Tygers of Pan Tang - Wild Cat (1980)^{Release ID: 5253}

Tygers Of Pan Tang were an four-piece English NWOBHM outfit that formed in 1978 & would become very popular with a young Lars Ulrich who spent several weeks following them around & sleeping on the band members couches before Metallica became serious. They combine Stained Class-era Priest with the punkier early Iron Maiden material, the intensity of Motorhead & a bit of AC/DC's hard rock crunch. It’s quintessential NWOBHM & the Tygers are often talked about as one of the senior second tier bands of the movement. 

"Wild Cat" possesses a great energy that's fueled by an excellent performance from the rhythm section. If there’s an obvious weakness it’s that many of the songs sound quite similar. The riffs often take a similar structure but I don’t mind too much as they’re metal as fuck. The punky vocals are definitely an issue at times as they sound really cool on some songs but incompetent on others which probably explains why this was Jess Cox’s only Tygers album.

The A side features a great punky opener in album highlight "Euthanasia" but the rest of the side seems to fall a bit flat to my ears. The B side is much stronger & more consistent however & I end up quite liking the album overall. It’s worth checking out for any NWOBHM fans out there.