Vicious Rumors — The Atlantic Years

Here we have a three-CD set that brings together the two studio albums, and one live album released by this San Francisco power metal five-piece on Atlantic Records. The set highlights the bands often formal, though at times quite head-bangable, vein-bulging, and memorable take on the Power metal form. So, while you may not find anything terrible mould-breaking or startling original within, if you enjoy the genre this is something you’ll be wanting to put in your collection.

The set appears on Dissonance Productions- which is the metal and rock reissue sub-label of Cherry Red. The three discs come presented in a glossy eight-panel digipak. This comes with a twenty-page inlay booklet- featuring an interview/ write-up about the band & the albums by the band's lead guitarist/ songwriter Geoff Thorpe. We also get a nice selection of live shots, promo pictures/ flyers & poster artwork.
 
Vicious Rumors formed in the summer of 1979 in San Francisco, going on to release their first album Soldiers of the Night in 1985- for this album the line-up took in Gary St. Pierre – lead and background vocals, Geoff Thorpe – guitar, background vocals, Vinnie Moore – guitar Dave Starr – bass, background vocals, Larry Howe – drums, gong, tubular bells. The debut was seen as a classic within the US Power metal genre- so their fan base grew & expanded.  And by 1989, the band had signed to the major label Atlantic Records.
 
The band's first album for the label was their 1990 self-titled, and this is presented on the first CD in the set. The line-up had changed slightly with Carl Albert handling lead vocals & backing vocals, Thorpe on guitars & producer. Mark McGee on guitars, mandolin, and backing vocals. with Dave Starr and Larry Howe, on bass & drums. The album was a ten-track affair, and while you can certainly hear heavy nods towards the likes of Iron Maiden & the late ’80s to early ’90s of Judas Priest on some of the tracks. It’s a consistent power metal album, which features some worthwhile material. Standout tracks come in the form of the chiming chug riff craft ‘n’ heavy cymbal smash of “World Church” which features chorus gang vocals that rather brought to mind early Death Angel, of course in a power metal setting. There’s “Hellraiser” which opens with a clear ‘n’ metallic guitar blend before launching off into a mixture of rapid gallop and vein bulgingly chorus, which brought to minds Judas Priest's Painkiller album.  With the album playing out “Axe and Smash” which fairly effectively brings together meaty chugg with a more melodic sign-song metal chorus.
 
Moving onto the second disc in the set, and we have 1991's Welcome To The Ball. And with this eleven-track album the band sound as if they’ve come into their own more- sure you can still hear hints of other bands here and there, but the tracks feel more wholly stamped with the band's own identity, with even a few interesting turns. We go from the fist-slamming gallop meets layered harmony vocals of “You Only Live Twice”. There’s “Dust To Dust” which opens with a weave of two atmospheric & clean guitars, before bursting out into meaty chug, and slightly prog-bound metallics. We have the speeding riff ‘n’ slamming cymbal meets soaring lead vocals of  “Six Stepsisters”.  Or we have the up-front, urgent, slight jigging main riff of “When Loves Comes Down” which also features swooping swiping effect vocal chorus, and some neat moments of echoed vocals coming out of the speakers.
 
Finally, on the third disc we have the 1992 live album Plug in and Hang On: Live in Tokyo. This takes in eight tracks, and forty-seven minutes of music. It’s a well-recorded and balanced live record, and as you’d expect it’s largely made up of tracks from the two studio albums. The band do sound on good form throughout the performance, giving their all, and adding in both extra energy and musical chops to the tracks- all making for a good live set.
 
As a whole, The Atlantic Years highlights Vicious Rumors as one of the key names in the US Power metal scene of the ’80s/ 90’s. Sure they weren’t reinventing the wheel, but they released consistent albums that will get you head-banging and fist-punching along if you enjoy power metal.