Raven - The Atlantic Years

Raven is awesome. Right?

OK, I know there are some folks who don't like the Atlantic Records albums (Stay Hard, The Pack Is Back, Life's A BCH, Mad EP). These are the albums that introduced me to the band, so they hold a special place in my heart.

I think Life's a BCH is my favorite Raven album. The Mad EP is killer.

Anyone have opinions about Raven's mid 80's output on Atlantic records?

The only albums I haven't really enloyed are the last few, just didn;t have that come back quality for me. Not horrible albums, just didn't do it for me. Metal radio wise they did do ok with our listeners-TJ

I love most all of Raven, but I think that Pack is Back is their weakest album. Cartoonish songwriting, horns, etc. It's just not Raven. The band doesn't look back to fondly on this album either.

However, I like Stay Hard, Life's a Btch and Mad. "Speed of the Reflex" is one monster song!

First of all, Raven rules. All Raven is good Raven in my book, though some *ARE* better than others, of course.

"On and On" off of STAY HARD was the first Raven track I ever heard, on a metal radio show when I was in high school. I still love that album today. By the way, STAY HARD is one of only a few albums that I have owned in all three major formats over the years -- vinyl LP, cassette, and now CD!

I can take or leave PACK IS BACK; I'm a diehard so I dig some of it of course (the riff in "Rock Dogs" still sends chills up my spine!) but there is a fair share of goofy stuff in there too. (Like the horn section -- A F**KING HORN SECTION! -- in "Hyperactive" and "Don't Let It Die"... whose bright idea was that???)

The MAD EP was quite a relief for me when I first heard it, since I was somewhat disappointed with PACK IS BACK. The buzz was that the MAD stuff was more "back to basics" though, so I remember buying the cassette at Crazy Eddies' ("our prices are INNNNNN-SAAAAAAAANE!" hahaha) when it first came out, ran home with it, and put it in my boom box going "Don't suck. PLEASE don't suck." Fortunately when "Speed of the Reflex" kicked in and blew me across the room I was like "We have a WINNAH!"

LIFE'S A B*TCH is in my top three Raven albums (the other two being ALL FOR ONE and ARCHITECT OF FEAR)... they bounced back nicely from the PACK IS BACK debacle on that one. They were p*ssed and you can tell!! That is one ANGRY record!!

Fat Freddy wrote:

The MAD EP was quite a relief for me when I first heard it, since I was somewhat disappointed with PACK IS BACK. The buzz was that the MAD stuff was more "back to basics" though, so I remember buying the cassette at Crazy Eddies' ("our prices are INNNNNN-SAAAAAAAANE!" hahaha) when it first came out, ran home with it, and put it in my boom box going "Don't suck. PLEASE don't suck." Fortunately when "Speed of the Reflex" kicked in and blew me across the room I was like "We have a WINNAH!"

I agree, and so does the band. I have a quote on my site from John Gallagher about "Mad":

"(We were) licking our wounds after the Pack is Back
promo nightmare...we decided to do what WE wanted..and to celebrate & tie
in with an upcoming tour with Twisted
Sister (which unfortunately was cancelled!) we did this EP. "Speed of
the Reflex" is still a killer song...also "Gimme Just a Little"...some good
live pix from the Judas Priest
1986 tour are on the original sleeve...Mark had kidney stones as we were mixing
and was stretchered out of the studio...ugh!!" -John Gallagher

Fat Freddy wrote:

First of all, Raven rules. All Raven is good Raven in my book, though some *ARE* better than others, of course.

"On and On" off of STAY HARD was the first Raven track I ever heard, on a metal radio show when I was in high school. I still love that album today. By the way, STAY HARD is one of only a few albums that I have owned in all three major formats over the years -- vinyl LP, cassette, and now CD!

I can take or leave PACK IS BACK; I'm a diehard so I dig some of it of course (the riff in "Rock Dogs" still sends chills up my spine!) but there is a fair share of goofy stuff in there too. (Like the horn section -- A F**KING HORN SECTION! -- in "Hyperactive" and "Don't Let It Die"... whose bright idea was that???)

