Vanadium
Live On Streets Of Danger

There are significant dates in the history of the Metal scene of a country like Italy, which has always been resistant to hard rock, dates to remember as small steps towards the affirmation and rooting of the genre in the peninsula. 1983 saw the Certaldo Festival, the first all-H/M event in Italy; 1984 brought "Heavy Metal Eruption", the first compilation of ten songs by historic groups, and 1985 brought the first live album by an Italian band: this is precisely the "Live On Streets Of Danger" by the legendary Vanadium.

Riding the success achieved with the three previous albums, of which "Game Over" (1984) managed to sell even 60,000 copies in Italy alone, the five of them dedicated this collectible gem to their fans and all the rock lovers in Italy. The live album was recorded in France, proving the fame that Vanadium was gradually gaining abroad, and it features a setlist of ten songs, the first of which, recorded in a studio, is somewhat of a bonus track, is that "Can't Stop The Music" from which the first video of an Italian rock band will be made, together with "Easy Way To Love" from the following year, included in the superb album "Born To Fight".

But let's get to the live performance itself: the nine songs presented live here are the band's battle horses up to that point and fully succeed in their intent to ignite the audience with their energy. The audience, in fact, is hot and repeatedly chants: "Vanadium! Vanadium! Vanadium!" until they explode at the first notes of the opener, "Streets Of Danger", obviously, and never abandons the performance of the five until the end, always making themselves heard and highlighting the most beautiful parts of the songs with their presence, applauding the solos and recognizing some pieces from the intros. The sound is quite good and allows the listener to fully enjoy the energy unleashed by our heroes on stage, who manage to infuse even more vigor into their already energetic pieces and a new dose of aggression to the two songs taken from their first and Hard Rock-tinted "Metal Rock", namely "We Want Live With Rock'N'Roll" and "On Fire". A very emotional moment is when the legendary Pino Scotto, true entertainer, when introducing "Fire Trails", addresses the audience to make a heartfelt dedication to another artist who has now passed away: "This song... is for a dead Rock'n'Roll man: ...Bon Scott!", a dedication to which the audience responds moved. The album closes with the very fast "A Race With The Devil", here offered as a medley with the devastating instrumental "The Hunter". The French audience is in raptures and bids farewell to our five with applause, screams, and, of course, chanting in chorus: "Vanadium! Vanadium! Vanadium!".

There is not much else to say or add: an energetic and well-structured live album, worth having even beyond the historical value of the album: the trial by fire for Vanadium, which they passed in a... blazing and convincing manner, giving the audience a memorable performance and to the numerous fans another cult object. An album that goes on to strengthen with its presence the foundations of the national Metal scene; it may not be an absolutely essential album, but it is certainly necessary to acknowledge its historical value.

Here is the setlist of "Live On Streets Of Danger":

- CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC

- STREETS OF DANGER

- GET UP, SHAKE UP

- WAR TRAINS

- WE WANT LIVE WITH ROCK'N'ROLL

- ON FIRE

- FIRE TRAILS

- PRETTY HEARTBREAKER

- DON'T BE LOOKIN' BACK

- A RACE WITH THE DEVIL - THE HUNTER