{"id":54427,"date":"2017-04-02T08:26:46","date_gmt":"2017-04-02T13:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=54427"},"modified":"2017-04-02T08:26:46","modified_gmt":"2017-04-02T13:26:46","slug":"king-kobra-ready-to-strike-music-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2017\/king-kobra-ready-to-strike-music-review\/","title":{"rendered":"King Kobra | Ready to Strike"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Don Higgens<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Legendary rock drummer Carmine Appice has played with a number of classic artists and bands over the years. He\u2019s kept the beat for everyone from Rod Stewart and Ozzy Osbourne to Vanilla Fudge and John Syke\u2019s Blue Murder. Back in the early \u201880s, he formed his own Hard Rock and Metal band King Kobra. He assembled a group of talented, yet virtually unknown group of musicians, some of which have gone on to other well known, successful rock bands. Along with Appice, the first incarnation of the band consisted of guitarists David Michael-Philips and Mick Sweda, who later played with the Bullet Boys. The double-axe-attack serves the band well and is reminiscent of other great dual guitarist teams like K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton of Judas Priest, Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and so many others. Helping Carmine on the bottom end of things was Johnny Rod on bass who went on to join W.A.S.P. And finally, fronting the band was the amazing vocalist Mark Free. Mark has also gained fame by singing with the bands Signal and Unruly Child. He is probably most famous these days for having undergone a sex change to become Marcie Free in the 1990s. He provided his vocal skills to the first two King Kobra albums. These days Marcie still records with Unruly Child and King Kobra is fronted by vocalist Paul Shortino who sang with Rough Cutt and Quiet Riot.<\/p>\n

King Kobra has produced several high-quality Rock albums but never achieved the mainstream success as perhaps they deserved. They had good songwriting and excellent musicianship so no problems there. They even had a song on the Iron Eagle<\/em> movie soundtrack from 1986. Maybe it could come down to luck, promotion or the proper video. For those who were lucky enough to discover this band, they\u2019ve been treated to a number of solid albums and surprisingly they have even released two albums recently: King Kobra<\/em> in 2011 and King Kobra II<\/em> in 2013.<\/p>\n

The album that kicked it off for King Kobra back in 1985 was Ready to Strike<\/em>. Stylistically this album fits in well with many of the other Hard Rock and Metal albums released that same year. Dokken\u2019s classic Under Lock and Key<\/em>, Motley Crue\u2019s Theater of Pain<\/em> and Kix\u2019s Midnight Dynamite<\/em> were all released that year. One distinct difference between King Kobra\u2019s debut album and the other albums of the day \u2013 was that the drums were very much up front in the mix on Ready to Strike<\/em>. Of course, since this was Appice\u2019s band and he was the only member who was well known, it only makes sense. There is some great drumming on this album which makes it fun and different to listen to, especially for those who appreciate some top-notch Rock and Roll percussion.<\/p>\n

Ready to Strike<\/em> starts off in fine fashion with the title track which is a strong opener and a good introduction to what the album is all about. It starts off with a cool instrumental lead for about a minute and then it morphs into an up-tempo rocker that is both heavy, with a crunching guitar rhythm, and yet melodic at the same time. Musically the sound is somewhat similar to Y&T but with Mark\u2019s vocals, King Kobra stand firmly on their own feet (or perhaps on their own scales). The opener is one of the best songs on the album and really allows all members to equally showcase their talents. The next track, \u201cHunger\u201d, starts off with a guttural scream and once again delivers a high energy rocker that really showcases the dual guitar attack that shines throughout the album. The vocal delivery is much more sinister on this second track which is a nice contrast to the previous song. Mark Free really shines on this song singing with passion and conviction. This is another standout track. On the first two songs, it seems like Appice really lets the lesser known members get in the spotlight. Then on the third song, \u201cShadow Rider,\u201d the drums jump out of the speakers like a thoroughbred jumping out of the starting gate. The drums lead off the song and then throughout the track, the listener is treated to interesting fills and flairs by the veteran Appice while the rest of the band turn out another satisfying mid-tempo rocker. <\/p>\n

