Tag: Chris von Rohr

Krokus – ‘Headhunter’ (1983) – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic11 Comments

Do you remember Krokus?  I certainly do. Krokus was the biggest selling Swiss band ever until the band Gotthard came along, but that is another post.  For now, the focus is Krokus…hey, that rhymed!! Back in 1983, Krokus was starting to make some headway in the US.  Their sound was heavy and sounded a lot like AC/DC.  Then on April 25, 1983, they released the album ‘Headhunter’.  They took that heavy AC/DC sound and when up another notch as they were louder and way heavier than they had ever been before.

All of that was due to producer Tom Allom (hey, I think that rhymes too! – man, I am on roll).  Tom is a producer and a sound engineer who had worked with Black Sabbath and Judas Priest so the man knew his metal and he took that expertise and gave Krokus their biggest selling and most successful album to date.  And man, did it rock. The use of the twin guitars, the awesome sound of the double bass drum and man the singer could lay down some killer vocals on the chorus.  It is everything you could want. And on a side note for you Def Leppard fans, Tom was producer on their debut ‘On Through the Night’.

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“Screaming in the Night (Live)” by Krokus – Special Promotional 12 Inch

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic13 Comments

In 1986, Krokus released their first live album, ‘Alive  and Screamin” and to celebrate that release they put out a Special Promotional 12″ Single of “Screaming in the Night”.  When I was in New York back in April, I came across this beauty and had to have it.

What attracted it to me was the cover.  It was a variation of the live album’s cover by Les Edwards.  It is so creepy and sinister that it looked perfectly eerie and something I needed in my collection.  The picture is taken from Les Edwards’ painting of ‘The Croglin  Vampire’ and was also used as a bookcover for Best New Horror 1990, edited by Stephen Jones and Ramsey Campbell and published by Robinson, and on Super-Monsters by Daniel Cohen, published by Archway.  Just click on the link if you want to see the original artwork.

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The first side of the record you get two versions of “Screaming in the Night”. You get the live version from the live album and then you get the full length studio version (not the radio edit).  The live version sounds incredible.  It captures the magic of the album version and brings a new energy to the song.  The sound is crystal clear and is everything you want in a live song.

For the live album, there are two changes in the line-up.  You now have Tommy Keiser on Bass and Jeff Klaven on drums.  The studio album had Chris von Rohr on Bass and Steve Pace on drums.  Otherwise, you still have Marc Storace on Vocals, Fernando von Arb on Lead Guitar and Mark Kohler on Rhythm Guitar.

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On Side Two you get a live version of “Headhunter” also from ‘Alive and Screamin”.  It is bombastic, loud, and so in your face.  Marc Storace sounds amazing and the band is hitting on all cylinders.  It is  a raucous good time and they are just killing it.

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I also like the fact it is a promotional copy.  It says it on the vinyl labels as well as the little stamp on the back of the album jacket.  All-in-all, I love it and it is a great addition to the collection and another Krokus album is always a good thing (almost always as they didn’t always get it right, but around this time they did).

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I hope you enjoyed this look at the 12″ Single and maybe I will have some more coming down the pipeline for you to check out.