Overlooked Classic
A. Coulson | Columbia SC USA | 09/21/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"TOKYO BLADE should have been huge. They had the chops of IRON MAIDEN combined with the more melodic sensibilities of DEF LEPPARD, but in the end those two bands went on to superstardom and TB was left to the annals of history. Anyone who doubts that power metal grew out of the NWOBHM need only listen to tracks like 'Sunrise in Tokyo' to know the error of their ways.
This cd represents their first full-length album (they had released some singles previously, initally releasing them under their earlier moniker GHENGIS KHAN) which was originally self-titled, but later pressings carried the name 'midnight rendezvous'. The tracklisting & back cover color layout was also different on the later pressing (and actually better IMO) but this cd, from the highly reknowned reissue masters at High Vaultage, contains all the tracks from both pressings. The only thing I'm unsure of is whether the cd contains both versoins of the spoofy 'blue ridge mts of Va', though most fans would certainly live contently w/o either version :-) (on one pressing the song was done normally, and on the other pressing it was recorded at 45 rpm- as if it weren't silly-sounding enough in the first place).
Anyway, this should be checked out by fans of bands like 'night'-era Def Leppard, 'court'-era SATAN, TYTAN, and other NWOBHM/early power metal bands that focused on melody, uptempo songs, and flashy guitar work"
Not the original,but still good.
A. Coulson | 03/08/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Tokyo Blade was part of the NWOBHM.They never made it big like their British counterparts,Judas Priest,Iron Maiden or Def Leppard but still made great music.I have the original cassette version of this from the mid 80's.Why is it that these reissues have all these extra tracks and the original tracks out of order from the original track order which is my main complaint.I would have given this a five in its original form.I have noticed this on several albums.
Midnight Rendezvous is a great album.It's melodic and yet it still rocks hard."Power Game" has a killer guitar solo in it that would give Eddie Van Halen a run for his money.Great drumming on the beginning of "Mean Streak"."Blue Ridge Mountains" sounds silly and they were just clowning around in the studio."Break the Chains" sounds a little like an Ozzy song in the beginning."If Heaven is Hell","Highway Passion","Killer City",and "Sunrise in Tokyo" are great songs as well.Tokyo Blade is one of those underrated,overlooked bands that were actually making better music than some of the mainstream hair bands.
I recommend this album for fans of Autograph,Y&T,Night Ranger,etc.If you like 80's hard rock/metal with great guitar work and catchy melodies,you'll find that this album is very enjoyable and worth owning.The track order should have been as follows:
1.Midnight Rendezvous
2.Break the Chains
3.If Heaven is Hell
4.Mean Streak
5.Power Game
6.Highway Passion
7.Killer City
8.Sunrise in Tokyo
Bonus Tracks:
9.Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia
10.Liar
11.Tonight
12.Death on Main Street"
NWOBHM Masterpiece
house hater | 12/14/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The first album by Tokyo Blade is a real classic. It kicks ass from begining to the end no bad or soft tracks on it. The solo parts are very good and they seem to go on for ever. All the songs have a good groove to it just listen to swinging tracks like "Killer City" and "Powergames" that has a nice bit of soloing in it similar to "Cold Sweat" of Thin Lizzy. "Tonight" is a good medium-pased headbanger that's originally been written by Russ Ballard. You wouldn't expect such a heavy song from him hearing such songs like "Since you've been gone" and "I Surrender". "If heaven is hell" has a nice melodic feel to it similar to the Scorpions with nice pieces of melodic guitar in them. But my favorite song is the "Sunrise in Tokyo" with glorious soloparts in it. It record also reminds me of Y&T a bit"
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1