The Power Of Rock And Roll

Helix has been a staple of the Canadian hard rock scene for over thirty years now, playing every bar, tavern and drinking establishment in every corner of the Great White North. They really hit it big in the 80's with a string of hit singles from the trio of hit albums including No Rest For The Wicked, Walkin' The Razor's Edge and Long Way To Heaven. Widespread exposure on MTV and Canada's MuchMusic with videos for songs like Rock You, Heavy Metal Love, Make Me Do Anything You Want and Deep Cuts The Knife saw them landing opening slots on major North American tours as well as eventually headlining themselves. Helix was dealt a crushing blow when long-time guitarist Paul Hackman was killed in a bus accident while the band was on tour in 1992. Not only had they lost a great musician, but also a key songwriter who collaborated with Brian Vollmer to write most of the band's material. The band soldiered on with a virtual revolving door of musicians coming, going and even coming back again. Sole remaining original member Brian Vollmer seems bound and determined to keep this band going and even handles all aspects of the band's career himself. Last year, the band released a 6 song E.P. entitled Get Up! and with this new CD The Power Of Rock And Roll, the 6 songs from that now out of print E.P. are included along with 4 new tracks and a re-recording of their classic Heavy Metal Love.

Party-time rock and roll is just about the best short and concise description of Helix's music that you can give. Their songs really bring back a lot of memories for me from the 80's. I saw them as an opening act and as a headliner and they frequented many of the bars and taverns in and around the Southern Ontario region of Canada. With any Helix live performance, you just know that you're in for a great high-energy rock show. The songs from The Power Of Rock And Roll still have that "let's party" quality to them and it's great to hear some new material from these guys that still holds up against their classic era of the 80's. Their songs are hard rock anthems with catchy guitar riffs and driving tempos that grab any audience immediately with their very catchy choruses. Songs like Fill Your Head With Rock, Get Up!, Boomerang Lover, Living Large and the title track The Power Of Rock And Roll are all great hard rock anthems that will no doubt get lots of fists pumping in a live situation. There's some great crunching guitar riffs throughout this album with even a little Saxon influences on tracks like Eat My Dust and Nickels and Dimes. Cyberspace Girl sees a little more modern influences with the guitar tone and the vocals and Brian Vollmer still has that dry wit not only with his lyrics but with his vocal delivery. He has a great, strong rock and roll voice that's not only powerful and loud but has just enough rasp to give every one of their songs a little "rough around the edges" feel. Truthfully, his voice has never sounded better than it does on this album. As a bonus track, we get a newly recorded version of Heavy Metal Love from their classic No Rest For The Wicked album.

Helix uses a different touring line-up than in the studio these days and still continues to play many shows in Canada and the U.S. every year. Their concerts are legendary and if you don't leave with a big smile on your face then you're definitely not a fan of great rock and roll. I can hear some minor production differences throughout this album and you can tell that all the songs were not recorded during the same time period. For an 11-track album, this whole CD clocks in at less than 34 minutes. That and the fact that including the 6 songs from the Get Up! E.P. and the re-recording of Heavy Metal Love, anyone who has the E.P. is really only getting 4 new tracks. But for most of us who don't have the E.P. (me included), this represents an entirely new Helix album of great rock tunes that would be a perfect way to jumpstart any party or night on the town. Their songs have always had that quality about them and this album is no exception. Helix represents a time when rock music was fun. It's great to see some of the 80's acts still around and putting out solid material. Like Brian Vollmer states on one of the tracks on this album.....The Past Is Back (To Kick Your Ass).....indeed it is.......