Girlschool

Girlschool is a name that draws up memories of the very early days of The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM).
Of seeing them at festivals with the likes of Saxon and Iron Maiden, supporting Motorhead and the Tygers of Pan Tang.
One of the hardest hitting bands in the genre but, for me, just missing that killer vocalist to take them up the final notch.

This package has two shows, both from 1984, one from London’s Camden Palace (aka Music Machine & KoKo) and from Nashville and the two shows demonstrate different sides to the bands sound.

The London show is tough. Buzzsaw guitars, massive drumbeats and a really powerful sound. It is one of those sets that really needs to be played LOUD – play it quietly and it loses a lot of the power of the band but crank it up and you lose the sound of the venue – always a little echoey – and the bands strengths shine through. Some of their best numbers – ‘Play Dirty’, ‘Nowhere To Run’, ‘Rock Me, Shock Me’, ‘Emergency 999’ all featuring that bridge from punk to metal sound and kicking hard. Definitely the band at their best.

The second set here was recorded in Nashville Tennessee is a little more straight-rock than the punk-edged sound that they had in London. The guitars harmonising more and slightly rockier drumbeats but from ‘Screaming Blue Murder’ onwards they still play stirring rock like few others could. The version of Bolan’s ‘Twentieth Century Boy’ is wicked, pulling out the inherent snottiness of T Rex and adding plenty of oomph to it, their version of ZZ Top’s ‘Tush’ just adds power to a great Blues song.

It's a pretty good package, 2CDs of great rock and some great memories of a terrific band.