Great Metal Albums of 1986: Krokus- Change of Address

From the last two posts, I’m getting the impression that 1986 might have been a year for bands putting out their worst albums. In my last post, Savatage said it about their “Fight for the Rock” album and from what I’ve read, Krokus as well as some of the music media at the time, said it about their album, “Change of Address.”

Two years after their 1984 album, “The Blitz,” Krokus were in grave danger of fading into obscurity. My first indoctrination to “Change of Address,” was via their first single, which got a fair amount of airplay on MTV, a cover of the Alice Cooper classic, “School’s Out.” To be fair, it wasn’t a bad cover of the song, if anything, it was done quite well but it didn’t make me want to rush out and buy the album either. Not long after, a friend of mine made the comment, “Krokus has a new album out, does anyone care?” I got what he meant. By this time, I was beginning to think that Krokus were going to be remembered for having one phenomenal song, “Screaming in the Night” from the 1983 “Headhunter” album. That song will always be in my top 20 of favourite songs.

Eventually, I gave “Change of Address” a go and it’s not bad. It did take me a couple of listens to get into it. My actual verdict is half of this album has decent tracks while the other half is filler. The weird thing is that they seem to alternate, well almost. Example: I think that the one and two songs should have been the other way around. “Hot Shot City” makes a better opener than “Now (All Through the Night).” As for the cover of “School’s Out,” I think that it was intentionally released in the early summer of 1986 to try to catch the mood of school actually being out for summer. The video definitely gives that impression.

It is after the power ballad of “Let This Love Begin” which is okay but only that, where the album picks up a bit more. Following it is my favourite track, “Burning Up the Night” which proved to me that they were still capable of producing some good songs. It’s not “Screaming in the Night” but it’s better than the catchy “Midnight Maniac” from “The Blitz,” so that should give you an idea of where it stands. I mean, you gotta love that intro and it genuinely sounds and looks from the video that the band actually had some fun recording this one. Plus, it’s home to Fernando Von Arb’s best guitar solo.

Like the rest of the album, side two is split between some good songs and pseudo filler. “Say Goodbye” kicks off the second side in fine fashion. With the hard guitar sound and probably Marc Storace’s best vocal performance on the album and some good harmonizing at the chorus, it is second best on the album. However, the next two songs, while not bad, are more filler. “Hard Luck Hero” doesn’t live up to the potential it shows at the beginning of the song and “World On Fire,” just doesn’t do it for me. Fortunately, “Long Way From Home” is a good enough closer to take the album out on a high.

Track Listing:

1. Now (All Through the Night)
2.  Hot Shot City
3. School’s Out
4. Let This Love Begin
5. Burning Up the Night
6. Say Goodbye
7. World On Fire
8. Hard Luck Hero
9. Long Way From Home

Krokus

Marc Storace- vocals

Fernando Von Arb- lead guitar

Mark Kohler- rhythm guitar

Tommy Keisser- bass

Jeff Klaven- drums, percussion

Paul Fox- keyboards

Jai Winding- keyboards

And just because I wasn’t uploading songs when I posted about the “Headhunter” album.

Krokus has claimed the reason why “Change of Address” was such a lackluster album was that they were under pressure from their record company at the time. That’s why they changed labels after this one. On account of this album and even “The Blitz,” I regarded Krokus as a mediocre band who made one smashing song. I think there’s a little more to them than that.

Next post: Bon Jovi- Slippery When Wet

To buy Rock And Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com