THE ATTACK — Final Daze (review)

THE ATTACK — Final Daze album cover Boxset / Compilation · 2001 · Proto-Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
voila_la_scorie
The Attack were a band of great potential but suffered misfortunes with the recording industry. They began as a freakbeat band and recorded a few singles, including "Hi-Ho Silver Lining", which was released only a few days before the Jeff Beck version and subsequently having any potential thunder stolen in a flash, and "Created by Clive", which was released by The Syn on the same day by the same record company! They also had one of their singles rejected by Decca because it was too heavy.

The Attack's big claim to proto-metal fame comes with their inclusion of John Cann, later to be known as John Du Cann of Atomic Rooster and Bullet (a.k.a. Hard Stuff). Cann's interest in playing hard and heavy guitar greatly influenced the change in the band's sound between 1967 and '68, and that sound change is captured on this disc here.

Cover songs like "You Know He Did" and "My Letters" reflect the more pop-friendly style of the band's beginnings. But for the most part, this album features the heavy psychedelic sounds they were pursuing while the band was still with the hope of getting somewhere. A popular song on video compilations on YouTube is "Strange House" with an excellent heavy chugging riff. Wrought from the same dense metallic elements are "Magic in the Air" (with some bright horns to make it more catchy), "Mr. Pinnodmy's Dilemma" (a song about a deaf and dumb boy, hmm...), "Feel Like Flying", "Sleep Like a Child" and "Roll On". All these songs point to a band who, in 1968, were thickening their sound with blocky bar chords and guitar distortion. Excellent heavy psych/proto-metal material.

Three instrumentals included here, however, indicate that a threesome of guitars, bass, and drums were ready for even heavier music. Though "Earth Tremor", "Spaced Out", and "The Rock Door" are just studio jams, the music sounds more like it's from the early seventies.

Instead of going all out hard rock, Cann formed Andromeda while The Attack was still on its last legs. Two songs to appear on the one and only Andromeda non-compilation album were first recorded with The Attack and appear here. "Too Old" and "Go Your Way" can be heard on this album very closely resembling the Andromeda versions. Andromeda's music featured a lot of heavy guitar as well but went in a more progressive direction (see the band's bio here on MMA).

All in all, this is an interesting collection of songs which are most consistent in the run of tracks I mentioned above. The other songs give the listener an idea of where The Attack came from and where they could have gone had their fortunes been a lot better.
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