Pride Before A Fall - (The Lost Album) | Stormtrooper

Pride Before A Fall - (The Lost Album)

by Stormtrooper

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BW This is an incredible song. It starts out with a slow passage that includes keyboards, but then blows up into this epic and majestic track full of 70s guitar fervor. Favorite track: Battle Of The Eve.

paul rote proggish NWOBHM ! recorded in the seventies . Favorite track: Stormtrooper (Heavy Heavy Compendulum DJ Mash Up).

Fernando Benítez people are missing out on this one... very very very good, gritty yet smart authentic nwobhm.. i mean, it should be selling thousands of copies, no shit. if you dig 70s rush, montrose, budgie, riot, priest, uli-era scorps, legs diamond, motorhead, the pink fairies, kiss, tygers of pantang, angel witch, cirith ungol, the 1st def lep album, sabotage-era sabbath, thin lizzy, even bloody eloy, the damned or ramones, just what the fuck are you waiting for? perfect in every sense.

Emperor of the Underground of Doom.. thumbnail

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Super rare, super sexy and signed by the band. High Roller Records, Germany pressing on transparent blood-red vinyl, ltd 250, bonus 7", 8 page booklet, mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel/ Temple of Disharmony. Beautiful product.

Includes unlimited streaming of Pride Before A Fall - (The Lost Album) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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edition of 50

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

Comes with extensive sleeve notes by Boggy Bond and rare and unseen photographs. Also included is a limited edition signed A3 poster (100 copies only)

Includes unlimited streaming of Pride Before A Fall - (The Lost Album) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 2 days

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Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

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Full Digital Discography

59

releases

Get all 59 Bristol Archive Records releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Every Now and Then, Learn To Love It!, Oh No! Not These Again!, Dysfunctional Achievements (The Best of I Am The Door), Silence 'Hey Dopey', Yellow Fever (The Best of Apache Dropout), Fussing & Fighting, The Classics, and 51 more. , and , .

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1.	Pride Before A Fall 03:01	buy track
2.	Battle Of The Eve 12:38	buy track
3.	In The State In The City 04:57	buy track
4.	If It Takes A Man A Week To Walk A Fortnight Then How Long Is A Piece Of String 02:44	buy track
5.	Bounty Hunter 04:01	buy track
6.	Still Comin' Home 04:30	buy track
7.	Drunken Women 06:01	buy track
8.	Confusion 08:16	buy track
9.	After Battle 09:40	buy track
10.	Stormtrooper (Heavy Heavy Compendulum DJ Mash Up) 09:15	buy track

about

Cast your mind back to a time when new music was coming at the public in ‘waves’. First there was the ‘new wave’ of punk rock. Then 1979 and into the early 1980’s, taking its’ cue from those shorter haired thrashings, the then mighty music press in the form of Sounds came up with the laborious name of the ‘New Wave Of British Heavy Metal’ for the deluge of new rock bands that were emerging from all over the country.

In a story that is little appreciated, bar amongst the bands’ fiercest fans, Bristol’s very own Stormtrooper were ahead of the ‘N.W.O.B.H.M’, as they had originally formed in the mid 1970’s. But they were right in there more than holding their own with the likes of Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Saxon and Motorhead in terms of seeing their music released in the slip-stream of that catch-all ‘brand identity’.

Bristol as a city has no claim to being a rock stronghold, but the band didn’t let that hold their campaign back. Their passion, talent and ambition enabled them to launch themselves to gain recognition, and their hard work and blistering live shows paid off when ‘Pride Before A Fall’ became one of the singles released through the unlikely means of local Heartbeat Records operation, run by Simon Edwards in Bristol.
‘Pride’ roared its’ way into the ‘Heavy Metal’ chart at 23 in Sounds in its’ first week of release. It reached the heady heights of number 11 after. But unfortunately that was as far as it got in terms of national recognition of the bands’ releases.

Now the other recordings made by the band in that era, including at the now sadly lost Crescent studios in Bath, as well as in their home city, are available on the ‘Pride Before A Fall – The Lost Album’ album, released on Bristol Archive Records. Songs like ‘In The State In the City’ and ‘Still Coming Home’ showcase the bands’ unique blend of Bob Starling’s distinctive and passionate blazing guitar attack, with the driving force of an electrifying rhythm section.

Nick Hancox’s technically brilliant and energetic drumming fused with Colin ‘Boggy’ Bond’s knock down the walls bass playing, and his definitive use of Moog bass pedals which brought another dimension to the textures in the music. In the best traditions of a great rock band, this was topped by the rock power and vocal range of singer, Paul Merrell.

