REVIEW: Helix – Walkin’ the Razor’s Edge (1984, Rock Candy remaster)

HELIX – Walkin’ the Razor’s Edge (1984 Capitol, 2009 Rock Candy reissue)

If you’re from Canada, then chances are you already know how to properly respond when somebody requests of you to “Gimme an R!”

You give them a fuckin’ R!

To quote Ricky from Trailer Park Boys, “Helix was a wicked concert. Fuck I sold a lot of dope at that concert. They had good lyrics, like ‘Gimme an R, O, C, K,’ and then the crowd yells ROCK really loud. Now that’s a fuckin’ concert.”

Bob Halligan Jr. wrote it, but Helix made it legendary.  In turn, “Rock You” put them on the map.  It’s pure arena rock:  “Don’t just sit there, come on get up and move!”  With a riff, a catchy tune and a shout-along chorus, “Rock You” was custom built for 1984.   The Pepsi Power Hour gave it regular play, and the boys toured relentlessly.  Helix’s rep as a down n’ dirty hard rocking band was secure.  The music video scared away my neighbor, David Dolph, a kid from across the street whose very Catholic parents wouldn’t let him listen to rock music or watch Dr. Who.   Instant street cred!

“Rock You” opened Walkin’ the Razor’s Edge (their fourth LP) with a punch.  “Young & Wreckless” followed with a kick in the ass.  This chugging rocker is all about a good time.  Strangely enough, this track somehow frequently ended up on Kiss bootleg CDs.  Bootleggers most likely confused it with Kiss’ own “Young and Wasted” from 1983’s Lick it Up.  Needless to say, if you find a Kiss bootleg claiming to have an unreleased song on it called “Young & Wreckless”, it’s not Kiss.  It’s Helix.  And it kicks ass.

“Animal House” is a Helix concert classic, a bar-bustin’ rocker with a sweet slide guitar licks from Brent “The Doctor” Doerner.  He and gui-partner-in-crime Paul Hackman formed a formidable and underrated duo.   They supplied Helix with a seemingly bottomless well of riffage and tasty guitar hooks.  Meanwhile lead howler Brian Vollmer was in peak voice, driving the whole thing home.  Next up is “Feel the Fire”, basically a re-write of “Heavy Metal Love” from 1983’s awesome No Rest for the Wicked LP.  Though the songs are similar, both kick equal amounts of ass, so we will allow some self-plagiarism.  The first side was finished off with a real sledge:  “When the Hammer Falls”.  It’s a real headbanger in the classic sense, fast and loud.

“Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'” kicked off the second side, a Crazy Elephant cover that became one of Helix’s most notorious music videos.  There was a TV version and a uncensored cut with full frontal nudity.  One of the girls in the video was an underage Tracy Lords.  Whoops!  Meanwhile, a 13-year-old me couldn’t take my eyes off the TV!  (A classmate of mine called Ian Johnson was known for his tall tales, and took credit for giving Helix the idea for the video!)  “Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'” was one of those instantly catchy songs that seemingly everyone dug, and check out Doerner’s killer solo.

The shot with Doctor Doerner kicking the lightbulbs is possibly the coolest of all time.

Helix want to tell you what turns them on in “My Kind of Rock”, but I think it’s the biting riffs.  Not a bad tune, but Helix have done better.  That’s just filler before the ballad “(Make Me Do) Anything You Want”, a cover of A Foot in Cold Water.  Helix’s take is remarkably true to the original.  It’s considerably softer than anything else on the album, but that’s the function of a ballad on a rock album.  Vollmer’s performance helped make it a Helix favourite that’s still played live in concert.  Another track called “Six Strings, Nine Lives” is the only tune that should have been excised.  Good chorus, but without a song to go with it.  One of the best Helix originals was saved for the closing position:  “You Keep Me Rockin'”.  Dark and edgy, it’s a heavy and memorable tune to end Helix’s best selling LP.

Walkin’ the Razor’s Edge is a good record, but as is so often the case with the “big hit” albums, it’s not their best.  No Rest for the Wicked is the one to seek out for the “all killer, no filler” experience.  Razor’s Edge has some essential cuts, but a couple fillers too.  If you’re thinking about picking this up, the wisest purchase would be the 2009 reissue by Rock Candy.  This remastered disc contains rare photos and liner notes including an interview with Brian Vollmer.  It also has three must-have bonus tracks:  Live versions of “Young & Wreckless”, “Rock You” and “Animal House” from the uber-rare promo EP Live at the Marquee.  Since Helix were (and are) known for their blitzkrieg live shows, these tracks are well worth having on CD.

3.5/5 stars

22 comments

  1. I’m not from Canada, so where I grew up Helix and the KiLLeR DWaRfs weren’t well-known at all… but I had (have) both bands’ albums.

    Where I grew up, Savatage, Roxx Gang and Kitty Grinds were local bands.

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  3. That Rock Candy lot appear to be pretty good at knocking remastered together. Their Burning Tree release a while back was stellar.

    Anyhoo, moving on to Helix, I still haven’t checked them out properly, but I’ve quite liked what I’ve heard. This sounds pretty decent, too… and that. Idea is great!

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        1. I know that feels man! Like I was saying to Aaron the other day, I have a constant stream of music coming in. 2 discs arrived yesterday and I have to listen to the Spaceballs soundtrack soon so I can do the radio show this weekend. I have lots of albums I’ve owned for years that haven’t been played yet.

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        2. Y’know, that’s why I ended up getting into vinyl. Seriously. I actually found that I wasn’t really listening to stuff I was buying… CDs unopened or given a cursory listen. I just loved the whole ritual that comes with vinyl that I love more than anything and it made my listening more intentional.

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    1. Geoff, you can count on me to be the guy that covers the best of the best editions. I will not steer you wrong.

      That lightbulb solo is awesome! I always wanted to do that. I mimed doing that in air guitar form.

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  5. This tour was the first time I had seen them and when they opened with Young And Wreckless I was sold…Actually I reviewed this show a ways back….
    Good album through and through..
    Excellent review…

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    1. Young and Wreckless, the Kiss song? ;) ;)

      Helix is one of the bands I have seen more than twice, and man, they were great every time. Age doesn’t effect these guys.

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  6. I was aware of Helix at this time and even heard some of their stuff. Will remedy that as this album is already on my list for future posts. As for Gimme, that was a typical 80s video with dancing girls and the two guitarists and bassist doing that close together thing. All good fun and proof of my assertion of the 80s being metal’s golden decade.

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    1. No. I remember that came up one day. I said I liked the Daleks on Dr. Who and the mom said “WE don’t watch that.” And I know what that meant, because those kids weren’t allowed to play with GI Joe’s either. Why? Because they had guns.

      They WERE allowed to play with Transformers. Because they didn’t know Transformers came with guns. And the kids weren’t about to tell mom and dad.

      That family was weeeeird.

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  8. Helix! Fuck yeah! This was EVERYWHERE that year. I sure know how to respond to “Gimme an R!”

    I checked and I do not own this album. Surely my citizenship is being questioned as I type this comment into WP… Haha yeah, the only one I have here is Wild In The Streets, which you gave me!

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