Great Metal Albums of 1984: White Wolf- Standing Alone
Here’s a post about being in the right place at the right time. Sometime in the wee hours of one morning in early 1984, I happened to be up watching MTV when this video by some band named White Wolf came on. I knew nothing about the band but I knew I liked the song they were playing. So, I made a mental note about them and went to my local record shops in the days following to find out more about this band and possibly buy the album. Unfortunately, I drew a blank everywhere I went and I had a good share of confused looks from shop assistants, but that’s Southern New Jersey for you. The sad tale is that I never got this album though the band from that one late night experience has always remained in my memory. However, there is a happy ending thanks to Youtube where I finally got to listen to White Wolf’s 1984 “Standing Alone” album and share it with you. Believe me, the wait was worth it.
Let me start with my one tiny criticism of “Standing Alone.” It’s the title track. Not a bad song, in fact it’s quite good but it shouldn’t be the opener on the album. That duty should have fallen on the second track, “Headlines.” That is the song that leaps out and assaults your ear drums and makes you pay serious attention to the album. As for the title track, it should have been third because the track after “Headlines” continues the ear assault before turning slightly more melodic at the end. The more melodic title track would have followed on nicely from there. That would have very nicely paved the way for my favourite track on the album. “What the War Will Bring.” It cleverly disguises itself as a power ballad, a good one, but there is some very great guitar work here. Eight minutes of enjoyable melodic metal and guitar work combined. Most of the song is comprised of the latter and that is the reason why I like it so much.
Nit picking done, the rest of the album is one big powerful explosion of metal. The three tracks following my favourite bear testimony to that. “Night Rider” kicks it off with a harmonizing of the title before the music kicks in full blast. It’s a rather fast paced song, though I wouldn’t call it thrash, with a cool guitar solo. If you thought “Night Rider” was hard, “Homeward Bound” is even harsher! It’s a good heavy metal tune, if ever there was one. A sort of twist comes next. One would think that a song called “Metal Thunder” would be even harder and louder than its predecessors but it’s much more melodic, a good curve ball there. Still, it’s a cool song with some good harmony vocals and guitar work and it leads very well to the closer, which provides the right conclusion to this fime album.
Track Listing:
- Standing Alone
- Headlines
- Shadows in the Night
- What the War Will Bring
- Night Rider
- Homeward Bound
- Metal Thunder
- Trust Me
Donn Wolf aka Don Wilk- vocals
Martin Kronlund- guitar
Cam McLeod- guitar, backing vocals
Rikard Quist- bass
Imre Daun- drums
I can’t even remember which of these 8 cool songs the video I saw on MTV back in 1984 was for. I do remember it being a viking theme but that’s all. I do know that I liked the song and there must have been something there for me to remember it all these years after. I’m forever grateful that I got to listen to “Standing Alone” and got to hear it for myself.
Next post: The Scorpions- Love At First Sting
To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Roll-Children-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1609763556/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1509701865&sr=8-3&keywords=michael+d+lefevre
This entry was posted on November 3, 2017 at 9:41 am and is filed under 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags Canada, Classic Rock, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, MTV, Standing Alone, The 1980s, White Wolf. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
8 Responses to “Great Metal Albums of 1984: White Wolf- Standing Alone”
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November 3, 2017 at 10:59 am
You can stream it on Apple Music, so it is going now. It is saving me from some of these new releases that came out today that my heart is not in to listening.
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November 4, 2017 at 4:29 pm
Glad to be of help on that one.
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November 3, 2017 at 11:14 am
I`ve never seen that cover up top in real life. I have the other. And I agree about the opening track — Headlines would be much better.
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November 4, 2017 at 4:30 pm
Once again, great minds think alike. Could you post a picture of the other? I’m curious to see it.
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November 4, 2017 at 5:36 am
Thanks for this review of another new-to-me band.
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November 4, 2017 at 4:30 pm
Like Rock Goddess, they’re another great band who didn’t get the big break.
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November 5, 2017 at 1:59 pm
That sounds SO 80’s!
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November 6, 2017 at 6:12 pm
It was!
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