Atomic Rooster ATOMIC ROOSTER

Atomic Rooster: John Du Cann , Vincent Crane.
Personnel: John Du Cann (vocals, guitar); Preston Heyman (drums, percussion).
Recording information: Truck Mobile Recording System (1980).
The final Atomic Rooster album, from 1980, caught the group riding the crest of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and loving every minute of it. Reconstituted around founders Vincent Crane and John Du Cann, plus drummer Preston Heyman, the group signed with EMI and set about cutting an album that -- if it wasn't exactly a match for the peerless pair that launched Atomic Rooster's career a decade previously, was at least the best thing they'd done since then. Settling firmly into the same darkened groove that created "Devil's Answer" and "Death Walks Behind You," ten new numbers gave hearty evidence that time had not diminished the sheer malevolent power of their combined vision. "Do You Know Who's Looking for You?" (the first single from the album), "Lost in Space," and "In the Shadows" all rate highly on any Rooster poll you care to take, and if the group is occasionally guilty of submerging its charms beneath a flashy riff-for-riff's-sake swagger, then one must remember the mood of the moment. Even then, however, Atomic Rooster packs a punch that broods as much as it bruises, and the band's first new album in six years emerged a vastly unexpected triumph. [The 2005 Angel Air appends two bonus tracks.] ~ Dave Thompson

• Format: CD
• Genre: Pop