voila_la_scorie So how does a band with a successful hard rocking album in 1975 follow up with their sophomore release? Moxy's debut featured hard-edged, raw guitar rock with Buzz Sherman's powerful, frayed larynx vocal style. As an added touch, Tommy Bolin played all or most of the lead guitar solos because he was in the studio next door and the producer kicked guitarist Earl Johnson out of the studio. The album got played on San Antonio radio KISS-FM thanks to hard rock fan Joe Anthony, who was responsible for bringing several Canadian hard rock outfits to American airwaves.

Moxy II, which has an album cover even less inspired than the title (the debut had the band's logo in white against black, this one in white against red), assures us that Moxy are serious hard rockers though overall I feel the serrated edge and heaviness of the first album has been smoothed a little as though to appeal more to a larger radio audience. Possibly this is due to the involvement of producer Jack Douglas (Aerosmith). The album opens with an excellent hard rock riffer "Cause There's Another" but soon an acoustic guitar joins in strumming and Buzz's voice, though still hard rock harsh, sounds just a bit more Trooper than Moxy. The second track "Take It or Leave It" includes some obligatory seventies funk to the bass.

Metal heads will perk up to the sounds of "Through the Storm" which is a clear cut case for the future arrival of BNWoHM. This song hits hard and heavy and Buzz uses his powerful voice to maximum potential here, positively screaming out, "Through the Storm / We'll survive / Through the gates of Hell / We'll arrive!"

Next is a short rocker (2:40) "One More Heartbreak" and then a heavy bluesy instrumental "Slippin' Out", which alternates between a solid heavy rock piece and some more melodic lines not so far off from some of early Triumph.

"Midnight Flight" sounds almost like a Goddo song and that might not be so odd as both Buzz Sherman and Greg Godovitz (founder of Goddo) played in the same band before along with Gil Moore who later went on to form Triumph. This song is a decent enough rocker though easily generic in the world of seventies hard rock.

"Change in My Life" is one of those slower seventies rock numbers, reflecting on life, but with a harder power chord chorus. Good as variety for the album but again fairly average for the day. It does toughen up at bit towards the end, getting closer to a headbanger or at least worthy of an air guitar performance.

"Tryin' Just for You" combines Nazarene upbeat rock and melody and "Wet Suit" closes the album with a bit of humour in the lyrics and a grooving, bottom end-swaying bluesy hard rocker.

Given the musical climate in 1975, Moxy had every chance to be recognized as both a heavy rock band and a more melodic hard rock party band. They toured with both Black Sabbath and Boston, and also AC/DC, and were compared to Deep Purple, Rush, and Aerosmith, and were at one point called the Canadian Led Zeppelin (no doubt more for hard rock / heavy blues side and not the folk side). Though I prefer the more raw and heavy sound of the debut and can't recommend this album to just any metal fan, it stands as a pretty solid piece of seventies hard rock with Buzz Sherman's voice being a feature worthy of mention. Three stars.