| CD REVIEW Hades |
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Band : Hades A round of cheers for the people at Cyclone Empire Recordsfor re-releasing Hades' first three albums [1987's Resisting Success, issued through Combat Records (Roadrunner in Europe), 1988's If At First you Don't Succeed (issued through Restless in the US), and 1991's live album Live On Location (Grand Slamm)] which had become a rarity to the point of the band itself making copies of the albums for its hungry fans! My personal and slightly negative relation with this band goes back to their debut album. I'd read some good things on this New Jersey based quartet and that, along with their album's thought-provoking album cover, prompted me to buy the album (still vinyl back then). While the band's very nice mixture of Thrash Metal and Progressive Power Metal certainly appealed to me, I however had a problem with singer Alan Tecchio's weird nasal and heady high pitch, and the review I made for the fanzine I ran back then certainly reflected my dismay (which prevented me from buying the follow-up album). In all honesty, I'd completely forgotten that negative appraisal until after I'd listened to this re-issue and gave it exactly the same appraisal! Okay...first a short history-of-the-band...at least for the period which interests us. First time the New Jersey band came under attention of the music business, was when Megaforce Records picked one of the band's songs (singer was then one Paul Smith, Tom Coombs was already on the drum stool) for inclusion in the label's 1983 compilation Born To Metalize. It was a turning point for the band, whose set-list until then includes a lot of covers (by Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Ozzy, Black Sabbath and others), and now started to write more and more original songs. By February 1984 (which marked the release of Metal Blade's compilation album Metal Massacre 6 onto which the band was featured with another song) the band had split up, with Dan Lorenzo writing more up-tempo tracks and without a band. He then met up with guitarist Scott LePage, whom was already a Hades fan, and introduced him to Alan Tecchio (they'd been together in the band Prophecy). After some jamming, the foursome found Schulmann to play the bass, and live performances began. Following the self-released of debut single The Cross, the trio recorded a 3-track demo which caught the attention of the people at Torrid Records (whom had by then released Exodus' debut album). By Summer 1986 the band had recorded their debut album, and they went on to play support shows for some of the bigger names in Metal (see Megadeth, Anthrax, Death Angel, Testament, Metal Church, Armored Saint and Slayer) in the NJ/ NY area. Before getting into the writing/ recording sessions for sophomore album If At First You Don't Succeed, LePage was replaced for Ed Fuhrman, and after the release the guys spread their area of influence, paying shows as far North as Connecticut, Rhode Island and Boston (opening for Manowar and Nuclear Assault) as well as venturing to the Mid-East Coast areas for a run of shows supporting Murphy's Law. The band then started the writing sessions for what was to be their 3rd album, but before they were to record it were given the chance to tour in Europe during May 1989. The tour would be the band's undoing, as underlying tensions within the band suddenly exploded, and the band members decided to split up. They finished the tour, but went home thinking they'd b-never play together again. Tecchio joined the Texas based Watchtower, and Lorenzo started the band Non-Fiction, band in which the guitarist and singer would eventually re-unite. Hades then came together again to play and record a one-off show in Newark, NJ...which became the Live On Location album. For the band's history as it then unfurled, please check other info sources. Now wanna hear something funny? When the editor-in-chief handed me these 3 albums for simultaneous review, he told me he found the sound quality of the live album to be quite below standard, and he wondered how anyone could've dared to actually release those recordings as an album! Well, I don't see hat's so bad about the sound quality here! In fact, for some crazy reason I even prefer it, because somehow it makes Tecchio's voice far more enjoyable. Yeah, it's the same songs and the same singer with the same vocal lines, and the only reason I can find for my change of heart is that possibly the band's vocal sound in the studio was perhaps a bit too polished as compared to the live recordings. Okay...reasons why you would buy these re-issues, even in the case you were/ are already a fan of the band and have the original (vinyl) releases in your collection? Quite simply put: because of the abundance of bonus material! You see, Resisting Success is augmented with different mix versions of the album tracks (now Hades classics) “The Leaders?” and “Nightstalkers”, includes the early compilation songs “Gloomy Sunday” and “Easy Way Out”, and has a “Scott LePage” version of the previously unreleased track “Sledgehammer Press”. If At First You Don't Succeed fares even better, with a total of 6 previously unreleased bonus tracks. And to the original set-list of the Live On Location album (composed of material from the band's two first albums) we find an addition of 6 “Live In The Studio” tracks, 4 of which previously unrecorded in studio. In all, a wonderful added bonus indeed! If you're not an explicit fan of the band, you should consider buying the CD's because of their historical value. But by all means don't take my words at face value! If you've never got around to hearing the band's stuff, simply check out the couple of tracks posted at (www.) myspace.com/hadesusa...and make up your own minds! Re-issues/ compilations, and therefore I don't need to rate this! Tony. |