Available to buy on : iTunes : Amazon MP3 : Napster : Rhapsody : eMusic : GroupieTunes : Lala .: Also available to buy on : www.boostindependentmusic.comIt all started back in 1981 when Stewartie Adams joined his first Pro band, London based rockers Tytan... TYTAN : Original line up : Kal Swann (vocals), Steve Gibbs (guitar), Stewartie Adams (guitar), Kevin Riddles (bass), Dave Dufort (Hermien Jerian-Dufort) (drums)... Ex-ANGEL WITCH men Dave Dufort and Kevin Riddles formed London based Heavy Metal outfit TYTAN in September 1981. The original incarnation of the band comprised of Dufort, Riddles, vocalist Kal Swann and guitarists Steve Gibbs and Stewartie Adams. Dufort had, previous to ANGEL WITCH, amassed quite a history in the Rock world with bands stretching back into the early 60's including THE VOICE, THE SCENERY, MIKE OLDFIELD and KEVIN AYERS. The drummer was also involved in NW0BHMers the E.F. BAND. Despite a fanfare of press Adams left within months and later turned up fronting LYIN' RAMPANT. He was superseded by ex-A II Z man Gary Owens. TYTAN received substantial major record company interest, but opted to sign with indie Kamaflage Records and laid down plans to release the 'Blind Men And Fools' single during 1982 in advance of a proposed album. Unfortunately, despite the album being recorded albeit without Stewartie Adams or Gary Owens who also quit the group in 1982, Kamaflage Records went under before it could be released. It would not be before 1985 when the album, aptly titled 'Rough Justice', finally emerged through the Metal Masters label.
Pretty much immediately upon forming, in the second half of 1981, London-based group Tytan enjoyed an unnatural amount of interest from the U.K.'s heavy metal press, due in no small part to the simple fact that its rhythm section consisted of bassist Kevin "Skidz" Riddles and drummer Dave Dufort recently departed from sadly defunct New Wave of British Heavy Metal front-runners Angel Witch. Determined to step out from under the long shadow of Angel Witch main man Kevin Heybourne, the pair quickly augmented their new band with a trio of relatively unknown but experienced musicians in vocalist Kal Swan and guitarists Stevie Gibbs and Stewartie Adams before getting down to work composing material. Tytan was patient about getting up on-stage, however, wisely allowing the welcome early press hype to feed itself before finally debuting at a reportedly packed Marquee Club in January of 1982. Not long after, the band (which temporarily featured A II Z guitarist Gary Owens in place of Adams) previewed some of their first songs at a taping for the very popular Friday Rock Show, then accepted a contract offer from independent Kamaflage Records. This resulted in a three-song EP, entitled Blind Men and Fools, which was released before year's end and served as a good introduction of the band's still aggressive but rather more melodic heavy rock approach, selling well enough and even charting in most U.K. metal charts of the day. Feeling increasingly optimistic, Tytan continued working on material for their first full album while touring sporadically around the U.K. (with Diamond Head) and Europe (in support of Tygers of Pan Tang), but it was at this point that their thus far fortuitous run suddenly began to go sour. First off there was Dufort's sudden exit, which signaled the start of seemingly endless drummer turnover (including, for a time, ex-Judas Priest and session man Les Binks) that was matched only by the band's similar difficulties maintaining second guitarists alongside Gibbs. Their label, Kamaflage, went out of business, pushing already delicate intra-band relationships to the breaking point, and resulting in Tytan's disintegration before the year was out. Luckily for their fans, most of the band's unreleased songs were eventually cobbled together by Metal Masters and released in 1985 under the title of Rough Justice, thus securing that Tytan's small but worthy contribution to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal wouldn't be completely forgotten...Glasgow born guitarist and vocalist Stewartie Adams came back home to Scotland and teamed up with ex HEAVY PETTIN guitarist Eddie Trainer, drummer Tam Creamer and Edinburgh born bass player Georgie Pringle, to form LYIN' RAMPANT, they later added keyboard player Paul Stephens also from Edinburgh, The band eventually split in 1991 due to the unfortunate demise of Prism records and a number of line up changes...
"Up and Cumin" : VT1. Prism Records Ltd :
[email protected]
LYIN'RAMPANT: "Up and Cumin"
(Volatile/Prism VT1)
Every feminist instinct I possess demands that I denounce this heavy metal artifact for the unmitigated load of sexist crap,etcetera,ad infinitum,but I find that I cannot,if only because the accompanying press release commences,"The story of Lyin'Rampant unfolds in 1983,when walking distillery Stewartie Adams returned North of the border,"and proceeds to describe each member in similarly flattering terms."The Lyin' goes from strength to strength (when it can stand up that is),"it concludes.Redeemed by their publicist's sence of humour? Well to an extent! The material a lite-metal amalgam of Rush,Journey and REO Speedwagon,is,to this listener,indistinguishable from much of the music of its genre.The rockers and the requisite slow ones are hear,and bear at least some resemblance to their equivalents on many other metal LP,s.However leave us not forget Stewartie Adams,self-styled walking distillery and one of the best new HM singers I've heard in ages,His vocals make this album worth a listen, at the very least...
FOR THE RECORD
MAGAZINE : DEC 1987.......
