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██▌ Artist...: U8 ░▐██▌
░▐██ Album....: Pegasus 1001 ░██▌░
▓▐██ Year.....: 2021 ▓▐██▓
▓▐██ Rel.Date.: 2021-05-03 ░▐██▓
▐██ Genre....: Heavy Metal ██▌░
░ ██▌ Label....: PPM ██▌
▐██ Source...: CD ▐██
░▐██▌ Type.....: Reissue ▐██▌░
▓▄████ Quality..: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo ████▌░
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1. God of the Highway 4:20
2. The Power and the Majesty 4:17
3. Sherpin' Man 4:57
4. Fly Away 6:39
5. Straight into the Night 4:45
6. Long Nights 3:48
7. Fantasy for Dreamers 5:04
8. Fast Driving Mama 5:29
9. Pegasus 1001 5:08
------
44:27
Austria's U8 are a perfect example of that wonderful style of very early
80's European heavy metal that blended tinges of the NWOBHM sound with
classic 70's hard rock/proto metal. If you love the Dutch band PICTURE,
Belgium's ACID, Sweden's TORCH, HEAVY LOAD, GLORY BELLS' BAND, AXEWITCH,
Finland's OZ and RIFF RAFF ("Give The Dead Man Some Water" LP) or German
classics like RAMPAGE's "Victims Of Rock" or early ACCEPT (especially
"I'm A Rebel" LP and "Breaker" LP) then you will absolutely love U8's
classic 1982 debut LP "Pegasus 1001". Arguably Austria's first heavy
metal band and no doubt the creators of the first Austrian metal
masterpiece. A sadly often overlooked rarity, U8's "Pegasus 1001" LP is
a flawless slab of no B.S. early European metal.
From the LP's downright pedal to the metal classic opening track "God Of
The Highway" (featuring one of those perfect metal solos that will
simply blow your mind and leave you with goosebumps) to the moody,
full-blown masterwork "The Power And The Majesty" to the plodding, heavy
as hell "Sherpin' Man" and the up-tempo, catchy Euro-metal brilliance of
"Fly Away" (with its rad blend of early power metal and 70's hard rock
stylings), this album starts with a bang and never lets up. The album
continues with the PICTURE-like tune "Straight Into The Night" ("take
some cocaine, smoke some grass") which features a chorus for the ages
and melody for miles. This is early 80's European heavy metal at its
finest! Balls out, melodic and catchy as hell, and all 1983!!!! If I
were to make a compilation of the greatest European heavy metal tunes
circa 1980-1984 "Straight Into The Night" would undoubtedly be included.
Next up is the more than excellent "Long Nights", a tune very much in
the style of the best tunes off the first two ACCEPT LPs. With an almost
pop-beat, this mega melodic and super catchy tune is a great example of
the song-craft which makes so much Euro-metal of this era so endearing
to so many of us. And when it comes solo time the listener is rewarded
with a simply perfectly written piece of lyrical soloing. The album
continues with arguably its finest track "Fantasy For Dreamers" which
begins with a quite excellent neo-classical intro followed by an
astounding SCORPIONS-level power ballad of truly epic proportions. This
isn't second-rate stuff folks...."Fantasy For Dreamers" has that bleak,
melancholy, highly emotive X-factor element that made bands like HEAVY
LOAD so powerful. "Fantasy For Dreamers" also demonstrates the superb
production level of this whole album. The production on "Pegasus 1001"
simply smokes! Following "Fantasy For Dreamers" it's all head-banging,
foot-stomping hard-rockin' mania with the asskickin' "Fast Drivin'
Mama", a tune that is nothing less than mega-catchy hard rock at its
finest and features a bridge/guitar solo section which is just wicked.
This awesome album ends with the title track "Pegasus 1001", which
begins with a very melodic and well-written 70's style build-up. Like
"Fantasy For Dreamers" this tune could be described as a power-ballad,
however it builds into a very cool (almost RUSH-like) blending of NWOBHM
and 70's hard rock. The tune is very catchy and really serves to show
off how talented this band was. A perfect ending to an album which I
never tire of and which truly deserved to be reissued.
