PROWLER – Reactivate (Expanded Edition) (1980-2022)
Hear No Evil / Cherry Red Records are for the first time officially releasing the full record of cult British metal act PROWLER, ”Reactivate (Expanded Edition)”, tracks fully remastered from the original tapes, and including new recordings.
Originally coming to prominence as part of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s that had given us Iron Maiden and Saxon, Prowler’s first appearance on record was for the MCA LP ‘Brute Force’ in 1980, a compilation of NWOBHM acts, where they were included alongside Raven, White Spirit and Quartz.
The band was formed in 1975 by John Pattenden (guitar), Martin Burrows (guitar) and Trev Pattenden (bass and vocals) in Basildon, Essex. Building up a grassroots fan base by regular gigging, they eventually supported the likes of Budgie and Atomic Rooster, as well as NWOBHM contemporaries Vardis.
It was at one such show in early 1980 that they met famed rock and metal producer, the late Chris Tsangarides who worked with everyone from Judas Priest to Thin Lizzy. One of the Tsangarides-produced Prowler recordings, the self-penned ‘Gotta Get Back To You’, was included on ‘Brute Force’, the songs ‘Bad Child Running’, ‘Lost Without Your Love’ and ‘Prisoner’ were later recorded by Chris Tsangarides in September 1980, also included here.
Prowler would briefly switch to calling themselves Samurai, and the songs ‘Under Attack’ and the self-titled ‘Samurai’ recorded by Samurai complete this album, before switching back to Prowler and eventually calling it a day in 1982.
But thankfully Martin Burrows and Trev Pattenden reunited to record a 30th Anniversary version of ‘Gotta Get Back To You’ in 2010 and they got back together a decade after that for a 40th Anniversary take of ‘Heavy Metal Hero’ in 2020.
The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal spawned plenty of global superstars and hugely influential, if commercially underachieving, figures. Prowler didn’t come close on either front, not least because the Essex quartet didn’t get to release a full album in their original ’75-’82 lifespan.
Forty years on, Cherry Red Records have attempted to rectify that. Prowler aren’t pushing the envelope. High-octane opener ‘Gotta Get Back To You’ sounds like a close cousin of Iron Maiden’s Running Free, and elsewhere their reliance on tightly wound riffs has a strong Saxon vibe about it as twin guitars lace Prisoner’s breathless assault.
Although the legendary Chris Tsangarides produced the original 1980 tracks, the low budget is reflected in the old songs. Yet none of that detracts from the sinewy hard rock punch these songs pack, and more recent re-recordings, included here retain much of the original vim.
Highly Recommended
01 – Gotta Get Back To You
02 – Bad Child Running
03 – Lost Without Your Love
04 – Prisoner
05 – Rocksong, Pt. II / Heavy (Live, The Marquee Club, London, 1980)
06 – Gotta Get Back To You (30th Anniversary Version)
07 – Heavy Metal Hero (40th Anniversary Version)
08 – Under Attack
09 – Samurai (Live, Mid-Kent College, 1981)
Trev Pattenden (vocals, bass)
John Pattenden (guitar)
Martin Burrows (guitar)
Mike Dowling (drums)
BUY
www.amazon.co.uk/Reactivate-Prowler/dp/B09V2T8K1X
