TYGERS OF PAN TANG — The Cage (review)

TYGERS OF PAN TANG — The Cage album cover

Album · 1982 · NWoBHM

5/5 · 2010-04-18
Bomb Brigade

It is utterly amazing when an album of this caliber misses its intended mark at the time of its release.Why this album did not sell a million plus copies and pull in the same ranks and score with the very same audience who were picking up the likes of Def Leppard,UFO,Scorpions,and maybe even Motley Crue and Quiet Riot records by the oodles at the time,is beyond me.The Cage is surely every bit as good as anything released by these same underground acts that were spreading their wings and establishing a foothold in the mainstream rock community during this same period,and,yet,only went on to sell 200,000 copies.Perhaps it was,indeed,the reported problems that the band was having with its record label,MCA,over recording and releasing more cover songs in the vein of the ultra-catchy LOVE POTION NO.9(the band's first "hit" single)at the time,that caused this album to be banished to the cut out bins and to be forgotten forevermore.Could a record label possibly be so self-centered,and even egotistical,as to lose sight and take their eye off of the inevitable prize,over a squirmish about artistic control with its most possibly bankable artists at the time?Possibly.At any rate,MCA had their crown jewel sitting in the palm of their hands with this one,and,rather,seemed to choose to turn and to look away from it. But,alas,back to what really matters here...The Cage.An ultra-polished,slick package of charisma-laden,air guitar cranking,foot-stomping,straight-forward,high intensity rock n' roll.From start to finish,from front to back,this disc oozes with so much cool that it's in a constant state of sub zero temperature.The song writing is as exceptional as anything that you'll ever hear coming from this sort of record.The production and layering of tracks is about as good as anything that the much-lauded John "Mutt" Lange was doing with Def Leppard at the time.And,simply put,the sound and tone of the band itself is purely nothing short of brilliant. Singer Jon Deverill's vocals are absolutely right on the money on each and every track on this disc,and make certain songs,such as MAKING TRACKS and PARIS BY AIR(which should have been a HUGE hit for the band),even cooler than they probably initially started out.Imagine perfectly smooth vocal delivery conveyed with optimum power,great range,and sheer dynamics;that's what Deverill delivers time and again.Pitch perfection. The arrangements and structures of mini epics such as RENDEZVOUS and YOU ALWAYS SEE only enhance the bigger than normal sound and overall scope and vision of this disc as a whole,and leave the listener coming away from it feeling that they've just listened to more than your usual commercial hard rock album;almost more like the feeling of having just listened to some of producer Roy Thomas Baker's early works with Queen.It's that good. Any fan of NWOBHM,or,moreover,anyone who has ever owned any commercially successful "heavy metal" album from this era NEEDS to get this disc as part of their record collection.Scratch that...any fan of straight forward hard rock NEEDS to own this disc!