Great Metal Albums of 1983: Killer Dwarfs

I stated that sometime during the tour of 1983, I would make a revelation. My original plan was to wait a little further down the line before I made this revelation but recent posts on another blog has made it impossible for me to hold it in any longer. So now, I am going to reveal my favourite Canadian band of all time. Yep, you guessed it, it’s the Killer Dwarfs, who released their debut, self titled album in 1983.

It was the name alone that first got my attention. While browsing around my local record shop, I happened to pick up a compilation album, which I will visit in 1984, and the third track in was the single “Heavy Mental Breakdown” by the Killer Dwarfs. Being a Dungeons and Dragons player,  the name gave me a tickle and that, along with some of the other great tracks I did know, was enough for me to buy the album. A couple of listens to the song on the compilation album was enough for me to send a cheque to Attic Records in Canada and buy their debut album. Unlike Chris DeBurgh, it was the best record buying decision I ever made and I’ve been a huge Killer Dwarfs fan ever since. My best experience was seeing them open for Iron Maiden at the Hammersmith Odeon in London in 1988.

Let’s talk about the debut album. I’ll be the first to say that future albums were better and more polished than this one but that doesn’t stop this album from being a killer, yes pun intended. The opener, “Are You Ready,” sucks you in from the first notes and the second track, “Can’t Lose” does a great job in keeping your attention. Both songs are good rockers with catchy rhythms. Things go along very nicely through the next to tracks to the mentioned single to close out side one and leaving you very curious to hear what side two is going to sound like. Well, the second side doesn’t disappoint and I found it better than side one. All five songs stand out very well all the way down to a very good power ballad of a closer. That was why when I read about Russ Dwarf’s recent acoustic recordings of some of the classic Killer Dwarfs songs, I questioned why “Fire in Your Eyes” wasn’t included among them. While the song on this album has some great electric power chords, I still think it would sound great unplugged.

Now let’s talk about my favourite track on this album. If I were ever to write my auto-biography or there were to be a film made about my life, I would call it or insist it be called, “Outlaw of a Modern Man.” Besides the fact that I think that title applies to me at least a little bit, I found the title to be very amusing. At least the band and I have a similar sense of humour. The song itself is just a great power rocker. Only barely more than three minutes long, it packs a lot of dynamite into that short time. In spite of all the accusations of being pop metal, this song shows that the Killer Dwarfs can rock! But I knew that when I bought this album.

Track Listing:

1. Are You Ready
2. Can’t Lose
3. Drifter
4. Prisoner
5. Heavy Mental Breakdown
6. Read Between the Lines
7. Gotta Lose to Win
8. Outlaw of a Modern Man
9. Time to Move On
10. Fire in Your Eyes

This is the only photo I could get of the first line up.

Russ ‘Dwarf’ Graham- vocals

Bryce ‘Dwarf’ Trewin- guitar

Ange ‘Dwarf’ Fodero- bass

Darrell ‘Dwarf’ Millar- drums

Unfortunately, after their debut album, the Killer Dwarfs would nearly fade into obscurity. Both members of the string section would leave and the band would part ties with its record label. However, they would be back and better than ever but that story is best left for the appropriate time. The other unfortunate thing is that on account of all this, their debut album would be pretty much forgotten. I would be one of the ones who wouldn’t because it was the first album that made me a die hard Killer Dwarfs fan.

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