Great Metal Albums of 1989: Vow Wow- Helter Skelter
Let’s start with the obvious, yes, Vow Wow’s album is named after a famous Beatles song and the one which can be said was the Fab Four’s contribution to heavy metal. Saying that, Vow Wow’s cover of the song is very good and it does appear on that compilation album I keep going on about. It also gives me another idea which I’ll talk more about at the end of the post.
Another point about Vow Wow, which I’m sure I stated when I posted about their previous album, “V.” They were to England what Loudness was to America, a great Japanese metal band which everyone thought kicked ass. It’s a bit of a shame that either band didn’t seem to get traction in the other country. I guess it proves that the US and the UK are two peoples separated by the same language.
The first two tracks of “Helter Skelter” are decent tracks but I also think they were more oriented for commercial radio. For me, the album doesn’t really kick into gear till the third track, “Spellbound” and no it’s not a cover of the Triumph classic. This is a great tune, my favourite on the album and I guess you could call it the hidden gem. From the kick ass guitar intro you get a good steady rocking with some great vocals and backing vocals and you get a cool keyboard/guitar solo tradeoff between Kyoji Yamamoto and Rei Astumi.
After the title track comes the first of two power ballads, “The Boy.” Genki Hitomi does pour his heart into it but I must say, I think he and Minoru Nihara are cut from the same mold in regards to their vocal styles. This is no way a bad thing. One ever so slight disappointment comes in the form of “Rock Me Now.” This track would have rocked me more if the keyboards had been turned down and the guitars turned up! Fortunately, the next track, “Turn on the Night” does rock out and rocks out totally although it does sound a little Kiss-ish. Kyoji’s guitar solo is top notch.
“Never Let You Go” is the second power ballad and Genki sings it with the same conviction as he does “The Boy.” There is some good drumming from Toshihiro Niimi. Then we get back to some rocking with “Night By Night.” However, the album ends as it began with two more commercial friendly tracks although there is a bit of swagger to the penultimate track and the closer is the perfect choice for the job.
Track Listing:
- Feel the Power
- Talking ‘Bout You
- Spellbound
- Helter Skelter
- The Boy
- Rock Me Now
- Turn on the Night
- Never Let You Go
- Night By Night
- You’re the One For Me
- Sign of the Times
Genki Hitomi- vocals
Kyoji Yamamoto- guitars
Rei Astumi- keyboards
Neil Murray- bass
Toshihiro- Niimi- drums
“Helter Skelter” is a solid offering from Vow Wow. Somebody should have suggested a joint tour between them and Loudness, this way we would have had a double whammy of great Japanese metal.
On the subject of the song “Helter Skelter,” there have been so many covers of this classic Beatles song that I propose a post of deciding which one we like most or the original. I formally invite all of you to contribute to a massive joint post on the subject.
Next post: MASS- Voices in the Night
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
To sign the petition to have Bruce Dickinson knighted, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson
This entry was posted on April 15, 2024 at 5:25 pm and is filed under 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags Classic Rock, glam rock, hair metal, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, Helter Skelter, Japan, Loudness, The 1980s, The Beatles, Vow Wow. 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.
22 Responses to “Great Metal Albums of 1989: Vow Wow- Helter Skelter”
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April 15, 2024 at 6:46 pm
Neil Murray looks a little out of place there.
Since you know I’m a fan of Japanese metal like EZO and Loudness, this is on my want list.
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April 15, 2024 at 7:06 pm
Very good and I need to listen to some EZO.
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April 15, 2024 at 7:09 pm
Me too except I can’t get it for under $40.
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April 17, 2024 at 6:34 pm
Shame, did you catch my invitation of a mass joint post talking about our favourite covers of “Helter Skelter?” v
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April 17, 2024 at 7:42 pm
I recall something about it! Aerosmith and Motley are my picks for that one…
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April 18, 2024 at 11:28 am
Both are good covers, would you like to write a joint post about it.
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April 18, 2024 at 12:04 pm
I’m not sure…I’m feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment.
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April 19, 2024 at 10:05 pm
I wasn’t thinking right now, I thought it might be an idea in the future. I, too am a bit snowed under at the moment.
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April 20, 2024 at 12:06 am
For the future, then YES let’s dot it.
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April 20, 2024 at 7:15 am
Definitely!
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April 16, 2024 at 11:03 am
Neil Murray…as in Whitesnake bassist Neil Murray??? That is odd. Kinda cool too!!. Good stuff!
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April 17, 2024 at 6:36 pm
Yes it is that Neil Murray! Small world isn’t it? Did you see my offer of a mass joint post where we talk about our favourite covers of “Helter Skelter?”
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April 18, 2024 at 12:53 pm
Really cool. I didn’t see it, sorry. I’m a little out of things right now. Haven’t written much lately and not real motivated currently so I’m going to skip the Helter Skeler thing as I can’t keep up with my site right now.
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April 19, 2024 at 10:06 pm
I wasn’t thinking right now, I thought it might be an idea in the future. I, too am a bit snowed under at the moment.
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April 18, 2024 at 9:20 pm
I have not ever heard of these guys. That is some seriously good stuff.
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April 19, 2024 at 10:07 pm
Thanks, I’ve suggested this to some others but sometime in the future, would you be interested in a joint post where we rate our favourite covers of “Helter Skelter?”
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April 20, 2024 at 4:50 pm
I would be game for that.
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April 21, 2024 at 7:49 pm
Excellent! Mike, 2loud and I have a lot on right now but a post in the future is definitely feasible.
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April 19, 2024 at 11:08 pm
This Japanese review reminds me of the time I was in Toronto and, right in Downtown, outside the Eaton Centre, there was a Japanese band set up to play. They had a sign that said LIVE FROM TOKYO and they had flown across the Pacific Ocean to the interior of North America to play …
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April 20, 2024 at 7:15 am
You got to give them full credit for doing that. Were they any good?
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April 23, 2024 at 5:43 pm
They actually weren’t half-bad. But you have to have some talent to fly halfway around the world presenting yourself to naked strangers.
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April 23, 2024 at 9:12 pm
That’s true, fair play to them.
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