Or in this case, album covers, plural. I want to return to, and expand on, an idea I had back in July when reviewing “Wild cat” by the Tygers of Pan-Tang.
No. 5: “Wild cat”, “Spellbound”, “Crazy nights” and “The Cage” by The Tygers of Pan-Tang
The point I made, when reviewing “Wild cat” (well, right at the end) was that if you look at the four album covers, you can see, or imagine, a developing story that parallels and tracks the career of the band. Okay, it's not how they were meant to look, and in fairness it's not exactly how the story went, but it's still interesting to note that you can, in theory, trace the evolution (some might say
devolution!) of the band from their debut to what was essentially their last album.
“Wild Cat” --- Debut album, released 1980. Music: Heavy Metal.
Looking at the cover of the Tygers' debut album, there's no doubting what you expect to find, and do find, inside. The tiger roars, unfettered, unchallenged, a dangerous, wild, fascinating beast: look at those fangs! Look at the wild, staring yellow eyes! This is
not a beast to be messed with! Nor is the music the Tygers played in 1980. Tough, hard-edged, raw heavy metal with tracks like “Killers, “Suzie smiled”, “Insanity” and the title track all delivering a hard punch to the musical solar plexus that, though it winded you and made it hard to breathe, was welcome and enjoyable. Dirty guitars, thumping drums, unapologetic straightforward songs sung by a man who sounded like he chewed glass for breakfast, THIS was metal!
“Spellbound” --- Second album, released 1981. Departure of Jess Cox on vocals and emergence of John Deverill. Also joining, nascent guitar hero John Sykes. Music: Hard rock
Only a year later, and another album from the Tygers, but already radically different from their debut. Jess Cox, the voice of the Tygers, had gone, to be replaced by the more subtle John Deverill, and the music, though still heavy, was beginning to lose its harder edge. On the sleeve, our tiger is still free, but in something of a quandary, as he prepares to cross from one mountain rock to another, this perhaps symbolising the small but noticeable shift in musical direction as the Tygers moved away from out-and-out heavy metal.
Tracks like “Gangland”, “Hellbound” and “Tyger Bay” were still heavy, yes, but they'd somehow lost the cutting edge that the tracks on the debut had had, and for me, this was The Tygers, but not (quite) as we knew them. Something had definitely changed. The addition of John Sykes, who would later become a divisive influence and almost a catalyst for the breakup of the band, also changed the sound of the guys, with more melodic, technical guitar work, which while undeniably excellent and which would serve him well in his future bands, and in his eventual solo work, pushed the Tygers in a new direction, softening the raw edge evident on “Wild cat” for a more radio-friendly sound. “Spellbound” even featured the Tygers' very first ballad, “Mirror”. Things were changing.
“Crazy nights” --- Third album, released 1982. Music: hard rock edging towards AOR.
This is where I see the Tygers' sound beginning to shift radically. Tracks like “Make a stand”, “Running out of time” and “Never satisfied”, though good enough songs, seem to reflect both the tensions that were within the Tygers camp, as Sykes champed at the bit to take the next step on his own personal career ladder, and prepared to leave the band, and the powerful drag of their label, MCA, who were less than happy with the units the previous two albums had shifted, and wanted the band to get more commercial, include more songs that could be hits, and thereby bring in the money.
Although, as I say, more than likely not intentional, the painting by Rodney Matthews on the sleeve of “Crazy nights” reflects, for me, the turmoil within the band and the outside pressures they were enduring as they fought to stay true to their musical ideals and their vision of the band. The tiger, now transplanted to a foreign land, clings to the top of a high building (the Post Office tower, I think?), King-Kong like, and swats at annoying little aeroplanes --- or perhaps I should say A&R-oplanes! --- which for me represent the continuing efforts of the label to push them in a new direction, an unwanted direction, trying to bring them down from their position of power. There's little doubt that the tiger, like the famous gorilla fifty-odd years before him, is doomed to fall...
“The Cage” --- Fourth and final album, released 1983. Departure of John Sykes, who only contributed to two tracks, and introduction of Fred Purser on guitar. Music: rock with a strong sense of AOR.
A real paradox this, and perhaps in some ways vindication for MCA, as “The Cage” is mostly acclaimed as the Tygers' best album, and it is pretty damn good. But it can't be ignored that their sound by now has changed radically. The hard edge is, for the most part, gone, and the songs are very much aimed towards singles, radio airplay and commerciality rather than the fine songs they used to craft for the love of music. I mean, let's not be silly here: no band writes or plays
just for the music, unless it's a real side-project and they have a steady income from another source. Everyone needs to eat, and to eat you usually have to work. But the love of the music has now become secondary to writing hit songs.
On the sleeve, the mighty tiger has finally been captured, imprisoned, and he is not happy! From behind the bars of his cage, he roars his disapproval, almost a harkback to the original debut sleeve, but whereas there he was the king of all he surveyed, and no-one would dare mess with him, here he is impotent, captured, caged. His fangs may as well have been pulled, for all the good they'll do him. And is that hand locking the cage, or unlocking it? You'd have to assume the former. The label have slapped the shackles on the Tygers of Pan-Tang, forcing them to do what the Suits want, resulting in the release of the ****ing awful cover “Love potion no. 9”, which annoyingly and incomprehensibly was their biggest hit single. Damn MCA!
Shortly afterwards Sykes left completely to join Thin Lizzy and the Tygers, strangled by an ironclad contract with MCA which stopped them from leaving for another label, decided it was time to give it up, and the band broke up. They did get back together later, but it was never the same, and for me, the “classic” version of the Tygers of Pan-Tang ended with this album.
What a sad (if perhaps a little fanciful) story. Some artistic licence has been taken, yes, but the facts bear out my own conclusions, even if they are coincidental as regards the album sleeves. From fierce, wild, untameable free spirit to caged and beaten in three short years. No wonder the tiger is now an endangered species.