Search - Vardis :: 100 Mph

Quintessential NWOBHM live album

Bloodbath_and_Beyond | usa | 01/23/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Not being a particular big fan of Vardis, upon hearing their certified NWOBHM classic If I Were King, further investigation lead me to a live track called 100mph. Which really blew me away, leading to a few other singles, I gathered Vardis could hardly be called heavy metal as they have more of musical kinship to 70's boogie rock bands like Foghat. Although given their more raw and direct sound, they are definetly much less commercial or say, not as approachable to mainstream listeners. Although the best of could tide over most fans who can venture past first class NWOBHM legends like Venom, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Angel Witch, Saxon, Tank, Gaskin, Jaguar, Satan, early Iron Maiden, and veer off into more melodic and/or less sophisticated bands of the genre like Demon, Girlschool, early Def Leppard, Holocaust, this live album which just finally earned itself a reissue in 2009, served as the group's debut album. Their latter efforts in the studio never quite held up as much as this amazingly raw and razor sharp recording of Vardis doing what they did best, playing live in the blue coller pubs and small venues of England. This record turned the tide for me, upon hearing samples it was apparent this was a must have. Each track is brimming with the vibrant energy of 3 british kids playing great fun rock and roll. Steve Zodiac on guitar is amazing and Alan Selway on bass is a great rhythm section. Tracks like Out Of The Way, Move Along, Living Out Of Touch, and more melodic anthemic rockers like Situation Negative, Lion's Share, Destiny and The Loser are all brimming with amazing hard rock energy. The more raw and non polished sound helps as usual with any NWOBHM band. They sounded great because they were so raw and gritty, with no expensive productions or mixing done. It was honest and brutal. Of course their trademark song is included, but for me the keytrack here is the title song 100mph. A 7 minute excursion of kick ass hard rock jamming with some of Steves best guitar playing. The best of Vardis ridiculously cuts off the solo at the end of the track. Although whichever version you hear is still great. This is the song that attracted me to this band. So as a album in whole, it's essential for fans of rare early 80's hard rock, although for that quarter of NOWBHM fans that like more faster pre-thrash era groups like Saxon, Accept, or Venom, you might be wanting a little more. But either way, this is definetly isn't pop music and is the best outing these guys ever have. No NWOBHM fan should go without this."