Keeping in line with this week’s unofficial theme of melodic hard rock, a much needed palette cleanse after a cavalcade of blackened thrash/speed, would you believe that Heavy Pettin’ have just released their first album in 36 years? And we thought we had to wait for the new Coroner! Now in all fairness, I first laid ears on this much anticipated comeback album, Rock Generation, a month before the rest of you, ahead of interviewing their ever-charismatic frontman, Steve “Hamie” Hayman. Upon first listen, I thought to myself, “Well, this is a fun album.” By the second listen, I was nodding my head. By the third, I had the volume cranked to 11 and was ready to destroy both the ozone and my hair with a loaded bottle of Aqua Net.
Heavy Pettin’ are a band who, during their initial run, were unfairly looked over. Being on the melodic side of the NWOBHM, they gained a following early on, and managed to weather the storm of the mid ’80s better than most of their peers. However, for English headbangers who preferred their metal leaner and meaner, it was acts like Venom, Tank, and Warfare who ruled the roost. Meanwhile, in America, where major label metal ruled supreme, Heavy Pettin’ got in on the action, having signed to Polydor, but were largely dismissed as Leppard’s scrappy cousins. After all, both bands were English, hook-driven, and carefree in demeanor.
Fast forward some 40 odd years later since those halcyon days of touring the States and pushing your new single on rock radio. Heavy Pettin’ are picking up right where they left off in the bad ol’ days, critics and comparisons be damned. Rock Generation isn’t just a celebration of Heavy Pettin’, but the glory days of arena metal. Every song is a four to the floor anthem, short and simple with an emphasis on air guitar-friendly riffage and over the top gang vocal choruses, the latter of which is rarer than hen’s teeth on an album in 2025.
When it comes to cuts like the title track, “Faith Healer (Kill My Demons)”, and “This Life”, one can’t help but smile and headbang in approval. Comparisons can be drawn to reunion era L.A. Guns, being that these songs too offer a modern twist on the ’80s hard rock sound. The chorus-centric “Brother Sister” channels the ancient English obnoxiousness of glam gods Slade in the best way possible, while the aptly titled “X-Rated” evokes the lipstick-painted hedonism of the Sunset Strip circa ’86. As far as the honor of choice cut, that would have to go to either “Mother Earth”, which is the closest the band get to their early ’80s trad metal roots, or “Live Ur Best Life”, which sounds lifted straight off 1985’s Rock Ain’t Dead.
Indeed, rock AIN’T dead, and neither is Heavy Pettin’. Though the faces might have changed since their original run, under the guidance of fearless leader Hamie, the intent remains the same. This new incarnation does the band justice, producing an album that’s not only worthy of Heavy Pettin’s legacy, but eclipsing their last album, the posthumous Big Bang (1989): An ironically titled affair considering it went without so much of a whimper, let alone a bang. Rock Generation, on the contrary, is a retro hard rock explosion, tailormade to blow out your headphones. Turn off your mind and turn it up!
7 out of 10
Label: Silver Lining Music
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: Def Leppard, Quiet Riot, L.A. Guns