Victory: Fuel to the Fire

Victory ranks as one of the strangest German metal bands to come out of the 1980s. Unlike more European-sounding melodic bands like Helloween, Accept, and Warlock, Victory went for a decidedly more American approach, aping the pop-oriented LA metal scene so blatantly, it was difficult to respect. That said, these boys brought the hooks, big time, and while the band’s shtick became tiresome (not to mention horribly unfashionable) as the ’90s rolled around, the band — led by guitarists Tommy Newton (who went on to produce Helloween) and Herman Frank, best known for his brief stint as rhythm guitarist for Accept in 1984 — sounds energetic on this release, which has the quintet re-recording a handful of their finest songs. Granted, there are still clunkers, as “Temples of Gold” is tepid (the song’s fault, not the performance’s), but when they drag out those corny pop metal tunes, such as “Don’t Tell No Lies”, “Rock the Neighbours”, and “Rebel Ready”, it’s hard not to enjoy it just a little. Singer Jiodi Parchiridis holds his own covering material originally sung by Fernando Garcia, but aside from being proof that these guys have not vanished off the face of the earth, the gimmick of re-recording old material has become too commonplace among ’80s bands for most people to care about another such endeavor.