Exciter: Long Live the Loud (1985)

Let's all go back to a simpler time.  When the only real concerns were making a few bucks to put gas in your cherried out Dodge Charger or Grand Am to take out your spandex-clad feathered-haired girlfriend.  This cassette was likely playing in the car at the time.  This is the perfect soundtrack for exceeding the speed limit while flying down the highway.

Canadian metal of the 1980's has really garnered a lot of nostalgia in recent years.  Part of that was likely due to the Anvil documentary of several years ago.  But there were better bands in the scene.  Exciter, named after a Judas Priest song, was one of the leading bands in the scene, releasing three classic albums from 1983 through 1985.  This was the third, and probably my favorite of the three.

As could be expected when a band names itself after a Judas Priest song, Priest and Iron Maiden seem to be the primary influences on Exciter's sound.  "Born to Die" would have easily fit on Priest's Defenders of the Faith while the beginning of "Wake Up Screaming" sounds a lot like Maiden's "Hallowed be Thy Name".  Most of the rest of the songs are made up of catchy-as-hell pure speed metal.  There are several terrific songs here, including the title track and "I am the Beast".

I missed out on this album the first time around (I was four after all), but there are several great metal albums being reissued all the time.  All three of the first Exciter albums have recently been reissued and I have been picking them up.  I have not ventured beyond the first three yet, but someday I may have to.  As I said, this is my favorite album by Exciter thus far.