Search - Raven :: All Systems Go

Excellent Collection From A Great Band

Dr. Robert | Oneonta, AL USA | 05/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those who may not know, Raven was one of the many New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands. They played a vital role in the formation of thrash and speed metal with their exciting blend of old fashioned rock 'n' roll with lightning-fast rhythms, backed by the falsetto vocals of John Gallagher (on a side note, I'm certain that Justin Hawkins of The Darkness must own a few Raven records; his voice and singing style is remarkably similar to Gallagher's). They called their unique style "atheltic rock."



'All Systems Go' is a compilation released by Sanctuary Records a few years ago. It contains tracks taken from the band's discography on the NWOBHM powerhouse label Neat Metal. The disc starts with a bang with Raven's biggest hit "Don't Need Your Money," and never slows down from there. Other standout songs include the seven-minute sludge of "Tyrant Of The Airways," the AC/DC-ish "All For One," as well as their furious cover of "Born To Be Wild."



As I write this review, there seems to be two versions of this disc on Amazon. I think that one must be the imported version, which is slightly more expensive and takes longer to ship out, and one is the U.S. version. They both have the same tracklisting, so if you're in the States, go ahead and get the U.S.-made disc.



Highly recommended for every fan of hard-driving rock!"

Unsung great heroes of fast hard rock

Ignaciocue | Mexico | 10/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Known by few, should have made it big time. but a bad twist of fate happened. The guitar man is one of the very best out there, really. The bassist also plays incredibly well and both drummers they have had excel.



They play fast. brutal and catchy. Definitely a very heavy influence on other less original bands that nowadays enjoy commercial success. Raven has always been true to their ideas, except for a couple of albums that a big record company made them do to become more commercial. Their first 3 albums are their best. Also their two live ones are incredible for hard rock fans. Long live Raven !"