04. The Rods Wild Dogs 1982 (Arista)
Hard Rock
Yeah... I’m low down and real dirty!
Overview
The Rods were sometimes seen as America’s answer to Motorhead, in that the band were a rough ‘n’ ready trio who took the punk line when it came to dishing out their bullish yet melodic and loud sound. For many a year I had never listened to this band, for the simple reason that I was never really aware that they were a heavy band. I kind of incorrectly guessed that they were a punkish band in the mould of say The Ramones (based on their name) with a sound that had been inspired by the bubblegum and proto-punk sounds of the 1950s and 1960s, so when I finally did get around to listening to them several years ago I was in for a real treat! The first album I heard was their debut release
Rock Hard 1980, which was soon reorded track-wise once they’d signed up to a major label in Arista who rereleased this album under the name of
The Rods in 1982 and on both occasions the album just missed my final cut for both 1980 and 1981 despite its obvious quality. The band’s second or third album (depending on your perspective) was a different affair altogether and exploded the sound of The Rods right down your stereo system. The band were a trio that consisted of guitarist/vocalist David Feinstein, a cousin amongst all things of esteemed ‘Metal God’ Dio and both had featured in the bluesy rock outfit Elf many years earlier. The other two members were drummer Carl Canedy who would later go on to produce a large number of thrash acts and bassist Joey DeMaio who would soon jump ship to Manowar, he would be replaced by Garry Bordonaro by the time of
Wild Dogs. The band hailed from upstate New York and the whole state imo over the last decade or so, had proved to be the true hotbed of quality American heavy rock and metal, just think the Blue Oyster Cult, Riot, Sir Lord Baltimore, Dust, Kiss and more recently both Twisted Sister and Manowar. Wild Dogs should’ve been the band’s launch-pad to some kind of success, as the band who despite putting out such a good album, had also landed the desired support slot on Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast Tour in the UK throughout 1982. The album cover was again gharish and right on the money as the band went and I wonder if Tank copied them or they copied Tank here! because the album demonstrated a wild dog approach by the three members of the band, who kind of resurrected here the spirit of decade old bands like Blue Cheer, another band of course that had been too loud for their own good.
Verdict
The Rods were yet again another prime example of an American record label not realizing what a quality band that they had at their disposal, as yet again here were a band that were far more appreciated overseas than they were in their native USA. Their ‘American Motorhead’ label should’ve been the perfect marketing tool for the band, especially considering that it was about this time that Motorhead’s shining star as a creative force was starting to fade, but then again Arista Records was hardly the right kind of label for this band, in fact the label would soon drop them! The Rods sadly would never reach the heights of this fantastic album again and much like proto-metal hopefuls Bang, a band who a decade earlier had been called America’s answer to Black Sabbath, The Rods would quickly fade into the same kind of obscurity as a band like Bang as a commercial force and in fact only issued out a few more albums after this. They also decided not to jump on the glam metal bandwagon as so many other bands did to revive their fortunes either. They would also have that now very common comeback album many years later, as most of these old bands seem to do and that came out in 2011. As for the album musically, the album opener “Too Hot to Stop” is a rowdy AC/DC number that truly sets the tone of the album. A track like “Violation” is a mean sounding heavy pounder and “No Sweet Talk, Honey” evokes classic era Nazareth. Things are then speeded up for the mean and moody sounding title cut “Wild Dogs” and the band also do speed southern rock style of “Rockin’ ‘n’ Rollin’ Again”. The band are in sparkling form on the more melodic issues such as “Waiting for Tomorrow” where they cover rough ‘n’ ready melodic territory and do it in a more competent vein than say a band like Krokus would. Also whenever I listen to this song I always seem to hear a hint of Boston in it of all things! The superb “Burned by Love” is top drawer AOR infused hard rock that any number of AOR acts would’ve been proud to have called their own and “End of the Line” is nearly as good as well. The band pull all their juicy bits together for the great album closer “The Night Lives to Rock” a track that would soon go down a treat with the multitude of glam metal bands. The only question mark on the album, is the strange choice of using the Supremes cover “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” but that can easily be skimmed by. Musically the band were hardly groundbreaking, but whether The Rods played fast, medium, slow, melodic or downright heavy they were quite simply in their element on
Wild Dogs.
Wild Dogs is one of those classic albums that passed under the radar and anybody into AC/DC, Motorhead, Nazareth and Judas Priest will probably begin to salivate upon hearing it!
David Feinstein- Guitar/Vocals
Garry Bordonaro- Bass
Carl Canedy- Drums
Production- The Rods