HELIX – White Lace & Black Leather +2 [remastered reissue 2026] *HQ*

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Legendary Canadian Metal / Hard Rock band HELIX is reissuing via the music platform ‘indie tunz’ their second album, 1981’s “White Lace & Black Leather“, in a remastered version and including 2 bonus tracks; “When the Fire Is Hot”, one of the tracks submitted to Capitol Records which helped the band get signed after the album’s release; and “White Lace & Black Leather”, an early version of the song later recorded as the closing track for 1983’s No Rest for the Wicked.
“White Lace & Black Leather” is HELIX before turning mainstream metal – here the sound is akin late Seventies Judas Priest meets American hard rock from the era – and album which has its own charm, unpolluted rock n’ roll with attitude.

”White Lace and Black Leather” tends to be a more straightforward rock album than the band’s debut LP, though the band still does not quite resemble the incarnation of Helix that fans would come to recognize from their major label releases. Of course, they are still going to find plenty to enjoy amongst what they will find here.
The opening track, Breaking Loose (that is not a misprint, the song Breaking Loose is NOT on the debut of the same name!) is a straight up hard rocker that gets this sophomore album started in fine form, with great guitar riffs and superb vocals from Brian Vollmer.
Next, It’s Too Lane is a great melodic rocker that sounds like a holdover from the 70s (though I absolutely mean that in a good way!) The six-minute-plus Long Distance Heartbreak features some of the best vocal and instrumental work on the album alike, standing as a solid highlight for its lengthy duration. Like many Helix classics, this one reads as a road song. Thin Lizzy they were not, but Vollmer captures the heartbreak in their lyrics while Doerner and Hackman take care of the guitar drama.

Throughout the record, the songs range anywhere from more hard rock driven sounds to radio frindly oriented ones, and everything in between, giving the album a solid balance and a more straightforward direction than its predecessor.
It’s What I Wanted lightens the mood, a midtempo rocker with a great melody. I don’t know why it is, but these melodic rock songs really sound like home to me. They conjure images of a more innocent time, when the world seemed smaller to me.
Like on the first album, Brent Doerner gets to try his hand at lead vocals on Mainline (not the same song as the KISS one), and it stands out with its odd but still appealing poppy sound. Women Whiskey & Sin is another great hard rock track, and the slow and melodic Thoughts That Bleed makes for a fitting closer.

Ultimately there is no question that Helix made the right move to drop some of these softer, more progressive moments and focus on the heavy metal side of their sound. It got them signed to Capitol Records and secured their biggest hits.
But “White Lace & Black Leather” is absolutely enjoyable, a true late Seventies / early Eighties record with ‘that’ sound, so warm, from the heart.

If you are at all a Helix fan, this record is a lost classic worth rediscovering. You will be pleasantly surprised by the band, even in this early period, showing off just how musically capable they were.
Highly Recommended

01 – Breaking Loose
02 – It’s Too Late
03 – Long Distance Heartbreak
04 – Time For A Change
05 – Hangman’s Tree
06 – It’s What I Wanted
07 – Mainline
08 – Women, Whiskey & Sin
09 – Thoughts That Bleed
BONUS TRACKS:
10 – White Lace & Black Leather (First Version)
11 – When The Fire is Hot

Brian Vollmer – lead vocals (all but tracks 7 and 10)
Brent Doerner – guitars, backing and lead (tracks 7 and 10) vocals
Paul Hackman – guitars, backing vocals
Mike Uzelac – bass
Leo Niebudek – drums
Keith “Bert” Zurbrigg – bass (track 2)

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www.amazon.com/dp/B0H41CPC38