Manilla Road

Crystal Logic (1983)

What is often missing from the modern age (with all its science and advanced capitalism) is the ability to tell stories, the kinds of stories that contain wonder, inspire awe and transcend the mundane found in everyday life. The kinds of stories where we use our imagination and see the world again, afresh with the eyes of a child. Manilla Road are expert myth-makers and excel in telling stories of this description, short and fiesty 3-5 minute songs that make you feel like you have been somewhere new, somewhere wholesome, told not only with a nasally high-pitched voice, but also told by an excellent backing band, adept at creating music full of emotion and energy upon which these stories are set.

Crystal Logic is written with a simple, no frills approach. In its essence it represents the raw Metal spirit found in the records of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The music is full of energetic and infectious driving rhythms built often with unmuted power-chord rhythms that are played with the punchy sound that often defined this era. As a rule the music is generally consonant and has an anthemic upbeat feel to it. There are plenty of tastefully placed melodic lead sections that are used break tension where necessary or add an extra voice to the songs. The music is mixed with darker fantasy themes, but with an uplifting, charming, even nerdy vibe.

In a way the adventure spirit found on the album resembles some of Iron Maiden’s classic albums, however it has been stripped of the slick elements and is without the bombastic excesses and showmanship. Driving a lot of the adventure and mystique found within the music is the vocals. It is the kind of voice that grabs your attention and sucks you into the world that is being created by the lyrics. Passionate and endearing. Whilst not the most talented singer technique wise, he has a decent range and has an intuitive feel of what the music needs at any point in time, whether that be a fierce presence or a more catchy, melodic, perhaps even heroic voice and full of hope.

Perhaps the defining achievement of this album for Manilla Road was that they became one of the bands that flipped the perspective of ‘heavy metal being the darkness’ to ‘heavy metal is a way of dealing with the darkness.’