{"id":26752,"date":"2025-07-08T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=26752"},"modified":"2025-07-06T21:24:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-06T20:24:59","slug":"wolfsbane-live-faster-self-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=26752","title":{"rendered":"Wolfsbane – \u2018Live Faster’ (Self Release)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Somewhere back in the mists of time, Tamworth terrors Wolfsbane were one of the bright young hopes of a burgeoning UK rock scene. Along with the likes of The Dogs D\u2019amour, The Quireboys and The Almighty, they graced the covers of the UK music magazines and were destined for big things. With a fierce live reputation and a dedicated fanbase affectionately known as \u2018The Howling Mad Shitheads\u2019, it seemed Blaze Bayley and the boys could not fail; then they signed to Def American Records, the label run by the legendary Rick Rubin, mastermind behind The Beastie Boys and others. A producer who had turned around the careers of Slayer, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and The Cult to name but a few. But somehow, he managed to zap all the live energy from Wolfsbane\u2019s debut album \u2018Live Fast, Die Fast\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While they redeemed themselves on the following Brendan O\u2019Brien produced mini album \u2018All Hells Breaking Loose…\u2019, sadly the stars never aligned for the band, Blaze jumped ship for Iron Maiden and the rest as they say, is history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, some 40-odd years later, Wolfsbane plan to right the wrongs and have completely re-recorded that debut album in full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always thought of Wolfsbane as the British Van Halen. My first introduction was their Friday Rock Show session, Blaze sounded like Roth and Jase Edwards had the guitar histrionics to match Eddie Van Halen, the live feel of those songs matched the energy of the Californian legends. Maybe if Dave & Eddie had started their days on a council estate a few miles from Birmingham, they too would’ve sounded just like Wolfsbane. In 2025 this re-imagined \u2018Live Fast, Die Fast\u2019 sounds raw, tight and exciting. With the same running order and the song structures staying faithful to the original recording, what stands out most is the production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that familiar hammer-on intro, \u2018Manhunt\u2019 fills the speakers like an old, lost friend. Is it faster? It sounds fast! The main change here is the drum sound, while the original was snare-heavy and polished, the drums overpowering and in your face, here the instruments all gel as they should. Next up, \u2018Shakin\u2019 sounds great, real \u2018live in the studio\u2019 vibes here. It’s the song that remains the most Van Halen-like to me. A classic tune given the sound it so rightly deserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With face-melting guitars and a killer hook, \u2018Killing Machine\u2019 was a live favourite back in the day, and it still holds up. \u2018Fell Out Of Heaven\u2019, again, has Roth vibes in the vocal department and another killer chorus, yet in my mind I still prefer the Friday Rock Show version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere, the live energy is captured magnificently by Jase Edwards’ stellar production, even the big MTV single \u2018I Like It Hot\u2019, with its sheen removed, is still as commercially pop-tastic as I remember. My only gripe would be the token ballad \u2018Tears Of A Fool\u2019, which would have been all well and good if they were The Dogs D\u2019amour, but it didn’t fit the feel of the album in 1989, and it still doesn\u2019t in 2025. Maybe they shoulda banged on \u2018Paint The Town Red, instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this re-recorded version of \u2018Live Fast, Die Fast\u2019 is unfinished business for the band, and is steeped in nostalgia, the songs stand the test of time and remind those who were there what a great band Wolfsbane were back in the late 80\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Live Fast, Die Fast\u2019 remains a testament to the fact that not all the most exciting bands came from the Sunset Strip back in the late 80\u2019s, some came from the Midlands too. Do yourself a favour and get reacquainted with a lost gem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy Here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Ben Hughes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Somewhere back in the mists of time, Tamworth terrors Wolfsbane were one of the bright young hopes of a burgeoning UK rock scene. Along with the likes of The Dogs D\u2019amour, The Quireboys and The Almighty, they graced the covers of the UK music magazines and were destined for big things. With a fierce live […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[726,1787,8825,1818,1710,1681,1680,1833],"class_list":["post-26752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-ben-hughes","tag-its-a-revolution","tag-live-faster","tag-new-album","tag-rpm-online","tag-rpmnews1","tag-rpmonline","tag-tourlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26754,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26752\/revisions\/26754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}