TANK - Power of the Hunter PICTURE SHAPE HRR 875PS, ltd 500, insert, deluxe palstic bag Algy Ward - Bass, Lead Vocals Peter Brabbs - Guitar Mark Brabbs - Drums 01 Walking Barefoot over Glass 02 T.A.N.K. 03 Red Skull Rock 04 Power of the Hunter AVAILABLE

When »Filth Hounds Of Hades«, Tank’s legendary debut album, was released on Kamaflage Records in 1982, it not only made huge waves within the NWOBHM community at home, it also topped the import charts on the East Coast of the United States. After having toured with Motörhead in Europe in 1981, Tank once again appeared as special guests for Lemmy and the boys, this time on their tour throughout the United Kingdom for »Iron Fist« in 1982. Drummer Mark Brabbs remembers: “Yes, that’s right, we did the ‘Iron Fist Tour’ with them. Any tour with Motörhead is legendary, really. It was great, it was great just going out on the road again. After a long tour you get to know the road crew, the caterers, the sound engineers, you get to know everyone. So when we started this tour it was like seeing old mates again. Brilliant, really brilliant tour.” The second album »Power Of The Hunter« was released the same year as »Filth Hounds Of Hades« (1982), so two full-length albums within less than twelve months. That’s quite a feat. Mark Brabbs thinks so too: “Yeah, that’s true. »Filth Hounds Of Hades« had sold quite reasonably well all over the world. In those days the world was a lot bigger than these days... So the American release was only an import. In the old days you didn’t really get a world wide release, you got an European release and then it was imported. »Filth Hounds Of Hades« was the biggest selling import on the East Coast of America, and that was quite a big thing for us. So the album sold and everybody was happy with it: the record company was happy, the management was happy, we were happy. We were still young and it was still a new thing for us. We did put out the second album quick. We didn’t want the interest to die. We should have waited for another year, to be perfectly honest. »Power Of The Hunter« wasn’t that well rehearsed and bedded in. We went straight from the rehearsal studio to write the album into the recording studio. We didn’t actually gig any of that material. I actually listened to the album quite recently and think it is a pretty good album. There are some really belting tracks on there. But you can tell that there is not enough attitude on there. You know, a bunch of young guys... It would have been better to have written it, taken it on the road for about six months and make it a bit more release-ready. But anyway, it did okay. It didn’t do as good as »Filth Hounds« but it still sold a good few copies.” Although »Power Of The Hunter« was a potent album, it wasn’t as furious as »Filth Hounds Of Hades«, and it sounded a bit rushed. There were three or four songs on the record that were not as good as the material on the first album. “I agree,” states the legendary Tank drummer. “This is exactly what I think, it was rushed. When someone rushes Steve Harris for the next Iron Maiden album, he will tell them to fuck off! They will do it when they’re ready. But when you’re young and a band and your record company says that they want you do to something, then you gotta do it. Well, we didn’t have that fuck off attitude towards the record company back then, if you know what I mean. Our manager maybe could have stepped in and said do it later, but no, the record company wanted it out as soon as possible. The first mix I heard was the one that was released. I thought we would need to re-mix it. But they put it out, and that was it, it was gone. Listening to it now ... I was disappointed back then but listening to it now 40 years or so later it’s not bad, it’s still pretty good. There is a couple of belters and a couple of fillers.” The Osmonds cover ´Crazy Horses´, that’s a good one. It came out as a single as well. Who actually got the idea to do this? “Well, again, when we first formed, we had half a dozen songs where we played the riff and played the song,” explains Mark Brabbs, “and funnily enough ‘Crazy Horses’ was one of them. We just used it as something to jam on. And somehow the record company found out. And then they had the idea to put it out. For us it was just a bit of fun, really. But when it was released, people didn’t get the joke, especially in England. They thought we were really serious about this but we weren’t. You know, it was an The Osmonds song... I think it was quite a good version.” MATTHIAS MADER