EARTHSHAKER
Earthshaker
Music For Nations (1983)
Rating: 8/10
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As you might have guessed from this Japanese band’s name, they are heavily influenced by Y&T. But don’t be fooled into thinking that Earthshaker are just a copy band, far from it. In fact, they possess a very original sound, apart from the odd splash of Van Halen thrown in for good measure.
For such a young band this is an excellent debut album, full of surprises, in particular Shinichiro Ishihara’s superb guitar playing. Judging by the guitar sound on the album, Eddie Van Halen and Dave Meniketti are big influences, and given a few years he may well develop into something special (the Japanese Randy Rhoads perhaps?).
The whole album contains top class material, from the opening track ‘Earthshaker’ to the epic ‘I Feel All Sadness’ and the raunchy ‘Dark Angel (Animals)’; penned by none other than Iron Maiden’s very own Adrian Smith no less.
An excellent debut from yet another exciting new Japanese act. Let’s hope their next album will follow in the footsteps of Bow Wow and Loudness and be recorded in English. I’m certainly looking forward to it.
Graham Barnell
Review taken from Metal Forces, Issue 2 (1983)
