Description
Rock of Offense is the sole full-length album by the American hard rock band First Strike, released on Exit Records in 1984, a division of Word. The album was recorded between September 1983 and August 1984 by Daryl Zachman and Steve Griffith at The Warehouse Ministries’ Sangre Studios in Sacramento, California; and was produced by Michael Roe with Griffith. (Both Roe and Griffith were fellow labelmates of First Strike, fronting their own bands The Seventy Sevens and Vector, respectively.) Mixed at Salty Dog Studios in in Van Nuys, California.
First Strike features Tony Gunn on vocals, Tim Larkin and Pat Boylan on guitars and backing vocals, Chris Salmon on bass, and Johnnie DeLaney on drums.
First Strike was actually known as Strider until the album came out. By 1985 the band was dropped from Exit Records. In 1986 they replaced lead vocalist Tony Gunn with David Camponaro and self-released a 4-track cassette entitled Crank It Up. It was more of a pop release than the traditional hard rock vein. The band permanently split up shortly thereafter.
First Strike is a bona fide heavy metal band in an industry full of pretenders. For some reason, most of the strong songs are on side two, including «Out of Control», «Slow Poison», «Dirty Loving», and others. The group will have to establish a definite image or presence to make much of an impact, but the chops (especially from dual lead guitarists/songwriters Tim Larkin and Pat Boylan) are there. [Bob Darden, CCM, May 1985]
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Your Love” – 4:06
A2. “Money” – 3:36
A3. “Loneliness Kills” – 3:40
A4. “Prisoner” – 3:23
A5. “I Want You” – 3:51
Side Two
B1. “Out Of Control” – 3:01
B2. “Slow Poison” – 5:38
B3. “Dirty Loving” – 3:24
B4. “Hurt By Love” – 2:59
B5. “Hard Times” – 3:19
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Exit Records.
A full-page advertisement for various new releases on Retroactive Records, including a reissue of First Strike’s Rock Of Offense (with bonus tracks), was featured in the February/March 2006 (#62) issue of Heaven’s Metal.
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