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Title - The Sound of Thunder
Artist - McCoy

For those unaware, the world of hard rock and heavy metal attracts many larger-than-life characters, and few are larger than life than John McCoy. Although he has had a long and varied career, from Atomic Rooster to Zzebra, plus Samson and Mammoth, among others, McCoy is probably best known for playing bass with Gillan, the band he formed with Ian Gillan of Deep Purple.

For an all too brief few years, John McCoy could be relied upon to entertain millions whilst whilst holding down the bottom end with Gillan on Top Of The Pops, playing sold out world tours, or snapping bass guitars in half on Saturday morning kids TV shows like Tiswas.

When Gillan came to an abrupt and untimely end in 1982 following a packed Wembley Arena show, John McCoy formed the eponymous McCoy with an impressive line-up featuring former Gillan colleague Colin Towns on keyboards, Paul Samson of Samson on lead guitar, original Iron Maiden drummer Ron Rebel Matthews and vocalist Tony T-Bone Rees.

CD 1: McCOY EP (1982)
1 Oh Well!
2 Night Lights
3 The Sound Of Thunder
4 Temporary Threshold Shift
5 Because You Lied

THINK HARD (1985):
6 Freemind
7 The Demon Rose
8 Loving Lies
9 The Demon Rose
10 Heads Will Roll
11 Ride The Night
12 Fear Of The Morning
13 Jerusalem
14 Night Lights (Alternate Version) BONUS TRACK
15 Oh Well! (Single Version) BONUS TRACK

This set kicks off with the self-titled ‘McCoy’ EP (CD1), which starts with a rollicking cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh Well’. The EP ends with ‘Because You Lied’, a song sadly aimed at the lead singer of his former band. Released in 1985, ‘Think Hard’ (CD1) was McCoy’s first full set, featuring ‘Hell to Play’, ‘Heads Will Roll’ and ‘Ride The Night’.

Best known for forming Gillan, the band, with ex Deep Purple front man, Ian Gillan, when they badly broke up after 4 years, with John McCoy going on to form McCoy (the band, and ultimately, Mammoth), he did indeed write and subsequently dedicate ‘Because You Lied’ to Ian Gillan, which might just be why I love the raw honesty of its lyrics so much.

As for their first long-player, 1985’s Think Hard, well, now we’re talking as it is a foot to the floor rocker that is, as they say, all killer with no filler!

Sure it was recorded on a low budget and admittedly with an average vocalist, but my goodness, they get the best out of both here. Especially on tracks such as Freemind, The Demon Rose, The Demon Rose, Heads Will Roll, and my own personal favorite, Ride The Night (although the bonus track Oh Well! is a great touch too!).

I shows itself not to be a flashy rocker, at times not even a tasteful rocker, but instead a blended mix of catchy rock riffs that satisfy with every lick.

CD 2: BRAINSTORM (1998)
1 Dreaming Of The Dead
2 Heavy Metal Cowboy
3 On And On
4 Outrageous
5 I Know A Place
6 Don’t Walk Away
7 Save Me
8 Steamtrain
9 Bad Luck
10 Josephine
11 Tarot Cards
12 The Prophets Of Doom
13 The List/Zoomusic/The List Continues
14 Disillusioned
15 Hawaiians 2 - Electrolux 1

‘Brainstorm’ (CD 2) was recorded at Studio 43 in New York. McCoy was joined by ex-Belladonna guitarist/vocalist Al Romano and drummer Mike Sciotto (From The Fire); Rainbow and Black Sabbath drummer Bobby Rondinelli guests on two tracks.

Being joined here by both ex-Belladonna guitarist/vocalist Al Romano and Mike Scoitto (From The Fire) really needs to be brought into the light as this trio brought out what was the culmination of two years work and it is the most perfect showcase for McCoy’s talents.

As well as being chock full of some truly great hard rock playing, where tracks can be sometimes introspective, sometimes wildly upfront, this is an album that always repays repeated investigation.

In truth, and rightly so, McCoy takes chances in the diversity of his material and style on this album. Meaning that Brainstorm will not be pigeon holed and is certainly not for the faint of heart, of course. Classic, ageless and without boundaries, McCoy the artist, the band and this album, in particular, are in the most incredible form of their collective careers.

CD 3: LIVE 1977
1 Are You Sitting Comfortably?
2 I’ll Be Round (Part One)
3 Will You Want Me?
4 I’ll Be Round (Part Two)
5 Big Brother
6 Telephone
7 Wrong Side of Time
8 Loser
9 Six Foot Under
10 Cathedral
11 Love Lace Lady
12 The Shuffle
13 Nasty Dogs and Funk Kings
14 Big Boss Man
15 So Low
16 I Wish I Was

The band Samson were a major influence on the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal at the end of the 1970s, and John McCoy was an important figure for the band, playing bass, producing and co-writing their 1979 debut album. Prior to that, the band McCoy, with Paul Samson and drummer Roger Hunt, were regulars on the London and South East gigging circuit. Captured at the height of new wave, ‘Live 1977’ (CD 3) acts as a raw, rough and ready antidote to the nascent punk scene that gripped the UK at that time.

Recorded on July 11th, 1977 at The Target in Reading, Berkshire, this is the only surviving record of this power trio making this third CD an indispensable piece of rock history, and arguably one of the touchstones of NWOBHM, as several of the songs would eventually form the aforementioned Samson debut album; ‘Big Brother’, ‘Six Foot Under’, ‘The Shuffle’, ‘Wrong Side of Time’. Despite the challenging sound quality, you can still sense something special emerging.

Official Purchase Link

www.cherryred.co.uk





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