Helix - Walkin' The Razor's Edge (1984)

'Wild In The Streets' is my favourite Helix ride, 'Walkin'...' seems a little flat, straight from the fiery, almost Twisted Sister-esque opener 'Rock You', although Vollmer raises the levels of the band to more than just pompous fist-pumping. All pretty standard at times, Helix break no new ground but their lashings of sauce amidst Hackman and Doerner's guitars beef up the ingredients which at times can slip into rather mundane soup. Sure, it rocks harder than say, Ratt, and is busy swapping shoulder pads with Twisted Sister and it pretty much does what you expect it to do. 'Young & Reckless', '(Make Me Do) Anything You Want', and the Van Halen strut of 'Animal House' raise the party level to maximum but it lacks a cutting, cold steel edge. I guess cynics find this type of metal very easy to mock nowadays, but for metalheads in the '80s it was cannon fodder which provided a quick fix. Never striving for immortality, but hell, I still play it! Like the cover too, although like me, the band don't seem to convinced of the whole package.

6.5/10