ARC — Tribute (review)

ARC — Tribute album cover Demo · 1980 · NWoBHM Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Certif1ed
The sheer diversity of metal, as defined by the NWoBHM just staggers me sometimes, and ARC's Tribute (to Mark Hailwood) is simply brilliant, in terms of originality and invention.

As a piece of music, the A side falls a bit short, however, while the flipside, For My Next Kick fares considerably better on all fronts.

Mark Hailwood was a British motorcycle champion, exceptionally gifted and daring by all accounts, who campaigned hard on issues of road safety, and was awarded the George cross for an incident in which he attempted to rescue a colleague from a burning vehicle.

The title track, then doesn't really conjure up the excitement and speed of motor racing in the same way as, say, Saxon's Motorcycle Man or the Pink Fairies' Raceway - or even Montrose's Bad Motor Scooter.

Still, the conception is original, and the structuring of the song is interesting and varied, carrying a good deal of the Fairies' energy and some interesting tempo changes - not to mention Montrose style bike effects on the guitar.

The lyrics get a bit cheesey quite quickly though, but not in the way we NWoBHM fans like 'em, and frankly, the lead vocal is lame overall, with nothing to redeem the words.

What's to like, though, is the high-energy skin-pounding that drives the solid bass, stabbing rhythms and fluid lead lines and, like I said earlier, it gets better on the other side;

For my next kick is a most curiously structured piece, with equally curious lyrics. Again, I'm strongly reminded of the Pink Fairies, but with more structure. Here, there's all the energy, the vocals are better, and the structure lends a driving tension to the song, with perfectly timed releases of energy - until the unnerving and skewed tempo change at 1:40.

The vocal range is extended here into Priest/Mercyful Fate territory - and there's some definite Groundhogs influence is present. There's certainly an early 1970s vibe running through the whole piece, which fits nicely with the smokin' high gain chugs of the NWoBHM.

5 out of 10 for the A side - a bit below average, but interesting technically.

9 out of 10 for the B side - very enjoyable and even more technically interesting.
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