Manilla Road - Crystal Logic (1983)Release ID: 2159
Solid metal. Great stories, clearly understandable lyrics, interesting tone choices.
Perfect. Vocals take a second to get used to but once you do its pure gold.
This should be on everyone's playlist
Addressing the Elephant in the room: Yes Mark Shelton souds like Skeletor. Now let me tell you why that's actually great.
Crystal Logic is kind of a relic of a world that doesn't really exist anymore, a world that being born in 1988, I only saw the very tale end of, but I did see it, and I have tremendous nostalgia for it. Clear your mind and I will try my best to put you there;
The internet had not been invented yet, and there were no cellphones. I promise this is not a boomer rant, just stay with me a minute. No internet, no cellphones. Television had 3 channels, and cartoons were shown on Saturday mornings. Children and Teenagers entertained themselves with pinball, arcades, comic books, and maybe an Atari 2600. See I grew up in the 90s but I grew up dirt poor in Nebraska in the 90s. My toys and entertainment were from the 70's and early 80's just like this album is. In 1983 the Nintendo Entertainment Sytem was not even out yet in the United States. I will also tack-on that Manilla Road are from Witchita Kansas. I grew up on the Nebraska-Kansas, Line; as in walking distance to a dirt road such that the driver was in Nebraska and the passenger was in Kansas. There is a certain aura I can't explain better than saying "I knew this band was from Kansas before I could confirm it."
Crystal Logic in addition to being just great, straight forward, no-frills, ass-kicking, pure, 100% distilled Heavy Metal is also a time machine. Not nostalgia-nostalgia is longing to be in a certain time and place. Crystal Logic doesn't leave you longing, it puts you right the fuck there. It's a time machine. It is an album that puts a sonic landscape and words to those crude atari and early arcade graphics. The fact that Mark Shelton sounds like a comic book or Saturday morning cartoon character goes with their whole deal. Ronnie James Dio, Bruce Dickenson, or Robert Halford singing on this would not fit. You need Mark "The Shark" Shelton-nobody could do it better.
Crystal Logic is D&D, old-school video games, comic, books, trans-ams, camaros, and straight down the middle, no bullshit metal. It's fun, it's got riffs, it's a journey. The fact that this band is from Witchita Kansas 1983, and you even know who the fuck they are is a testament to how good this shit it.
Journey to "Necropolis" learn the secrets and power of "Crystal Logic", try to solve "The Riddle Master", and enjoy everything else this has to offer. If you do so while drinking a Pepsi and playing Q-Bert next to a muscle car in your garage all the better. That's what this album is about.
Manilla Road is a band I like but always just on the outlier of artists that I've delved into. This may be a turning point on that since this was so good and catchy. Crystal Logic is still in my head, and i'm definitely looking for me. This isn't quite as epic as other heavy metal of the era but it has a slightly darker tone to it which is a nice change of pace. It still has the memorable chorus to sing with and guitar solos to imitate with your favorite air guitar but there's just a bit of a more serious or devious tone to it. Not quite sure what it is about this record that gives me that vibe, but maybe its from listening to other more high octave and energy and this not quite hitting those similar levels. Absolutely worth the listen especially if you're tired of the more bigger hits of the early generation of metal.
What little I have heard of Manilla Road, which amounts to their 1986 album The Deluge, never really filled me with much of an urge to check them out further. As a consequence Crystal Logic is the first album of theirs that I have spent any meaningful amount of time with. Early on in it became apparent to me why I have failed to engage with MR and that reason is Mark Shelton's vocals. His nasal delivery I found whiny-sounding and, frankly, unbearable. On the odd occasion when he adds a bit of a gruff edge to his singing it sounds a bit like Bon Scott and is much more acceptable, but generally I found it hugely distracting, hitting absolute rock bottom on the title track - and this is from someone who enjoys Cirith Ungol's Tim Baker's vocals!
Vocal misgivings aside though, musically I quite enjoyed Crystal Logic, Shelton's guitar playing being far superior to his singing. His speedy NWOBHM-inspired proto-power metal riffing and soloing are pretty good and even manage to shine through a less than stellar production job. Judging by the track ratings on RYM most listeners seem to enjoy the first couple of tracks after the intro best, Necropolis and the title track, but I feel that the album's best tracks begin after the execrable Feeling Free Again, a song that would be awful even with decent vocals. The Veils of Negative Existence is probably my favourite track, it has a Pentagram-like main riff and it's slower pace means that it could even be classed as trad doom, which is no bad thing in my book. The closing track, the twelve-minute Dreams of Eschaton / Epilogue starts with a rather limp balladic intro but soon explodes into a great main riff that I especially loved the first time I heard it on Angel Witch's Angel of Death back in 1980, the track proper ending with an extended solo that sounds like the concluding solos to Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird or Blackfoot's Highway Song.
