Nightwing — Long Hard Road (CD boxset)
Long Hard Road is a CD box set collecting together the work released by lesser-know/ under-appreciated British rock band Nightwing in the early/ mid 80’s. The five-disc set takes in four studio albums & one live album- all of which highlight the project's blending & blurring of heavy rock, proto-metal, prog, and later more American-styled AOR- always managing to balance great instremental chops with an ear for melody/ great song construction.
The set comes in the form of a moodily purple coloured flip side card box, with each disc coming in a reproduction of the original vinyl releases. Also included is a twenty-eight-page inlay booklet, taking in eight pages of new liner notes, an eight-page interview with founding member/ bass player Gordon Rowley, and a good selection of band pics.
The band were first formed in 1978 under the name of Gordon and Friends, which they changed to Nightwing in 1980. The original line-up brought together Gordon Rowley on bass, lead/ harmony vocals, Eric Percival on guitars, Kenny Newton on keyboards and Paul Ellson on drums. The band's original run was between 1980 and 1987- they released five studio albums; all but the final is featured here: Something in the Air (1981), Black Summer (1982), Stand Up and Be Counted (1983), My Kingdom Come (1984), Nightwing VI(1986). And a live album A Night of Mystery – Alive! Alive! ( also featured here). They regrouped in 1996, releasing two compilations and the studio album 8472 (2008).
The first album here is Something In The Air, which was originally released in 1981, and due to the time/ use of guitars it was lumped in with the NWOBHM genre, and while you can hear elements of that side of things in the band's sound, they had a much wider sonic footprint than that. The nine-track album moves from the bounding rock groove, piping organ tones, shouty-to-harmony-edged vocals of “Cold Love”. Onto the upfront climbing piano keys, soaring/quite theatrical lead male vocals, and light prog touches of “Something In The Air”. To the bouncing blues rock, harmonica-lined, and damn sassy strut of “Boogie Woman”. All in all, Something In The Air is a decent opening shot from the band- clearly highlighting a wide range of influences, as well as starting to define their own sound.
Moving on to the second disc in the set, 1982’s Black Summer. This severs up another eight tracks; we kick off with the gunning rock verse and jiving organ chords “Overnight Sensation” which features some great choppy ‘n’ groovy prog keyboard leads & some stonking guitar interplay. “Long Hard Road” kicks off with sways of deep & moody synth, before kicking in more meaty AOR territory- with a slightly jiving/ oriental feel to the riff craft. The title track alternates between bounding bass/ pipe organ rock tones, bright Yes-like synth rolls, and a galloping chorus with eerier keyboard undertones. All in all, Black Summer is an excellent follow-up record- building on the promise of the first album, and then some.
Onto disc number three, and we have 1983’s Stand Up And Counted. It’s a ten-track affair which goes from the stabbing synth, bounding ‘n’ rocking guitar, and soaring male vocals of “Treading Water”. Onto moody synth-pop chop meets pulsing bass guitar, and chugging rock guitar of “Stand Up And Be Counted” with its great drum/ snarling bass synth breakdown/ lead-out. Though upfront slap bass, wavering sing-song vocals, chiming guitar riff, and wailing harmony-vocal chorus of “Still In Love With You”. The album plays out with “The Last Song” which moves between stripped-back, building ‘n’ tolling piano and forlornly theatrical vocals, thick prog key climbs, and bounding rock-outs. All in all, Stand Up And Counted is another great album- blending what the band do well with some more wayward/ creative touches.
Next up on disc number four, we have 1984’s My Kingdom Come. This features nine tracks, and I’d say there’s a much larger/ polished/ American rock-come-proto metal feel to this album. We go from the soulful rock pop/ AOR of “Night Of Mystery” with its layered blend of synth bass, twinkling melody, light, sailing/ wailing rock guitar, and soaring chorus. There is the choppy synths, clean blues rock guitar twang, and layered choruses of “Cell 151” which has nice flourishes of lightly shredding guitar & jiving/dart keyboards. Or the clear strumming & bounding guitars, keyboard horn pomp, and sudden gunning syth/ guitar riff moments of “Men of War”. I guess how much you like My Kingdom Come is down to how much you enjoy a more sleekly produced 80’s AOR side of things- I’ve always been a fan of it, so as a result I very much enjoy what's on offer here…and once again there are some interesting/ creative elements mixed into the songs.
Finally, we of course have A Night Of Myster- Alive! Alive! from 1985…and as you can probably guess, it’s a live album. It takes in nine tracks, and while it features one or two tracks from earlier albums, the focus here is on the band's more AOR side, though with a bit more kick/ punching behind it. The keyboards seem more urgent, vocals more pumped up, and soaring ‘n’ wailing guitar tones. I’m not normally the biggest fan of live albums, but this offered up some great more-letting-them selves go version of album tracks.
In conclusion, if you enjoy where rock/ proto metal meets prog & AOR, then Long Hard Road is a must- big thanks to HNE Recordings/ Cherry Red for reissuing these albums.