Racer X
Second Heat

THE REVIEW

Los Angeles, California, 1986: neon lights, fast cars, flashy colors, a life of excess, a desire to put all this into music...: that's how I started the previous review on "Street Lethal," the debut album by Racer X. The same introduction, with a few tweaks, could very well be used for this second work by the band, "Second Heat," released in 1988.

The basic ingredients of the band's musical proposal, already so evident in the debut, are still present in abundant doses in this follow-up; therefore, great skill and ability of the individual musicians and still lots of speed, elements that intertwine in short, fast tracks bursting with high technical solos, without ever falling into excessive and redundant virtuosity (although the teachings of Malmsteen are still very present in Paul Gilbert's head and are still felt in the form of numerous purely neoclassical solos).

However, there are some "small" novelties that make themselves heard: first of all, the most important one is regarding the lineup that goes from a quartet to a 5-member band, with the entry of Bruce Bouillet as a second guitarist and the defection of Harry Gschöeuter on drums, replaced by a certain Scott Travis, who only a couple of years later would become known to the metal world for his contribution to the Judas Priest cause (by the way, it won't be the last time the Priest of Judas appears in this review…).

Substantially, the album does not deviate much from what the band showed and played in their debut: a handful of songs all around 4 minutes, with high-speed whips like the opener "Sacrifice" or the celebratory "Motor Man" (with lyrics about speed and engines, just for a change), alternate with more paced pieces ("Gone Too Far" and the closing "Lady Killer") and yet others where speed at all costs is replaced by a remarkable melodic search: such is the case with the engaging "Hammer Away" and even more with "Living the Hard Way," perhaps the most melodic and potentially commercial track of the group, with its catchy chorus, not far from certain glam atmospheres of the period. Among the tracks, there is also a notable ballad, "Sunlit Nights," an unusual David Bowie cover ("Moonage Daydream," here in "shred version") and the indispensable instrumental piece named "Scarified," where first Gilbert, then Bouillet and finally even Alderete and his bass have plenty of room to demonstrate what they're made of.

A good album, definitely more varied than the previous one, and similarly characterized by the undoubted technical rate of each component and also by Jeff Martin's powerful yet once again out of control voice, which is decisively better in the more melodic parts and not when he seeks high notes at all costs. An album that will turn out to be the last of the band's first career phase, which, after a couple of live shows, will disband (and its members will migrate and find better fortunes elsewhere, in bands like Mr. Big and Badlands, to name just a few…) before the late '90s reunion.

By the way, I mentioned Judas Priest before: by scrolling through the credits of the tracklist, one comes across track number 6, "Heart of a Lion," by Halford-Tipton-Downing… yes, exactly them: in fact, it's a track composed at the time of "Turbo," discarded and "sold" to Racer X, who later will repay the favor by lending Scott Travis to the English band. (For the record, the track turns out to be better than anything JP did on "Turbo," but that's another story…)