The MAD EP was quite a relief for me when I first heard it, since I was somewhat disappointed with PACK IS BACK. The buzz was that the MAD stuff was more "back to basics" though, so I remember buying the cassette at Crazy Eddies' ("our prices are INNNNNN-SAAAAAAAANE!" hahaha) when it first came out, ran home with it, and put it in my boom box going "Don't suck. PLEASE don't suck." Fortunately when "Speed of the Reflex" kicked in and blew me across the room I was like "We have a WINNAH!"

LIFE'S A B*TCH is in my top three Raven albums (the other two being ALL FOR ONE and ARCHITECT OF FEAR)... they bounced back nicely from the PACK IS BACK debacle on that one. They were p*ssed and you can tell!! That is one ANGRY record!!

Yeah, ON AND ON was played on the US radio stations because i have a promo 12"single of that song, from the USA.
Anyway, i love everything RAVEN ever did. I dont know, but when i think about RAVEN i think about ANVIL. They were far away from each other but still i relate them a little. They bought released some classic early album, after that they made some more comercial albums, and then in the 90s they bought released hard and heavy albums again.

krokus wrote:

I dont know, but when i think about RAVEN i think about ANVIL. They were far away from each other but still i relate them a little. They bought released some classic early album, after that they made some more comercial albums, and then in the 90s they bought released hard and heavy albums again.

That's funny. I relate the two as well. Probably just due to discovering both around the same time in my teens and loving them both. They both rode the fence between classic heavy metal and early thrash metal.

ultmetal wrote:

krokus wrote:

I dont know, but when i think about RAVEN i think about ANVIL. They were far away from each other but still i relate them a little. They bought released some classic early album, after that they made some more comercial albums, and then in the 90s they bought released hard and heavy albums again.

That's funny. I relate the two as well. Probably just due to discovering both around the same time in my teens and loving them both. They both rode the fence between classic heavy metal and early thrash metal.

You and me are very much alike brother

krokus wrote:

when i think about RAVEN i think about ANVIL. They were far away from each other but still i relate them a little. They bought released some classic early album, after that they made some more comercial albums, and then in the 90s they bought released hard and heavy albums again.

I saw Anvil and Raven play together years ago! It was a fan-freakin-TASTIC show! Since then, both bands are kinda "stapled together" for me too. I don't think they're THAT far away from each other, but honestly it wasn't till I saw that show that I realized the similarities between the two bands. It was a phenomenal night of old-school!

P.S. It's funny that Anvil comes up in the conversation right now, cuz I happen to be listening to FORGED IN FIRE at the moment.

Fat Freddy wrote:

krokus wrote:

when i think about RAVEN i think about ANVIL. They were far away from each other but still i relate them a little. They bought released some classic early album, after that they made some more comercial albums, and then in the 90s they bought released hard and heavy albums again.

I saw Anvil and Raven play together years ago! It was a fan-freakin-TASTIC show! Since then, both bands are kinda "stapled together" for me too. I don't think they're THAT far away from each other, but honestly it wasn't till I saw that show that I realized the similarities between the two bands. It was a phenomenal night of old-school!

P.S. It's funny that Anvil comes up in the conversation right now, cuz I happen to be listening to FORGED IN FIRE at the moment.

I would have loved to see that show, RAVEN and ANVIl together. I saw ANVIL live too and they were realy good, but never saw RAVEN. Hail brother.

krokus wrote:

I would have loved to see that show, RAVEN and ANVIl together. I saw ANVIL live too and they were realy good, but never saw RAVEN. Hail brother.

It was my "dream come true" show because I had never seen RAVEN even though I'd been a fan for over ten years (this was in 1995), having Anvil there as well was just the icing on the cake. I got to meet John Gallagher from Raven before they went onstage and he is still the coolest metal guy I have ever had the pleasure of talking to.

I saw Raven back in the 80's opening for Motorhead on their "Rock and Roll Tour" at the Penny Arcade in Rochster, NY.

Have yet to see Anvil live.

Fat Freddy wrote:

krokus wrote:

I would have loved to see that show, RAVEN and ANVIl together. I saw ANVIL live too and they were realy good, but never saw RAVEN. Hail brother.

