Rock Candy Records {Release date 29.11.19]
The late, great “Fast” Eddie Clark died a year ago this month. Many consider Motorhead to be his single most important legacy. Fastway wasn’t far behind.
The 80s produced some great horror movies. “Trick Or Treat”(1987) wasn’t one of them. So how do you match up an album’s worth of rock songs to 90 minutes of cheesy, schlock horror banality? Bearing in mind this was way before movie/music tie-ins became the commercial behemoths of the 21st century.
The answer is, of course, you don’t even try. What you do is write nine ragged edged rock songs, bring in legendary producer Eddie Kramer to oversee the studio recordings, then carry on in-fighting (this was Fastway, don’t forget).
In fairness, the album sees the band re-examine its classic rock roots, picking up from time to time on the movie’s moods with music that is suitably dark and dynamic. ‘Don’t Stop The Fight’ is a rolling thundercloud of gloom and the sparse barbaric logic of ‘Tear Down The Walls’ is perfectly tuned to the movie’s insanity.
Clark’s pneumatically powered riffs and Connor & Reid’s pitch black rhythms consistently create a sombre, menacing backdrop. Add Dave King’s siren howl, and quality rock songs like ‘Stand Up’ and ‘If You Could See’ become blistering spins through the grim reality of life on the streets, suggesting “Trick Or Treat” is not just a movie construct.
The Rock Candy remastering Techs keep it simple (as much as this process could ever be described as “simple”), giving the album’s sound a sympathetic re-assessment, adding punch and clarity at all the right moments.
Like the movie, the album was a moderate success and generated some badly needed funding for the band. But you know what they say about money. Fastway disbanded soon after.
Review by Brian McGowan
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Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024
ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)
Featured Albums w/c 15 April 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)
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