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On a fleeting September afternoon, amidst all the anxieties for the future and all the related problems, the clock ticks and the hours never seem to end. So, it's a Sunday. A very boring one, indeed. I do my usual zapping on YouTube, looking for something to listen to. 'Running Wild,' I said to myself, 'great band...let's see if I find something...'. I had already listened to something from these guys in the past, they had drawn me to music several times. 'Gates of Purgatory' and 'Branded and Exiled' to be precise. These guys know their stuff, they really do. Well, their musical offering isn't the most original, at the dawn of their career it was a Speed/Heavy Metal with Power hues (a bit different from how we understand it today). Anyway, it had attracted me. During my zapping, I come across a live, from '85. In Bochum. Well, they are German, what can you say, if not in Germany, where? Perhaps that's also their limit, being a bit too anchored to their own land. And so, in the wake of Accept primarily, but also of Judas Priest, our Rock 'n' Rolf had put together a nice little group. A group that, to tell you the truth, changed its lineup several times, until it was almost recognized as a project of Rolf, voice and guitar, the only survivor since the late 70s. But let's get back to us.
Studs, leather jackets, chains, satanic images, a furious audience. And this is how one of the most beautiful things happens during musical experiences. You go back to an era you've never lived in. Yes, because I didn't live those years (unfortunately), although I sometimes wish for time travels with Doc's machine from Back to the Future. A graphic quality that I would dare to say is crappy, but in the end, that's what makes the footage, over an hour long, even more precious. Those were good times, Running Wild weren't yet what later entered the collective imagination, on ships in search of hidden treasures. They were much simpler, mimicking Venom's figure, though they didn't succeed in doing so, through lyrics that more than once alluded to Lucifer. But we can very well imagine from the pirate change of course how seriously these gentlemen did not take themselves before composing a song, considering the guitarist (called Preacher) at some point left the band to pursue theological studies (!). Rock 'n' Rolf, a biting voice and high notes reminiscent of Halford (proportionately), Preacher is a wizard of the six strings, explosive solos, riffs as hard as granite, one of the little heroes of the great Heavy Metal dictionary who, like many, remained anonymous, flawless bass and drums.
The tracklist is IMPRESSIVE. It's not easy to explain, it often happens that I attend a live show and I ask myself 'Why didn't Saxon play Princess of Night'? or 'Why didn't Raven play Rock Until You Drop'?, but this time, obviously as far as pre-85 is concerned, they scored ALL, I repeat ALL the songs from the first two albums plus some more impactful unreleased tracks, not skipping a single one. A dozen songs, played one after the other in an almost perfect way, audio that, given the date and situation, might have betrayed, but instead does not at all. It goes from 'Black Demon', my favorite from the first album, to other great hits like 'Genghis Khan', but also 'Preacher', and then 'Satan' (released as an extra), but also 'Victim of State Power', the unforgettable 'Chains & Leather' a true 'anthem' of Manowar-style Heavy Metal, with a chorus that you can't get out of your head for a week. The beautiful 'Prisoner of our Time' closes it beautifully.
Over an hour of pure, raw, eighties Heavy Metal, just the way I like it, without falling into the burden of listening or boredom. A Sunday afternoon lived under the banner of chains and studs. I must say, an excellent choice. I'll go listen to some Battisti now...
We are prisoners of our time
But we are still alive
Fight for freedom, fight for the rights
WE ARE RUNNING WILD
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