Year : 1985-1988 (HNE/ Cherry Red Records Box Set Edition 2025)
Style : Heavy Metal
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 438 mb
Bio:
Raven are an English heavy metal band associated with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. They had a hit with the single "On and On", and refer to their music as "athletic rock".Raven was formed in 1974 in Newcastle, England, by brothers John and Mark Gallagher, and Paul Bowden.Raven began creating a sound which was rooted in British hard rock, with progressive rock tendencies, and a willingness to take musical chances. The band's highly energized live show and interaction between band members developed a unique image and style of play, described as "athletic". They began wearing guards, helmets, and plates from various sports (hockey, baseball, etc...), and incorporating them into the playing of their instruments (for instance, elbow pads and hockey masks were used to strike cymbals). Their music began to develop into a unique amalgam of speed and power - heavily influencing the genres of speed/thrash metal and power metal. The band have a reputation as an extremely energetic live band - and for regularly destroying their equipment.They started by playing local pubs and working men's clubs in the North East of England - occasionally opening shows for punk bands such as The Stranglers and The Motors.Eventually, the band signed with Neat Records, the legendary, low-budget metal label of the North. They released their 1st single "Don't Need Your Money" in 1980 and embarked on a number of UK shows opening for bands such as Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Ozz, Motörhead, Whitesnake and Iron Maiden. Their first album Rock until You Drop was released to wide acclaim in 1981, leading the band to tour Italy and the Netherlands. Their second album, Wiped Out was released in 1982 and was influential on creating the burgeoning thrash and speed metal genres, making an impressive showing on the UK charts at the time.Sufficient noise was made for the American market to take notice and New Jersey's Megaforce Records signed them, issuing their next recording in the States as All for One in 1983. The band came stateside in 1983, and toured extensively on the "Kill 'em All For One" tour with young thrashers Metallica (on their first tour) as their opening act.The manager and founder of Megaforce Jon Zazula believed that Raven was major-label material and kept them touring constantly until the big labels noticed. The infamous Live at the Inferno recording, released in 1984, was a product of one of those tours. Atlantic Records signed Raven to a worldwide contract after a minor bidding war (major label contracts would follow for Metallica and Anthrax in the following year). The band moved its permanent base from Newcastle to New York City.Stay Hard was released in 1985, and proved a minor hit on the strength of single and video "On and On". The Atlantic years proved to be less than stellar for the band. A drastic shift in a more commercial direction came at the label's behest, with many die-hard fans being alienated by the slick, lightweight production of The Pack Is Back. However, the band redeemed themselves with a return to form on the Mad EP in 1986 and the Life's a Bitch album in 1987, before arranging their departure from Atlantic.After the tour for Life's a Bitch, drummer Rob "Wacko" Hunter left the band in late 1987 to spend more time with his new wife and family. He would later pursue a career in audio production and engineering, eventually working with jazz musicians Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr..Virginian Joe Hasselvander (ex-Pentagram) joined as drummer in late 1987 and the band dropped the outlandish image for a more conventional denim-and-leather look for their 1988 release Nothing Exceeds Like Excess, which was self-produced and continued the bands return to form with fast, involved compositions. A concert at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia was released by Combat Records as Ultimate Revenge 2 and featured the band on 4 cuts, alongside a number of thrash bands such as Death, Forbidden and Dark Angel. Next was a US tour opening for Testament, and then a European tour with German band Kreator. The advent of grunge and the dissolution of their record label Combat Records led the band to concentrate on continental Europe and Japan, where they retained more of a following.In 1990 the band recorded the album Architect of Fear in Germany again self-produced showcasing the bands heavier side. They toured Europe in 1991 as special guests of German band Running Wild. 1992 had the band releasing an EP called Heads Up, featuring 4 new studio songs and 3 live tracks from the 1991 tour. They again toured Europe with German band Risk as openers.The band spent the first half of 1993 writing and demoing new material, delays ensued due to John Gallagher having a house fire and thieves stealing guitars from the remains. In 1994 the band regrouped and inked a deal with Japanese label Zero - an album entitled Glow was recorded at Showplace Studios, Dover NJ (notable for having a strip club connected to the tape closet!) The album was self-produced and varied in feel, even sporting a few ballads alongside heavier material such as "Altar" and "Enemy". A cover of Thin Lizzy's "The Rocker" also made the album.In 1994 the band