Lost Classic - Tokyo Blade - Night Of The Blade

[ElectricWiz]

I expect I might take some flak for this one.

I bought this album on the same day I bought Metallica's Ride The Lightning (which had just come out). I was on vacation with my folks and for whatever reason we stopped off in Atlanta on the way to Florida. Even back then I was looking for record stores wherever I went (we lived in a rural area).

I spent the balance of the driving part of the trip complete lost in my headphones listening to RTL and the above mentioned "lost classic."

I know that Tokyo Blade went on to really blow it. But this album is a Maiden-esque sounding disc, full of well crafted tunes. A great singer too. I still think it's awesome. Some of you may not even have heard it, and some of you have probably heard the shyte this guys went on to plug out. This is the only one I ever owned. I think of it as one of the, oh I don't know, top 5 or 10 albums of NWOBHM.

Let the flames fly, or not.....

 

[carnut]

No flames from here, I also think "Night of the Blade" is a superb album !!

 

[ElectricWiz]

That's kind of a relief! Ha! I just know that they made some real clunkers. I put the disc in after I wrote the post, and it reaffirmed my thoughts on it. It's soooo freaking good. These guys could've been huge, or at least could have made some really good records.

Anybody who doesn't own this, incidentally, and really likes old school in the key of Maiden and Priest should check it out. Just great, great songs. Great playing. Great, distinctive voice.

 

[Hawk]

Yep the first Tokyo Blade is a classic. It made quite some waves here in the Netherlands. They were invited to play at the Aardschok festival.

 

[carnut]

Yep the first Tokyo Blade is a classic. It made quite some waves here in the Netherlands. They were invited to play at the Aardschok festival.

If I'm correct there are two versions of the first album with different vocalists..the second (same as on Night o/t Blade) being the best....
ermmm, names, gotta do some googling for that...

After some googling came up that I was a bit wrong......
The first album was released with two different names, and different tracklists, though the album cover artwork was the same.
Night Of The Blade was first recorded with original vocalist Alan Marsh, then (due to label pressure) re-recorded with new vocalist Vic Wright, who was brought in as a more commercially viable vocalist. The Marsh version eventually was released in 1998 as The Night Before.

 

[Wyvern]

I expect I might take some flak for this one.

Anyone flak you regarding this one and its ass belongs to me!

Back in the year of our lord 1984-85 there was a neat show on pop radio Saturdays 13:00-14:00. The DJ also owned a record store and through the program I heard tons of good stuff that incidentally I had been chasing for years afterwards.
Along the cool stuff I heard at the time was 'Break The Chains' a song that went deep into my bones and drove eventually to get "Tokyo Blade" a couple of years ago. The version plus bonus tracks is such a jewel that I felt compelled to get their second album too.
Finally a year ago I found a reasonable priced copy of "Night Of The Blade- the night before".

As carnut mentioned Alan Marsh the original vocalist was replaced after the debut and the recordings he made for the sophomore album were never released until now. So actually two different versions of NOTB are around one with Vic Wright and another with Marsh. NOTB-tnb also has some Mr.Ice recordings a spin of Tokyo Blade that was too commercial and away from the original sound to be followed but who cares for the bonus tracks?

Not as fresh as the debut NOTB still is a great TB album, pure uncompromised metal that delivers to any fan of bands from the NWOBHM period.

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

I haven't killed so many brain cells that I've forgotton about Tokyo Blade. In fact, I have the self titled album on vinyl still. Unfortunately, all my vinyl is in storage at my friend Lorenzo's house in Idaho, so I haven't listened to TB in about 15 years. I know Lorenzo has a copy of Night of the Blade, so I think I'll ask him to dust off our two TB albums this summer while I am vacationing.