Review by Daniel for Liege Lord - Master Control (1989)
It’s interesting that I’ve never heard a full Liege Lord record before now. I’ve certainly been aware of their highly regarded trio of 80’s albums for many years but they were hardly a household name back in my formative years & I’ve not found myself being tempted previously. I did however quite like the title track from their classic 1988 “Master Control” album when I investigated it for inclusion in the monthly The Guardians playlist a couple of years ago & have subsequently intended on giving it a decent chance ever since. What better time than now I guess!
“Master Control” kicks off in fairly hectic fashion by placing its cards down on the table right from the get-go. Although there’s a significant amount of speed metal included throughout the tracklisting & I agree with that genre being awarded a dual role, the US power metal tag is the most accurate label for this record given the chunky guitar tone, the up-tempo feel of a lot of the material & the operatic higher-register vocal performance of Joe Comeau. You can expect to identify hints at heavy metal & genuine thrash popping up here & there but neither are consistent enough to command further representation.
Comeau is a dead-ringer for Iron Maiden/Samson front man Bruce Dickinson. In fact, his likeness is really pretty uncanny & it’s very clear that he’s worshipped at the Maiden altar for many a year. He does sound a touch like Overkill front man Bobby Ellsworth’s more Maiden-inspired mid-80’s moments sometimes too though, particularly in his phrasing when the music gets a little more thrashy. The production is a touch inconsistent from track to track but the performances are very precise & the execution is pure class with the fantastic guitar solos being an obvious highlight.
The A side is very consistent indeed with no weaker tracks but the B side is a little more hit & miss. Both of my album highlights come in the second half of the album though in the Judas Priest inspired heavy metal anthem “Feel The Blade” & the thrashier US power metal of “Rapture”. Unfortunately these strengths are offset by a couple of duds in “Broken Wasteland” & “Suspicion” which tend to even out my feelings a bit after cancelling out the good impression left by those two highlight tracks. The lack of a couple of truly elite level pieces definitely places a cap on the appeal that “Master Control” has the power to muster but this isn’t a bad US power metal record. It’s just not really the classic that it’s so often made out to be these days in my opinion.
For fans of Helstar, Savage Grace & Agent Steel.