The 1981 Listening Post - Lucifer's Friend - Mean Machine

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler / LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

Released: September 1981 Lucifer's Friend Mean Machine Genre: Metal Rating: 4 out of 5 Highlights: One Way Street To Heartbreak Fire And Rain Cool Hand Killer Bye Bye Sadie Lucifer’s Friend was a band made up of German musicians with a British lead singer, John Lawton. They released several hard rock albums, starting in 1970, but according to what I read, they “lost their way” musically after signing with Elektra in 1978, drifting into a funkier sound and away from their roots. Mean Machine marked a return to metal, albeit what sounds to me like a very commercially viable metal. Somehow, it failed to hit, and the band went silent for 13 years, before reuniting for one more album, which flopped even worse. Thing is, I’m not really a metal fan, but this is good stuff. I hear elements of Rainbow, Judas Priest, the usual NWOBHM suspects, but also Deep Purple, Van Halen, AC/DC, hell, even early Chicago. They’ve got a piano/organ player! Their songs are varied and complex! And maybe most importantly, John Lawton is a hell of a singer! The one and only year I played organized football, in the 8th grade, we had a coach who thought it would be cool to have us reenact the climactic scene from The Longest Yard, a silly Burt Reynolds movie none of us had seen, by making half of us chant “the Mean Machine” over and over while the other half pretended to be evil prison guards trying to stop our version of Burt from scoring the winning touchdown. I’m sure Coach Springer meant well, but I have always associated the phrase with that day, which was awkward and embarrassing. Just thought I’d throw that in for some local color. Now back to our record review, already in progress. My highlights may not be your highlights, especially if you’re an experienced metalhead. Album opener One Way Street To Heartbreak incorporates what feels like a super effective metal trope: call and response vocal section leading into a big repeated chorus, followed by a speeded up tempo and fadeout. Fire And Rain features a piano section slightly reminiscent of Starship’s Jane, but proceeds to shred any comparisons with an unexpected bridge and some big time vocal histrionics from Lawton. I really enjoyed Cool Hand Killer, a driving thumper that ends side one. The organ/guitar interplay in the last few minutes really worked well, and even the Eruption-style solo that precedes it (titled Mean Machine) didn’t distract from the actual song’s epic power. Bye Bye Sadie grabbed my ear with Chuck Berry riffs, held on with a melodically strong chorus, and sealed the deal with a tightly composed ending. I could find moments in every song that stand out. The truth is, they all ROCK (insert devil horns emoji here). It’s possible I’m just in a good mood today and genuine fans could criticize this record and explain why it failed to break out. Either way, I’m glad I got to review a metal album I actually liked. Pretty sweet deal.