Great Metal Albums of 1986: Mama’s Boys- Power and Passion
Something I’ve realized in my later years actually manifested itself back in 1986, I just didn’t see it at the time. That is that heavy metal transcends national borders. Attending university in London, the metalheads of the university all banded together, united in metal. When walking home from a gig one night, one of the group made the observation, “We’re a right bunch here. We have an American, a Welshman, an Englishman, an Irishman and a Northerner.” (The Northerner was from Blackpool in the north of England.) Proof then that heavy metal can unite the world! I do recall this event in “Rock and Roll Children.” Why am I telling this story? Because it was the Irishman in the group, actually he was from Northern Ireland, who introduced me to a band from his homeland, Mama’s Boys.
I had heard the name Mama’s Boys before I arrived in the UK but my local record store in the US did not stock any of their albums. They were rather useless. It was my new friend Kieran, (the Patrick character in “Rock and Roll Children” is based on him), who opened my eyes to the band via their album, “Power and Passion” and I was very glad about that.
“Power and Passion” is a straight-forward 80s heavy metal album. There is simply some great musicianship combined with some great hooks in many of the songs. It has a decent opener in “Hard’n Loud” and there are hooks a plenty on the slower, more bluesy track, “Needle in the Groove.” Some great intro riffs and a cool guitar solo on “Run” and there is an interesting instrumental in the form of penultimate track, “The Professor II.” More straight ahead rockers and a closer which will make you come back to the album again and again. However, the song that does it most for me is “Lettin’ Go.” This track defines the album the best. Some great hard rocking riffs, a pounding rhythm section while keeping to their more melodic metal sound and of course, another great guitar solo.
If the three McManus brothers were to keep to the guitar, bass, drum formula, they would have still sounded great. No one can question the commitment and talent of these three but they do contribute their Gaelic roots by adding such instruments as a fiddle, whistles and bagpipes. This makes them even more unique and this album even better!
Track Listing:
- Hard’n Loud
- Straight Forward (No Looking Back)
- Lettin’ Go
- Needle in the Groove
- Run
- Power and Passion
- Don’t Tell Mama
- The Professor II
- Let’s Get High
Pat McManus- guitar, fiddle, backing vocals
John McManus- bass, lead vocals, backing vocals, low whistle, tin whistle uilleann bagpipes (Irish bagpipes)
Tommy McManus- drums, bodhran drum (Irish drum), backing vocals
With all the metal bands coming out all over the world, it seems only natural that there would be at least one from Northern Ireland. With “Power and Passion,” Mama’s Boys do their country and heavy metal proud.
Next post: Wrathchild- Trash Queens
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
This entry was posted on November 19, 2020 at 8:03 pm and is filed under 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags Classic Rock, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, Mama's Boys, Northern Ireland, Power and Passion, The 1980s. 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.
11 Responses to “Great Metal Albums of 1986: Mama’s Boys- Power and Passion”
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November 19, 2020 at 10:24 pm
I bought the first two albums. They were a talented bunch of bros. Too bad one of them passed on. Always liked Straight Forward No Looking Back and Needle In The Groove. Great tracks as Pat was a talented singer and guitar slinger!
Nice throwback writeup Fella!
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November 19, 2020 at 11:39 pm
Thanks and I concur that Pat was a great guitarist. It was the drummer, Tommy, who passed away. He was only 28, damn shame.
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November 20, 2020 at 12:30 am
I remember reading that. it was sad.
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November 20, 2020 at 6:47 pm
It was. 😦
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November 20, 2020 at 11:34 am
I have never heard of these guys. I am sure I missed a lot back in the day.
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November 20, 2020 at 6:48 pm
I wouldn’t have heard of them if I hadn’t gone to England.
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November 20, 2020 at 1:00 pm
I’m with 2Loud, never heard of them, but I missed a bunch (I was the jazz and CanCon pop kid for years). That kid I was might’ve laughed, mama’s boy was an insult, where I grew up, as in ‘can’t handle tough stuff yourself, gotta run home to mama.’ Etc. Ah, childhood.
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November 20, 2020 at 6:49 pm
Very true about the term but I think the sense of humour with the band was why they chose the name.
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November 20, 2020 at 7:58 pm
Well then my childhood self needs to smarten up ha!
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November 21, 2020 at 12:00 am
LOL, I believe Mama’s Boys were from an Irish-Catholic family. That could explain it.
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November 21, 2020 at 12:18 pm
Could explain a bit, yeah! 😉
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