Steel Vengeance: Second Offense (remastered)

1986!! The Hard Rock/Metal world gave us gems like Metallica's Master of Puppets, Queensryche's Rage for Order, Fates Warning's Awaken the Guardian, and Iron Maiden's Somewhere in Time, but it also gave us the 2nd album, Second Offense, from the US band, Steel Vengeance. Don't worry, I had never heard of them before either, but Metal Mind Productions has chosen to remaster this record in a Digipak edition with 2 bonus tracks and 2 videos.

The CD booklet photo will explain about all that you need to know, red leather and animal print spandex pants! There are also handcuffs dangling from the guitar player's black leather pants, for no apparent reason, which of course would indicate that these guys are going to suck, and you will not be disappointed. This record is not a good representation of the great time in music that 1986 was, that's for sure. Second Offense is chocked full of caterwauling vocal screams thrown in just because, as well as forgettable musical performances abound. The opening track, "Beware The Wizard", sounds like one of the first songs that any garage band from the early to mid 80's might have written. It is overly simple with high pitched screeching, soaked in reverb to the point where you can barely understand the lyrics at all and a simpleton like guitar lead. This is to be the pre-cursor to what is to come on this release, sub-par mediocrity.

While I don't think Steel Vengeance really suck, they just aren't very good. In fact, the 2 Bonus tracks are the 2 best songs on this entire album! I don't know how this band ever got signed, but they completely remind me of a bunch of local bands in ANYTOWN, USA during this time period, where bands found it necessary to wear makeup, red leather and silly spandex to "look cool". I found this band to be tremendously boring, unoriginal, with horribly below average songs that you won't find yourself interested in listening to again. If you liked bands like Hexx, Damien or maybe even The Vinnie Vincent Invasion, then check them out. But you've been warned.

Tracklist:
1. Beware The Wizard
2. She Moves In The Night
3. Eyes That Cannot See
4. Useless Information
5. Breakin' Away
6. Open The Door
7. Don't Waste It On Me
8. Pleasure With Pain
9. Just One More Time
10. Dead Or Alive
Bonus tracks:
11. Hardman (Demo)
12. Wartime Love (Demo)
13. Useless Information (Live) VIDEO
14. It Don't Matter (Live) VIDEO

Added: November 14th 2013
Reviewer: Butch Jones
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 1934
Language: english

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