220 Volt - Lethal Illusion (1997)

Perhaps the saddest sign of hard rock and traditional metal's state in the 90s were so many of the boring ass cover arts. Meant to be iconic, they rarely involved more than the band's logo over some metallic or larval Photoshop 'texture' background, and though they intended to make some statement of solidarity or simplicity. Looking back, this was a tremendously bad idea, since a good visual aesthetic with some effort involved is always a reliable means of imbuing your work with some durability. Maybe Metallica could get away with this on The Black Album, but for all else...well, let's just say there's a good reason you won't forget Iron Maiden's cover for Powerslave, and you will need a few gigs of extra memory to recall 220 Volt's fifth album, Lethal Illusion.

But to be fair, this was an album recorded around 1989-1992, with material that was supposed to follow up the severely disappointing, sellout effort Eye to Eye. So immediately, this album is out of place for a 1997 release, and unfortunately, for those hoping it is some return to form of the first three records, it continues directly where Eye to Eye left off. Bluesy, generic hard rock which is meant for mass appeal and radio spots rather than raging, banging heads at a live gig. That being said, I will argue that Lethal Illusion is a better record than its predecessor, because as lame as it would be that 220 Volt could not grasp what made them special in the first place, they have done a far better job of writing the songs here.

Obviously, the songs that verge on more metallic elements, even if they be in the simple melodies and chords of the guitars and feel no heavier than Great White, are my favorites here. I was not offended by "Big Business", "Disappointed" or "Lethal Illusion" itself, which are all metal lite though the flowing backup vocals and bluesy mesh similar to Kingdom Come (a band I happen to enjoy greatly) with less impressive singing. "Shotgun Sally" is basically a pure NWOBHM song, or at least could be considered so if it had come from the throat of Biff Byford and Saxon. "Don't You believe Me" is like a more reserved Skid Row, and "The Great Escape" is a slow, atmospheric ballad that picks into some tasty, driving metal which is probably my favorite on the entire record. On the flip side, there are songs like "Before You Go" which feels like a pseudo-cover of Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down" gone hard rock, or the Extreme-like boogie rock of "Chicago" which basically sucks.

I hope this record made someone money somewhere, or appealed to the small handful of fans that might have adored Eye to Eye if they were suitably lacking in good taste, because there's not much else to justify its existence. 220 Volt's metal years remain their best, and they simply were too late to benefit from the arena rock/hard rock bandwagon that died painfully as the 90s rolled on. This is a mild improvement over its '88 predecessor, and there are some moments here which are catchy and pleasing to the ear, but it would not be the disaster relief this band so obviously needed to keep their heads above water.

Verdict: Fail [4.75/10]

http://www.220volt.se/

220 Volt - Eye to Eye (1988)

Perhaps the pressure of delivering three tight metal records, which ranged from 'good' (220 Volt in 1983) to 'great' (Mind Over Muscle in 1985) and reaching very little success rubbed off on the Swedish hopefuls, because when 1988 arrived the band had seriously gimped itself into just another common hard rock band struggling for the airwaves against a thousand other faceless acts trapped into short term, major label deals which would most often result in their undoing. That's not to say Eye to Eye is the shittiest album you've ever heard, because there are certainly far worse cases of a band treading the same raunchy path, but after Mind Over Muscle, one might have hoped that the band's legacy and upwards path would continue, transforming 220 Volt into one of the most raging metal forces in all of 80s Sweden!

Instead, you've got a very commercial flop here which at best apes some unlikely hybrid of Firehouse, Europe, AC/DC and even the groovier hard rock guitars of an Extreme into a digestible, but soon forgotten fast food course that you'd partake of en route to some more important event in your life. The line-up remains the same as their excellent 1985 effort, but all ambitions to progress and power forward into immortality were castrated and the flopping, sad eunuch that remains is worth nothing more than a cheap dispense at the nearest bargain bin. It's REALLY fucking ironic that the first song on this album is called "The Harder They Come", when in fact the band does NOT come hard whatsoever. This is friendly radio fare with a cool lick or two in betwixt the rather average chords and tremolo guitar line which closely resembles Dire Straits or AC/DC.

Sad to say, this is one of the better songs on the album, and most of the record consists of Def Leppard-like hard rock ala "Beat of a Heart" or the awful "Still in Love", which I'd expect from Winger much moreso than this once mighty Swedish platoon. I'll admit, I cannot think of a Europe ballad in the 80s that is more gimped than this one...not catchy enough to make or break the band, and not heavy enough to please those poor fans who appreciated the first three albums. When you're lucky, you'll get a track like "Money Talks" which at least has a decent riff or two among the shuffle of poor predictability.

