This is one of my favorite albums of all time. From them moment "Take Control" comes blaring through the speakers, it just never lets up. Check out the Bass Line on "Take Control," the mutli octave scream on "Mind Over Metal" and one of the crunchiest guitar sounds I've ever heard during the solo of "All For One" to experience what this album was all about. The vocals are aggressive, the solos frenetic and inspired and the overall sound is just a punch in the face. To me, this was the icing on the cake after two incredible albums "Rock Until You Drop" and "Wiped Out." After "All For One," they should have ridden the wave of success that Metallica had, but Atlantic had other plans. In their attempt to make them accessible on a larger scale, they took away their signature sound. Don't get me wrong, there are some great songs on Stay Hard and Pack is Back, but they aren't remotely close to the magic of the 1st three albums. In the late 80's they came back with "Life's a Bitch," "Mad," and "Nothing Exceeds Like Excess" which showed a return to original form. However, the 1st three albums were like a religion to me. In a quick search, I couldn't find any vintage live stuff on youtube from that era, however I found a ton of recent live stuff of the old material. I also added the studio versions of "Mind Over Metal" and "Born to be Wild" to get a sense of the power of the original versions.

Track listing

* All tracks by John Gallagher, Mark Gallagher and Rob Hunter.

1. "Take Control" – 3:21
2. "Mind over Metal" – 3:28
3. "Sledgehammer Rock" – 3:58
4. "All for One" – 3:31
5. "Run Silent, Run Deep" – 5:37
6. "Hung, Drawn and Quartered" – 5:17
7. "Break the Chain" – 3:47
8. "Take it Away" – 3:23
9. "Seek and Destroy" – 3:50
10. "Athletic Rock" – 4:40

[edit] CD reissue bonus tracks

11. "Born to Be Wild" (feat. Udo Dirkschneider - 3:29
12. "The Ballad of Marshall Stack" - 5:38
13. "Inquisitor" - 4:01

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Glad to see they are waving the flag in 2011!