attended and played live at the Foundations Forum metal convention in Burbank, California, and stole the show alongside acts as disparate as Korn, Yngwie Malmsteen and Machine Head.The band toured Japan for the first time in May 1995, a live album called Destroy All Monsters/Live in Japan was recorded featuring songst from Glow, as well as older cuts such as "For the Future".1996 was spent writing and recording a new studio album Everything Louder - sessions took place in Manassas VA at future Brett Michaels guitarist Pete Evick's studio and the recording was a frantic affair done over 4 weekends with almost no reheasal - the better to get a "live" feel onto tape. The album came out in 1997 in Japan, Europe and the US, and the band went on the road in Europe with support acts Tank and HammerFall.1999 promised a Raven box set with the NY label Spitfire Records. However, after a "lack of communication" John took the extra live/studio/bootleg tracks and working with engineer S.A. Adams compiled a collection entitled Raw Tracks, featuring unreleased material from 1984 to the present. The band also reunited with producer Michael Wagener and worked on an album titled One for All recorded at Wagener's Wireworld Studio in Nashville TN. Following its release, the band toured opening for old friend Udo Dirkschneider's band U.D.O. in Europe and also with them in the US in 2000
Album:
Here’s in exclusive at our blog the new Hear No Evil / Cherry Red Box Set “Screamin’ Down The House 1985-1988” from mighty rockers RAVEN, comprising 4 albums and an EP from the English band who were very much part of the NWOBHM movement of the late 1970s and early 1980s.So here’s the thing about Raven. You either get it, or you’re one of the absent-minded person who think metal peaked with The Black Album. The world’s got no shortage of posers, but if you know, you know.Raven were never ones to sit still. Too heavy for the mainstream, too wild for the purists, they tore through the ’80s like a runaway train – sometimes crashing, sometimes flying, but always moving.”Screamin’ Down The House (1985-1988)” is a 4-CD testament to what happens when a band’s got the chops but the industry wants to dress them up in glitter. Yeah, it was 1985, and you needed to sound ‘glam metal’. While early fans of the band hate this second half of the ’80s Raven era, they produced some darn good albums and catchy songs.On the first two discs we have ‘Stay Hard’ (1985) and ‘The Pack Is Back’ (1986) where the production’s cleaner than a dealer’s nose at a posh London club. But don’t let that fool you – underneath, the heart of Raven is still pounding like a speed freak’s pulse. Mad solos, hooks sharp enough to rip flesh, and moments of sheer unhinged joy. We love these albums, especially ‘Stay Hard’.Completing CD 2, there’s Raven’s ‘lost’ EP titled “Mad” (1986). The band recorded the EP in a few days with a much rawer sound than ‘The Pack Is Back’ released a few months earlier. “Mad” was done with songs Atlantic didn’t approved for ‘The Pack Is Back’, and to show the fans that Raven still was a wild metal band.“Mad” has never been re-released on standalone CD, only appeared as bonus tracks on other Raven CD reissues. It’s really nice to have it here in this Box Set.On Disc 3 is placed “Life’s a Bitch” — a return to the dirt, the filth, the Raven that makes you want to break things just for the fun of it. “Overload,” “Pick Your Window” – it’s like they woke up, dusted off the bullshit, and decided to out-thrash half the scene.Finally on CD 4 we have the quite unheard for many ”Screamin’ Down The House” (1985-1988). This is the band at their weirdest, wildest, and occasionally most compromised. But even at their worst, they were louder, faster, and meaner than the industry could handle.This collection isn’t just nostalgia – it’s a document of a band refusing to be boxed in. It’s a reminder that, no matter the trends, Raven always played like their lives depended on it. Loud, fast, and full of attitude – just as metal should be.
Line-Up:
John Gallagher - Vocals, Bass (1974-present) (ex-Killers)
Mark Gallagher - Guitars (1974-present)
Rob Hunter - Drums
Joe Hasselvander - Drums, backing vocals (disc 4)
Tracklist:
CD1. Stay Hard (1985)
01. Stay Hard
02. When The Going Gets Tough
03. On and On
04. Get It Right
05. Restless Child
06. Power And Glory
07. Pray For The Sun
08. Hard Ride
09. Extract The Action
10. Bottom Line
CD2: The Pack Is Back (1986) + Mad (EP) (1986)
01. The Pack Is Back
02. Gimme Some Lovin’
03. Screamin’ Down The House
04. Young Blood
05. Hyperactive
06. Rock Dogs
07. Don’t Let It Die
08. Get into Your Car
09. All I Want
10. Nightmare Ride
Mad (EP) (1986)
11. Speed Of the Reflex
12. Do or Die
13. How Did Ya Get So Crazy
14. Seen It on The T.V.
15. Gimmie Just a Little
CD3: Life's A Bitch (1987)
01. The Savage And The Hungry
02. Pick Your Window
03. Life’s A Bitch
04. Never Forgive
05. Iron League
06. On The Wings of An Eagle
07. Overload
08. You’re A Liar
09. Fuel to the Fire
10. Only the Strong Survive
11. Juggernaut
12. Playing with the Razor
CD4: Nothing Exceeds Like Excess (1988)
01. Behemoth
02. Die for Allah
03. Gimme A Break
04. Into the Jaws of Death
05. In the Name of The Lord
06. Stick It
07. Lay Down the Law
08. You Got a Screw Loose
09. Thunderlord
10. The King
11. Hard as Nails
12. Kick Your Ass (Bonus Track)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