In short, 220 Volt could have been something other than a Scorpions or Europe clone, using those influences favorably and proceeding from the time they showed such immense potential, but they instead traversed the descending path to many a drunken night, wondering where it all went wrong. We all remember those crop of hard rock MTV rotated shite hair band videos of the 80s, which often would choke up the programming of Headbangers Ball. Do we remember any from 220 Volt? No. Exactly! For even if the Swedes had been better suited towards this direction, they offered too little too late to appeal to the aerosol zombies that were sucking Bon Jovi and Bret Michaels records off the record shelves faster than they'd snub their poor boyfriends' advances while dreaming of their high-haired effeminate man-gods.

Now to light some incense in here, because this stinks!

Verdict: Fail [3.5/10]

http://www.220volt.se/

220 Volt - Mind Over Muscle (1985)

I can probably forgive the world for letting 1984's Power Games come and go with little fanfare. That was a busy day and age for metal music, what with bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica exploding in popularity. It was a very good record, and ample evidence of a rising force in the Swedish scene (pun intended), but it didn't quite stand above what a lot of other acts were offering at the time, so into the bowels of history it would go, until nostalgia could pluck it forth once again. What I cannot forgive is that the subsequent album Mind Over Muscle received would also receive so little love or attention! Truly this is the apex of 220 Volt's output and one of the better pure Swedish metal albums of the decade!

There were a few aesthetic tweaks to the band with this album. The most obvious is that the band ditched the whole 'sexy female hand wielding power device or control while adorned in cut off leather glove or studded wristband' thing they had going on, and went with a good old SHMUP-style spaceship scene! Some might think this evidence that the band were verging on a more progressive sound for the new album, but that's now how it turned out. Another change was the addition of Peter Olander, after the band parted with guitarist Thomas Drevin (he would later return to the fold in 2002). I'm not sure if this change had any direct impact on the writing, or how involved Olander would be in the writing, but clearly something went right, because this blazes trails over the previous two albums.

Wanna know why? Well, for starters, this is a far more straightforward melodic power/speed metal album, with most of the hard rock elements of the past works consigned to oblivion. In my opinion, this shift holds a greater attraction, and the songwriting, which was already going strong on Power Games, is considerably improved once more. There is a more serious attitude to this record that does not entirely abandon the band's skill at vocal hooks and big fills. Jocke Lundholm is enormous on this record, and he has shed all of the roughshod, inexperience of youth to develop into a force to rival Joey Tempest. The riffs kick ass almost the whole way through the album, and this would easily appeal to fans of modern power or traditional metal more so than anything else in 220 Volt's catalog.

Everything about this record is bigger, longer, and harder...and it maintains an immense level of quality across most of the 12 tracks. "The Tower" erupts from a brief segment of churning feedback, with a driving freight train rhythm somewhere between Saxon and Exciter. The chorus is excellent, with some simple classical shred to elevate it beyond the vocal climax. "In the End" coils and grooves almost as if it were a Mercyful Fate/King Diamond track, with the obvious difference in vocals, before a glistening, hard rock groove in the chorus that is impossible to resist. "Electric Messengers", "Whiter Than White", "Blessed by the Night", "Touch of Fire" and "Halloween" are just five more thundering reasons why the album should have blown up the charts, and if you somehow miss the band's hard rock sound from the debut, well they've got you covered with "Mind Over Muscle", though I'd argue it's the weakest song here. If you can get your hands on the Metal Rendezvous re-issue from 2001, then you get two great bonus tracks: the superb, working class metal of "High Heels", sure to sate a Dokken or Europe fan, and the fetching, memorable "Dreams" with some tasteful speed licks and enormous vocals that almost verge on The Cult.

Mind Over Muscle is absolutely the FIRST record anyone should listen to if you're interested in 220 Volt, because you will be unable to look back afterward unless you are a massive anti tool whose cruel irony and lack of spirit leeches the metallic content from all of our blood. Half the songs on this album are perfect for cruising with the top down, throwing horns on the highway or just razing your arms through the wind itself. Enthusiastic, powerful and impressive, it's a long hidden gem of a near forgotten period in one of the world's largest metal markets.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10] (to live or to burn)

http://www.220volt.se/

220 Volt - Power Games (1984)

It would be about 1984 by the time it became apparent that 220 Volt deserved much more recognition than they were receiving, because Power Games is a pretty great melodic metal record that easily is the equal of any Europe release, even if there's nothing here like 'that keyboard line', you know the one. The album is both louder and more memorable than the original 220 Volt in every conceivable way, and it sounds like some Swedish counterpart to the American band Riot, with a lot of unspoken reverb to the tracks that simply ricochets off into a night sky full of dreams, aircraft, electricity and expectations.

