Racer X
Street Lethal

THE REVIEW

Los Angeles, California, 1986: neon lights, fast cars, bright colors, life of excess, a desire to set all this to music...

The story of Racer X might seem common to many other bands, emerging from that fiery melting pot known as the City of Angels in the '80s; bands like Mötley Crüe, Guns n' Roses all came from that West Coast area, bringing with them the style and imagery of the glam movement that, along with many other bands, they helped form and spread around the world.

The four present here instead chose not to jump on the bandwagon, opting for a "hybrid" style, halfway between glam image and a faster, raw style (defined as speed); add to this the impact of a character like Yngwie "his humility" Malmsteen on the rock scene at the time, and the Californian combo's recipe is served: glam look, songs with the pedal to the metal, and lots of shred. Indeed, because Paul Gilbert at that time was a young 19-year-old fresh graduate from the Guitar Institute of Technology in L.A. After lessons, and not before being recruited by Black Sheep for the release of "Trouble in the Street" in '85, he decided to form his own band to further showcase his talent: he then recruited his mate John Alderete on bass (now in Mars Volta), singer Jeff Martin (from Surgical Steel and future drummer of Badlands), and finally Harry Gschöesser on drums (after vainly "wooing" Scott Travis, who would join the lineup only the following year).

The album consists of 11 tracks lasting a mere 35 minutes; all the songs stick to the coordinates described earlier, thus often excessive speed, very lighthearted lyrics, biting vocals, and lightning-fast solos. It starts with "Frenzy", a brief instrumental intro in which Gilbert immediately shows what he's made of; later in the album there's space for another entirely instrumental track: "Y.R.O." (which stands for "Yngwie Rip Off," a not-so-veiled tribute to the Swedish shredder), where Alderete also finds a brief moment to showcase his skills. Speed and agility on the six-string neck dominate all the tracks of the album, accompanied by the powerful but at times overly wild voice of Martin (just listen to "Loud and Clear" to understand how far the blond singer is willing to go) and the strong, precise drumming of Gschöesser.

The other tracks vary from the speed of the title track (where it seems the band wants to race the car on the album cover) and "Blowin' up the Radio", to the more solid and rocky heavy metal of "Into the Night" and "Getaway"; up to the album's closing, entrusted to the funk-metal of "Rock It", the only track that deviates from the overall style of the other tracks, but concluding, unsurprisingly, with another overwhelming guitar solo. Precisely Gilbert, thanks to this album, will achieve fame and recognition and will fully merit entry into the "guitar heroes" category (the real ones, not the ones from the video game...); however, young Paul demonstrates a still nascent talent, having a style too bound to the teachings of the honored "snowman" Malmsteen: his solos often strive too hard to display excellent skills and show off prowess, far from the personality and melodic good taste he will achieve only a few years later, with Mr. Big first and as a solo artist later.

Lights, speed, excess, showiness... a piece of magnificent and cursed '80s Los Angeles also passes through here.