Reviewed by Rod Brogan
Released: June 1981 Legend (UK) Legend Genre: NWOBHM Rating: 2 out of 5 Highlights: Buried Alive Song For A Soldier What happened to Iron Maiden could very well have happened to Legend, one of two now-forgotten UK rock bands with that name to release material in 1981. The band leader or a producer listens to this early NWOBHM group's songs, and says "With a new singer this could go someplace!" Alas, the almost David Byrne type warble of Mike Lezala is what we have instead. But the Killers-era Maiden comparison stands; this has a punk feel to it, with some progressive time changes thrown in and more athletic guitar work. A lot of the bands around this time juggled with the question of writing about "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" or more worldly and literary subject matter. Legend decided "Why choose?" and so we have both BAD GIRL, which could have been written by any Sunset Strip band, and the tepid HIROSHIMA. It's a shame the band never acquitted itself commercially, because musically it had a lot to offer. The late Pete Haworth's guitars and Jack Pallot (the real star here) on drums delivered interesting and dynamic breakdowns and instrumental sections in BURIED ALIVE and SONG FOR A SOLDIER especially. This LP's sound may have ironically come back around again. What was, back then, a self-financed, thin, and sometimes muddy production, could now be marketed as "lo-fi metal" and probably score the band an opening slot on a club run with a more established headliner. One that presumably had a stronger singer to start with.
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