Mad Dog is a seemingly unknown band from the UK, who put out
one full length in 1987 then, simply vanished. Now, I don’t know the story as
to why that happened. All I know is that, the self-titled full length the
released was an excellent offering of classic heavy metal.
The sound on “Mad Dog” is a little complicated to pinpoint.
On one hand, you might say, hey they’re from the UK, it’s NWOBHM right? Well,
yes and no. It’s true they do fall in between the hard rock and heavy metal
world like many NWOBHM acts did. However, there’s a lot more to Mad Dog’s sound
than just a little rock and a little metal.
For instance, on the song “Fallin’”
the sound of their guitars is fast and ballsy, while Eddie Edmunds’ vocals have
a gruff and dirty sound to them. To my ear, this reminds me of none other than Motorhead. On “Fortune
Favors the Brave”, the guitar tone changes to a groovier, almost stoner
sounding and with that Edmunds’ voice as changes to match. This song sounds
like it could be on Orange Goblin’s “Thieving from the House of God”. “Johnny Cyclops” and “It All Comes Down” are classic hard
rocking metal songs with simplistic riffs and drumming, but they are catchy and
memorable, similar to a little Demon style of NWOBHM. “Chill Out” has that
blitzing Motorhead style once more, with a very fist pumping chorus.
“Mad Dog” is not the most technical albums of all time, nor
will you find yourself blown away by the instruments. That said, they play a
very fun and catchy sounding heavy metal with plenty of stylistic variation to
keep the album fresh and interesting. This, along with the vocals all play well
together, one relying heavily on the other to create a perfect balance of
harmony proving that not very album requires Rob Halford, Gene Hoglan or Yngwie
to produce a solid effort. Mad Dog is just a couple of guys looking to create
fun and interesting music and play it well. That can pretty much sum up this
album; interesting and fun.
Highlights: “Fallin’” “Johnny Cyclops” “Fortune Favors the
Brave” “Chill Out”
Rating: 4
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