Vanadium
Metal Rock

1982 is the year of the release of the first album by Vanadium, the first Italian band that had the courage to introduce metal in our nation. Their album, "Metal Rock," sparked interest from critics and young people, both for the original musical style and the technical skills of the musicians and the vocal range of Pino Scotto.

The lineup consisted of Pino on vocals, Prantera on guitar, Zanolini on keyboards, Asquini on bass, and Macheroni on drums. The band presented a 1970s-style hard rock, with clear references to Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and more metallic Uriah Heep, with rock-blues influences and an early form, which would be accentuated in subsequent albums, of metal. Noteworthy are Prantera's solos and simple but very effective riffs, and the keyboard parts by the very skilled Zanolini, which gave a touch of originality to their sound. The sound is still rather raw; in fact, at times, the drums and vocals seem to echo, but the band's performance is simply masterful and sublime, thanks also to Pino Scotto's performance. After Vanadium, Italy would see a succession of many bands, more or less famous, including Strana Officina, Sabotage, Crying Steel, Adramelch, Vanexa, Bulldozer, and Royal Air Force, which would characterize the Italian metal wave.

The album opener is the anthem "We Want Live With Rock N Roll", a great flagship song for the band, which already from the title shows what they're made of. That is of PURE ROCK'N'ROLL! The riff is nothing short of sensational, the band's performance is excellent, with Pino Scotto beginning to be appreciated for his explosive vocal timbre. The refrain is very catchy, Prantera's solos are very enjoyable, and the rest of the track flows beautifully. "I Never Lost Control" is also very lovely, with strong echoes of Zeppelin and Deep Purple, featuring a hard rock-blues style sound performed masterfully and with a potency that crashes into its wild chorus. "Make Me Feel Better" and "Looking For Love" are the band's first metal rides, supported by a good rhythmic dose executed in perfect Vanadium style. "On Fire" deserves special mention. The bass intro and the irresistible riffs of Zanolini and Prantera are highly effective, making the piece quite engaging right from the start, while Pino continues to sing full lungs. Truly a beautiful song, which, along with "We Want Live With Rock 'N 'Roll", is one of the most representative tracks of the album. "Running On The Road" is a decent execution, managing to never let the album drop to mediocre or predictable levels. The last piece, the eighth, is the beautiful "Queen Of The Night", one of the band's most beautiful ballads, along with "War Trains" and "Easy Way To Love". The song is rich in pathos, with beautiful guitar solos that make the track even more melancholic and exciting, with a masterful performance by Pino that excellently concludes the first album by the legendary Vanadium, a band to be rediscovered that perhaps did not receive the success it DESERVED.

This is the Italian metal of about twenty years ago, totally different from the rubbish music that has been around for too many years in our nation. Will we ever have bands and albums like these again? I, honestly, could not tell you, however, in the meantime, we can listen to and appreciate the old glories of our dear heavy metal. WE ROCK!!