Nitro
O.F.R.

Have you ever heard of Michael Angelo Batio and Jim Gillette?? If you know them from their solo projects, I recommend listening to the band they formed at the end of the Eighties, namely NITRO. This group recorded two beautiful and interesting albums that introduced many musical innovations influencing many subsequent musicians.

The most famous and representative album of Nitro is "O.F.R.", which to many might seem like the formula for a chemical compound, but instead, it is a very original work. The band offers a style that was popular in America in the eighties, which is hair metal and glam metal, characterized by groups like Poison, Cinderella, and Ratt. Michael Angelo and Jim Gillette formed the band in 1987 in Phoenix after finding bassist T.J. Racer and drummer Bobby Rock. Michael Angelo is considered one of the fastest and most technical guitarists in the world, if not the best shredder, and his typical Quad Guitar is famous. That is, four guitars attached together that the guitarist plays two at a time, performing rhythm and instrumental simultaneously. I watched the video on YouTube and it is something exceptional.. maybe even beats Malmsteen!! Jim Gillette is famous for his extremely high vocal register, which I think is definitely in falsetto, surpassing even Halford & Co. He with his screams, in the band's first live appearance, broke three wine glasses, driving the audience wild.

The album "O.F.R.", which stands for "Out Fucking Rageous", features nine songs among which the grand and powerful "Freight Train", the title track, and "Machine Gun Eddie", and the ballad "Long Way From Home" stand out. The tracks are pure hair metal played with maximum energy, technique, and passion, with influences from Overkill's "Hello From The Gutter" on the hard riffs of "Machine Gunn Eddie". The first track, "Freight Train", is the first single from the album and Michael Angelo & Co.'s first big hit. The song has a good rhythm, excellent solos, and riffs that support Gillette's magnificent performance, who begins to showcase his original singing. He manages to range from an aggressive voice, like Motley Crue, to an impossible and unreachable falsetto. A great song where every comment is superfluous. After the beautiful "Double Trouble", a very good track with a typically glam sound, comes the massive "Machine Gunn Eddie" that deserves a special mention. This track has the honor of featuring the longest scream in metal history, that is, thirty-two seconds which seem like an eternity when you hear them... all thanks to a frontman like Jim Gillette!! Besides this little curiosity, the song initially features complex rhythms (almost prog-metal like Dream Theater), then unfolds into a bone-crushing thrash riff supported by a double bass typical of power metal. The rest of the song is rich in tempo changes embellished by the usual Gillette. A formidable trio later joined by the power ballad "Long Way From Home", released as the second single. This song is Nitro's most beautiful ballad, blessed with a good melody that makes it very light and flowing.

After the short but effective "Bring It Down", come pieces like "Nasty Reputation" and "Fighting Mad", which keep the album at rather high levels, although the highlights were recorded earlier. "Shot Heard Round The World" is a captivating track that prepares us for the compact and decisive sound of the title track. It has an initial riff that is very reminiscent of "Revelations" by Iron Maiden before reaching the band's classic engaging sound, with a particularly effective refrain. With this last sparkling track, Nitro ends their debut which is still considered one of the most beautiful hair metal albums today. A work that must be rediscovered in order to appreciate the technical skills of this surprising band.

Unfortunately, the band disbanded prematurely at the beginning of the Nineties and Michael Angelo and Jim Gillette continued to play with their solo projects. I really appreciate Batio's albums like "No Boundaries", "Planet Gemini" which contain songs like "Rain Forest", the two title tracks, "Across The Universe" and "Time Traveller", while from Jim I know "Too Proud To Loud". PLAY IT LOUD!!