Raven

Quick! How many have you got! Currently I have two of, “The Pack is Back,” but at some point, I probably had three. This record is a mainstay of the Cheaps. I’m sure I bought it, put it in a pile, forgot I had it and the next time I saw it, the cover made me buy it again. It is a ridiculous cover. Which is why Metal Hammer named it to The 50 most hilariously ugly rock and metal album covers ever.

But how did a damn good “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” band become this?

Probably ‘Merica.

Raven began in 1974, way up north in Newcastle by brothers, John and Mark Gallagher; bassist, guitarist. And I’m going to pause right there because “The Pack is Back” came out in 1986, and that’s what I want to talk about. By that time, the band had already been together for over a decade, put out successful records for Brit-indie label Neat, had a few changes to their line up, and were now a 3-man-band with Rob “Wacko” Hunter on drums.

Raven was part of “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” which also began in the mid-70’s.

“New Wave of British Heavy Metal” is a big topic. It is just as significant as Punk. But if I go down that rabbit hole, we’ll be here all day and I’ll have Ken Burns pounding on my back door, and I don’t want that hair cut in my house.

So let’s start here, Raven had been in the States since 1983 when they signed to New Jersey label, Megaforce Records. The label had them continuously on the road to promote the record, “Live from the Inferno.” Metallica as their opening act. The constant promotion was enough for both Atlantic and Elektra Records to show interest. After a bit of back-and-forth, Atlantic signed the band.

In 1985, Atlantic released “Stay Hard,” and it alienated a lot of “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” fans.

Raven fans love to blame Atlantic for the very un—Metal sound of Stay Hard, but some things I read said that at this point, Atlantic hadn’t exercised any creative control. That this record sounds so distinctly American because that’s where the band had been spending their time. So the instrumental with the horn section, and the power ballad on the 2nd side were all Raven’s doing. But whom ever gets the blame, the record’s horn section was the Waterloo for a lot of Raven fans.

Which brings us to 1986 and “The Pack is Back.” In the mid-80s, Metal was everywhere. And stuff that wasn’t really Metal was also called Metal, because, why not? Which explains why Night Ranger and Tommy Shaw from Styx, opps I mean “Shaw Blades,” were on MTV’s show, Heavy Metal Mania and the future record compilations.

Heavy Metal Mania was MTV’s first commercialization of Metal. The show was hosted by Dee Snider of Twister Sister, and included a revolving door of guest co-hosts who promoted their record or played their favorite videos, or interviewed other bands. MTV eventually turned this into Headbanger’s Ball, which would run for almost 10yrs, go away, and then get resurrected on MTV2.

BandsoftheLost.com, has a link to the 1985 Heavy Metal Mania mini-interview Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickenson did with the Gallagher brothers; where they talk about “The Pack is Back” and then they play the “On and On” video from Stay Hard. It is super-cliche, but features a record company as the video’s bad guy. Kinda supporting the fan-theory that Raven was manipulated into becoming all things un-Raven.

Brothers Gallagher also talk a bit about “Athletic Rock” which is a term that describes the extreme energy and physicality of the band’s live shows. Raven’s drummer, Wacko took Athletic Rock to the next level by banging his head on the cymbals, pounding his drums with his fists, and then shooting off fireworks from his helmet; all of which are on display in the “On and On” video.

Raven then carried this Athletic Rock theme to the cover of “The Pack is Back.” It features the boys breaking out of athletic lockers in various shades of athletic undress. Or maybe this IS dressed? I don’t know. But it can never be argued that this is a great rock cover, unless you’re someone like me who looks for this shit.

“Stay Hard” was produced by the band and Jon Zazula, founder of Megaforce Records, but Atlantic thought it would be best to bring in a big gun for the follow up. So “The Pack is Back” was produced by Eddie Kramer. As in Electric Lady Land Engineer- Eddie Kramer, or Physical Graffiti-Traffic-Frampton Comes Alive Engineer-Eddie Kramer.

Producer-Eddie Kramer’s credits at the time included Jobriath, Spooky Tooth, KISS, and Triumph among many others.

Did this help?

The record opens with the title track, “The Pack is Back.” It is a catchy, chanty-anthem that at least makes me wonder where they’ve been. I don’t know why the Green Bay Packers didn’t co-opt this song. Except that they suck.

The second song is a cover of “Gimmie Some Lovin.” And I don’t care if Eddie Kramer is playing piano on this, you either sing this song with the rhythm-and-blues chops required, or you sing it like a fraternity house band. Cuz you sound like one or the other. There is no grey. Guess where we are?

The band decided to bring back the Stay Hard horn section for “Hy-per-act-ive,” and for “Don’t Let it Die.” But neither song needed it. I don’t know what Kramer thought he was adding with trumpets.

Except shame.

But here is, well, the first song on the 2nd side, right. I’m listening to this record, first time in a LOOONG time. Eddie Kramer; also on piano here, by the way. And I am doing stuff around the room, and the song begins, it has 2 high-pitched metal screams before they even get to the chorus. Which, to me, is a good sign. Raven sings the chorus, and I’m like, “Alright. Over-the-top.” And I’m good with this. And 3min in, with the “Ohh-Ohh-Ohh-Ohhh-Ohh-Ohh” I’m questioning what I’m hearing. So I look at the back of the record and my heart breaks. Raven was singing “We Are the Rock Rock Dogs!” But my head was hearing, “We Are the Rock Rock Gods!” Which is so much better! I still haven’t recovered.

Surprise! “The Pack is Back” did nothing of significance. After this, Raven put out an EP entitled, “MAD” and another record, “Life’s A Bitch” before they left Atlantic in 1987. Over the years, decades..the band has had some health issues, and a couple different drummers but John and Mark Gallagher are still playing, still touring, and still being Raven.

According to a Voices from the Darkside interview John did around 2016, Atlantic didn’t know what to do with “Life’s a Bitch.” Taking that as a sign, the newly married Wacko left Raven. But he did alright. He became a recording engineer cutting his chops with metal bands, Overkill, Pro-Pain and Accuser before joining Branford Marsalis.

In 2016, Robert Hunter received a Best Jazz Vocal Grammy nomination for his work on “Upward Spiral.” The Grammy went to Gregory Porter for, “Take Me to the Alley.”

You should easily find this in the cheaps. Or you can come to my house, I’ve got copies. If you’d like to learn about other records you may or may not have known about back in the day, feel free to subscribe to Bands of the Lost YouTube Channel, or check us out at BandsoftheLost.com

Happy Digging

Bands of the Lost

Lynn@bandsofthelost.com