It was my "dream come true" show because I had never seen RAVEN even though I'd been a fan for over ten years (this was in 1995), having Anvil there as well was just the icing on the cake. I got to meet John Gallagher from Raven before they went onstage and he is still the coolest metal guy I have ever had the pleasure of talking to.

Very very cool. I hope that when RAVEN tours again, they come near me to see them live. HAIL.

Here's Raven's classic (cheesy) video for "ON & ON" off of "Stay Hard"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S9FnbK8Mqk

OK, so they were on Combat Records for this release not Atlantic, but how come I NEVER see anyone talk about Nothing Exceeds Like Excess? I think it's a pretty damn good album.

I love Nothing Exceeds. Ultimate Revenge II has good performances of songs from that release.

spectrefate wrote:

I love Nothing Exceeds. Ultimate Revenge II has good performances of songs from that release.

Ultimate Revenge II is a great release. All the performances are so energetic. Dark Angel and Raven are my favorites from that release.

ultmetal wrote:

spectrefate wrote:

I love Nothing Exceeds. Ultimate Revenge II has good performances of songs from that release.

Ultimate Revenge II is a great release. All the performances are so energetic. Dark Angel and Raven are my favorites from that release.

Agreed. That definetely needs to be released on DVD. Although it never will be. My video is getting worn a bit.

spectrefate wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

spectrefate wrote:

I love Nothing Exceeds. Ultimate Revenge II has good performances of songs from that release.

Ultimate Revenge II is a great release. All the performances are so energetic. Dark Angel and Raven are my favorites from that release.

Agreed. That definetely needs to be released on DVD. Although it never will be. My video is getting worn a bit.

I don't have the video, only the CD. However, my copy is autographed by Ron Rinehart of Dark Angel.

ultmetal wrote:

spectrefate wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

spectrefate wrote:

I love Nothing Exceeds. Ultimate Revenge II has good performances of songs from that release.

Ultimate Revenge II is a great release. All the performances are so energetic. Dark Angel and Raven are my favorites from that release.

Agreed. That definetely needs to be released on DVD. Although it never will be. My video is getting worn a bit.

I don't have the video, only the CD. However, my copy is autographed by Ron Rinehart of Dark Angel.

I think they skipped some of the best songs from the video on the CD. Forbidden's "Through Eyes of Glass" kills on the video.
Signed by Ron Reinhardt. Ult, you have lived my dreams.

I haven't seen the "Ultimate Revenge II" video in years. Raven are great on there, but they seem kinda out of place amongst all the other bands which are much more thrashy.

I knew a guy who went to that show and he said that three quarters of the crowd left before Raven even came on stage (they were the headliners), so the shots you see in the video of a sizable crowd head banging during Raven's set were apparently spliced in from another band's performance.

Fat Freddy wrote:

I haven't seen the "Ultimate Revenge II" video in years. Raven are great on there, but they seem kinda out of place amongst all the other bands which are much more thrashy.

I knew a guy who went to that show and he said that three quarters of the crowd left before Raven even came on stage (they were the headliners), so the shots you see in the video of a sizable crowd head banging during Raven's set were apparently spliced in from another band's performance.

Back then, the THRASH crowd were the elitists, much like we have black metal elitists now. Without bands like Raven, thrash may never have even come about. Raven were one of the innovators of the style IMO.

ultmetal wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

I haven't seen the "Ultimate Revenge II" video in years. Raven are great on there, but they seem kinda out of place amongst all the other bands which are much more thrashy.

I knew a guy who went to that show and he said that three quarters of the crowd left before Raven even came on stage (they were the headliners), so the shots you see in the video of a sizable crowd head banging during Raven's set were apparently spliced in from another band's performance.

Back then, the THRASH crowd were the elitists, much like we have black metal elitists now. Without bands like Raven, thrash may never have even come about. Raven were one of the innovators of the style IMO.

Yea, I agree. I think they were still having trouble living down the PACK IS BACK debacle, that album was still fresh in everyone's mind at that point. I felt they redeemed themselves nicely with MAD, LIFE'S A B*TCH, NOTHING EXCEEDS and especially ARCHITECT OF FEAR, however it was pretty obvious that most people weren't bothering to listen. Celtic Frost had the same problem around that time, they never really recovered from their COLD LAKE cluster-#$%! either