Power

“…drive me fuckin’ crazy, won’t you take me high…”

While this four-song ep was released after the band’s same year debut, Blood, Fire & Love, it marks my first meeting with the Scottish quartet who here perform obviously post-Bon Scott, AC/DC-emblazoned hard rock that’s heard/been heard in most biker bars across the galaxy. Now of course I’m not saying what people are hearing/have heard is The Almighty per se, but probably the thousands of equally lesser bar stool groups when it’s not AC/DC themselves. This should tell ya these guys don’t really have a sound of their own at this point in time.

Everything here finds groove time on the debut, so there’re no surprises save maybe the Killer Watt mix of “Power”. I could compare it to the single version that’s also here to verify these so-called surprises, but really, I can summon no such interest to do so. Basically collect anything their Australian mentors have done in the unchanged, recipe-set-in-stone time between ‘85’s Fly on the Wall to now and there, my friends, is “Power”.

“Detroit” and the supposedly live “Wild & Wonderful” are the slightly better tracks, especially the latter which leadens up their resonance with more umph that’s found most aggressively during the ending chorus, meanwhile an interlude of blues-induced growl-narrative curbs the momentum without major injury.

Ricky Warwick, an ex-vocalist of Thin Lizzy and present vocalist of Lizzy-enamored Black Star Riders, is the charred voice for this, a grinder of vocal stone stylistically in cahoots with then-current Tad Boyle of the band Tad and Richie Turner aka Devil Chicken of Agony Column, who nearly all by his lonesome derails The Almighty’s total AC/DC defamation that all the while seemed set on cruise control.

Glad this cheap ‘lil ep saved me some dough the full price full-length probably woulda pulled outta me.