First Strike
Crank It Up!
1987 (no label)
Sacramento, California, USA
Dave Campanaro – Vocals
Pat Boylan – Guitar, backing vocals
Tim Larkin – Guitar, backing vocals
Chris Salmon – Bass, backing vocals
John Delaney – Drums
- Some Kind of Lover
- Don’t Let Me Walk Away
- Power
- Come Back
This type of release was a bit of a rarity back in the day – a band that releases a demo after they released a major label debut. First Strike made a splash with their Mike Roe (of the 77s fame) produced Rock of Offense in 1984. It was a heavy metal album on the mostly alternative Exit Records label. So in 1987 they veered more towards commercial metal and released this demo. The song “Power” got featured on a few comps, like Heaven’s Metal Magazine’s Cool Tunes. This is a really good melodic/commercial metal that was well in step with what was big in 1987. I guess they just weren’t able to get a record deal out of it. There appears to possibly be another demo from 1990 that I haven’t heard (update: now I have). This copy doesn’t list who played on the tape, but I did find a list online.
Christian Tape Underground 