Cool Feet - Burning Desire (1976)^{Release ID: 32573}

I saw this record pop up quite often while researching the early metal scene during my Metal Academy podcast preparations back in the mid-2010’s & it seems to be quite highly regarded but I can’t say that I’ve ever gotten around to checking out Luxembourg four-piece Cool Feet before now. This 1976 debut album goes for ridiculous money on the second-hand vinyl market these days but if my experience tells me anything it’s that value doesn’t necessarily equate to quality. I couldn’t imagine that “Burning Desire” was likely to break any records in regard to intensity so a long drive with the kids over the weekend seemed like the perfect opportunity to see what this obscure proto-metal outfit had to offer before heading off in a much poppier direction in the early 1990’s.

I think it’s fair to say that the poor production & mastering jobs are a definite weakness for “Burning Desire” as the guitars aren’t prominent enough & the levels of the individual tracks differ from each other. This doesn’t prevent the stronger material from making the desired impact though & I find the heavier tracks to all be very enjoyable, particularly the metallic “The Man From Marakesh” & closing hard rocker “Alone In Your Cage” which are both very solid tracks in their own right. There are really only two tracks of the eight included that I regard as fitting the criteria for metal classification though (i.e. "The Man From Marakesh" & opening title track) &, as with so many 70’s proto-metal releases, I find it to be a significant stretch to claim this album as an early metal record.

It sounds to me like Cool Feet were still trying to find their sound with “Burning Desire” as it jumps around sporadically in regard to feel & accessibility. A couple of the more traditional bluesy hard rock numbers sound pretty uneventful when placed around the more melodically expansive metal tunes but the real failing of this record comes with the two awful attempts at commercialism that reside on the B side. Cool Feet are often claimed to be Scorpions disciples & “The Fool” provides a clear indication of that & had me instantly reaching for my plagiarism card given just how close it is to the German hard rock legends' seminal “He’s A Woman – She’s A Man”. Strangely it took a day or so before I realized that “Burning Desire” was actually released a full two years before Scorpions’ “Taken By Force” album which had me wondering whether I had it completely ass about. “The Fool” is a terrible track so I find it hard to believe that Scorpions would have wanted to copy it. Perhaps "Shes A Woman - He's A Man" was an old Scorpions song that didn’t hit an album until later on? I’m not sure but one of the two bands is guilty.  The other major failure is even worse though with “Now I Know I’m Free” seeing the entire tracklisting falling on its ass. Thankfully Cool Feet were able to turn things around with a very strong ending to the album.

There are some high quality moments to be found on “Burning Desire” & I found a good half of the tracklisting to be very enjoyable. Front man Don Cardwell has a great hard rock voice & leads the band with confidence during the heavier material but unfortunately the band’s attempts at pop stardom & the generic nature of a couple of the bluesier rock tunes combine with a thin production job to derail Cool Feet’s chances of rock immortality. This is very much the sort of album where you’d be best served by adding the highlight tracks to your Spotify playlist & turfing the remainder.

For fans of Sir Lord Baltimore, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell & Scorpions.