Stephen
Icon was unlucky to have to compete with giants like Dokken or Motley Crue back in 1984, and lack of huge promotion from the label, Icon was pretty much estranged from the herd, if not forgotten. I consider them as among the second wave of glam metal, bringing up classic heavy metal hooks with some melodic touch, some of us call it melodic metal. To simplify thing, imagine a combination of early Dokken, Keel, WASP, and Scorpions, and that could be a good definition of Icon's music.
There are four superb tracks inside. "Killer Machine" has the stampeding rhythm with gorgeous Verse/Chorus composition; "On Your Feet" is a real deal of heavy metal and the solo guitar is just stunning; "World War" is melodic and heavy at the same time; "Under My Gun" is a blast, the roaring guitars with Clifford's furious vocal is perfectly blended, this is Icon at their best. Now, the reason why they can't compete with Crue or Dokken is because the rest of the tracks aren’t as strong as these four. Take a look at "Hot Desert Night", "Iconoclast", or "It's Up To You", they're totally disposable. Luckily, the opening track, "Through The Night" and "Rock And Roll Maniac" are accessible and quite good.
I'd say, Icon's debut might not be the really important release of 84, but for hardcore fans of glam, melodic metal, or even traditional heavy metal, at least they had something good to offer inside. The production isn't satisfying and that's a shame, probably if they release the remastered version with upgrade in audio quality, the whole disc can be rated better, but for the music alone, I guess 4-stars is acceptable.