They were still with CBS records (they would be for the first four albums) and still the same lineup of Jocke Lundholm (vocals), Mats Karlsson and Thomas Drevin (guitars), Mike Larsson (bass) and Peter Hermansson (drums), and you need listen no further than the opener "Firefall" to hear just how much they've developed in such a short time. Brazen, rocking mayhem with a superb sense for powerful chords that heighten both the verse and chorus, while intense, brief bursts of melodic guitar fills contribute to the momentum. This song alone is already better than anything off the debut, and Lundholm has improved quite a lot, with a greater reach that never falls flat as he often did on the previous record.

"Airborne Fighter" is like a searing rhythm & blues metal with some nice melodic bylines and another predictable, yet killer climax. "Over the Top" seems more desperate for accessibility, using some clean guitars and one of 'those keyboard lines' along with the chorus vocal, but it's still got a sense of rhythmic determination akin to a Europe. I also really enjoyed the mystical, plodding "Child or Beast" with its Arabesque verse notation, and "Don't Go" and "Night Without End" are both pretty smooth. One track I did not feel strongly for was the closing ballad "Carry On", though the chorus is strong enough to have it included with the rest of these tracks, and I like the touch of organs that coincide with the lead.

Power Games must have been a pleasant surprise to both the band's label and native fanbase, since its got a brighter sense of 'hit power' without sacrificing the bands inbred metal talent. It's one of their better albums, though on the successor Mind Over Muscle they would take another considerable step up. If you dwell in that gray area between 80s hard rock and heavy/power metal fan, this is one you should make haste to hear.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.220volt.se/

220 Volt - 220 Volt (1983)

It's almost frightening how much the country of Sweden has matured into such a dominating force in many walks of metal, from the revived traditions of thrash, power and melodic speed metal to the more extreme tastes of black and death, this is a nation with more to offer than high taxes, high employment rates and beautiful women. But this is hardly 'news', as the Swedes have been cranking out a wealth of output since the days they all picked up their first classic metal records out of Britain, Germany or the USA. Yes, long before the explosion of melodic death metal in the 90s or the race to match Norway's black metal scene in proximity, this country was ripe with big dreams, big hair and big riffs.

One of the earliest to adopt the format was the band 220 Volt, a group of youngsters who joined forces to play the music that not only could elevate them on to the national stage, but also the music that they just wanted to hear. After a series of demos in 1982, they had their chance when they were picked up by the high profile CBS records, and their s/t debut arrived the following year, a rough and tumble response to the waves of melodic, traditional metal that were storming across the British mainland. A large portion of the material here was culled from the demos (especially the first demo), but "Lonely Nights", "No Return", "End of the World" and "Stop and Look Back" were all new to this recording. The formula throughout is pretty simple: chord driven anthems glazed with more intricate and arresting melodies, crashing drum kit and the cutting, if wavering vocals of Jocke Lundholm, who is a lot more Klaus Meine than he is Rob Halford.

Listening back on the album, it was pretty solid for its day, and also pretty heavy. Sure, we're not talking proto-thrash metal, but a sheer force in the chords that places it well beyond the strata of the typical, accessible hard rock of its day. For example, it rocks harder than a Quiet Riot or Twisted Sister, and is probably most comparable to other Swedish metal of its day like Heavy Load or Europe (before The Final Countdown). Vocalist Lundholm can nail a good melody, but there's something rough about his vocals which betray his heavy accent, and at times the overall production can suffer. For example, his performance on the Ozzy-like "No Return" is uneven, and I'm not particularly fond of his voice in "Stop and Look Back" either, but for the most part, he's at least got the sense of urgent, raid warning desperation that so typifies classic 80s Scorpions or Riot.

Favorites here would have to include the choppy speed metal of "Woman in White", with some pretty hilarious lyrics: She likes to be seen in the middle, she likes when a party gets hot, everyone thinks she's a sinner, and everyone likes her a lot... Haha. Shouldn't this woman be in red, or black perhaps? Nevertheless, the blazing lead here is pretty hot, and the song overall, one of the demo selections, kicks some serious ass. "Gypsy Queen" and the speed/boogie blues of "Child of the Night" are other highlights, as is the plodding, graceful weight of "The End of the World". A few do not fare so well. "Nightwinds" suffers from some annoying female guest vocals, like being shouted at by a least favorite sister, cousin or aunt during the Holidays, and "Stop and Look Back" and "No Return" do not showcase Jocke Lundholm at his finest.

Of course, many would be immediately turned off by the dated tones of the record, but this has never been a sore spot for any that seek the genuine 80s article with none of the excess modern polish you're going to hear on a HammerFall platter. The songs are pretty well crafted, but in particular the leads and melodies dominate over the actual chord progressions, which are typical of their age. 220 Volt is not the best of the band's work, and they would make gradual strides forward with Power Games and Mind Over Muscle, which are both more accessible and less straightforward than this debut (Europe fans would definitely enjoy them more), but as far as honest slabs of Swedish history, it still sparks a nostalgia for pure, unfiltered European metal as the beast was slowly awakening across a number of nations.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.220volt.se/