voila_la_scorie Fireball steamer, heavy metal screamer, playin’ licks hotter than hell

One of my big interests is scrounging about in the annals of heavy metal history in search of trivia. One of my recent quests has been to discover who first sang about heavy metal music. From 1980 onwards, the ball gets rolling pretty quickly. But prior to that, I have only two examples so far: Triumph’s 1976 and 1977 releases.

Back in those days, I don’t believe anyone commonly referred to any bands as heavy metal bands. There were rock and roll bands who played heavy metal music, but even a band who - like Triumph - would sing about playing heavy metal, or talk about it, would still consider themselves a rock band. Just listen to interviews with Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilminster. He continuously insisted that heavy metal was just another way of playing rock and roll.

These days we look back upon the hard and heavy rock of the seventies and classify most of it as either hard rock or proto-metal. But sometime around 1974/5 the music press began to refer more frequently to those heavy guitar rockers as heavy metal music. Triumph picked up on it and included references to heavy metal in two tracks from their first two releases. I’m still searching for other examples from around the same period.

Triumph was part of Canada’s 1970’s hard/heavy rock explosion. April Wine, A Foot In Cold Water, Thundermug, Moxy, and of course Rush and Bachman Turner Overdrive had already been blazing the way with albums, and Triumph dropped their debut in 1976. What’s remarkable is how they had already established their familiar sound right from the start. That distinctive sound of Rik Emmett’s guitar, his talent on both electric and classical guitar, Gil Moore’s drumming, the dual lead vocal attack of Emmett and Moore, Mike Levine’s solid bass playing, and a touch of synthesizer for atmosphere was there from album one.

Their second album continues the band’s modus operandi with Gil Moore taking the lead vocals for the heavy sluggers like “Takes Time” and “Little Texas Shaker” and Rik Emmett often singing many of the lighter and more progressive tracks.

If Triumph were a rock and roll band that played heavy metal then some of the lighter tracks are not diversions but part of the band’s repertoire. “New York City Streets Part 1” sticks to clean guitars and a light funky feel, breaking into a sped-up jazzy instrumental break at the end. Part 2 is a typical Triumph heavy rocker. Most of the album, though, is pretty solid rock out heavy bombast.

Two tracks that are worthy of a more detailed description are the two part, single track “The City” and the album’s titular song. “The City” begins with an arrangement from Holst’s “Mars - God of War”. It will be familiar to metal fans because Diamond Head famously used it for “Am I Evil”, later covered by Metallica and it was also the inspiration for Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath” riff. You’ll also find it on Andromea’s 1969 album. After the “Mars” climax, there’s a burst of classical guitar followed by a flamenco guitar instrumental. At last the lyrical part of the song begins, slow, slightly solemn and melancholy. The final part of the song sees the return of the heavy metal Triumph. It’s no wonder with a track like this that Triumph are often included in prog rock conversations.

The title track is Triumph showing off their heaviness and speed, an intentional display of 1977 heavy metal music. Rik Emmett gets to show of his speedy fingers with a guitar solo - a real solo sans band - that scorches the fretboard. Personally, I feel the guitar sound is a bit scratchy and the use of delay doesn’t help the effect. While the fancy finger work is meant to impress, I enjoy many of Rik’s other solos much more just because they sound better. Nevertheless, “playin’ licks hotter than hell” is not an understatement!

Triumph tends to be overshadowed by compatriots Rush who just seemed to achieve so much more. But for a solid hard/heavy rock act that deviated for only one album, Triumph are worthy of recognition. Not to mention that they might just be the first band to release a song that sings about heavy metal music.

siLLy puPPy TRIUMPH, the Canadian power trio of Rik Emmett (vocals, guitar), Gil Moore (drums) and Michael Levine (bass, keyboards) followed up their debut just a year later with their second release ROCK & ROLL MACHINE which at first was released only in Canada but due to increasing popularity they scored an international recording contract with RCA and then soon after MCA Records. Unfortunately the album was released with one album cover and track listing for the Canadian release and another for a global market with even a few tracks donning completely different titles. Obviously this has led to a ridiculous amount of confusion over the years as one version even went as far as mixing several tracks from both the debut and this album under the title ROCK & ROLL MACHINE. Thankfully this marketing faux pas has been corrected with the newer remastered albums at last donning the original superior album cover with the band’s profile in the space sphere as opposed to the cheesy neon lit guitar and sparkles under the band’s logo.

While no sophomore slump haunted the band, comparisons to Rush certainly did however ROCK & ROLL MACHINE successfully sounds like a foray into their own world of bluesy hard rock with more idiosyncratic heavy riffing which would become the trademark sound of Gil Moore’s songwriting contributions . Also debuting is the classic AOR ballad sound that would showcase Emmett’s powerful vocal style on “Bringing It Home” and “New York City Streets - Part 1,” a style that would yield them their biggest hits in the future. As with the debut, TRIUMPH also continued their dabbling into the progressive rock world as heard on the ambitious fusion frenzy of “City: War March / El Duende Agonizante / Minstrel’s Lament” which would hijack a sampling from Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” as well as display a superb Spanish classical guitar workout by Emmett. The beginning thunderous march actually brings Rush’s progressive works to mind (think “La Villa Strangiato”) as well as showcasing a percussive rhythm workout that would find a home on Dream Theater’s “Images And Words” album a decade and a half down the road. Worth mentioning is the second part of “New York City” with its jazzy guitar segments and genre shifting restlessness.

Also of extreme importance is the fantastic title track finale which jumps back into the hard rock arena and pumps out the heaviest track on the album with one of the best heavy rock guitar solos the 70s had to offer displaying Emmett as not only a gifted vocalist but a bona fide virtuoso guitarist of the first degree. This track would remain a staple of live performances and remains one of the most memorable tracks of TRIUMPH’s entire career. The only track that is a misstep to my ears is the ill-placed Joe Walsh cover “Rocky Mountain Way.” While i absolutely adore the original and Walsh’s music in general, there is something just so wrong when it’s performed without his distinct vocals at the helm. TRIUMPH does a veritable job but it really seems like a fish out of water on this release. The only other gripe i have is that the beginning heavy guitar riff on “New York City Streets - Part 2” sounds too much like Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein.” Other than these quibbles, TRIUMPH produced one of their best albums of the 70s. ROCK & ROLL MACHINE is an excellent collection of hard rock, power pop and prog related treats and not a bad place to check out what made them stand out. Be sure to track down the album with the original listing as it is the superior format as well as the intended one.