TT Quick - Metal Of Honor
1986 Megaforce
by Horatio

Quick Summary:
The real deal in US heavy metal surely came in no better form than New York outfit TT Quick, a near legendary New York band who could have been huge but inevitably never quite made it.  That doesn't matter as the legacy they left from this album alone cemented their status.  A great mixture of 80's Pantera meets Mötley Crüe seems the best way to describe their sound, although in '86 these guys made the Crüe look like Dokken or something similarly appalling.  Quick released a demo in 1984 with anthems like 'Metal Man' and 'Go For The Throat', which say it all.  There was a speed metal element evident in their approach, and looking at a concert photo of them in 1984, shirtless, bullet belts, fists in the air, makes me shake my head in disbelief.

In this mediocre day and age it seems the only way a band can be considered metal is to play extreme forms of the genre.  According to most people now, TT Quick would probably be pop.  No, you see this is what real metal is all about, balls and attitude, great song titles, dudes with names like Walt Fortune.  I suspect these guys would have left Manowar in a crumpled heap on the floor.  You could place this album next to other tough efforts from the period, like Keel's 'The Right To Rock' if you wanted to really compare, although this has a harder edge.  Quick managed one more studio album, '89's 'Sloppy Seconds' before calling it a day until they reformed in the late 90's, releasing a new album 'Ink' in 2000.  This is their definitive recording, melody, heaviness, it's all there.  As Tornillo wails during 'Metal Of Honor', 'denim, leather and beer!'  That's the eighties in a nutshell.

Song Summaries:

1. Metal Of Honor - Staggering to think this is nearly two decades old as it's as fresh sounding as anything in 2004.  This really reminds me of 'Project In The Jungle/ I Am The Night'-era Pantera, straight ahead riff based metal with the emphasis on an anthemic hook.  This is something to rally the troops behind in a rumble, especially when they go for broke at the 2.45 mark.  A+
2. Frontburner - That's what you call a song title.  And a riff.  And a hot vocal reminiscent of AC/DC's Brian Johnson and Vince Neil.  Imagine those two together and you'll know where Tornillo was at.  Great lyrics about some outlaw on the run, 'they can't stop him, they just turn and run'.  A+
3. Hard As A Rock - Metal for real men, not some weed in the front row of a black metal show or some fag who thinks The Darkness represent rock at its purest.  A+
4. Child Of Sin - Made for a film about a country girl who moves to the big city in search of fame and fortune but fails and resorts to becoming a hooker surrounded by the filth of the city in various scenes containing homeless bums clutching wine bottles and pimps beating their whores.  Actually that's what the songs about.  'Empty dreams broken that turn her into a child of sin'.  Amazing how simply by listening to the tone of a song you can envision that.  Not really.  A
5. Asleep At The Wheel - Great bold riff, with a decent amount of pace.  Good time metal for one and all!!!  A
6. Come Beat The Band - An enjoyable, jaunty romp which deals with the Quick's disdain for the record industry I assume.  The hook's catchy enough for this to have been a hit, and is particularly amusing in it's comedic nature.  That doesn't stop it from being heavy either.  A
7. Hell To Pay - The chorus reminds me of Def Leppard when they were a real rock band back in 1981.  A few quieter acoustic moments but so what?  B
8. Queen Of The Scene - Galloping ahead in the best metal traditions established by Purple in 1970!  Macho man material that utterly destroys 84 percent of US Metal acts in 1986.  When you consider the Crüe were putting out filth like 'Theatre Of Pain' it puts it into perspective.  Then you had such calamities like Cinderella and Tesla.  And W.A.S.P. after 'Jack Action'.  Bon Jovi blew it also after '86.  Priest weren't so flash, especially with 'Turbo', playing second fiddle and rightfully so to Maiden.  Quick should have made the jump considering these turgid acts.  A
9. Glad All Over - Cover of The Dave Clark Five's sixties hit, and also covered by Donnie Iris on 1982's 'The High And The Mighty'.  Quick make it sound fresh and hardly dated.  B
10. Siren Song - The only moment that could be classified awkward, as the opening minute comes too close to Cinderella territory, but once it kicks in at the 1:20 point, forget that comparison.  Actually, Tornillo sounds like that bloated fool Jack Russell here.  There's another band who blew it, especially after the promise of 84's 'Stick It'.  B

Average Song Rating:  A-
Overall Album Rating:  A