Silent Rage’s forte is in that hard rockin’ early 80’s melodic metal a la Y&T and Lion, with guitarists Mark Hawkins and Jesse Damon absolutely smokin’ with the best of them.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Silent Rage
ALBUM: Don’t Touch Me There
LABEL: Simmons
SERIAL: 9703-2-R
YEAR: 1989
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Jesse Damon – vocals; guitars * Mark Hawkins – guitars, vocals * E.J Curse – bass * Brian James – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Runnin’ On Love * 02 I Wanna Feel It Again * 03 Tonight Your Mine * 04 Rebel With A Cause * 05 Touch Me * 06 Tear Up The Night * 07 Shake Me Up * 08 Don’t Touch Me There * 09 Can’t Get Her Out Of My Head * 10 All Night Long * 11 I’m On Fire
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
One of the finest albums to come out of L.A circa 1989 emerged from the South Bay band Silent Rage. And to think there was next to zero publicity for this album upon it’s release. Criminal!
Silent Rage teamed up with the legendary Paul Sabu and joined forces to become part of the Simmons (yes he of the long tongued variety) stable, alongside fellow LA rockers House of Lords.
You look at the back photo and you see these boys are definite ‘perm and poodle’ contenders mixed in with a bit of ‘lean mean metal’. In fact, bassist E.J Curse (real name Curcio) was a small time but serious bodybuilder back then.
The band released their fantastic though rawer debut album ‘Shattered Hearts’ the year before on the Chameleon label, though they had Jerry Grant bashing the drums on that one, ex Pocketful and White Tiger drummer Brian James joined them on ‘Don’t Touch Me There’.
Silent Rage’s forte is in that hard rockin’ early 80’s melodic metal a la Y&T and Lion, with guitarists Mark Hawkins and Jesse Damon absolutely smokin’ with the best of them. The Y&T influence is undeniable.
The Songs
The crankin’ opener ‘Runnin’ On Love’ has that Doug Aldrich guitar feel to it, while ‘I Wanna Feel It’ has that Y&T strut harking back to those classic ‘Earthshaker’ days. Some fire and brimstone heats up the album with ‘Tear Up The Night’ and ‘I’m On Fire’ while a rehash of the ‘Shattered Hearts’ song ‘Rebel With A Cause’ sounds better than it’s predecesor.
The slower moments are brilliant! The title track ‘Don’t Touch Me There’ is killer melodic rock, as is ‘Tonight You’re Mine’. While a fabulous remake of the E.L.O chestnut ‘Can’t Get Her Out Of My Head’ throws new light on a song which Silent Rage drags unmercifully into the melodic rock arena with stunning results.
In Summary
A powerful production all round, and those vocals of Jesse Damon’s just growl across the album as only the best bands can seem to do. As I wrote earlier, not a jot said about these boys when the album came out, nor in the ensuing aftermath of it’s deafening silence.
It wasn’t until 2001 that the band reformed again, signed to Z Records for the release of their comeback album ‘Still Alive’. By 2008, he band released the hugely disappointing ‘Four Letter Words’, and since then SR have been put to pasture, though Jesse Damon continue to record and release through the AOR Heaven label.
Silent Rage on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
