Ram It Down

"Ram It Down" followed "Defenders of the Faith" and "Turbo". These albums had been completely different, but they had at least one thing in common. They evoked strong emotions, for better or for worse. By contrast, "Ram It Down" was the "I don't care"-album. The suicidal change of course between its two predecessors was not yet forgotten. Thus, the here presented album had a tough job right from the start.

Tipton and the other dudes had a bad conscience - and this with good reason. The lukewarm piss called "Turbo", euphemistically called "experiment", was still in their minds. Thus, the opening title track sent its thundering greetings right from the outset. It delivered pure metal, while the lyrics were completely irrelevant. One rather had to read between the lines. The composition was constantly screaming: dear metalheads, forgive us the release of "Turbo", we will never do it again. For those simpletons who still had not understood the strategy of reparation, the next song had the most primitive title a metal band can choose: "Heavy Metal". Yes, we understood that a formation, which had run into serious trouble, wanted to be headbanger's best friend again. Yet it is not a matter of minutes to regain lost trust.

Leaving aside the question whether Judas Priest were still authentic or not, the opener tried to build a bridge to the fanatic "Freewheel Burning". Due to its velocity and sharpness, "Ram It Down" was fairly comparable with this classic, but it failed to reach its compositional excellence. Just compare, for example, the bridges of these two tracks. Here we have the toothless "Shout it out, we're all together now" trilling, there we are overrun by the determined "Look before you leap has never been the way we keep" vocals that sounded like a machine gun. Nevertheless, due to the metallic purity and some high-pitched screams of Halford, the song was much better than any softener of the "experimental" predecessor. (Please note my politically correct wording.) The aforementioned "Heavy Metal" also hit the mark. Driven by a bulldozing bass, the song lived up to its name. The lyrics were as stupid as those of "Turbo", but to be honest, the value of lyrics stands and falls with the quality of the composition itself. This might be a little bit irrational, but it was great fun to scream painfully primitive lines like "All heads are banging" or "Fists pumping everywhere". Although the song bordered on parody, it worked. Doubtlessly, the imperious screams "Heavy metal, heavy metal, what do you want?" had an impact.

It was no coincidence that these two songs kicked off the A side and it was also no coincidence that the sinister "Blood Red Skies" kicked off the B side. This large-sized number combined profound heaviness with an apocalyptic atmosphere, did not lack of epic elements and generated a majestic overall impression. "Metal God" Rob was in his element while delivering expressive vocals with some high-pitched or elongated screams. The performance of the other guys was also convincing, but Halford left his mark in the most impressive manner.

Three strong songs marked a big improvement, but unfortunately, this was no EP and the further seven pieces were as ordinary as their titles. "Come and Get It", Halford sang "I'm a Rocker" while standing in the "Love Zone" and some unknown "Monsters of Rock" realized that they were "Hard as Iron". Excellent poetry. Anyway, mid-paced pieces passed by, sometimes a little bit sleazy, sometimes a little bit heavy, sometimes a little bit commercial. "Come and Get It" scored with a pretty sharp bridge, but self-declared "Metal Gods" must be able to deliver more suspenseful pieces. The howling guitars at the beginning of the closer were also promising, but the number did not turn out well. Its slow-moving chorus and the computerized beats left me cold. The same applied to "Hard as Iron" (enjoy its completely misplaced earthquake sample) and to "Love You to Death", because its guitar lines sounded like some of the worst compositions of Gene Simmons. Yet I am not talking about Kiss and I do not want to speak about the Chuck Berry cover as well. Just one remark, it is a ridiculous if a band praises itself for its regained heaviness while delivering this happily rocking piece. However, here is the quintessence of the review: the appropriately produced "Ram It Down", the last album with Dave Holland on drums, did not have a massive impact. I don't care.