Search - Breaker :: Get Tough

Forgotten Warriors Of A Long Lost Realm Return!

The Great Rocky Hill | Pittsburgh, PA USA | 05/06/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fozzy may purport to be "the greatest metal band that never was",but Breaker appear to me to be the real thing. I'm not saying that anyone stole their songs,but they just sound to me like a band that should have achieved superstardom with their style of pure metal combat and didn't for some reason. This is a re-issue of an album that was originally released in May of 1987,but listening to it,you would never be able to tell. After reading about their history in the masterful liner notes(courtesy of Mark Gromen),and listening to this 2CD set,I can't understand why these guys aren't riding high on the resurgence of pure power/prog metal(yeah,I know the biz stinks,but it ain't fair). CD number 1 is the actual re-issue,and what a lost treasure it is! My only knowledge of Breaker prior to experiencing this aural onslaught was from an online review,and a brief entry in Mark Hale's "Headbangers:The Worldwide Megabook of Heavy Metal Bands",so I sort of had an idea of what to expect. The band themselves cite the Scorpions and Accept as influences, which is obvious to me from listening to such deadly riff-creatures as "Razor's Edge", "From The Heart",and the infectious "Black & White". "From The Heart" is a beautiful chimera of the Scorpions "Blackout" and Accept's "Neon Nights";"Razor's Edge" is a tasty cocktail made in part from the Scorpion's "Dynamite" and Motorhead's "Ace of Spades"; and "Black & White" is an invocation of Accept's "Up To The Limit". However,what this album really reminds me of is the Kingdom of Obscurity:a realm where great bands like France's Sortilege,England's Grim Reaper,and Sweden's Overdrive now call home. I can hear Sortilege's "D'alleurs" and Grim Reaper's "See You In Hell" within the maelstrom that is track 1,"Lie To Me". Visions of bands like More and Wildfire appear to me in songs like "Blood Money" and "Behind Enemy Lines". Maybe I'm a loon,but Get Tough sounds like a sonic memoir of a journey through that realm with Metal Church as lyrical guides as well as a display of what they brought back. My favorite souvenir is the aforementioned "Lie To Me",a song with a thundering Brit-metal groove and a Vanderhoof-esque lyrical perspective.CD 2 is a mixed bag that still manages to hold one's interest,mainly because of compositions such as "Still Life","Action",Touch Like Thunder",and the metaphysical dirge "Standing In The Light" The tracks on the second disc were culled from demo's,compilations and whatnot,which explains the choppiness. Many bonus tracks on re-issues today are rubbish,but Breaker bust that trend in the chops,offering tunes that are all capable at the very least.In the end,"Get Tough" is a collection of ageless,rip-snortin' metal classics forged by a group of blacksmiths who still pine for the early 80's and find much of today's metal scene(meaning the popular stuff) to be so flimsy. Get Tough is what Fozzy's debut wishes it could be; a "long-lost masterpiece" that was created in the present and retro-fitted into heavy metal's rich history."