Under The Gun!!

I'm going to write about the band called ICON. This band is my recent favourite and it's rather obscure band. People knows their metal knows about them. This band is from Phoenix, Arizona USA. Having listened to their 1st and 2nd album I liked it a lot. Especially the 1st album. They follow the text book from Judas Priest especially the "Screaming for Vengeance" and "Defender of the Faith". Their 1st self titled debut album is a basic in your face traditional 80's metal and most of their songs are slow but chest thumping, anthem-ish yet very heavy. Good bass and drum beats with great harmonised riffs. Their singer Stephen Clifford has very powerful voice. Vocals are very tough, rough and raw and it does fit into this kinda rock/metal music like a glove. Very similar to Surgical Steel and Racer X's Jeff Martin. Reminiscent of Jeff Martin is there but Clifford's career is before Jeff Martin. In my opinion Clifford is slightly better. He makes me want to scream and sing! The leader of the band Dan Wexler is very talented guitar player also, him and his partner John Aquilino the skinny black hair dude is just like K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton from Judas Priest. They don't play rock/metal like most of Americans do. They have British style of play. They have great harmonised twin guitar melody and it's beautiful. Reminds me of Thin Lizzy or something like that. Bass and Drums are very good. Especially the drums. Good beat and rhythm. After the 1st album they changed the direction to slightly pop and more acceptable to mass of people. They've been labeled as glam but not with 1st and 2nd albums. Music are  catchy and cheesy. I mean cheesy in a good way. Some of the songs they wrote it with Bob Halligan Jr. They released 2nd album called "The Night of the Crime". Best songs from 1st album I'd choose "(Rock On) Through The Night", "Killer Machine", "On Your Feet", "World War", "Hot Desert Night" and "Under the Gun". 2nd album I'd pick "Naked Eyes", "Missing", "Danger Calling" and "Raise the Hammer". Under the Gun is really heavy and mid tempo hard rock/metal tune and Danger Calling is really catchy and sweet rock/metal song. Brilliant stuff. The "1984: Live Bootleg" is not bad and this live album contains some of the songs that didn't end up on actual albums. After the 2nd album Clifford left the band with not too clear reason and band declined. I didn't even bother listening to last 2 studio albums cos it was S**T! It's unfortunate they end up getting covered in dust because this band was really talented. If Clifford had stayed I think they'd be very big or had potential to be big. I swear. I just love the 1st and 2nd and live albums. If you like it just dig it. I'd strongly recommend the 1st and 2nd albums. ROCK ON!! THROUGH THE NIGHT!!