It takes some balls for any band to name their album Metal. Does Metal live up to its ambitious title? It all depends on what one’s definition of metal is. As a traditional heavy metal fan, Metal does have the galloping rhythms and mystical lyrical concepts that were prevalent during the early ‘80s. Interestingly enough, Manilla Road had written and recorded an entire album that was supposed to be the intended second album, but the band scrapped it and replaced it with Metal (it would come out two decades later under the moniker Mark Of The Beast).
There was a lot working against the album, including Shelton’s vocals and a flat production. Somehow, through the power of songwriting, these seven songs found a way to brush those issues aside. “Enter The Warrior” runs head-first into battle thanks to a dominating bass performance from Scott Park. As an opener, it has the feeling of something major on the horizon. The major event that follows? The light-hearted “Defender,” which seems like a serious matter, until the final line in the second verse; “Won’t someone play me/One quarter will do.”
Things get more down-to-earth after the humorous “Defender,” and the progressive nature explored on debut album Invasion shows up on the title track and “Cage of Mirrors.” Both mammoth tunes are restrained in the “upbeat riffs” category, preferring to take things slow and stealthy. The former take almost 2/3 of its running length to hit back, and the latter gives a valiant, yet overbearing, effort trying to sound evil by giving a shout-out to Lucifer.
There were over a dozen albums released by Manilla Road after Metal, so it’s not surprising that much of this has been collecting dust as far as live shows go. However, “Queen of the Black Coast” - based on a short story from Robert E. Howard - found its way through hundreds of other songs to maintain a spot in the set list. It’s a worthy addition, a mid-paced rocker that fits the best parts of the band into four minutes. A shame they haven’t given the same attention to the hell-raiser “Out Of Control With Rock N’ Roll.”
Manilla Road’s next album, Crystal Logic, would be where everything began to make sense for the trio. The band’s output throughout the ‘80s could stand up to the best that Metal had to offer, and though they broke up for a decade, Shelton started the band up again to continue dishing out top-notch records. Metal can get lost in the shuffle of their enormous catalog, but the album avoided the sophomore slump and put Manilla Road on the right track. For living up to its lofty name, Metal gets the nod for this week’s Retro Recommendation.
