Girlschool: Take A Bite (reissue)

They say never judge a book by its cover and in the case of Girlschool's 1988 album, Take A Bite, thank goodness for that (even the band acknowledge in the interesting liner notes by Malcolm Dome in this HNE/Cherry Red reissue that instead of biting, the cover imagery sucks…). Putting the awful cover aside, Girlschool had some catching up to do, their underrated 1985 stab at melodic rock acceptance going down like a lead balloon, while the 1986 (sort of) return to rocking roots, Nightmare At Maple Cross, actually hit like a glam bam no thank you mam 70s stomp.

Ditching Nightmare producer Vic Maille, the gals brought in André Jacquemin, who while having recently knob twiddled on Motorhead's Rock n' Roll, was actually better known for working with Monty Python – well the album was recorded in Michael Palin's studio after all! Wanting to improve the band's sound Jacquemin set about updating their approach, a cleaner cut, less rabble roused attack the results. In fairness to the producer, his efforts are pretty decent, but with the feet firmly planted fist in the air chant-along, still being carried forward from their previous effort, Take A Bite ends up being neither one thing or the other. Instead "Action", "Don't Walk Away" and "Girls On Top" don't quite know whether they're Def Leppard or The Sweet – something compounded by the ho-hum cover of the latter's "Fox On The Run", which adds little to the original.

With the benefit of hindsight, Take A Bite feels like a missed opportunity, singer Kim McAuliffe giving one of her best performances, while her guitar work is as fiery as ever. Add in the rock solid rhythm work of newly recruited ex-Rock Goddess bassist Tracey Lamb and long standing drummer Denise Dufort and all that was left to do for Girlschool to reclaim their place as leaders of the 80s British Metal pack was to return to the snarly, no compromise sound that made their name. Unfortunately it's something that is seriously lacking across the ten tracks presented here. Still, Take A Bite isn't an awful album, although on the back of their two previous releases, neither was it the return to form they needed.

Four years would pass between this album and a self titled 1992 effort and then another decade before the much delayed and disjointed 21st Anniversary: Not For The Innocent. Unfortunately by that time most thought that Girlschool had pretty much ceased to be. In fact they've continued to this day and have recently released a new album, Guilty As Sin, which goes a long way to presenting the band at their best; something that with a few exceptions, Take A Bite falls a fair way short of.

Track Listing
1. ACTION
2. FOX ON THE RUN
3. GIRLS ON TOP
4. TEAR IT UP
5. LOVE AT FIRST BITE
6. HEAD OVER HEELS
7. UP ALL NIGHT
8. THIS TIME
9. DON'T WALK AWAY
10. TOO HOT TO HANDLE

Added: August 7th 2016
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Take A Bite at Cherry Red
Hits: 1571
Language: english

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