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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

FASTWAY -CD 1983-RETRO PICK

There were a lot of awesome hard rock and metal albums released in 1983. Def Leppard's Pyromania, Triumph's Never Surrender, Quiet Riot's Metal Health, Saxon's Power & the Glory, Piece of Mind by Iron Maiden, Another Perfect Day by Motorhead, You Can't Stop Rock and Roll by Twisted Sister, Kill 'em All by Metallica, Flick of the Switch by AC/DC and Dio's Holy Diver just to name a few.

In April 1983 there was also another album released by an outfit called Fastway. It was their debut which was self titled. It may have only sold a fraction of units that many of the above mentioned classics but this is without hesitation a great album.

Fastway was a British metal bad formed by former Motorhead guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke and former UFO bassist Pete Way. They combined the Fast from Eddie and the Way from Pete and called themselves Fastway. Neither were happy in their bands and left to create a new band together. It should be noted that both Motorhead and UFO released albums in 1983 also. Pete and Eddie recruited former Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley and unknown vocalist Dave King to fill out the band's lineup. Pete Way then learned he would not be let out of his deal with Chrysalis records and could not continue with Fastway. Session musician Mick Feat replaced him for the recording of this self-titled debut. Although it is Feat playing bass it is still Way who is credited on the record.

"Easy Livin'" & "Feel Me, Touch Me (Do Anything you Want)"are fist-waving upbeat anthem rockers. Catchy tunes that stay with you. "You Get Me Runnin" is another catchy sing along song with the usual hard rock overtones of the day. There is no doubt that Dave King was influenced in his style by Robert Plant but he is not a clone as he  showcases his own style and permeates a passion and mood equal to each song's lyrics. The quintessential gem of this collection is "Say What You Will" with blistering vocals and killer fret work from Mr. Clarke.

Definitely something you should check out if you missed out on in 1983 or worth checking out again if you did. These tunes hold up today as well as they did back then. It's available from Amazon.com and other outlets. Full track listing from Amazon below.

1. Easy Living
2. Feel Me, Touch Me (Do Anything You Want)
3. All I Need Is Your Love
4. Another Day
5. Heft!
6. We Become One
7. Give It All You Got
8. Say What You Will
9. You Got Me Runnin'
10. Give It Some Action
11. Far Far from Home




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