Bluesy
hard
rock
and boogie was still around in the early 1980s, even as
hair metal
started grabbing all the attention. One such British band,
Fastway
, was led by two veterans:
Motorhead
guitarist
Fast Eddie Clarke
and
Humble Pie
drummer
Jerry Shirley
. They recruited unknown singer and harmonica player
David King
and released their successful self-titled debut in 1983.
had no full-time bassist at this point, and whoever played on the album isn't credited.
King
was a virtual
Robert Plant
clone, and to say that much of
bears more than a passing resemblance to
Led Zeppelin
is an understatement. Despite its derivative nature, this is sloppy, unrefined fun. Overall,
Clarke
's guitar work here is more diverse than what he did in
, yet the blistering opener,
"Easy Livin',"
is full of his jackhammer riffing. The tune is actually catchy too, and
's exuberant vocals can't be ignored.
"Feel Me, Touch Me (Do Anything You Want),"
"Heft!,"
"We Become One"
are good, but the sputtering
"Say What You Will"
and the dramatically bombastic bonus track
"Far Far From Home"
rank with
"Easy Livin'"
(not a
Uriah Heep
cover, by the way) as the best songs on
. It's interesting to note that, although
's influences are obvious, the band generally avoided the venomous critical barbs and comparisons suffered by
Kingdom Come
five years later. ~ Bret Adams