LOUDNESS – Lightning Strikes (1986 Warner – US version)
Eager to repeat the success of 1985’s Thunder in the East, Loudness regrouped with the same production team (Max Norman and Paul Cooper) on the followup Lightning Strikes. Taking their sound to even wider commercial limits, Loudness wrote a single for the new album, and hoped for American stardom.
When metal bands try their hands at commercial music, the results can be mixed. Fortunately for Loudness, they had the ability. Guitarist Akira Takasaki was in a pop rock band called Lazy when he was 17 years old and could write melody.
Lightning Strikes commences with the lead single “Let It Go“, a triumphant upbeat rock song that any band would have loved to write. The song cannot be praised heavily enough for its sharp catchy riff or singalong melodies. Singer Minoru Niihara delivers with a knack for a good yell. Like icing, Takasaki lays down a melodic and technical solo for the sweet tooth.
Seconds up to bat is “Dark Desire”, a terrific track that encourages you to “start a fire with rock”. This fire goes at a slow burn, but with another notable Takasaki solo as accelerant. “1000 Eyes” is a bit more metal with its themes of storms and destruction, and screaming chorus to boot. Check out some bass slaps from Masayoshi Yamashita too. Then, like a high speed chase, it’s “Face to Face”, pure metal with no commercial considerations whatsoever. It’s not particularly memorable but the chorus scorches. The first side concludes with a textbook Takasaki riff on “Who Knows”, a different but decent melodic metal track. It reminds me of some of the more interesting songs on side B of Iron Maiden’s Piece of Mind, but not as accomplished.
Some tricky stuff via the school of Yngwie Van Lynch is piled onto the front end of “Ashes in the Sky”, a phenomenal power ballad that would have been great on a Dokken album. (This song was titled “Shadows of War” and served as the opening title track for the slightly different Japanese release.) “Black Star Oblivion” picks things up with a speed metal track propelled by drummer Munetaka Higuchi. The jagged chorus makes up for the ordinary verses. Another memorable riff makes up the structure of “Street Life Dream”, which grinds along at a deliberate pace. Closing with some dense and blurringly fast riffing, “Complication” sounds like its title. It’s a bit too busy but certainly ends the album dramatically.
Lightning Strikes is not a bad album. It has some great tunes, but it has a few that miss the mark. It houses possibly their greatest song ever, “Let It Go”. It’s a good album to have, but you just wish it was more consistent.
3/5 stars
mikeladano.com 
This reads better than a 3 star review. Sounds as though you really enjoyed it with only a few missteps, and even those you say have some merit.
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I agree, I was surprised with the 3 stars after all that
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It reads like at least 3.5/5, at most 4/5. If we both agree, we must be right. That puts us on the winning side.
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P.S. I feel as though I’m falling down on the job since I haven’t even shown you their biggest hit yet. Enjoy.
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I actually sought this one out and listened to it on my own and I actually didn’t like it back then. Now I wonder what I was hearing because this is great
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Yeah, man. What were you on? This song’s a stone cold classic. Just listen to that bass!
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Bass isn’t actually key to this song for me. Nasty Habits has that great bass bit, but for this one it’s the vocals and the guitars and keyboards (I think those are the instruments. With these guys it could be anything)
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And the brass section too.
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I dunno, 3 feels right. I only finished the album a handful of times.
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I recall seeing adds for this one in Circus Magazine etc back in the day but it skidded off of my radar and I never got around to it. Way too much music coming out in those years 84-90.
Something had to give in regards to my bank account drying up quicker than water in the Sahara.
I’ll have to check out the vid you posted.
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Meh you’ve seen the vid a dozen times. One more aint gonna sway ya!
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The name of the the Japanese release is “Shadows Of War“. The Japanese title of “Lightning Strikes“ is “Lightning Strikes: Shadows Of War U.S. remix album“
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I will eventually get the box set with both versions included. I have one coming for Hurricane Eyes – 5 discs.
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This one sounds pretty good as well. You are making me want to explore these guys a little (at least a few of there albums).
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It’ll be clear on the next review — they have albums I like much better! This one does have my favorite single though.
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Nice. Looking forward to it.
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I agree it’s not at the level of “Thunder in the East” but kudos for pointing out what’s done very well with the album.
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Thank you! I try for balance which is the hardest thing to write.
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Those albums with career peaks but then inconsistency elsewhere can be frustrating listens – the tracks that are misses are somehow magnified when they’re alongside such gems!
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Very true observation.
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Starting a fire with rock is actually pretty sound advice, as long as said rock is flint. Good survival advice there from Loudness.
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