Artist: Anvil
Title: “Past & Present Live In Concert” (re-issue)
Label: The End Records
Release Date: 8/14/2012
Genre: Speed Metal/Heavy Metal
Rating: 3.5/5
The mighty Canadian Metal band Anvil is in the process of re-issuing their entire back catalog on The End Records and for fans of the band this is a very good thing because many of these albums have not been available for a very long time. Having reviewed this particular release when it first came out, I am re-presenting those original thoughts with some minor edits to reflect the new issue.
I guess one can thank all the buzz that was generated for Anvil with the documentary film “Anvil: The Story Of Anvil”, because it seemed to be only a matter of time before some of their releases made an appearance again. One such example would be the bands 1989 live recording “Past And Present Live In Concert” which judging by the year of its performance showed that the kind of music that Anvil did was already on its way out in the public eye. Yes, by this time in music history, the educated music fan will quickly realize that Metal was passé and the wonderful sound of Grunge was in full sway and gaining dominance of the airwaves. Of course I am being somewhat sarcastic, for while I enjoyed some of the killer Grunge acts I saw no reason for it moving Legendary Metal bands aside. Even though this was not the best decade for Metal, we still get a rock solid performance from Anvil during this show and how could this be anything but the case – the band was still on their own quest for glory and the proper respect from the industry giants who could make them the success but that was still managing to elude them in the blockbuster sense. This album was originally presented to the fans on Metal Blade Records, and now comes to us in remastered format care of the fine folks at The End Records as a larger initiative of getting all of the bands releases back into the hands of Metal fans everywhere.
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Artist: Anvil
Title: “Back To Basics” (remaster)
Label: The End Records
Release Date: 8/14/2012
Genre: Heavy Metal
Rating: 3.25/5
The mighty Canadian Metal band Anvil is in the process of re-issuing their entire back catalog on The End Records and for fans of the band this is a very good thing because many of these albums have not been available for a very long time. Having reviewed this particular release when it first came out, I am re-presenting those original thoughts with some minor edits to reflect the new issue.
When it came to getting ones fair share in terms of touring the USA, Anvil seemed to be one of those bands and with “Back To Basics” one finds them returning after a very long absence to the public eye as far as the Metal Industry is concerned. While the release is chock full of steady rolling Heavy Metal that’s presented in an Old School, there is little impact in any of the tunes when one compares to their earliest work. We don’t get anything as musically capable as we did on “Hard N Heavy” like “Metal On Metal”, “Jackhammer” or “March Of The Crabs”. We do have several decent rockers such as “Keep It Up” , “The Chainsaw” and “Bottom Feeder” however, the rest is just OK in my opinion. I guess I had expected a little more from them due to the duration in time that I have heard them doing anything. In the end I guess that it is still nice to see them able to generate a steady amount of Metal in any case. The Old School sound or “Traditional” as it is considered nowadays gets a continued life because of their efforts and we cannot complain about that.
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Artist: Anvil
Title: “Anthology Of Anvil”
Label: The End Records
Release Date: 8/14/2012
Genre: Heavy Metal
Rating: 4/5
The mighty Canadian Metal band Anvil is in the process of re-issuing their entire back catalog on The End Records and for fans of the band this is a very good thing because many of these albums have not been available for a very long time. Having reviewed this particular release when it first came out, I am re-presenting those original thoughts with some minor edits to reflect the new issue.
With all the hoopla that surrounded the Canadian Heavy Metal band Anvil thanks to the documentary “Anvil; The Story Of Anvil”, I was originally compelled to dig this release out of my personal archives and once again bring it to light for those Metal mavens of the world who might have interest in finding themselves a copy. As many fans already know, the band’s documentary was a blockbuster hit and a film that breathed some new life into their music and career on the whole. The juggernaut of a documentary took the band to the front pages of the magazines once again and had the younger fans saying “oh wow, they are still together?” I admit that even I was a little surprised and after seeing the film myself sat in front of my own music library to see just where this release was because I was very simply dying to blast “Jackhammer” and “March Of The Crabs” at maximum volume once again. For me it was a happy discovery because at the time it was one of three Anvil CD’s that I owned and most of their output was very difficult to find on CD anywhere. If memory serves me correctly this particular compilation was released on Metal Blade Records a little over a decade ago and gave a fantastic view of the band thanks to its eighteen tunes. Granted I was only one of the casual fans when compared to my friends but I liked what I liked and most of those tunes were on this release and that made it a win, win purchase and now thanks to the re-issue, finding this one time gem is no longer like finding a needle in a haystack. The new fans of Anvil will really enjoy this one for sure.
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Where Heavy Music & Pop Culture Collide
