Aluminium Lady

Nestled comfortably in the annals of NWOBHM obscurity sits a number of fairly promising acts that didn't manage to get past putting out a handful of singles or, with a more favorable turn of providence, an EP. Among these one of the more overtly old school rocking, exaggerated and outright fun is Megaton, a band that smacks the senses like a literal collection of metal registering in a weight comparable to the band's name. Imagine everything that made the most flamboyantly over-the-top members of the 70s hard rock scene, infuse maybe a tiny bit of 1970s punk attitude, and the picture gets quite a bit clearer.

"Aluminium Lady" could almost be dubbed as the "Tutti Frutti" of the early 80s, with a forbidding vocal presence in Jeremy Nagle that is about as raucous and off-the-handle as Little Richard probably was about 25 years prior when he recorded his first hit single. This guy literally throws out a nasty, gravely shout with the best of them, with a slightly sleazy edge, in just the right manner as to all but make hot, crazy love to the microphone. Riding on a strong up-tempo riff set that listens like a faster, crunchier rehash of a rocking 70s riff with a slight Iron Maiden twist to it, this tune smashes windows in an old school manner, yet also provides some hints of the emergent lead guitar duo routine that Judas Priest was introducing the world to, putting out some solid harmonies and fun licks.

"Die Hard" pulls out an equally raucous stop, seeing Nagle's vocals reach up to the same astronomically impudent tone that Ted Nugent brought to a number of his signature songs, and the leads getting even busier. The principle riff is a bit tried and true, sounding like its channeling Led Zepplin and a few other earlier bands as much as the current scene, but the song cooks nicely and provides a couple of interesting twists. The drum sound is a bit exposed on this one and reveals a fairly tinny tone in the snare, which was fairly commonplace at this point and time. On the whole, it listens like a really well put together demo or a middle of the road professional recording for the time period.

While this is probably about as rare as they come in its original vinyl format, it's pretty easy to locate through the internet and deserves some attention from any early metal junkies who are getting tired of listening to the same old early Demon and Tank singles. It presents the NWOBHM in a bit more of a throwback fashion, placing an equal emphasis on the style's rock influences as it does the unique metal aspects that separated it from the likes of Blue Oyster Cult and Deep Purple, but it's a fun listen and reveals yet another lost act from the early 80s that should have gotten a stab at putting out an LP. It sort of makes one appreciate the way in which recent technology has broken the stranglehold that the recording industry used to have regarding who was able to record their material in a state-of-the-art fashion.