Summary
Lightning Strikes is the sixth studio album by the Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. The album, which was released on July 25, 1986, remained 15 weeks in the U.S. charts, peaking at #64 (Billboard 200).[4] The album was produced by Max Norman. Lyrics for the album are credited to Loudness, even though producer Max Norman did a lot of uncredited work on them.[5]
| Lightning Strikes / Shadows of War | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 24, 1986 (Japan) July 25, 1986 (US) | |||
| Recorded | December 1985-February 1986 | |||
| Studio | Sedic Studio and Take One Studios, Tokyo, Japan | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal, glam metal | |||
| Length | 39:23 | |||
| Label | WEA Japan (Shadows of War) ATCO (Lightning Strikes) | |||
| Producer | Max Norman, Paul Cooper | |||
| Loudness chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Lightning Strikes / Shadows of War | ||||
| ||||
| Shadows of War cover | ||||
 | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 6/10[2] |
| Kerrang! | [3] |
The album begins with the most commercial sounding song on the album, "Let It Go." However, the rest of the album is in a heavier mold, and is in a relatively similar style to the previous album, Thunder in the East.
The album is known as Shadows of War in Japan, where it was released on March 24, 1986. The tracks are in a different order, and the song "Ashes in the Sky" is known as "Shadows of War." There is also a slight difference in some vocal melodies[6] and arrangements, most notably an extended musical outro to "One Thousand Eyes".[7]
Track listings edit
All music by Akira Takasaki, except "Face to Face" by Masayoshi Yamashita. Lyrics by Minoru Niihara
Japanese version edit
- Side one
- "Shadows of War" - 6:02
- "Let It Go" - 4:13
- "Streetlife Dreams" - 4:28
- "Black Star Oblivion" - 3:55
- Side two
- "One Thousand Eyes" - 5:02
- "Complication" - 4:00
- "Dark Desire" - 4:19
- "Face to Face" - 3:49
- "Who Knows (Time to Take a Stand)" - 4:02
US Version edit
- Side one
- "Let It Go" - 4:13
- "Dark Desire" - 4:19
- "1000 Eyes" - 4:35
- "Face to Face" - 3:49
- "Who Knows" - 4:02
- Side two
- "Ashes in the Sky" - 6:02
- "Black Star Oblivion" - 3:55
- "Street Life Dream" - 4:28
- "Complication" - 4:00
Personnel edit
- Loudness
- Minoru Niihara - vocals
- Akira Takasaki - guitars
- Masayoshi Yamashita - bass
- Munetaka Higuchi - drums
- Additional musicians
- Masanori Sasaji - keyboards
- Production
- Max Norman - producer, mixing at Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, NY, USA
- Bill Freesh - engineer
- Masachi Goto - assistant engineer
- Bob Ludwig - mastering at Masterdisk, New York
- Paul Cooper - executive producer
- George Azuma - supervisor
- Mikio Shimizu, Sam Nagashima - coordinators
References edit
- ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Loudness Lightning Strikes review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 202. ISBN 978-1894959315.
- ^ Putterford, Mark (1986-06-26). "Another fine 'ness". Kerrang!. No. 123. p. 10.
- ^ "Lightning Strikes - Loudness". Billboard. 1991. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ Fischer, Michael (2007-06-19). "On Yer Bike with Studio Wizard Max Norman". Knac.com. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ "Loudness - Lightning Strikes". Encyclopaedia Metallum. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ Lundberg, D.C. (October 2007). "Loudness Shadows of War". Sleaze Roxx. Archived from the original on 2009-02-08. Retrieved 2010-03-29.