By: Manilla Road

Original Date: August 16, 1982

Format used: CD

Rating: 3.5/10

Compared to the clearly more experimental Invasion, Manilla Road’s sophmore release Metal features a few standout tracks that contain the seed of greatness that we see fully realized on their next album. But we will get to that in due time. Overall, Metal is much more grounded in hard rock orthodoxy than the last release, and as a result, plays it safe musically. That is the bane of this album. There are some fantastic tracks that passionately capture the spirit of the age and tap into the most creative veins of Metal songwriting creativity. The title track, and the ethereal and genuinely imposing “Cage of Mirrors” come to mind. From these two tracks we see most of the innovation this album has to offer. Aside from that, we have fairly standard, if unusually heavy hitting hard rock riffing with some metallic ferocity sometimes coming in. The drumming here is also what NeoSpeed tryhards wish they could capture. If you listen to the songs you’ll know exactly what I mean. And I think it has to do with Manilla Road getting a new drummer at the time of this album’s release. We also see proof that Shelton and company are refining their craft because there is another version of “the Far Side of the Sun” on this release that actually feels more polished and properly edited. This album is still in that period of growing the beard musically. There’s an awkward growth, its long and scraggly and while there’s substance it has yet to become a well oiled and groomed mark of pride. Make no mistake, Manilla Road can be proud to release this album, but it is still a work of exploration in a way. And because there’s still a little bit of refinement to be done we see a lot of copybook riffs throughout the song which makes it fall just short of the caliber of Invasion.

In terms of Manilla Road’s discography, weirdly enough, I will recommend Metal over Invasion, even if I do think Invasion is a better work overall. The reasons for this fairly nuanced, but I believe that since there is already a rerecorded version of one of the more ambitious songs off their last release, and since we get more into the heavy hitting sound that Manilla Road will deliver in the future, this album won’t be as jarring to fans listening to them. If listeners start with this album and skip invasion, you do still get a full picture of musical evolution since that early installment awkwardness is there, but it is a better taste for what the band arguably should sound like and doesn’t have the experimental deflection for more picky listeners. Like Invasion before it, Metal shows Manilla Road’s early hard rock sensibilities and inklings of that more clearly definied heavy metal sound they will become known for later. It is slightly more generic feeling, but its moments of excellence make the filler worth it. And though it has filler – I prefer Jambalaya over some generic fluff that could have been stuffed in the Turkey just for the sake of it. And the “filler” on Metal is the same tasty regional treat as a family recipe for Jambalaya.