The closing bonus track ‘Thumb Hang’ is another doom metal laden effort, and was mentioned on the Anvil movie too if I recall.
In Summary
Thirteen tracks in all (somehow I think we already knew that), plus just on an hours playing time. As a result of the movie’s success and the PR it generated, the band have now built up a following that should see their continuance well into the future.
Already in 2010, Anvil have toured Japan, and were recently over in Europe for the summer tour fest, including a performance at Wacken, and out on the road with UK ladies Girlschool as support, whilst also supporting the re-energized Ratt on their European engagements.
Hopefully soon, Lips, Robb and G5 will be able to grace us with a new album very soon to capitalise on their new found popularity.
Anvil on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