To be honest, I really can't see why this is held in such high esteem other than for it's historical value. It is a part of metal history for sure, being a stepping stone in the development of US power metal, but that's not enough for me I'm afraid.
Crystal Logic is honestly one of the purest representations of heavy metal around. It's like a primer on the genre in its original form at this time. It's not necessarily that it's the most epic (though it is epic), nor that it has the best riffs (though it has good riffs), it's just such a concentrated little nugget of what made heavy metal.
Like the wider genre, it's an acquired taste, brimming with cheese that you really need to be in the right mood for. If you are, and can let yourself get carried away into the D&D-inspired worlds of fantasy, this is going to be a wonderfully rewarding ride. Likewise, Mark Shelton's supremely nasally vocals aren't going to be for everyone, but again, if you can just go with it, they're such fun and full of narm charm. Just like in classic role-playing fashion, you can just get into it.
"Necropolis" is a wonderful example, such a fun, catchy ride, and "Flaming Metal System" opens with appropriately molten guitar work. "The Veils of Negative Existence" takes a dip into doomier territory, while tracks like "The Riddle Master" and "The Ram" cut loose part way through and ramp things up into raw speed. "The Ram" in particular just absolutely lifts off into the stratosphere out of nowhere, the band just deciding "Fuck it, let's rip this shit up!".
As the above illustrates, this is an album with a nice degree of variety in flavours while still maintaining a consistent tone, but even beyond that, it just -feels- like heavy metal in its undiluted form. The unabashed cheese, the emphasis on the riffs, the flashy work that complements rather than overpowering, the willingness to just cut loose and go with the flow, it's all there. There might be albums that take individual aspects to other levels or places, but this -is- heavy metal, right here.
Sadly, there is one minor elephant in the room: "Dream of Eschaton". It's a great closing song, with a hell of a hook in its crunchy stomp, and right away it put me in mind of Angel Witch's "Angel of Death". In fact, the more I listened, the more apparent it was, and indeed, some quick research reveals that Shelton even talks about direct "inspiration" in this regard, all but admitting the main riff and rhythm was lifted from there. It's a shame, as it's clear Manilla Road are capable of putting out quality stuff on their own.
Choice cuts: Necropolis, The Ram, The Riddle Master
Now we are talking! A few albums in life define genres perfectly. In the quest for true, classic and authentic epic heavy metal if you do not find yourself lead to Manilla Road then you are clearly on the wrong path. Crystal Logic is a rarefied slab of 70's rock infused with NWOBHM and humongous riffs of labyrinth like proportions. Add to it the perfect nerd value of the vocals and their exaggerated, theatrical musings over fantasy themed lyrics. Who doesn't want to hear:
"Upon the Island of Damnation
The Horde of Hades screams and wails
The blood of life and execution
Has put back light into the Veils"
There's a good chance many are put off by the vocals. However, I cannot think of any better requirement for a sneering and at times clunky vocal accompaniment to the chronicles that are written for this record. Despite the largely nasal sound to them there is still range in Mark Shelton's vocals here. There's a gruff bark to them where required and the odd scream to add further drama to the performance. Manilla Road would not be the band that we all know them to be without Shelton's unique style and the metal world lost a true legend when he passed in 2018. On Crystal Logic he not only entertains with his vocal talents he also provides all six (and twelve) string action as well as being chief songwriter.
Far from putting bassist Scott Park and drummer Rick Fisher in the shadow of their leader, they take the opportunity to place optimum focus on their individual performances. The sound has a really full, complete and powerful feel overall as a result. Although I do feel the drums are a little low in the mix it is still on the side of being the correct balance. The subtlety of the percussion adds dimension to an album that relies on no keyboards for atmospherics. The whole album feels grimy and dank yet has an energy to it that belies what you may interpret to be its intended mood.
I can even forgive John Jinks' artwork. Basic though it is, there is still a vibrancy to it that kind of sums up the record brilliantly. I have the 2013 remaster (which may explain the drums) that has a second disc showcasing unreleased songs, rehearsals and live tracks which is a great addition to the regular release.
