Sorry, all, but upon listening to these recordings again, I'm noticing that the some of the audio wasn't captured correctly. Specifically, the lead guitar parts are almost inaudible. This is almost certainly due to the crappy tape player I've been using for ripping I am currently trying to get my hands on a decent tape player so I can re-record this album (and others). I've decided I'll leave the link up for the time being. If you're a die-hard Angelwitch fan like me, you'll probably enjoy it even with the incomplete audio. If you're a casual NWOBHM collector on the other hand, then ignore this post until I have a new rip up. Here's my original post:
At long last, quite possibly the rarest bauble in my collection of cassettes, is The Troubador show from the reunion tour of one of the greatest NWOBHM bands, Angelwitch. According to the copyrights & the liner notes, the tour took place right around '89 or '90, about ten years after the release of their debut album. Believe it or not, they were not the headliners of the tour; rather, the headline act was the all-but-forgotten Laaz Rocket!!!
As much as I worshipped Angelwitch in my mid- to late-teens, it causes me no small grief to examine the liner notes to see just how underappreciated this band was. For example, examine the photos of the band onstage. Far from the wall-of-Marshall stacks Spinal Tap setup, it looks more like the tiny stages in the clubs of North Hollywood that currently feature such forgotten footnotes as Black Lab, Darling Violetta, and Snake River Conspiracy.
Kevin Heybourne & Co. perfected the balance of melody & brutality that would later be the signature sound of bands like Metallica & Megadeth. In fact, if you can find Metallica's great documentary, "Cliff 'em All", you can hear pre-Megadeth Dave Mustaine extolling the virtues of Angelwitch when a journalist asks the band who rank among its influences. Paradoxically, now in the age of internet, in which even the most insignificant mote of esoteria is instantly available for anyone's perusal, Angelwitch is all but forgotten. Seriously: try doing a Wikipedia search if you don't believe me.
Anyway, Angelwitch managed to put together an extremely attractive jacket for this cassette, and I'll admit that the satanic/sexual imagery was what first attracted me to this album back in my late teens. A cassette with both a naked woman AND a pentegram? Needless to say, my inner Beavis was giggling up a storm as I brought THIS tape to the cashier! "Angel of Death" is a positively crushing tune, but the moodier tracks like "Sorceress" and "White Witch" show Heybourne's significant songwriting talents. If any of you have heard Angelwitch's studio album, you'll be happy to know that the blaring, disco-fied harmonies in the choruses are absent on this album. Rather, the songs are played in a very straightforward four-piece format, which really lets the rawness of the songs shine.
One slightly interesting bit of trivia about Angelwitch: Their single "Sweet Danger" was actually the WORST performing song ever to show on the Hot 100 charts in Britain. It entered at number 100 for one week, and then dropped out the next, presumably to some awful number by Human League or Sparks.
http://rapidshare.com/files/2871619/Angelwitch_Live.zip.html
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3 comments:
thanx for that!!! i'm a huge NWOBHM fan. but i don't have much of Angel Witch. Can you upload their albums?? do u have any other NWOBHM bands?
Yeah, the link to the NWOBHM comp is still good, and I'll try to get some more ANgelwitch & some other NWOBHM rarities posted within the next couple of weeks.
Absolutely loving your site - Angel Witch are my fave band. I've been listening to this download for a few months. Have you got your new tape player yet - will you be reuploading the live album with the improved audio of Sir Heybourne's shredding? please. Thanks for all the mettle.
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