STORMTROOPER — I'm A Mess (review)

STORMTROOPER — I'm A Mess album cover Demo · 1977 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Certif1ed
Intense slice of, er, punk rock?

The thing is, this sound like punk, except that there are bits (fragments, really) of half decent playing here, and it's altogether too metallic for punk, but too punk for metal.

Flip it over, and the beginning is almost identical too, but heavier than Blue Cheer's cover of "Summertime Blues". The song is erratic and messy - but the ferocity and power of the musicians, let down by weedy vocals - is on an easy par with those godfathers of metal.

It can't really be NWoBHM, as it was released in 1977, which is a tad too early. It was recorded in 1975, which is slightly early for punk. It sounds like 1970s hard rock, but it has punk energy, which means it fits nicely into any NWoBHM collection.

Sid Vicious appears in photographs wearing the button badge that the band distributed with this single when they came to London to flog it around SoHo - so the punk connection is right there.

Ultimately "I'm A Mess" is what it is.

A slab of awesome early metal noise, spoiled by awful vocals - although the lyrics tell an interesting story, artistically painting a picture that many will identify with - and, for what it is, it's a blinding masterpiece.

The drums, particularly are worth singling out, with Keith Moon ferocity and wildness, but the guitar riffs are another great talking point - intense, like Lemmy-era Hawkwind.

I'm only giving this 3 stars, because, in reality, it's pretty horrendous as metal - but I can't help liking it for what it is, and listening to this makes you feel like a paeleontologist that's just discovered the very first dinosaur.

It may be crude, but most of the right bits are there.
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