08. Icon Icon 1984 (Capitol)
Glam Metal
My lady’s a killer, as she rocks through the night. The Lowdown
The Icon debut album sounds very much like one of the big glam metal albums from its time, largely due to the fact that the album is littered with all the things that a glam metal strives to be: Loud and pounding, punching choruses, catchy anthems and every song here is just damned good. The reality though is that Icon are a metal band that few people have ever heard of it, making the Icon debut album probably ‘the best ever hair metal album that you’ve never heard of’ and in fact quite a few reviews that I’ve read echo these sentiments as well, also their sophomore album
Night of the Crime is also heavily lauded by reviewers as well. It was not long after their second album that things would fall apart for the band, with the usual problems of a dissatisfied record company and the always badly fated line-up changes which usually ruin any chance for band stability. The band hailed from Arizona, where of course a certain Vincent Furnier aka Alice Cooper and another all-time favourite band of mine the Tubes also hailed from, even though both artists made their bases elsewhere. I once read that Arizona was one of the sweatiest cities in the USA, so maybe they thought it would be cooler setting up elsewhere. In the case of Icon though they always toured heavily and were well known for doing both Deep Purple and Judas Priest covers in addition to their own material, and so by the time of their debut they were already vets from plenty of shows. The album opens with the big pounding “(Rock On) Through the Night” a track capable of blitzing most other hair metal bands and this power is maintained on “Killer Machine” a track which has that classic 1980s vibe, as does “On Your Feet” a metal track that any commercial metal band would’ve loved to have in their locker. “World War” sounds like a classic single and its edgy feel makes it an essential listen here and it's probably the pick from the album. This edgier feel takes on darker overtones on the sluggish “Hot Desert Night” which again has that vital catchy section which reverberates throughout the song. “Under My Gun” the fastest track on the album comes at just the right time as well after the slowness of the previous track. “Iconoclast” is an instrumental that sets up “Rock ‘n’ Maniac” another anthemy track that sounds like a classic hair metal cut. “I’m Alive” sounds like a sort of homage to AC/DC on its intro before settling into more typical Icon material. The album closer is the epic ballad “It’s Up to You” one of the best ballads put out by a hair metal band period. Now there is nothing unique about the material on this album in terms of its depth, but it’s probably the best example of how a basic metal record should be played and that’s with a musical honesty without the silly frills that some similar metal bands would try to incorporate here. Singer Stephen Clifford sounds a bit like Kevin DuBrow from the better known Quiet Riot which is not a bad thing, as Kevin DuBrow was the best thing about Quiet Riot anyway. The simple fact of the matter is that song for song over this album, Icon rock harder than W.A.S.P, prove that they have more muscle than Dokken, put out material that Ratt wished they had, show that they’re better than Quiet Riot could ever hope to be and sound more serious than Manowar. Only Twisted Sister at this stage could cope with what Icon could put out and I’ve purposefully left Motley Crue of the analogy list here, due to Motley’s distinct style of hair metal. In fact in terms of quality only Y&T in their prime a few years back are truly on a par with this Icon debut, but sadly as with Y&T marketing for this type of sound would end up going to the less talented bands out there, making Icon another one of those huge casualties of the American metal graveyard where many a great band ended up.
Stephen Clifford- Vocals
Dan Wexler- Guitar
John Aquilino- Guitar
Tracy Wallach- Bass
Pat Dixon- Drums
Production- Mike Varney