Metal Rendez-vous explained

Metal Rendez-vous
Type:Studio
Artist:Krokus
Cover:Metalrend_cover.jpg
Released:30 June 1980
Recorded:October–November 1979
Studio:Studio Platinum One, Oberehrendingen, Switzerland
Genre:Hard rock, heavy metal
Length:43:39
Label:Ariola
Producer:Martin Pearson and Krokus
Prev Title:Painkiller
Prev Year:1978
Next Title:Hardware
Next Year:1981

Metal Rendez-vous is the fourth studio album by the Swiss hard rock band Krokus, released in June 1980. It is the first Krokus release to feature vocalist Marc Storace; Chris von Rohr had formerly served as the band's lead vocalist but appears on Metal Rendez-vous as the band's bassist. The track "Heatstrokes" charted number one in the British Heavy Metal Charts, and arguably opened up markets for Krokus in Britain and the United States, along with "Bedside Radio" and "Tokyo Nights".[1] Strangely, the song "Tokyo Nights" features a reggae beat halfway through. The album sold more than 150,000 copies in Switzerland and was certified Triple Platinum.[1]

UK-based company Rock Candy Records reissued the album on CD in 2014.

Seven of the songs on Metal Rendez-vous - "Heatstrokes", "Bedside Radio", "Streamer", "Shy Kid", "Tokyo Nights", "Lady Double Dealer", and "Fire" - along with an eighth song, titled "Sweet Inspiration", were originally demoed with singer Henry Fries who fronted the band for a period in 1978/'79 before being replaced by Storace.[2] The Fries demos are available digitally on iTunes under the name Henry Fries & Friendshttps://music.apple.com/ch/artist/henry-fries-friends/554555538. In 1982, Fries and fellow Krokus alumni, Jürg Naegeli and Tommy Kiefer, would release the album Downtown Cocktail under the name Henry Freis & The Cityleaders.

Track listing

All songs written by Fernando von Arb and Chris von Rohr, except "Bedside Radio", "Shy Kid", "Tokyo Nights" and "Back-Seat Rock 'n' Roll" by von Arb, von Rohr and Jürg Naegeli.

Side one
  1. "Heatstrokes" - 4:00
  2. "Bedside Radio" - 3:22
  3. "Come On" - 4:29
  4. "Streamer" - 6:44
  5. "Shy Kid" - 2:33
Side two
  1. "Tokyo Nights" - 5:54
  2. "Lady Double Dealer" - 3:13
  3. "Fire" - 6:07
  4. "No Way" - 4:02
  5. "Back-Seat Rock 'n' Roll" - 3:15

(A re-recording of "Back-Seat Rock n' Roll" appears on the band's 2017 covers album Big Rocks).

Personnel

Krokus
Production

Notes and References

  1. http://krokusonline.seven49.net/Web/en/Discography/_METAL_RENDEZVOUS.htm KROKUS ONLINE - official homepage - Discography - METAL RENDEZ-VOUS
  2. Web site: The curious story of Krokus: drugs, fistfights, and the very end of the road. LouderSound.com. May 1, 2020.