Blitzkrieg: A Time Of Changes: (30th Anniversary Edition)

Blitzkrieg’s frontman revisits the dawn of NWOBHM.

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One of the more endearing traits of the NWOBHM bands was their inexperience. The first singles by most of the original wave of 80s Brit-metal bands were gloriously undercooked, all exuberance, balls and tightly-wound energy with only the most rudimentary hold on how to play their own songs. Long-haired punks, indeed. Case in point, Blitzkrieg.

Right from the gate, they were pure unhinged, undisciplined bludgeon with riffs like gnashing teeth and rhythm section that sounds like a mountain slide burying the village. Part ‘74 glam, part ‘77 punk, Blitzkrieg basically set the bar for loud, wild and heavy so high that only Satanists and loons like Venom and Raven dared cross it.

A Time Of Changes was originally recorded and released in 1985, but due to murky legalities, re-releasing it in its 80s form is not possible. So the contemporary version of Blitzkrieg re-recorded the whole goddamn thing and threw on a couple bonus tracks (including Too Wild To Tame, which was originally farmed out to Avenger), as well.

Singer Brian Ross is the only original member of the band left, and while the “new” Blitzkrieg do their damnedest to sound as raw and dirty as the originals, they’re actually too good to pull it off. So, this is more of an update than a redux, but it still packs a powerful punch.

Ken McIntyre

Classic Rock contributor since 2003. Twenty Five years in music industry (40 if you count teenage xerox fanzines). Bylines for Metal Hammer, Decibel. AOR, Hitlist, Carbon 14, The Noise, Boston Phoenix, and spurious publications of increasing obscurity. Award-winning television producer, radio host, and podcaster. Voted “Best Rock Critic” in Boston twice. Last time was 2002, but still. Has been in over four music videos. True story.