Welcome to another edition of From My Collection. Geez, it sure is nice to be penning one of these essays and not have it double as an in memoriam, something that’s been an all too frequent occurrence as of late. Anyways, who’s ready to go back in time to one of metal’s biggest and best years, 1983? I am! By now, the metal craze that had taken the UK by storm with the advent of the NWOBHM had crossed the Atlantic. Much to the chagrin of rock radio, MTV, and major labels, or rather the suits who ran these entities, metal was here, and it wasn’t going anywhere. Thus said suits adopted an “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” ethos, resulting in two bonafide blockbuster albums: Def Leppard’s Pyromania and Quiet Riot’s Metal Health. Other major label metal albums of note in ’83 include Mötley Crüe’s Shout at the Devil, KISS’s Lick it Up, Ozzy Osbourne’s Bark at the Moon, Dio’s Holy Diver, Accept’s Balls to the Wall, and this here album from Krokus, Headhunter. Let’s throw it back to the days when a little band from Switzerland could go gold in the US of A! This is the story of Krokus’ Headhunter.
By 1983, Krokus were veterans of the hard and heavy scene. They weren’t necessarily dinosaurs like say Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep, but they weren’t spring chickens like Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard either. They fell somewhere in between, having formed in 1975 and released their self-titled debut album, a mish-mash platter of hard rock, prog, and other assorted ’70s stylings, in 1976. By 1979, they welcomed frontman Marc Storace into the fold and streamlined their sound, reinventing themselves as a riff-centric, hard-boogieing pub metal act in the vein of AC/DC, complete with innuendo-laden lyrics and screamed vocals. This caught the attention of Arista, who took Krokus under their wing with the release of 1980’s Metal Rendez-vous, and subsequently pushed them in the American market hard.
1981’s Hardware followed, with 1982’s One Vice at a Time after that, each album performing more successful than the last. Come One Vice at a Time, the band even scored a hit single in “Long Stick Goes Boom”. A cover of The Guess Who’s “American Woman” was also released as a single, failing to achieve the heights of “Long Stick”, but cracking the charts nevertheless. With Krokus averaging an album a year, and metal growing bigger than ever before in the States, the stage was now set for these Swiss lifers to drop their creative and commercial magnum opus, Headhunter.
Upon first listen, Headhunter is an album that’s extremely conscious of its environment. It is the most metallic Krokus album released up to that point, largely thanks to the production of Tom Allom. With a career dating back to metal’s inception, having engineered Black Sabbath’s Paranoid (1970), Allom’s metal cred was already set in stone. Come the ’80s, he gained world renown for honing Priest’s now signature arena metal sound on albums like British Steel (1980) and Screaming for Vengeance (1982). Clearly, Krokus were paying attention, and I can’t help but think they hit Allom up with a, “Hey, can you do that for us too?” I’m sure there was more to it than that, but you get the idea.
As a result, the boozy sleaze and AC/DC-esque swagger that had now become a staple of Krokus’ sound were largely reduced to undertones, only rearing their drunken head occasionally. With Allom at the helm, the songs were leaner and meaner, the riffs were sharper and faster, and the overall sound of the band grew exponentially. No longer was this a band who could serve as the soundtrack to a Friday night barroom brawl or ill-advised bathroom fling. No, this was the sound of metal titans at work, capable of crushing entire civilizations and shaking the very 20k cap mega-domes their pals in Priest were filling at the time.
Headhunter wastes no time getting down to business, going for the jugular with its high-speed opening title track. Upon first listen, one could be forgiven for mistaking this as a lost Priest jam with Marc Storace sitting in for Rob Halford. It’s fast, fiery, and ferocious, with everything from the vicious riffing to the rapid fire drumming recalling the more punishing moments of Screaming for Vengeance (i.e. the title track, “Riding on the Wind”). Yet unabashedly metallic as “Headhunter” is, it’s prime Krokus through and through, setting the stage for a monstrous metal affair that never lets up.
“Eat the Rich” follows, serving as the obligatory AC/DC fashioned palette cleanser of the album. Even with its Young brothers-esque riffage and braindead singalong chorus, “Eat the Rich” comes off as more metallic than past Krokus attempts at the Acca Dacca formula, thanks again to the Allom-helmed production. Ironically, AC/DC themselves were also going for a more metal-centric sound at this point, as exemplified by 1983’s Flick of the Switch, but more on that in a future FMC. Unsurprisingly, “Eat the Rich” proved to be a mega rock radio hit…just not as big as the song that follows…
If I were to host a roundtable regarding the greatest metal ballads of all time, I already have a general idea which songs would be thrown into the ring first. Metallica’s “Fade to Black”? Of course. Judas Priest’s “Beyond the Realms of Death”? Mandatory. Ozzy Osbourne’s “Mama, I’m Coming Home”? Sappy, sure, but nostalgic and classic nevertheless. How about Krokus’ “Screaming in the Night”? The more I listen to this masterpiece, the more I’m starting to believe it might very well be the most perfect metal ballad ever constructed. Sure, I can praise Storace’s impassioned vocals, those mesmerizing twin guitars, and the heart-wrenching lyrics chronicling a love lost, but the way the song unfolds so delicately and perfectly over tis nearly 7 minute runtime is a marvel. Part of me feels Priest took note and wrote “Night Comes Down” in turn, but I digress. So far, Krokus is 3 for 3.
