New Birth
by Boston-area band
Mass
on
RCA
was their long-awaited major label debut, but is actually their third set of recordings. In 1982, the group was called Axes and cut an album in Florida with producer
Tom Alom
, who had worked with
Black Sabbath
and
Judas Priest
. As their original management unraveled, so did their hopes and dreams, and three years elapsed before their
John Matthias
-produced EP, simply titled
, was released on their own
Records. Calling the album
was no coincidence.
Tony Platt
engineered and produced ten songs with a seriously hard edge. The album tracks are very good, bordering on terrific '80s
metal
, but it was the
ballad
that got the attention.
"Do You Love Me"
was re-released on a 12" single, remixed and remastered by
Tracy Chapman
producer
David Kershenbaum
. The remixed single version clocked in at 3:23, and the flip side contained a longer 3:45 remixed album track. The video of
also got
MTV
airplay, and the song was a regional hit. The problem was fans may have felt the opening track,
"Too Far Gone,"
or the closer,
"Watch Her Walk,"
were more in line with what followers of the band's live show wanted to hear. And as their career progressed, the crunch got wonderfully crunchier, bearing this theory out. Another interesting aspect was the cover of the LP: a female phoenix seems to be rising from some kind of nuclear situation with a great color scheme. The 12" single has a black-and-white cover which might be a bit more descriptive: the state of Massachusetts with the band's name boldly imprinted on a map. The material, all written by these young journeymen who had been through the
rock & roll
school of hard knocks and back, is very catchy and pro sounding.
"Crying Alone"
has sizzling guitar from
Gene D'Itria
and nice rolling drums from
Joey Vee Vadala
, who is about as solid as you can get. It's just too bad
or
"Time"
didn't get the radio/TV rotation. These songs were more in line with what the band was saying. The inclusion of
CBS
recording artist/keyboardist
Jon Sinclair
of
Ozzy Osbourne
/
Uriah Heep
fame would've made for a cool docu-video had they gone that route. But hindsight is always 20/20, and a band beset with so many problems still able to crank out a
"Back to Me"
"Left Behind"
deserves credit. The title track,
"New Birth"
; minor hit
; and final track,
were all re-released on the CD
Best Ones
, which does a fine job of chronicling
' journey.
"Voyager (Look for the Edge)"
is a solid anthem, and actually would have made a better single -- biting
Sabbath
-style riffs and vocals, a progressive hook -- who knows what would have happened had
Kershenbaum
's magic been sprinkled onto this tune instead?
remains a good "first" effort foretelling the excellent music to come. ~ Joe Viglione