The full-on epic ‘Battle of the Eve’ – recorded ‘live’ in the studio in one take like the other songs on ‘Pride’ - took the band into more ‘Prog’ territory, with the use of basic Moog synthesisers and various effects adding extra colour.

You can hear on this album how the band wore their collective influences – centring on Led Zeppelin and Rush - on their musical sleeve, whether it was hard rock, intricate ‘Prog’, blues or plain kick out the jams slamdunk riffing. Their sheer vim and punk-infused enthusiasm, combined with a strong collective control, gave them a sound that was very much their own.

In spite of the minimal time spent on it in the studio, ‘Pride’ as an album bristles with high level musicianship that transcends any production limitations. This is a band recorded in the raw, and the music tells it like it is, with no frills yet has plenty of depth. It’s music that HAS to be listened to.

The album shows the undoubted potential in a band that with the right management, combined with that bit of luck that every act needs in their career, should have been serious contenders to make an international breakthrough, as Leppard and Maiden did. But that’s the rock and roll dream, and they certainly lived it.

They ‘got away’ from their backgrounds from the meaner streets of south Bristol – and there are plenty of those all over the city – while doing their best to reach out to a wider audience. It takes a lot to get out of what could be seen as ‘the Bristol attitude’, but once the band split Colin Bond also had his own wide ranging career after he’d left as a member of Stampede, touring with Meatloaf and playing on 14 different albums . His brilliant sleeve notes to the album convey this and his story wonderfully.

Now it’s time for Stormtroopers’ brand of crafted musicianship, high-octane, no holds barred passionate rock thrill to get its’ official album release, and the wider recognition that will inevitably go with it. This album is an explosive listen, with depth, intensity, heart and graft written right into it. It’s a lost gem that’s rock gold and is worthy of being in any genuine rock fans music collection. Feast your ears on it!

credits

released August 19, 2016

Colin Bond - Bass: Rickenbacker 4000
Synthesisers: Moog Taurus, Moog Prodigy
Affects: Colorsound Flanger
Amplification: Hiwatt/WEM

Bob Starling – Guitars: Gibson Les Paul SG, Gibson Firebird,
Yamaha Acoustic
Amplification: Marshall/Vox
Affects: MXR micro amp, Cry Baby wah wah,
Coloursound delay and Flanger

Nick Hancox - Drums: Sonar

Paul Merrell - Vocals: Sure

Tracks 1, 5, 6, 7 Recorded at Crescent Studios, Bath, March 1980
Produced by Stormtrooper
Engineered by Glen Tommey

Tracks 2, 8, 9 Recorded at Crescent Studios, Bath, April 1981
Produced by Stormtrooper
Engineered by Glen Tommey

Tracks 3, 4 Recorded at S.A.M Studios, Bristol, July 1981
Produced by Stormtrooper
Engineered by Steve Street

Thanks go to:
Nigel Lloyd and Frank Powell who will always be part of Stormtrooper and 'Gus' for his short lived but productive drumming skills. Stephen 'Squib' Webb for deciding to play drums instead of Bass! 'Nervous System' for giving us a leg up. Al Reed from the 'Granary Club', for giving us the opportunity of realising our first goal. Simon Edwards from Heartbeat Records for being brave enough to go against the grain and release our first single. Brian Coombs from 'Bristol Musical' the centre of the universe in the 70’s. Our wives and girlfriends Julia (thanks for buying the Taurus), Karen, Sally, Sandie, Jo and the rest! Richard Harris for the down payment on my Rickenbacker. Mike Darby, Steve Street, Dave Massey and anybody who helped in any small way to make our six year journey a little more comfortable and enjoyable.

Photography Credits:
Julia Bond, Karen Starling, Stormtrooper and anybody else we could trust with our camera's.

All songs published by Archive Publishing Ltd 2016

All recordings owned by Stormtrooper and exclusively licensed to Bristol Archive Records

ARC296CD

Artwork designed by Sam Giles samgilesdesign@gmail.com

All tracks mastered by Steve Street

(p)(c) Bristol Archive Records 2016
All Rights Reserved

Compiled by Colin ‘Boggy’ Bond

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Bristol Archive Records UK

Bristol Archive Records is a record label dealing in reggae, punk, rock, metal, pop and post punk 1977 onwards.

bristolarchiverecords.com

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