The last stand of soon to be IRON MAIDEN's frontman, Bruce Dickinson, with SAMSON. Certainly not a swansong of the band itself, as they marched on through the 80s, yet it left a kind of sting with Dickinson's departure. Well at least the album, and its predecessor "Head On", entered SAMSON further into the fold of NWOBHM, even if previous obscurities still lurked within the songs. Since "Head On" didn't receive a reissued version, on I went forward with the next in line Dissonance Productions reissue of the band's third album "Shock Tactics", originally released in 1981 via the American RCA Records. I have been having the slightest feeling that this record was one of the reasons and enough grounds for IRON MAIDEN to nab Dickinson for the frontman position, a decision that took them into the pages of history.

"Shock Tactics" seems to me as a major step forward for SAMSON on their rattled musical road, such a path that underwent many bumps and stones in theirs shoes. Actually, it possessed a sort of motivation which had a means to an end to continue the journey. SAMSON became a rather heavier entity while still maintaining a late 70s Hard Rock character, yet it clearly seems that Samson and Co. explored Heavy Metal and later on in length. In addition, there is much vigor within the songwriting, rather more jumpy catchy Rock N' Rock stormers other than the gloomy spacey odyssey typed tunes or the Boogie Rock lust displayed on the "Survivors" debut. Dickinson's stellar performance, as the maniacal bastard in the front of the vocals, became a major factor in the band's stature alongside Samson's edgy songwriting, a pictorial of a true iron fist in a velvet glove.

The choice to march forward to open the album with Russ Ballard's "Riding With The Angels" is still under a grayscale for me, but it is hard to argue that this is a well chosen cover. It actually depicted the general atmosphere of the entire set of originals after it. The overall performance is excellent, a fueled up rocker with vocals are a simply a dream. Honestly, out of the originals I actually liked the oddly Hard Rockers in comparison to the Traditional NWOBHM delivers, which were also quite fun and hooking, but it was hard for me to escape a certain nostalgia within the formers. "Earth Mother" might indicate of earlier years, yet it had a much greater effect, a kind of shiver that could only be unleashed with the right flick of the switch. The "Blood Lust" tune has a fuzzy 70s progression that is closer to mastery, unveiling Dickinson's massive pipes that are a blow on the head. And there is the tuneful sort of hazy balladry "Communion" that appeared highly soothing and a fine way to finish an album, at least the original copy.

The swift rocker, "Little Big Man", was added as bonus out of the "Riding With The Angels" single, a great addition. The last well reserved two tracks, "Pyramid To The Stars" and "Losing My Grip" were officially released as an EP after Dickinson's departure to IRON MAIDEN and were recorded with his replacement Nicky Moore. However, the first recordings were when Dickinson was still at the front. I liked both of them, presenting two different faces of the SAMSON band.

As you may now, SAMSON didn't disband but rather continued onwards in the 80s until Paul Samson's wayward decision to go alone solo. This is part of the reason as well why "Shock Tactics" is relic within British Metal and Metal music in general.