Favorite SHRAPNEL RECORDS releases?

Shrapnel Records was the premier shred-guitar label in the 80's and 90's, but they also had some great bands where the focus wasn't solely on 100-mph complex guitar runs.  The label eventually ventured into blues, grunge, jazz, fusion, and every other genre that was popular at the time.

They had so many releases that I barely listened to 1/4 of them in total, but I kept up with most during their heyday in the 80's / 90's.

Some favorites:

Griffin / Flight of the Griffin
Exciter / Heavy Metal Maniac
U.S. Metal Volume I  (compilation)
U.S. Metal Volume II (compilation)
LeMans / On The Streets
Hexx / No Escape
9.0 / Too Far Gone
Vicious Rumors / Digital Dictator
James Byrd's Atlantis Rising
Chastain / Ruler of the Wasteland
Wild Dogs / Man's Best Friend
Vinnie Moore / Mind's Eye
Jason Becker / Perpetual Burn
Greg Howe / Introspection
M.A.R.S. / Driver
Indigenous featuring Mato Nanji
Leslie West / Leslie West Live!


...There were plenty of other good or interesting ones, they just weren't really favorites.
There were also some duds.

Anyone got any that you liked?

Toss up between that Exciter album and the Chastain, with a nod towards M.A.R.S.

Constantine wrote:...

LeMans / On The Streets

Man I wish I could find a decent copy of that album somewhere for a decent price.  I remember my friend had it on cassette and we used to love listening to it. (way back in the day)

Some of my Shrapnel Favorites

LeMans - On the Streets
Culprit - Guilty as Charged (Seattle's answer to NWOBHM)
Fifth Angel - Fifth Angel

I used to have a bootleg CD of the LeMans that I paid someone to make for me.  Had artwork and color inserts.   It got destroyed in one of the "purges." I don't think it ever officially came out on CD, I wish it would.  The 9.0 album did (also with Peter Marino as the singer), but those LeMans albums seem lost to history for some reason...

The first Racer X album is one of my favorite albums of all-time.

That Griffin album is really underrated too.

Cacophony with Jason Becker and Marty Friedman is a good listen though a little show offy at times. Wasn't Steeler on Shrapnel?

Yes, Steeler with Ron Keel and Yngwie (not to be confused with the German Steeler) was an early Shrapnel release.  For me it fit into the category of "good and/or interesting but not a favorite."

Had mixed feelings about Cacophony.  Amazing musicians but for me it was one of those Shrapnel releases where it was mostly about the playing and the songs were an afterthought.   I liked a few of those types of releases but they had to have an extra something that kept my interest.   Cacophony was interesting and technically brilliant, just not a favorite.

Apocrypha - The Forgotten Scroll
Fifth Angel - s/t
Hexx - Under the Spell
Vicious Rumours - Soldiers of the Night

I always forget that VR was on Shrapnel, good one.

flat circle wrote:Apocrypha - The Forgotten Scroll
Fifth Angel - s/t
Hexx - Under the Spell
Vicious Rumours - Soldiers of the Night

Good choices....hard to beat any of those.  

Apocrypha - I remember when Tony Fredianelli (who was like 17 at the time) sent the band's 1st demo tape in to my fanzine with a handwritten note for review.  Technically dazzling guitar work, but for some reason they got lost in the shuffle back then.

Fifth Angel - Good album but I preferred the 2nd one actually (I'm probably in the minority there).

Hexx - The 1st two albums are both great.   I never got to hear "Under The Spell" until a few years ago, it was so hard to find.  The preferred the 1st album singer though.   When they changed their style to death-thrash, it just didn't work well.

Vicious Rumors - Excellent album, with Vinnie Moore.  I could have put both of the 1st two albums on my list, but to keep it to one choice I went with Digital Dictators.

Racer X - Second Heat

Temple of Blood wrote:The first Racer X album is one of my favorite albums of all-time.

That Griffin album is really underrated too.

Believe it or not, after all these years I am finally checking out that 1st Racer X album in it's entirely.  
I'm really digging it....

The 1st Griffin album is a favorite album of all time, no question.  Really creative song arrangements.  Every single song is really good, there is zero filler on that album.