The middle of the album starts with \u201cShake Up.\u201d This is an anthemic rocker that you can sing along with and would have been a decent choice as a radio single as it is very accessible. This is another track where the drum playing really stands out but also has great guitar playing with a particularly cool solo in the middle. This song could have been a hit. \u201cAttention\u201d comes up next and the song certainly grabs the listener\u2019s attention. A few well-placed chords reminiscent of \u201cEye of the Tiger\u201d begin the track and then Mark screams \u201cLet\u2019s Go!\u201d This is the most up-tempo song on the album and really gets the blood pumping. Appice attacks his drums (and especially the bell of his ride cymbal) like a man possessed. The instrumental section \u00be of the way through is worth the price of admission alone. \u201cBreakin\u2019 Out\u201d keeps the energy high. It starts out sounding like a machine gun with a riff that sounds like it might have been borrowed by Motley Crew for \u201cKickstart My Heart\u201d a few years later. This is a standout track and another one where the double guitar attack works wonderfully well. One of the most interesting songs is up next, titled \u201cTough Guys.\u201d It starts out with a fast drum roll intro but immediately slows down to sound like a ballad, keyboard included. Then it kicks it back up a notch to become a satisfying mid-tempo rocker with a sing-along chorus. The track gets better with each listen and is one of the best songs being offered.<\/p>\n

The back end of the album starts with the slowest track of the ten. \u201cDancing with Desire\u201d has got a cool, bluesy vibe where we get to hear the acoustic and electric guitars complimenting each other while the vocals sound like they were recorded at the bottom of an empty pool. It\u2019s a distinct change from the rest of the album but it adds diversity which makes the whole album more interesting. Another strong rocker comes up next, \u201cSecond Thoughts\u201d. All band members have fully engaged in this song once again. The harmony vocals chant the chorus: \u201cHaving second thoughts about you\u201d. Luckily by this time, rock fans are NOT having second thoughts about this album. The album closes with \u201cPiece of the Rock\u201d. This is a good track to end on because it\u2019s a good summarization of the entire album. It starts with a cool, instrumental guitar intro then heads into a hook-laden chorus featuring Free\u2019s strong vocals. The drums are characteristically aggressive and the song contains another great guitar solo. All in all, this is another strong song from a strong album.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that Ready to Strike<\/em> is a well-crafted debut album from a hard rocking band that probably should have been bigger than they were. However if you didn\u2019t discover this fine album and talented group the first time around, don\u2019t make the same mistake and add this album to your collection. Sure, every good hard rock and Metal fan have great albums by hugely successful bands like Maiden, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Kiss, and Ratt in their collection but not everyone has King Kobra. Impress your friends and be someone who does. <\/p>\n

Genre: Glam Metal, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band Members:
\nMark Free – vocals
\nDavid Michael-Philips – guitar
\nMick Sweda – guitar
\nJohnny Rod – bass
\nCarmine Appice – drums<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n01. Ready to Strike
\n02. Hunger
\n03. Shadow Rider
\n04. Shake Up
\n05. Attention
\n06. Breakin\u2019 Out
\n07. Tough Guys
\n08. Second Thoughts
\n09. Rainbow Bridge
\n10. Piece of the Rock<\/p>\n

Label: Rock Candy Records, Capitol Records<\/p>\n

Web: http:\/\/rockcandyrecords.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: [usr 8.9 size=20]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Don Higgens – Columnist — Legendary rock drummer Carmine Appice has played with a number of classic artists and bands over the years. He\u2019s kept the beat for everyone from Rod Stewart and Ozzy […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":54429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15128],"tags":[13254,13258,1094,1103,2491,13257,1600,13255,13256,2368,13104,334,10440],"class_list":{"0":"post-54427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2017","8":"tag-carmin-appice","9":"tag-david-michael-philips","10":"tag-glam-metal","11":"tag-hard-rock","12":"tag-heavy-metal","13":"tag-johnny-rod","14":"tag-king-kobra","15":"tag-mark-free","16":"tag-mick-sweda","17":"tag-music","18":"tag-ready-to-strike","19":"tag-review","20":"tag-rock-candy-records"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}