Review by Daniel for Legend (JEY) - Legend (1981)

If you’re a regular “Metal Academy” podcast listener then you might remember us discussing the 1979 debut album from a US progressive metal outfit by the name of Legend on episode four. Well if so then prepare to be confused because that band wasn’t the only Legend to take part in the late 70’s/early 80’s metal scene with not one but two British bands adopting the same moniker for their respective debut releases. By far the more significant of the two was a five-piece that formed in August 1980 on the island of Jersey which is not too far from the coast of France. The significance of the band’s location is noteworthy as Legend never really got the credit that they deserved amongst their NWOBHM peers & it’s hard to deny that Jersey probably wasn’t the best place in the world to build a successful musical career.

As a result we saw Legend self-finance their self-titled debut album & it showcases a band that was already very mature from a musical point of view. The production on “Legend” is very raw which is hardly surprising when you consider this was the band’s first foray into the studio & they’ve had to manage the whole production process themselves. This record is certainly not your average NWOBHM release. To my ears Legend offer a particularly 70’s influenced sound which blends the heavy metal of early Black Sabbath & Judas Priest with the progressive rock of bands like Rush & a little psychedelia in the vein of Sir Lord Baltimore. There’s a noticeably doomy element to their sound which I feel isn’t mentioned often enough when talking about the proto-doom movement of the time. Some of these riffs are very dark & as heavy as hell with Black Sabbath being channeled quite blatantly at times.

Vocalist Mike Lezala has a fairly unintimidating delivery which often reminds me of Geddy Lee from Rush in its politeness. I think Legend could possibly have been served better by a more aggressive vocal attack however Mike is pretty good at what he does. The guitar solos have a definite psychedelic flavor to them which I find appealing while the rhythm section is always doing something interesting. Drummer Dave Whitley is particularly impressive here. This is some pretty complex heavy metal for the time & it’s hard to fault Legend’s ambition.

There are a couple of flat tracks included in the seven songs on offer here although it’s predominantly a very interesting listen with a fair few risks being taken & some impressive complexity to the expansive & at times fairly lengthy song structures. I find it pretty hard to fathom the lack of attention that Legend have achieved over their career & recommend that all fans of 70’s rock & metal music should give it a spin.