Tipsy Wit - Songs & Dreams (1991)

1991 was such a confusing time for metal. The genre had branched out into funk, jazz, and just about every other style - metal had become tepid in some instances and 'hair metal' was very much dying on its feet with grunge just around the corner. However, there were also a great number of hugely talented bands slipping under the radar and one such posse was Tipsy Wit. They weren't exactly alternative metal; just good solid heavy rock featuring classy, powerful vocals and well-crafted songs; especially in ballad 'For Your Love'. The trouble is, if these guys had been American they might just have broken big - but hailing from France meant that they remained relatively unknown in spite of the talent. For those of you who enjoyed early '90s rock such as Heaven's Edge and certainly Kik Tracee would have loved Tipsy Wit; they had everything - a cool funky strut ('They Need You'), and above all cool driving anthems such as with 'Ice Cream Lickin' Party'. I guess the main issue was that this sort of party metal just wasn't in vogue and so they slipped away without so much as a whimper...but this is still a rollicking opus. 8/10

Slander - Careless Talk Costs Lives (1991)

Packaged like it's from the early '80s, UK band Slander didn't really get their just rewards for their stripped back yet more than adequate brand of Brit metal. Simple melodies; no thrills casual vocals and yet fleeting examples of class with the likes of 'Lonely Nights' and the speedier chug of 'On The Run'.

Very much back to basics metal which would surely have suffered having been released seemingly out of time; and yet all those years later and 'Careless Talk...' is sounding like a forgotten gem of a record. Killer cover and twelve more than solid rockers; another brace of favourites being the plodding 'No Road Back' and the flailing 'Lay Down the Law'.
7/10