Knights Ofthe Blade

RE-PRESS: CD ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN 2017

• Three early 80s albums from Tokyo Blade.

• Plus a CD of rarities, non-album tracks and EP cuts.

Originally formed in 1982 around guitarist Andy Boulton, who was joined on their debut in 1983 by Alan Marsh on lead vocals, John Wiggins on guitar, Andy Robbins on bass and Steve Pierce on drums, making a significant impact on the burgeoning NWOBHM scene that had been popularized by Iron Maiden, Saxon, Tygers Of Pan Tang and Def Leppard, as well as finding support in the pages of Kerrang! magazine. By 1984, they’d developed enough of a reputation to appear alongside Metallica and Venom at Holland’s Aardschock festival.

Their second full-length album, 1984’s ‘Night Of The Blade’ saw Vicki James Wright join on lead vocals replacing Alan Marsh, and Andy Wrighton replacing Andy Robbins on bass. A year later they released their third full-length LP, this time for their own TB Records. ‘Black Hearts & Jaded Spades’ saw a move away from the more NWOBHM and melodic hard rock flavour of their earlier releases towards a more glammed-up, radio-friendly, keyboard augmented sound, aimed more towards the US and Japanese markets. This in turn led to shows with shows such important 80s rock and metal names as Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Mama’s Boys, Dio and Slayer.

A fourth disc collects many rare EPs, singles and non-album cuts from the early 1980s, including tracks from ‘The Cave Sessions’, the ‘Undercover Honeymoon’ 12”, the ‘Midnight Rendezvous’ EP and the ‘Madame Guillotine’ EP. The release also features lengthy and detailed liner notes from note NWOBHM and Tokyo Blade expert John Tucker.