Side A closes with a simple and straightforward traditional metal anthem in “Ready to Burn”. It’s not as blatantly euro metal as “Headhunter” or “Screaming in the Night”, yet still a cut above the AC/DC leanings of “Eat the Rich” in terms of sheer heaviness. “Ready to Burn” boasts the type of riff, beat, and chorus that made denim and leather-clad headbangers in ’83 want to wreck their necks and pump their fists in rejoice. It’s repetitive, sure, but hits that old school metal sweet spot just right. Oh, and if you listen closely enough to the gang vocal chorus, you’ll hear the Metal God himself, Rob Halford, caught up in the mix. What a party that session must’ve been!
As we flip over to side B, we’re greeted by another ripping euro metal scorcher, “Night Wolf”. Though not as full-fledged speed as “Headhunter”, it’s definitely uptempo enough to get the pedal to the metal and adrenaline pumping through every last vein. Lyrically, it’s an unabashed ode to sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, or rather heavy metal, set to a blizzard of headbanger riffs, face-melting solos, and an overall sense of wild weekend warrior frenzy. If this one doesn’t “Turn your heart on fire.”, I’m not sure what will. Can I get a, “HOOOOWWWWLLLL!!!”?
Remember earlier when I mentioned the cover of “American Woman” off One Vice at a Time? Well clearly Arista had a thing for Randy Bachman-penned tunes. Either that, or the “B” of BTO had an in at the label, because on Headhunter, Krokus tackle another one of his compositions. This time, it’s BTO’s “Stayed Awake All Night”. Just like “American Woman” before it, here we have a ’70s hard rocker getting the ’80s metal treatment, and the whole thing feels unnecessary. As big of a BTO fan as I am, I always felt this song with daft and redundant, and Krokus sure doesn’t help this assessment. “Not Fragile” or “Let It Ride” would’ve been much better choices, but hey! Coulda, woulda, shoulda, am I right?
The meat and potatoes heavy rock of “Stand and Be Counted” follows largely in the same formula of “Ready to Burn” on the A side. It’s not too heavy or over the top, but far too powerful to fall into the aforementioned AC/DC stable, or heaven forbid *gasp* AOR, which Krokus wouldn’t attempt until their ill-fated next album. “Stand and Be Counted” is a kickass tune for what it is: Major label metal that toes the line between brute force and accessibility. As far as I’m concerned, it should’ve been released as a single before “Stayed Awake All Night”.
A cryptically atmospheric guitar instrumental entitled “White Din” sets the stage for Headhunter‘s coup de grace, and one of my personal favorite Krokus jams, “Russian Winter”. Talk about saving the heaviest for last! Jam packed with gallop riff gusto, explosive performances, and lyrics chronicling war and bloodshed (A far cry from Krokus’ usual subject matter!), “Russian Winter” is about as ’80s traditional metal as one could ask for. Furthermore, at no point does this come off like the sound of a band cosplaying an ongoing trend. “Russian Winter” alone is proof that Krokus could hang with Priest, Maiden, or any of the metal gods of their era. Posers, they were not!
All in all, Headhunter proved to be a colossal success for Krokus. “Eat the Rich”, “Stayed Awake All Night”, and “Screaming in the Night” all became hit singles on rock radio, with the latter even gaining regular rotation on MTV and receiving classic rock airplay to this day. Unfortunately, Krokus would go off the commercial deep end, first with 1984’s The Blitz and then with 1986’s Change of Address (their undisputed worst). By the time they went back to their metal roots with 1988’s Heart Attack, it was too little too late, and Krokus would be relegated to the “whatever happened to” category amidst a sea of fresh-faced glam metal acts and acne-faced thrashers.
Today, despite all of the musical trends that have come and gone, Krokus remain a force to be reckoned with, touring the global festival circuit even half a decade since their own “farewell” jaunt came and went. I mean, is anyone really upset they went back on their word? Here’s a band of guys in their 70s, still kicking ass and taking names. Don’t believe us? Here’s a video of them playing “Headhunter” on the most recent Monsters of Rock Cruise. If that isn’t pure metal, I don’t know what is. The only thing that would be more metal is if they decided to tour the States again one last time. So guys, if you’re reading this, in the immortal words of Bob Barker, “Come on down!” I know Marc’s onboard, because he told me so himself. Now let’s get the rest of the Krokus gang to America to hunt some heads and scream in the night all night!