Midnight Rendezvous

“…death doesn’t need appointments, never know when it strikes…”

In ’83 and ’84, Tokyo Blade bore around ten discs (eleven counting the one as Genghis Khan) ranging from lps, eps, and singles, but many people aren't aware that several songs can be heard strutting across multiple releases, so to all you TB newbies out there who aren’t collectors, be careful what you’re buying. If you have the ’84 Combat reissue of the nameless ’83 debut, later dubbed Metal Rendezvous (with practically the same cover), then you already own this group of standards trotting around TB’s fairly remarkable stable up to this point. For an extra high-five, you’re also in possession of the ’83 Genghis Khan ep, Double Dealin’, albeit with slightly altered versions, but it’s the thought that counts.

This gang of four, as cheered by many a fan, are celebrated as band hallmarks most worthy of reuse prior to the release of same-year full-lengther Night of the Blade, making this one helluva TB dream novelty. “Mean Streak” and “Highway Passion” are fleet-footed enforcers expert in delighting T-blade mongers wherever and whenever played and here act as burly bodyguards flanking the more exploratory, creative, and primed nuances of the title track as well as the more mid-paced hard fist “If Heaven is Hell" and its downplayed, yet dramatic chorus, which honestly doesn’t need any back-up muscle. And if you happen to see Roadrunner Records’ logo on the jacket, then treated you’ll be to a fifth song, the awesome thrill ride “Death on Main Street”, another virile, black n’ blue-chorused ass-kicker like the fellow ass-kickers living upstairs, hiding out ‘til now on their ’83 Powergame single. Combat or Roadrunner, you really can’t go wrong with either (but obviously you’ll get more right with the latter’s).

Truthfully, just about any song from Metal Rendezvous, the lp, could’ve flexed the unofficial ‘greatest of’ status this ep has garnered with equal success: “Power Game”, “Killer City”, “Sunrise in Tokyo”, “Break the Chains”, and even underestimated “Liar” from the ’83 original, so if after hearing this your plate yearns for a more satisfying Tokyo Blade portion, pick up the Combat release and leave Powerstation’s original for a later snack.

Luckily, with this ep’s markedly different cover, we’re not subject to extra same-name, similar-cover confusion that made life, um, interesting in the past.

Scorecard:
Powerstation's four-song original: 88%
Roadrunner's five-song reissue: 93%

“…he strikes for vengeance, then he’s gone without a trace…”