Description
When ‘The Rods’ first appeared in the shops in 1981 the album – raw and electrifying as it is – sounded like a breath of fresh air from across the Atlantic. In the UK the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal was in full swing and with every emerging new band the parameters of metal were expanding exponentially. Although the NWOBHM – by definition – was a British affair, a few overseas bands were swept up and embraced by fans looking for something new and exciting: Riot was one such band, as was Krokus, and with the release of their self-titled debut album for Arista, The Rods became the third.
The band’s history pre-dates that first Arista album, and although Praying Mantis reckoned ‘Time Tells No Lies’ it does certain skew the memory somewhat. In discussing the events of over forty years ago – “there was a tightness in my chest when you just said forty years! I need to breathe!” joked drummer Carl Canedy at one point in our discussions – he and guitarist/vocalist David ‘Rock’ Feinstein at times have slightly different recollections as to how things came about; but between them they’ve brought to life the story of one of the most electrifying bands of that era.
