Various Artists – "It's Unheard Of (14 Full Power Heavy Metal / Rock Tracks ...)"- (Sane Records – SANE 002) 1984

A rather more obscure NWOBHM collection from Sane Records,who put out a couple of other sister compilations in their short tenure, one being a Punky effort, and the other a minimal synth classic,both of which are featured on this lovely blog......just click the clicky blue bits and you'll be taken there.

This 14 tracker has a wide cross-section of British metal,leaning towards a poppy orientation.Surprisingly,nothing actually made me laugh until track 12, "Encounter" by Sapphire.The first words of this dreadful Ballad give you a clue,.... "She was my lady",who had unfortunately died some time before of an unrevealed illness...either that or she fell off his Honda C-50 while riding pillion to a Sapphire Gig ,its not clear.The songs timescale isn't obvious and this was his tribute to his dead lover,apparently "She was the only one"....ahhhh,i'm welling up. 

I can see several pairs of spandex tights cladding these very misguided young men with large hairdos.I'm thinking Hair Metal here,or Glam, as we more sensibly called it in the UK.

It gets a bit scratchy towards the end,sorry, but its all in the best possible dodgy taste but largely all good fun

Tracklist:

A1 Incubus – Lost Soul
A2 Runestaff– The Games You Play
A3 Pyramid – Time Forgets A Hero
A4 Avalanche – Night Creeper
A5 Ded Engine– Renegade
A6 Research Dept.,– Mrs. Poe
A7 Hammerhead – Lochinvar
B1 Cry Wolf – Seventh Sister
B2 Shylock – Egypt
B3 Trident – The Power Of The Trident
B4 Nu-Tricx – Cry
B5 Sapphire – Encounter
B6 Kraken – Rat Race
B7 Incubus – Way Of The World

DOWNLOAD to hear the unheard HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "On The Street" (Sane Records ‎– SANE 003) 1984

Sane Records followed up their 'Electropop' compilation of undiscovered uk synthbands, with, believe it or not, a 'Punk'compilation of those horrible groups that called themselve 'Punx' in 1984 UK.They also did a NWOBHM comp too....I don't think I could survive listening to that one as well as this!!??
By this time in the radioactive decay scale equivalent of generic music lifespan, 'Punk' was about 6 years past its Half-Life. What was tired and irritating by the end of 1978,had started to lose its intelligence, and what we were left with was the rotting seeds of 'Oi' and 'UK82', championed by Gary Bushell; like the Angelic Upstarts and Cockney Rejects. The real intelligence had departed for fresher fields by 1979, leaving just the yob element to flesh out the Daily Mirrors desciption of 'Punk' Rock exactly.
Legions of uniformed, agressive  young men on a quest to repress each other down to the lowest possible common denominator. This album could have been made by one single group, not 14!!!? Every track follows exactly the same formula, like a male only club. This had already happened in the USA, where this genre had become a macho male club on a quest to get faster and faster, just for the sake of 'Speed' because that's 'Punk' innit? Depressing stuff...for all the wrong reasons.
Having said that, i sort of enjoyed this, now thats it resides strictly in the vintage section of the rock'n'roll jumble sale. Some of the Guitar sounds are enviably dirty, but the lyrics are toe curlingly bad. Especially shit about Punx'n'Skinz, or Notts Punx!!? Best not to listen too closely, and just let the basic-ness tug at your funny bone.

Tracklisting:
A1 –Primitive - Why
A2 –Vicious Hamsters - Soul City Boys
A3 –Acid Attack - Suburbia's Dream
A4 –Oi Polloi - Punx 'n' Skinz
A5 –Devoid - Conned
A6 –The Abductors - Notts Punks
A7 –Catch 22 - Danger Zone
B1 –Criminal Justice - Machines And Systems
B2 –Criminal Justice - Middle East Mayhem
B3 –Fungus - Swimming Life
B4 –4 Minute Warning - I Don't Care
B5 –The Clergy - Blow This Town
B6 –Dead On Arrival - Molester
B7 –Dead On Arrival - Zyklon B
B8 –Obscene Females - Brain Surgeon
B9 –Obscene Females - Undersea
B10 –Obscene Females - Modern Art
B11 –Rough Justice - Victory To The Rebels

DOWNLOAD some roadkill HERE!

Various ‎Artists – "Subtle Hints" (Sane Records ‎– SANE 001) 1983

14 electropop trax from 'Undiscovered Bands'....it says on the cover.
And they remained so, despite Sane Records' noble attempt to find the new Human League.
It's not easy to write a pop tune you know? and this album is full of 14 noble attempts to get into the top forty, and failing miserably.From a minimal synth/cold wave point of view,its all jolly fine stuff, scoring highly on the analogue synth sounds(although they could have been harsher and chunkier?) front and even higher for obscurity.....which is essential for minimal wave fans.

Tracklisting:

A1 –Squid Diddley - Always There
A2 –Chain Of Command - Some Aspects
A3 –Mon Amour - Always Tomorrow's Rain
A4 –My Pierrot Dolls - My Pierrot Dolls
A5 –Hidden Pleasure - Beautiful Lady
A6 –This Side Of Paradise - Witchcraft
A7 –Ad Astra - A&R
B1 –Time Statues - Statue Of The Night
B2 –Picture Book - Success
B3 –Ind-X - If It Happened To You
B4 –Synchronization - Pseudo Rich
B5 –New Vices For The Jaded - Follow Careers In Modern Love
B6 –Art Interface - Beneath The Calm
B7 –My Pierrot Dolls - Picture In Oils

DOWNLOAD subtly HERE!