SHE-GULLING

Has it been two whole weeks already?
How the time flies.
Tonight we've got four full length albums from the UK, Canada, Switzerland and the USA for the delight of your battered ole lugholes.
We're nothing if not global!
I'll get on with it then shall i?
CHARLIE 'UNGRY were a four piece Hard Rock band formed in London in 1976 at the very beginning of the NWOBHM era, by two former members of YELLOW BIRD and two former members of SCRUFF.
Bassist Jeff Gibbs latterly described the band's early sound thus : "Our early roots were firmly planted in the '70's and with influences from LED ZEPPELIN, DEEP PURPLE through to THE MOODY BLUES which probably explains our hybrid blend of Hard Rock and melodic harmony".
During the band's five year existence they only released one record, the three song 1980 EP, "The House On Chester Road", which had been recorded two years prior.
Although the record was well received and the 2000 copies sold out, the band were unable to find a record company interested in releasing their material.
Several showcase gigs were undertaken around London, including a support slot with JOHN ENTWISTLE's RIGOR MORTIS, but still no firm offers from labels were forthcoming.
Exasperated by the lack of progress, guitarist Steve Protheroe left the band to join a Dutch group, with Tony Nurse being drafted in as his replacement.
However, although Nurse was a fine guitarist, the band never really recovered from the departure of Protheroe, splitting a few months later.
In 2004, the Greek Obscure NWOBHM Releases label released "The Chester Road Album", which included the whole EP, nine further tracks from the same 1978 EP session, and two 1980 bonus songs from the bands final line up.

CHARLIE 'UNGRY - The Chester Road Album (1978-80) UK

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=W3EX23EE

Next, Canadians MINOTAUR were a fantastic little band formed in Oshawa, Ontario in 1982.
The four piece act specialized in Heavy Metal with a commercial edge, with the guitars of Pete Lasperance in particular, being absolutely outstanding.
Lesperance eventually went on to form the highly respected HAREM SCAREM in the late '80's with BLIND VENGEANCE vocalist Harry Hess, leaving 1984's "Burner" 7" as Minotaur's only official release during their lifetime.
OPM Records put out a retrospective eight song vinyl compilation album of their demos in 2004 called "83-87".
In 2006 the Harem Scarem website made the collected Minotaur demos available as a CD album with a bonus track not featured on the vinyl version, and revised cover art under the title "High Times : The Lost Demos : '83 - '87".
This is some very nice stuff, give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

MINOTAUR - High Times : The Lost Demos - '83-'87 (1983-1987) Canada

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TAL8S1ON

BLACK ANGELS was a six piece Melodic Heavy Metal band formed in Schaffhausen, Switzerland in 1979.
Their debut LP, "Hell Machine" was released in 1981 on the Meteor label.
The group's second album, 1983's "Kickdown", was produced by Martin Pearson, who had produced fellow countrymen KROKUS, and was released by Bellaphon in Europe and Gull Records in the UK.
A self titled 3 song EP was also released by Gull in 1984, with "Blind Like A Fool", as it's lead track.
At this point front man Ron Phillips was replaced with new vocalist Clive Murray, while drummer Tommy Stuart was ousted in favour of Brian Irving.
They released another album entitled "Black & White" with this line up in early 1985.
A year later, though, the "Broken Spell" album saw the band, now a four-piece, reunited with both Phillips and Stuart, recorded for new label Gold Records.
The band lost their way and their label however, and following a single called "On The Run", on their own Angel label in 1986, they split up.
In 2008 Ron Phillips recruited a whole new line up to play under the Black Angels name, appearing at several festivals and recording a new album in 2009 entitled "Changes" for the Karthago label.

BLACK ANGELS - Kickdown (1983) Switzerland

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=M9FW5HY5

Disclaimer : Despite the name of the band, this is NOT a Thrash record, it's more of a 50/50 split between traditional US-Metal and Hard Rock styles.
The sole THRASHER album "Burning At The Speed Of Light" emerged on Combat Records in 1985.
Thrasher turned out to be a one-off "project-band" which was put together by an assortment of New York based musicians at the instigation of the record label.
Produced and arranged by THE RODS drummer Carl Canedy in partnership with BLUE CHEER's guitarist Andy 'Duck' McDonald, the "Burning At The Speed Of Light", album was issued in Europe through Music For Nations.
The album boasted lead vocal performances from EXCITER's Dan Beehler, ex-RIOT man RHETT FORRESTER (R.I.P.), TKO vocalist Brad Sinsel and BLACK LACE's Maryann Scandiffio amongst others.
The lion's share of the album's musicianship was supplied by the aforementioned Canedy and McDonald.
Joining them were TALAS bassist Billy Sheehan, VIRGIN STEELE's Jack Starr, ANTHRAX's Dan Spitz, H.S.A.S. bassist Kenny Aaronson, PAT TRAVERS associate Mars Cowling, SAVOY BROWN's Kim Simmonds, ex RAINBOW drummer Gary Driscoll (R.I.P.), HELSTAR's James Rivera, BLUE CHEER's Dickie Peterson (R.I.P.) and THE RODS bassist Gary Bordonaro and other notable and not so noteable names from the mid '80's US Metal scene..
Not to be confused with Thrasher from Southington, Connecticut, who had released a self titled album in 1983, which also had little or no connection to the Thrash style.

THRASHER - Burning At The Speed Of Light (1985) USA

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZM04QNT2

So there y'go, that's it for another fortnight, hope you like our current picks from the past.
Some comments would be nice, feel free to use the comments section to express yourselves on blog related matters, it's not difficult or time consuming, and may even prove to be enjoyable.
If you need more old rawkin' an' rollin' material, i posted some new old stuff over at the other blog the other week.
You should know the URL by now.
See you back here in 14!