The remastered sound is quite excellent with only the title track
betraying a probable vinyl to digital transfer. Otherwise, I've never
heard a vinyl to CD transfer of this album (or many other albums
transferred from vinyl sources, for that matter) with the quality of
sound anywhere near as good as this release. I am quite sure this is a
vinyl to CD (digital transfer) as I do not believe the master tapes of
this rare album are available. However, in general there is nothing to
indicate a vinyl to CD transfer such as pops, skips, etc. and the
fidelity is extremely crisp and consistent throughout with only a minor
"deterioration" during the final minute of the tune "Pegasus 1001"). So
if this is indeed an LP to CD transfer it is of the highest quality and
obviously much work went into achieving a truly WAY above average
transfer. I'm so glad this classic was treated with such respect. I have
a very high grade original copy of this LP and I was still quite stunned
by the excellence of the mastering. This is the best this great sounding
LP probably will EVER sound. Suffice to say, my LP is officially retired
(granted due to the LP's rarity I had done my own LP to CD transfer
which is laughable in comparison to the quality of this release, so I
rarely played the actual LP)! But there's much more to this essential
release than a killer sounding remaster of the "Pegasus 1001" LP! There
is also the massive booklet packed with liner notes on the history of
the band and the album (written in both English and German), tons of
photos, back-stage passes, fliers, and other U8 ephemera that even
further help round out this simply astonishing release. And just when
you're ready to give it the 10 out of 10 there's the bonus 1981 Demo, an
excellent recording featuring 5 tracks (of which only "God Of The
Highway" appears on the LP, albeit in a quite different version of
course). As a U8 fanatic these bonus tracks make this release all the
more essential. They are a bit more 70's styled in general, however they
allow one to hear the beginning of a great band and further highlight
the musicianship of this band.
From a historical perspective the 1981 Demo is simply fascinating.
Opening track "Demon's Tale" sounds like a classic long-lost NWOBHM
single, with its awesome twin-lead section and ANGEL WITCH like gallop.
One of the most fascinating elements of the 1981 Demo is the vocals. The
demo and LP feature different lead vocalists and interestingly the
vocalist on the demo has much less of an Austria/German accent. While I
love the "Pegasus 1001" LP, listening to these '81 Demo tracks does make
one wonder what the LP would have sounded like with the same lead
vocalist as featured on the demo. The second demo track "Living For A
While" is nothing short of beautiful, displaying an interesting AOR/pop
style and typical for U8, excellent song-writing. The demo version of
"God Of The Highway" doesn't quite have the sheer power of the LP
version (it's still quite amped up. don't get me wrong!) and again
strangely sounds like a lost NWOBHM single track. As far as vocalist
comparisons, "God Of The Highway" (being on both the '81 Demo and the
LP) allows the listener a chance to hear what the "Pegasus 1001" LP
might have sounded like had the vocalist of the '81 Demo sung on the LP.
However, it is quickly apparent that Erich Enzinger's powerful (albeit
more accented) vocals on the LP fit the stylings of "God Of The Highway"
better than the vocalist on the demo version (although the '81 version's
vocals are pretty rad with the added echo-effects and more spaced out
vocal delivery). The fourth demo track is another beautiful song, a
ballad called "Isabella". Quite impressive! This song almost makes one
wonder if U8 may have been more successful as a straight up AOR pop-hard
rock band. The 1981 Demo concludes with a full-on, no question about it
classic and vaguely Judas Priest-like heavy metal assault called "Same
Old Lies". This tune is totally awesome...again conjuring up the best of
the NWOBHM, Austrian style. This track could very well be a lost HOLLOW
GROUND track crossed with a VOLTZ out-take. In the end the 1981 Demo
makes this release even more dynamic and of interest not just to those
who love early 80's Euro-metal but also everyone who loves the classic
NWOBHM sound. Simply put, this is a release every true heavy metal
fanatic would be VERY wise to pick up!
In the end this release does a perfect job emphasizing the fact that the
UK was by no means the only country developing modern heavy metal circa
1981-1983. In Austria a group of superb musicians with great
song-writing instincts called U8 were forging ahead despite Austria's
relative lack of a heavy metal scene and label support and would
eventually release a masterpiece of an album called "Pegasus 1001" in
1982. Limited to 500 copies this CD reissue (also available on vinyl I
believe) is obviously catered towards a small group of metal historians,
completists, and Euro-metal freaks. While I'm so glad this release
exists it kind of angers me that such a talented band like U8 (and so
many other mainland European groups from '80-'84) are often overlooked
(often due to heavy regional accents) or treated as little more than
footnotes.
This is a release for fans of the WORLD of heavy metal in all its
glory...U8 were a near lone group, operating on the same instincts as
the plethora of UK bands who formed in '79-'80. However, being from
Austria they had a slightly different take on the heavy metal sound. A
more "European" take (no doubt influenced by some of the early German
metal bands). In the end though, their sound is their own. It's timeless
in its purity of style and of intent. So here's your chance to own this
rare gem. Don't overlook it like SO many have for the last 35+ years.
U8's 1983 "Pegasus 1001" LP is exactly what is stated on the back of the
LP: "true 'n pure like it's gotta be"!
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