Raven - Rock Until You Drop (1981)^{Release ID: 5848}

Raven are a three-piece NWOBHM act formed by the Gallagher brothers John & Mark in 1974 in Newcastle, England but it wasn’t until 7 years later in 1981 that we finally heard the first recorded output from the band. Given that information it’s not too surprising that “Rock Until You Drop” presents a band that knows a thing or two about playing heavy music. It was in fact the very first full-length album release from legendary NWOBHM record label Neat Records who continued championing the sound for the next 15 years.

At the time Raven described their time as “athletic rock” & their gimmick of choice was to present themselves in athletic protective equipment (like ice hockey masks) which they often removed & smashed against the drum kit during live sets. Musically though, the first thing you’ll notice about “Rock Until You Drop” is the sheer velocity & the general rawness of Raven’s sound. They really don’t hold much back here & it’s hard to argue with the common opinion that this record was a major influence on thrash & speed metal. I can comfortably hear the influence on some of the rawer thrash metal bands like Kreator & Exodus. Raven were certainly going for a sound that was a long way from the more polished & accessible material that most classic heavy metal bands (like Judas Priest for example) were releasing at the time. In fact, "Rock Until You Drop" is almost the polar opposite as far as metal releases go.

The high-pitched shrieks of bassist John Gallagher were fairly over-the-top & to my ears they often fall slightly on the wrong side of being tasteful. This really is a very noisy three-piece though. They make a heck of a racket for only three dudes. It’s very easy to pick up the Judas Priest influence in their sound as well as the early Iron Maiden one however they were more extreme than either of those bands. In fact, you’ll do well to find a faster or thrashier band at the time. There’s definitely a fair whack of AC/DC style hard rock in their sound though as well with some touches of 70’s progressive rock & some unfortunate hints of more commercial US rock like Van Halen or even early glam metal.

The real let-down for me though is the inconsistent song-writing. There are a few decent songs on offer however none of them really captures me to the extent that they seem to for other metal fans. I think the overly raw production contributes to that a little bit however I find it hard to shake the feeling that the hooks & execution just aren’t quite good enough to keep me interested. “Rock Until You Drop” isn’t horrible. It’s just not really for me.